No cherry on the Christmas cake for owner Foley
WHEN Bill Foley came for his first game on the South Coast back in October, Bournemouth pulled off a second-half comeback against Leicester and were unbeaten in five games under then interim manager Gary O’Neil.
The 78-year-old American businessman was back in Dorset yesterday alongside the actor Michael B Jordan (who owns a minority stake in Bournemouth) after officially completing the £150million takeover earlier this month — but there was no Hollywood-esque comeback this time.
The Cherries fell to a sixth defeat in seven as Crystal Palace finished their year on a high thanks to first-half goals from Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze.
O’Neil was given the fulltime job during the World Cup but that early optimism after 10 points in his first six games is no more and he was frank post-match about his team’s display after the squad were affected by a virus.
‘That ranks bottom (out of all our performances so far). It’s the worst I’ve seen us,’ said the Bournemouth boss. ‘It’s the first time since I’ve taken charge that we’ve fell miles below the standards that we’ve set so I’m very disappointed with nearly all aspects.’
There are always teams across the league that are in need of a win and Bournemouth and Palace both knew they could do with three points to finish off the year after defeats earlier in the week.
The beauty of the festive period is that there is always another match around the corner and for Patrick Vieira’s side, two well-worked corners gave his Palace team a much-deserved win.
After seeing them go two successive Premier League matches without a shot on target, the thousand or so Palace fans who made the trip down cheered their first attempt on target when Marc Guehi’s shot was saved by Mark Travers a quarter of an hour in.
But minutes later they were celebrating properly as Michael Olise’s outswinging delivery picked out Ayew, who was unmarked in the box and headed in with ease. It was woeful defending as Bournemouth conceded their 35th goal of the season — more than anyone else.
Shortly after the half-hour, O’Neil’s side felt they should have had a penalty when Kieffer Moore was bundled over in the box by Cheick Doucoure but referee Andre Marriner thought otherwise.
Replays showed contact but there wasn’t enough to justify a VAR review yet if the penalty was given by Marriner, then it most certainly would not have been overturned.
As it was, luck was on Palace’s side and a minute later they made the most of it as they doubled their lead with another set-piece. Bournemouth were caught sleeping again from a corner — from the other side — as Olise picked out Eze on the edge on the box and he struck the ball sweetly with his right foot into the back of the net.
For Foley that signalled enough for the first half as the cameras showed him walking back inside to the hospitality section.
It’s fascinating to think what must be going through a billionaire foreign owner’s mind when they come to a game in England and this cold Saturday afternoon in the pouring rain was at least a reminder that some elements of the Premier League will never change.
For all of Foley’s long-term plans, survival in the Premier League is of paramount importance in the short-term and new arrivals can almost certainly be expected over the coming weeks, with a defence that has the poorest record in the league.
Attackingly, Bournemouth struggled to pose any real threat and their day was summed up when the home fans sarcastically chanted ‘We’ve had a shot’ after Siriki Dembele’s late strike was comfortably held by Vicente Guaita.
‘We’ve achieved a decent points tally with the group of players we’ve got, but as with the other 19 teams in the league we’ll be looking to improve [the squad] in January,’ O’Neil added.
For the Eagles, it was a first Premier League win outside the capital since April and after coming into the game with one win in their last nine on the road, this was a pleasing end to the year for Vieira. ‘We played really well. We were aggressive, disciplined and we had possession, we showed some quality.’ said the Palace boss.
‘It was a relief from people who doubted us and my players (after the defeat to Fulham) but I know how well they can play.’
‘Consistency is a really big word and an important word for us. That is what we are lacking,’ added Vieira.
And with a challenging run of Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester United to come in the league, he will be hoping for a bit of consistency in the new year.