AFC Bournemouth
When AFC Bournemouth confirmed Premier League survival recently, the footballing world were applauding the work of head coach Gary O’Neil.
It's been a whirlwind season in management for O’Neil, who found himself in the dugout in the world’s leading division in his first job.
Speaking to the club's programme MATCHDAY as he reviews a successful campaign, O’Neil admits that survival is a big achievement.
“The outside perception was that we were going to struggle this season, especially with where we were when I took over for the Wolves game and the tough spot we were in.
“To be able to keep responding to win enough games to secure Premier League survival with some of the issues we’ve had with injuries and some of the runs we’ve had to get through was a big achievement for the group.
“Everybody within the dressing room and the coaching room understood how much we were giving every day and every moment to get everything we could out of everyone.
“So, to see all that work and effort pay off and reward everyone for the work that has been done is satisfying.”
Having only turned 40 this week, O’Neil is one of the youngest managers in the Premier League and recalls how strange his first few weeks in charge were when he was named interim head coach in August.
“The first few games were an unknown to me. The Wolves game was tough, I was pulled in the car park at 8am the morning before with no idea that I’d be taking the team the following day, so I didn’t have much time to prep for that one and that became a bit of a whirlwind.
“Fair play to the lads who gave everything to get a positive result and a clean sheet on the back of the 9-0 at Liverpool.
“I’d known for a long time that I wanted to be a manager and I didn’t expect my first go at it to be at such a high level and with such high stakes and in such a difficult situation but I embraced it, I understood it wasn’t going to all go our way but I had confidence that whatever was thrown at me, I’d be able to find solutions.”
O’Neil oversaw an immediate upturn in form, going six games unbeaten and earning a Manager of the Month nomination in September before finishing the pre-World Cup fixtures with back-to-back wins over Everton.
He was appointed head coach on a permanent basis at the end of November but the Cherries found their momentum gone upon their return to action, going seven games without a win.
However, O’Neil insists that the club remained steadfast on the work they were doing, refusing to let outside concerns filter into the positive atmosphere within the club.
He said: “I expected us to come back from the break far stronger, especially with the knowledge that January wasn’t too far away, but for a number of reasons, we ended up not.
“We played against Chelsea, who were very unpredictable following the appointment of Graham Potter. We suffered 45 minutes of them being in a shape that we didn’t expect.
“We went to Brentford and we had to have three young lads on the bench. The group wasn’t in a place where I could push them hard enough and hold them accountable for results, I was just trying to keep them at a good level, accepting that it might not be our day on that day.
“The lads gave me everything, we did manage to keep doing that no matter what happened. Thankfully we had a decent January, we got a lot of players back from injury as well and the lads managed to improve by ten percent and the difference in results was huge.
“We knew we were in a tough situation so if you expected us to win six games on the trot when we have all these players injured and we’ve not had the window yet and we’ve got some tough fixtures, we’re going to fall short of that expectation at that moment.
“The expectation was that we get through this tough spell without losing that much momentum. While it may have felt from the outside that we had, I never felt we lost it - the group were fully on board, they always did exactly what I asked, I saw moments in games where we weren’t too far away, but we just needed the things that had gone against us to come back around.”
The return of a number of players from injury, and the addition of six players within the January transfer window, sparked an improvement in form and the Cherries won six of their ten matches across March and April, beating the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
O’Neil is delighted with the progress made by his team, admitting the squad is heading in the right direction.
“I think we’ve made big improvements, we’ve slowly crept up possession-wise, not that possession is everything but we’ve become better with the ball definitely.
“We’ve been flexible without the ball, which I like. With the ball, we’re fairly consistent with our shape and our structure but without the ball, I’ve asked the lads to be flexible, sometimes within the game as well, and that’s been one of our big strengths.
“In terms of moving the team forward, there’s a lot. Obviously, we’ve conceded too many goals this year, we’ve conceded too many set plays, albeit if you look at the set-piece record since we made the changes, I think we sit around 11th in the league.
“Improvement is never a straight line, I saw progression when we were on that seven-game run after the World Cup, I still saw progression in the understanding and application of the players, it’s not always going to be a steady incline and there are going to be dips.
“Even in the Crystal Palace game, which was a really disappointing performance from my point of view, there were things we tried to put in place that we wouldn’t have if we weren’t safe.
“The lads being so successful has allowed us to try and put in place adjustments early but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be perfect right away, we’ll keep improving it. I’m looking forward to seeing where this group can be by 12th August next season but also where it is the month after that and the month after that.
“I’m looking forward to it all really, the ups, the downs and seeing how well myself, my staff and my players can respond to everything that is asked of you in the Premier League because it is the best league in the world.”
As he concludes this interview, O’Neil takes a moment to highlight the work done by his staff, especially coaches Tommy Elphick, Shaun Cooper and Tim Jenkins, all of whom were experiencing their first coaching job in senior football.
O’Neil commented: “We’re all doing it for the first time, which probably created doubt outside, but they’ve worked their socks off, they’re extremely intelligent and know the game very well.
“Coops and Tommy know the club extremely well; Jenks came from a real successful spell at one of the best academies in world football and is really intelligent. Neil Moss came back and is an incredible goalkeeping coach.
“I’m head coach so I expect myself to be sat there sometimes at 11pm at night trying to find anything we can do to get an extra point or extra three points, that’s my responsibility but the fact that other people have bought into that with me is incredible.
“The hours that have been put in this season from my group of staff – our analysts, sports scientists, physios, chefs, cleaners or the countless other people who contribute – is very, very impressive.
“I’m grateful to literally everyone at the football club who has given me and the players the support to go and achieve what most didn’t think was possible.”
