INTERIM boss Gary O’Neil maintained his unwavering focus on his current role at Cherries, stressing it “wouldn’t be fair” to say he had been approached for manager roles elsewhere. Earlier in his reign as caretaker head coach, former Portsmouth and West Ham midfielder O’Neil was linked to vacant roles at two Championship sides, his former club Middlesbrough and last season’s play-off finalists Huddersfield Town. It had been reported by the Northern Echo that Boro had weighed up making a formal approach for their ex-player, but in the end, no official attempt to lure O’Neil back North was made. When asked if it would be fair to say he had been approached by other clubs,
Gary O’Neil said: “No, that wouldn’t be fair. I’ve been fully focused on the Bournemouth job, but no contact, nothing from anywhere else. I’ve spent every moment focused on the team, making sure we’re ready for the next game. There’s been no interest or I’ve not been interested to look anywhere else.”
When pushed further to ask if his agent had fielded any calls, O’Neil again insisted he was fully concentrating on his current remit at the Vitality Stadium.
Gary O Neil said: “I think the way I work is when I’m at somewhere, I’m at somewhere. I’ve been at Bournemouth for 18 months and I’ve been fully focused on Bournemouth since the moment I walked in the door. And that hasn’t changed for a single second in the last six weeks.”
Whilst speculation persists around Cherries’ vacant managerial position, there is a lot of noise surrounding the Dorset club’s next opponents, Southampton, and their incumbent boss Ralph Hasenhuttl. Saints are currently in the relegation zone, with just one point in their last five games. Speaking in his own press conference, Hasenhuttl praised O’Neil for the “very impressive” job he had performed at Vitality Stadium.
Gary O’Neil said: “I’m really proud of what the players have produced. Really proud because they were in what was a tough moment. Ralph has been through that with his players as well. To come back from the 9-0 and respond how they have, I’m really, really proud of them. That doesn’t change the fact that we need to keep going and we’ve achieved nothing yet. Wednesday night is massive again for us. We’ve done a good job so far as a group players, but the next one is always massive. It can change so quickly.”
There are no new injury concerns for Cherries, with only Lloyd Kelly and David Brooks set to miss out.
