Bournemouth have sacked manager Scott Parker after just four games of the new Premier League season, with the Cherries most recently suffering humiliation in a 9-0 thrashing at Liverpool on Saturday (August 27).
It had been a tough start for Parker, with an opening weekend victory over Aston Villa quickly followed by a run of fixtures against Manchester City, Arsenal and the Reds, of which they failed to score in three defeats, but now the search has begun for a new manager.
And while Gary O’Neil will take interim charge of the team, with Shaun Cooper and Tommy Elphick in assistance, Mirror Football takes a look at some of the early front runners for the job at the Vitality Stadium.
Sean Dyche
Former Burnley manager Sean Dyche is the early frontrunner to replace Parker on the south coast having been out of a job since April, following his sacking by the Clarets after 10 years at the helm at Turf Moor.
Dyche was relieved of his duties last season when Burnley were 18th in the Premier League table and four points adrift of safety, having won just one of their last seven league games under the 51-year-old, but it didn’t overshadow what a huge feat he had already achieved with the club.
Across a decade in charge of the Clarets, Dyche managed to guide Burnley to two promotions from the Championship and a seventh-place finish in the Premier League, securing Europa League football, and continually kept them afloat in the top flight on a shoe-string budget.
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Chris Wilder
Former Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is next on the list of favourites to take over as the new Bournemouth manager this season, although he is already the current boss of Championship side Middlesbrough.
Wilder took over at the Riverside Stadium in November last year with Boro 14th in the league, before guiding them to a seventh-placed finish as they missed out on the play-offs on the final day of the season, although they currently sit 18th after six games in the current campaign.
But it is during his Sheffield United days of which he is most fondly remembered, as he guided the Blades from League One to the Premier League in three seasons and achieved a ninth-placed finish in the club’s first campaign back in the top flight, before departing in 2021.
Other candidates
Interim manager O’Neil is also among the favourites to become permanent manager, although his role as assistant manager for Liverpool’s under-23’s is his only previous experience to date, before joining Bournemouth as senior first team coach in February 2021.
Michael Carrick is also on the list and most recently served as caretaker manager of Manchester United following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ’s sacking in November last year, where he took charge of three games - winning two and drawing the other.
The most eye-catching of the lot is Thierry Henry, who was previously odds on to replace former Cherries boss Jason Tindall in February 2021. Henry is currently an assistant coach for Belgium, but could be lured by the prospect of a full-time role in the top flight.
Next manager odds
Next permanent Bournemouth manager odds with oddschecker.
Sean Dyche - 2/1
Chris Wilder - 6/1
Gary O'Neil - 10/1
Michael Carrick - 12/1
Thierry Henry - 12/1
*odds subject to change
