BILL Foley revealed Cherries’ technical director Richard Hughes was the driving force behind Andoni Iraola’s appointment over the summer, adding: “I was satisfied that he would be an agent of change.”

Cherries made the bold choice to let head coach Gary O’Neil leave, just weeks after he kept the club in the Premier League.

They replaced him with highly-rated Iraola, who had just left his role at Rayo Vallecano. The Spaniard became the first overseas boss in the Dorset club's history.

O’Neil subsequently joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, and brings his new side to Vitality Stadium this weekend, as Iraola still seeks his first league win at Cherries.

O’Neil, a former teammate of Hughes at Portsmouth, joined Cherries initially as a coach in February 2021.

He then stepped up to be interim boss when Scott Parker was sacked in August 2022, taking the reins on a permanent basis three months later.

Bournemouth Echo:

Discussing the decision to change head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season, chairman Foley told the Men in Blazers podcast: “It was really a style of play that we were engaging in.

“We were really a counter-attacking team. I felt we needed to be on the offence.

“We needed to be aggressive, we needed to attack. That’s Andoni’s style.

“He’s a (Marcelo) Bielsa student and fast-paced.

“When we had the opportunity, it came to us from Richard Hughes, our technical director. He came to myself and to Neill Blake, the CEO, and then we started talking about it.

“I said if we don’t do this now, we may never have the chance to do this again.

“We just need to be aggressive and we need to be willing to make change. If you don’t make change, then you’re not going to be successful.”

Foley added: “First I listened to Richard Hughes and to Simon Francis, one of his top assistants.

“They were intrigued by Andoni. They convinced Neill Blake that this was a move that we have a chance to do, we have a chance to make and if we don’t make this move, we’re going to regret it in the future.

“That’s really all they had to tell me.

“I did a little research on Andoni and I was satisfied that he would be an agent of change and that’s what I always look for, how can we change, be more effective and constantly improve.

“I believe he’s going to do it.

“People say you may have made a mistake. I said, if I’ve made a mistake, it’s on me, I’ll take responsibility, because I was involved in the decision-making process.”

Wolves sit five points and five places above Cherries ahead of facing them on Saturday (3pm).