Bournemouth manager Scott Parker has become the first Premier League casualty of the new season, sacked just four rounds into the campaign after a brutal 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool.
Parker guided the Cherries to promotion from the Championship, and began the top flight campaign with victory over struggling Aston Villa.
But a brutal fixture list saw them lose to Arsenal, Manchester City, and then finally to Liverpool in a bruising, record-equalling nine goal romp.
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It proved the last straw for owner Maxim Demin, who took aim at the axed manager with a cold statement that said: “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.”
Parker had called on the owner to invest in strengthening the squad through transfers, with other newly-promoted sides like Nottingham Forest vastly outspending Bournemouth.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said after the crushing Liverpool defeat. This is currently where it is at this moment in time. The players need help. Today proved too big a challenge. The levels were far too big … We have some days where hopefully we can get some help in and support and help the current team who came up from the Championship.
“There’s loads of work to be done.”
He added: “there is no denying we are under-equipped at this level”.
His blunt appraisal of the list appears to have sparked a falling out with the owner.
Parker enjoyed a successful career as a player, featuring for clubs including Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United, West Ham, Tottenham, and Fulham.
In his first senior management position, he guided Fulham to the Premier League in his first season in charge, only to be relegated the following season.
His move to Bournemouth also drew instant success, earning promotion to the top flight in what owner Demin today declared “will always be remembered as one of the most successful seasons in our history.”
First-team coach Gary O’Neil has been appointed caretaker manager.
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