Bournemouth boss signs new deal with the Team Management after making proper addition of new Striker
11 months ago AFC Bournemouth named Andoni Iraola as the new head coach of the Cherries. Most admitted to having never heard of him at the time.
At that same point, the national media were perplexed at the sacking of Gary O’Neil after guiding AFC Bournemouth to Premier League survival, the reaction from the Dean Court faithful was more mixed and open-minded due to the promise of more entertaining football under a new head coach.
With a poor run of results during the opening nine games of the season, the pressure mounted on Iraola. With those same people in the national media taking every opportunity to claim “I told you so”.
AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley however stood by his decision – People say you made a mistake sacking O’Neil for Iraola – That’s on me says Foley.
From that point onwards, AFC Bournemouth’s form clicked into gear.
7 wins came from the next 9 Premier League outings and whilst a difficult run at the turn of the year saw just 3 points from the next 7 games, another run of 6 wins and just 2 defeats from the next 10 games saw the Cherries not only climb up the Premier League table, but also set a new club record for the highest points tally in the top flight of English football.
In April, he was linked with Barcelona, when Barcelona Sporting Director Deco was quoted listing Andoni Iraola as “a top coach” alongside the likes of Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mikel Arteta and Sergio Conceicao.
The 41-year-old was contracted on the south coast until the end of the 2024/25 campaign, a situation which was actually unusual for Iraola, as he previously only worked with one-year deals at former clubs AEK Larnaca, Mirandés and Rayo Vallecano.
However, the success of his first season in England has already seen Iraola pen a new deal, contracting him to the club for a further season.
AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told afcb.co.uk…
“I’m very happy to sign the contract. For me, it is a matter of renewing the confidence from both sides.
“We have had a good experience with our first season together in the Premier League, and I am happy that both sides want to continue the relationship further.
“I’m proud that we achieved the points record. We are playing in a difficult competition, with very good opposition. The season started slowly, but I think we improved a lot and are playing in the right way.
“We have to continue improving the team, because the level of the Premier League is really high, and I’m looking forward to working with Simon and the rest of the team over the summer to help us do that.
“I would like to thank the supporters for everything in our first year together. I am thankful that they were supporting us even in the beginning when we were not winning games, and that they have been very helpful to the players for the whole year.”
