#PLStories- Gary O’Neil reflects on two-year anniversary of his joining date at Cherries #AFCB

Last Thursday marked two years to the day since O’Neil arrived on the south coast, leaving a job in Liverpool’s academy to take up a role as senior first team coach under newly-appointed boss Jonathan Woodgate. Despite Woodgate leaving the club a few months later, O’Neil remained in his post, working underneath Scott Parker. Following promotion to the Premier League, Parker was sacked four games into the new campaign, with assistant boss Matt Wells also departing. O’Neil thrust into the interim head coach role, taking charge of 12 matches, before being given the reins on a permanent basis in November 2022. Asked to sum up the past two years, O’Neil said: “Enjoyable, firstly. Obviously stopping playing is never easy, especially when it’s an injury that causes it. “So to go from stopping playing, doing a little while at Liverpool, who helped me of course, and then come down here to help Jonathan. “We fell just short of promotion the first time, but one of the remits when I came to the club was to help the club get back to the Premier League. “So, pleased that I managed to play a part in that, at the second time of asking. “Now obviously roles have changed a little bit and I’m responsible for trying to keep the club in the Premier League, which is what I spend most of my time now working on. “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s a fantastic club, good people, good staff, a fantastic group of players willing to work and a fanbase that are always behind the players and supporting as best they can. “So an enjoyable couple of years for me.” Asked if he is further along in his coaching journey than he thought he would be at this point, the 39-year-old added: “Things have happened maybe quicker than you would think. “It’s hard to plot these sort of journeys. I always thought I would keep playing for a long time, because I was fit, and I would probably fall into management from playing at a lower level, would’ve been how I predicted it going. “But we had to take a different route. I was grateful for the time at Liverpool and then in the hotseat in the Premier League maybe slightly quicker than expected, but I’m enjoying it. “I love the work. I appreciate the belief and the trust that the club have shown in me and am working every hour I have to repay that.” When O’Neil arrived at Cherries in February 2021, the club sat sixth in the Championship. Asked what his first impressions were of the place, the former Portsmouth and West Ham United midfielder said: “That we had a very good squad for the level at that point, still some fantastic players. “Obviously the club had done well to bring in some funds as well and managed to sell a few to sort of balance the books, but still kept a very competitive squad. “And just the feel of the place. It was COVID I think when I came in, so the supporters just started to come back in in small numbers at the time, so when I first arrived, you never really got the full feel of the place. “But then once the fans were back in, you get a real feel for what the club is and how important it is to everybody in the area. “I feel fully embedded in that now really. I feel like I’m part of Bournemouth. “I’ve loved my time, love the way everything works, love how close and together everything is, love the fact that the whole place has been through some tough times together and came out the other side. “It’s a really special feel. I’m privileged to be working here.”