BREAKING - Bournemouth appoint Andoni Iraola as their new manager

Bournemouth have announced their replacement for Gary O'Neill, whose sacking was announced earlier today. Mark McAdam, who's the new man? Yes, new man at the helm at Bournemouth, Andoni Iriola, and it's been officially confirmed by the football club in the last few moments. Here's the statement that's been uploaded to their website. We are delighted to announce the appointment of Andoni Iriola as the club's new head coach on a two-year deal. Andoni arrives at the Vitality Stadium following the expiry of his contract at Rayo Vallecano, where a successful three-year spell ended with an 11th place finish in La Liga last season. The statement goes on to say he earned promotion to the top flight in his first season with the Madrid club in 2021, before taking the team to the Copa del Rey semifinals in the following campaign. So official confirmation there from Bournemouth that they have replaced Gary O'Neill today with their new man, Andoni Iriola. So why were they so keen to ditch Gary O'Neill, who'd done such an outstanding job in keeping them in the Premier League, and get Iriola in? Yeah, it came as a big surprise, this story, hasn't it? Never should the Premier League surprise you, really. But the club clearly didn't feel that Gary O'Neill was the right man to take them forward next season in the Premier League, despite keeping them there and notching up 39 points in the process. They obviously wanted someone who could take on the club's DNA and style and push the football club forward. They've got hugely ambitious owners that spent over £100 million to acquire the club in November last year. They invested £75 million in the transfer window in new players. And they obviously wanted a new manager that they felt, a new head coach that they felt could take the club to the next level and the levels that they wanted to go to. Iriola has five years managerial experience, two of those recently in La Liga, where Rayo Vallecano finished 11th and 12th. He took them from the second division in Spain into the top flight as well the season before. And you look at some of the results of Rayo Vallecano this season. They beat Real Madrid 3-2. They beat Valencia 2-1. They beat Barcelona 2-1 as well. And of course, a 2-1 victory against the Villarreal. So clearly, a head coach, a manager, someone that has the ability to put up a game plan and a tactical masterclass to win matches against some of not just La Liga's best sides, but some of the best sides in Europe. He's a manager as well that's been watched by a number of other Premier League managers and head coaches. And there are a lot of people in football that look upon Iriola as the future of football. He's only 40 years old. He doesn't have a vast amount of experience, but he has been managing for five years, like I say. And when you look at his teams, the way they play, the exciting nature of what they do, the style, the identity and the way he sets his sides up, it's clearly a manager that a lot of clubs were interested in. We know that Leeds approached Rayo Vallecano in February with regards to their vacant managerial position at the time, but they were knocked back also. And only Iriola doesn't want to leave a club during a season. He wanted to wait until the summer. He didn't decide to renew his contract. There was interest from Marseille and Monaco as well. So clearly, a manager that is very highly regarded within European football circles. So this will be seen as a really exciting coup for Bournemouth. Immensely excited to get to work with him. Of course, the players will be back in a couple of weeks for the start of pre-season and the players will have a new man to work with. Should just explain, Mark, that you're talking to us from Old Trafford because you're there to cover England in action later on against North Macedonia. But one more on Bournemouth. What sense do you have of how the fans might take this? I think the fans will be excited. I think the fans will see this as a different direction. You have to remember, in Bournemouth's 124 years of history, they have never, ever appointed a foreign manager. So they are going in a completely different direction with this appointment. This is something that they've never done in 100 plus years of history of the football club. And they'll be looking upon this as an exciting new venture. Bournemouth have had an amazing ride over the last 10 to 15 years with the rise up the Football League table, staying in the Premier League for five seasons, going back down to the Championship. Scott Parker bringing them back up again. Gary O'Neill keeping them there. And now they've got an exciting young manager who plays an attractive brand of football, which Bournemouth fans are used to, of course, from Sean O'Driscoll and from Eddie Howe, some of the managers that have been there recently. And now they've got someone that's very highly thought of within European circles. So I think the fans will embrace this. I think they'll be excited about the future and they'll see, with this decision, the way it's been done, the impact that Bill Foley, the new owner, has had on this football club. They can see that these guys mean business. They want to achieve things. They want to push the club forward. They've got exciting plans for a new stadium and, of course, the new training facilities. Now they've got a new head coach as well. This is one Bournemouth train that's headed in an exciting direction.