Richard Hughes has pulled off a masterstroke ahead of Liverpool arrival despite Alan Shearer's X-rated claim

There might not have been a more controversial decision last summer.

It wasn’t Tottenham Hotspur’s decision to sell Harry Kane. Nor was it Manchester City allowing Cole Palmer to join Chelsea. But the axe being wielded on Gary O’Neil by Bournemouth felt like a monumental miscarriage of justice.

O’Neil was never really supposed to be the Cherries manager. He took charge after Scott Parker was sacked just weeks into the 2022-23 season, having guided the club to promotion. After a 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool at Anfield, Parker was relieved of his duties. Bournemouth’s chances of survival were already rated as nanoscopic - getting rid of Parker following four games slimmed them further.

O’Neil was handed the reins on a temporary basis - his first managerial role. After accruing 13 points from 11 games, he was handed the job permanently. The task was also to avoid a dogfight and that’s what Bournemouth did. Five wins from seven games ensured the Cherries finished five points above the drop zone and secured a 15th-place finish. They might have lost their final four fixtures but safety was already well secured.

Yet that wouldn’t be enough to see the former Middlesbrough and Portsmouth midfielder keep his job. There couldn’t have been many who’d predicted O’Neil would be stood down from the Vitality Stadium hot seat - and just hours later his replacement was confirmed. Andoni Iraola had become Bournemouth’s new supremo.

There was backlash aplenty. A new contract would have been deserved - instead it was ripped up.

“It really wasn’t so much about Gary not doing what he was asked to do, it was more about the opportunity to give our football club a different identity through the coach we made contact with some time ago and then initiated contact very recently,” said Bournemouth owner Bill Foley on the decision. “I believe he’s going to be in coaching for a long time and is going to do a good job. We had to make a difficult decision and we weren’t happy to do it, but felt we had to do it for the benefit of the team. The team comes first.”

Iraola was a name unheralded on these shores. He’d enjoyed a decent career at Athletic Bilbao and was capped seven times for Spain. Yet the layman had likely known little to zero about him. His managerial career was scarcelt earning rave reviews, either. He started at Cypriot side AEK Larnaca, moved to Spanish second-tier outfit Mirandés and then to Rayo Vallecano. Promotion to La Liga was achieved in the first season via the play-offs before respective 12th and 11th-place finishes were secured.

It felt like an almighty gamble at the time. If Bournemouth wanted a new boss, why not go with someone supporters might have been more accustomed to? Ultimately, it was Richard Hughes who decided on Iraola. And his decision as sporting director has come to fruition.

Iraola got off to a rocky start in the Premier League. They didn’t pick up a win in their opening nine games, accruing just three points. In the modern day, that’s enough for anyone in the top job to get their P45, especially when money was spent on signing the likes of Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Hamed Traorè. To add the pressure, O’Neil took charge of Wolves and swiftly got them firing on all cylinders - which included masterminding a 2-1 win over Bournemouth as to continue Iraola’s lacklustre start/

"Leading up to the game this week, he would have been hoping and praying to come away from Bournemouth with three points," Shearer told The Rest Is Football Podcast.

"He would have loved to stand there with his middle finger like that up to the directors' box. He will never admit it, but secretly inside he will be absolutely thinking, f*** you. "That is exactly what he is thinking. They are sat in 12th position on 11 points, looking down at Bournemouth - the team that sacked him. We all thought it was a stupid and harsh decision and if Bournemouth don’t get results soon, I think they play Burnley at home next week and if they don't get a result, you would fear for them."

But Hughes remained patient, giving Iraola time to impart his methods. And with three games remaining, it has emphatically paid off.

Wins did arrive. The Cherries have defeated the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle United and last weekend earned a 3-0 triumph over Brighton. That moved Bournemouth to 48 points - their record in a Premier League campaign with three matches remaining. For context, while Eddie Howe was in charge, the highest they finished was ninth but with only 46 points. What’s more, the Cherries and are now above Wolves in the table.

And with Hughes set to become new Liverpool’s sporting director in the summer, it can only bode well. Hughes will have no doubt played a significant role in identifying Arne Slot to replace Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season. Slot’s someone who has left sections of supporters somewhat underwhelmed as he comes from Feyenoord.

However, there might have been Bournemouth fans who felt the same when Iraola took over on the south coast. Now the Cherries are on track for a top-10 finish and maybe even wondering if they could sneak into the Europa Conference League should results go their way. Kopites will hope it turns out the same with Slot.