PLAYERS SUPPORT IS CHERRY ON TOP
Four games unbeaten after 9-0 drubbing and Solanke says: We all want O’Neil to be boss
DOMINIC SOLANKE says Gary O’Neil will have the backing of the players if he lands the Bournemouth manager’s job on a full-time basis.
Former Portsmouth and West Ham midfielder O’Neil is still unbeaten after four games as interim boss.
Striker Solanke said: “We all know Gary really well. He has been with us for a while now and you can see how well we are doing on the pitch under him.
“He has our respect and if that’s the case [getting the job] we’ll be more than happy.
“His relationship with the players is important. He has known us for a while now and knows us inside out.
“It’s always nice to have a manager that’s been in the game for many years like him. He knows football inside out and knows what it’s like to be a player.
“That probably gives him more inside knowledge about how we feel too.”
O’Neil, 39, is set to stay at the helm at least until Las Vegas businessman
Bill Foley completes his £150m takeover.
Solanke (above) added: “We don’t really focus on that, when it happens it happens but right now, we’re just focused on doing our job on the pitch.
“In the Premier League you need to adapt, you have so many different styles of play and different types of players. The manager always knows what’s best for the team, formationwise and personnel-wise.
“We’re just taking it game by game at the moment and trying to pick up as many points as we can. We are unbeaten in four now. “There have been a lot of draws but in the Premier League those points add up.”
Bournemouth had just been thumped 9-0 at Liverpool when Scott Parker was sacked and O’Neil (right) was dropped into the hot-seat. The Cherries have won one and drawn three of his four matches, keeping two clean sheets.
They restricted Brentford to few clear opportunities and had two strong penalty shouts waved away by ref Thomas Bramall,in only his second Premier League game. Bramall checked the monitor after Jordan Zemura was sent tumbling by Kristoffer Ajer’s risky challenge before sticking with his onfield decision of no foul.
It was the fourth time this season Bournemouth have been on the wrong end of a VAR review.
Zemura said: “As I was running at top speed his first contact with me was with his right foot and he didn’t get the ball but his trailing leg must have hit the ball and the referee hasn’t seen the penalty.
“I don’t think you can take the man out first and then the ball and it not be a foul.”