It has recently been reported by football journalist Pete O’Rourke via the Football Insider website, that “Bournemouth technical director Richard Hughes is set to leave his role at the club before the end of the year”.
Written by NWCherries98
Bill Foley is a very, very successful businessman. He’s also got a pretty good track record of managing sports clubs with the Knights’ success and all that. If he has now come to the conclusion that our recruitment hasn’t been good enough, fair enough.
Has Bournemouth's recruitment been good enough recently?
Yes
No
Still need time to know
I’m not going to sit here and pretend I wasn’t excited by this window, but in hindsight, there are more than a few strange decisions. The main issues for me were the lack of a clearly defined strategy with the signings and how they would fit into the team, and the lack of signings that seem to have been signed to compliment Andoni Iraola’s style of play.
The lack of a competent specialised left-back to compete with Milos Kerkez has already cost us points. The lack of a specialised Central Defensive Midfielder to compete with Lewis Cook has cost us points. The lack of a competent striker to compete with Dominic Solanke may well have cost us points. And in my opinion, the lack of Premier League experience and seniority in the starting lineup has been incredibly destructive so far. These aren’t exactly secrets, either.
We perhaps shouldn’t have signed Hamed Traore in hindsight, which is £20 ish million that could’ve been spent on Marcos Viña and someone like Jack Stephens with change. But then, there didn’t seem to be much of a plan for who’d actually be in charge this season, and the fact that it was a loan with an obligation to buy has snookered everyone involved a little. This is a shame because I think Traore is a good player.
The Tyler Adams signing is a car crash. Another good player, but one that no one else wanted to sign for his injuries. If there was one position we needed to get right it was CDM, with Jefferson Lerma leaving and the role’s importance in the new strategy. I’m a bit surprised we didn’t just go for Rayo’s CDM, a player that would’ve had invaluable experience in this specific style of play and probably been cheapish. Could’ve also been AI’s “guy” in the dressing room. I don’t know.
I’ve said it before but I think we should’ve gone for a Newcastle-lite approach. A few exciting Hollywood signings if it’s needed, in amongst sensible, seasoned pros. To this day, the way we messed Viña around and then proceeded to not even sign him is one of the most baffling misfires I’ve seen from a board perspective. A goal threat from Left Back who was solid defensively, available for £13 million. Literally why not? And the way he hung around in Bournemouth for like 2 months leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, not a fan. It seems like we saw an opportunity to get another Football Manager wonder kid and then ditched the whole idea. I like Kerkez, but he’s not been any better than Viña – and we could’ve had both, couldn’t we?
Going off on a tangent now. It’s fine margins and I’m not someone that’s going to clamour for Richard Hughes or Neill Blake to lose their jobs. I don’t know enough about that world. But I can see why the decisions have been made, and ultimately, I think Foley’s (informed by advisors) instincts have been pretty good so far. I think ditching O’Neil was “harsh” but absolutely correct, and I think backing Andoni Iraola is correct.
Your say…
SlowDownDerek said…
Most of this is just hindsight is it not?
We’ve got three Centra Defensive Midfielders including Alex Scott who is excellent there. Sure Adams is turning out to be poor but if there wasn’t an injury risk he wouldn’t be here.
I think this left-back issue is overdone too. Vina wasn’t exactly Ashley Cole defensively so who’s to say we’d have more points if we’d signed him? Buying two £15m left backs is completely unrealistic in my opinion.
Striker, I agree we are short. Easier said than done in that position though. – To join the conversation, click here.
