After relegation had come and Eddie Howe had gone, Bournemouth underwent a hollowing out.
There were lay-offs. Three club masseurs left, along with a sports scientists, albeit one new physio came in. And though the club’s reaped £80m by selling the best players, there was no outlay on new ones. Russian owner Maxim Demin issued a statement after the club had dropped, declaring they’d be straight back. This seemed a strange way of showing it.
At least the club had Jason Tindall, who over 12 years as Howe’s right-hand man had been involved in identifying and bringing through players like Matt Ritchie, Callum Wilson and Harry Arter.