Scott Parker, the Head Coach of Bournemouth, a newly promoted side to the English Premier League on Tuesday became the first casualty of the brand-new season as he was sacked by the club days after they were thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool.
Bournemouth owner, Maxim Demin, who made this known via a statement, stated that the decision was: “In order for us to keep progressing as a team and a club as a whole, it is unconditional that we are aligned in our strategy to run the club sustainably. We must also show belief in and respect for one another.”
“I would like to place on record my gratitude to Scott and his team for their efforts during their time with us. Our promotion back to the Premier League last season under his tenure will always be remembered as one of the most successful seasons in our history,” Demin said.
Parker had taken several public swipes at Bournemouth’s management over their failure to strengthen the squad after their return to the topflight. Gary O’Neil will take interim charge of the team, who are 17th in the Premier League table, and have lost three of their four opening games, conceding 16 goals already.
The 41-year-old Parker, who was a former England international midfielder, had taken Bournemouth to promotion last season from the second-tier Championship. Parker was dismissed just 25 days into the season – the earliest a manager of a newly promoted side has ever been sacked in the Premier League era.
He is also the first Premier League manager in 18 years – since Bobby Robson at Newcastle in 2004 – to lose his job in August and only the 11th to be sacked just four games into a season – the most recent being Javi Gracia at Watford in 2019.
Parker left Fulham for Bournemouth in June 2021 and led them to promotion from the Championship as runners-up, but his managerial statistics since returning to the Premier League make unhappy reading.
After winning their opening match 2-0 at home to Aston Villa, the Cherries conceded 16 goals in their next three league games – losing 4-0 at Manchester City and 3-0 at home to Arsenal before shipping nine goals at Anfield. Their goal difference of -14 is the worst after four games in English top-flight history.
