I want to make a distinction first, between the ‘greatest’ and the ‘best’. At the moment, Eddie Howe is absolutely the ‘greatest’ manager the club has had, for obvious reasons.
Howe and Iraola I would put on par as the ‘best’ for purely on paper achievements – they have both achieved ninth-placed finishes in the Premier League.
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Iraola may already edge that debate, with his ninth-placed finish coming with 56 points, the first time they had broken the 50-point mark, and with a second consecutive record points haul in the league.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola after the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester. (Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
The tag of ‘greatest’ brings in more context – obviously, Howe’s management to keep the club in League Two and then take them up the leagues to the Premier League is nothing short of sensational and he will always been firmly in the discussion for that label.
But if Iraola were to secure the club’s first-ever European qualification, that would put him firmly in the debate, too.
He has six games to do so.
Five of those come against teams below the Cherries in the table, with matches against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Leeds and Nottingham Forest to come.
Their sixth is a home game against Manchester City, which they won last season, too.
Andoni Iraola. (Image: Richard Crease)
Bournemouth are 11th and are three points off Chelsea in sixth. They trail Brentford and Everton in seventh and eighth places by two points, with those three positions likely to get European spots.
The main thing for Iraola will be to get the right reaction from his players. The worry with an announcement like this is that players will slightly down tools, even subconsciously, but with Iraola’s character, it is highly unlikely that he will.
In that respect, I think Bournemouth are helped by the World Cup this summer. There are a number of first team players, the likes of Alex Scott, Rayan, Adrien Truffert and others, who will be pushing for a spot on the plane this summer, so they won’t want to let their performance levels drop.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola after the Premier League match at the American Express Stadium, Brighton and Hove. (Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
The attitude and respect of the group towards Iraola is good and I suspect that will not change with this news.
Thus, hopefully they will all want to give the boss a big send off, and Iraola and the Cherries can use this in their favour.
It is rare in football that fans can say goodbye to a boss without the negativity of a sacking, but Bournemouth fans will get six games to do just that.
Those six games could propel the club into further uncharted and historic (European) territory – and that begins at Newcastle on Saturday.