Bournemouth are a benchmark for everyone outside the big boys.. Gary O’Neill is proving it pays to dream big

WHEN I got the job at Bournemouth in 1983, my first as a manager, the mission was clear — keep us out of Division Four.

We were bottom of the table, had won two games all season and everyone said we needed a miracle. If that’s what it was, there have been plenty of them since.

For nearly 100 years Bournemouth flitted around between the bottom two divisions.

When I got them into the Championship in 1989, they’d never been that high.

They were, with all due respect, a southern version of Rochdale, Stockport or Accrington. If you’d told me they would go to the top flight, I’d have said you were crackers.

And as for suggesting not only would they become a Premier League club but also the benchmark for everyone outside of the big boys? I’d have sent the men in white coats round.

But you know what, that’s exactly what the Cherries have become.

The ones who have shown the rest that not only is it OK to dream big, you can actually achieve it.

When they got promoted last summer, most people thought they’d go straight back down — and a few dodgy results early on had them even more convinced.

Scott Parker was sacked, Gary O’Neil got the job and all you heard was, ‘When are they going to get a proper manager?’.

BETTING SPECIAL – BEST SPORTS BETTING APPS IN THE UK

Even just over a month ago they were being written off and plenty would have considered today’s game against West Ham to be a ‘loser goes down’ one.

Well, I’ll be in the main stand this afternoon, like I am for every home match, and I think the pair of them already have enough points to survive whatever the result.

Maybe you should put that down as another miracle. Bournemouth have pulled off plenty of them since I first went there. And they’re going to do the same again this season.

The only thing that surprises me is that anyone is shocked. I’ve been saying for ages they will get out of it and all they’ve done is prove the point.

HOLDING THEIR OWN

They’ve beaten Liverpool and Tottenham, they were unlucky not to do the same to Newcastle and although they only won 1-0 at Leicester, they could have had a load more goals.

But the thing I love about Bournemouth is how Gary’s got them playing. Scoring two at Arsenal and three at Tottenham tells you all about that.

They don’t sit back, let teams dominate and try to nick something.

No one gets an easy ride against them, they play with width, have loads of pace and are good to watch.

PUNCHING ABOVE WEIGHT

That goes without saying, or I wouldn’t be there every week! If it was rubbish I’d go and watch someone else, believe me.

What people don’t seem to realise is that the stadium holds 11,400 fans. In the Prem. And they still don’t have a training ground as such.

It’s unbelievable.

I love how they not only gave the job to a young English guy in the first place, but stuck with him when it got a bit tricky.

HOME-GROWN HEROES

When Bill Foley took over, he could have gone the same way as a lot of owners and decided he wanted a big-name foreign manager, but not a bit of it.

I love the fact Gary has a couple of old players alongside him too, who really know the club.

Tommy Elphick went through all the divisions as a player when Eddie Howe was in charge, and Shaun Cooper — who I managed at Portsmouth — is on the coaching team too.

So I’ll be there again today and while I couldn’t predict the result, there’s one thing I’m sure of — we’ll all be entertained.

Gary won’t be manager of the year and Bournemouth won’t be challenging for Europe.

But if it’s a perfect example for the rest of the divisions you want, there are none finer.