Eddie Howe’s departure
Dan Gosling expressed his reaction to Eddie Howe leaving AFC Bournemouth last season as ‘Initial shock’ after eight years in charge.
The forty-two-year-old left by mutual consent after a five-year stint in the Premier League came to an end. They finished eighteenth on thirty-four points and were one point from safety after losing twenty-two times throughout the season.
For some fans they may have thought that this was inevitable, but due to his connection at the club no one expected this change, especially Gosling who voiced his disappointment at the situation.
“Initial shock. We were obviously on the back of a tough season. We always knew there were going to be changes in and around the club, but no one foreseen that change wth Eddie obviously leaving.”
“I spoke to him probably three or four days after just to wish him well for the future and other than that I haven’t seen or spoken to him since. It was a huge shock to everyone involved, because as you said when a manager has been here for so long who sort of runs the whole club, not just the football side of things, it was almost everything he had a say in and fully deserved because of the way he got the club to where we are now or where he got us to last year.”
“But yeah, obviously it was a huge shock and I am not going to lie I was really disappointed that he left.”
The Amersham man had obvious personal connections to most players who were at the club, especially with Gosling. The central midfielder said he had a very strong bond with Howe after he took a risk by signing him aged twenty-four back in 2014 from Newcastle, after a disappointing four-year stint with The Magpies.
“He was the one that signed me at twenty-four on the back of a wretched time at Newcastle really, four years there without really kicking a ball. Then for someone to take a gamble on me because that’s what I was essentially, I didn’t really play a lot of football and wasn’t playing in central midfield either really which is my preferred position, so when he took that gamble and took that risk, I think it paid off for him.”
“It was always a risk for him to sign me, so I can only really wish him well and say thank you very much.
Gosling played one-hundred-and-thirty-eight times under Howe for The Cherries in the Premier League, which explains why he is extremely thankful to the former manager.
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