That’s Howe For Now At Bournemouth

That’s Howe For Now At Bournemouth

With Bournemouth suffering the igmoniny of relegation, there was always going to be a question regarding the future of Eddie Howe and with long awaited discussions now being concluded, the footballing world has received its answer.

An answer that sees the former defender call time on his second stint on the South Coast and although demotion to the EFL Championship will be a bitter pill for the club to swallow, the loss of a man synonymous who is synonymous with the Cherries, will be even tougher to digest.

With the 42-year-old leaving by mutual consent, it is a departure that creates less anguish from the previous managers point of view and one that allows him to save an element of face – something that his length of service certainly deserves.

However, his decision to call time on a second stint of Bournemouth management, will undoubtedly be a hammer blow to the Bournemouth board and their attempts at trying to bounce back at the first attempt of Championship football since 2016, have been hampered before they’ve already begun.

Admittedly there has been a sense of diminshing returns at the Vitality Stadium in the last couple of years and the regression has been obvious since the high watermark finish of 9th place back in 2017.

If we were to be critical of Howe’s tenure, of which it is incredibly difficult to do, you would have to argue that his transfer acumen let him down and although his coaching attributes are in abundance, repeated recruitement failure has stopped the club from building on that top half finish three years ago.

While for Howe himself, there is a sense that his personal stock has taken something of a dent and for someone who has been mentioned as a future England manager, a repair job will now have to be undertaken.

With that said, there is no doubt that employment will be just around the corner (should he want it), although with his usual chirpy demeanour looking absent in the final few weeks of the season, a rest may just benefit him in the long run.

It’s a tame end to a tenure that saw Bournemouth have a five-season stint in the top flight and their now previous manager was the architect of that and although his efforts will never be forgotten, it is unfortunately Howe for now.