Bournemouth's Managing Director of Professional Football Tiago Pinto has revealed how Andoni Ierola has reacted to the huge sale at the club.
Rivista Andesi has today held an interview with the Bournemouth director. He has discussed all elements of life at Bournemouth, including working with Irola.
The Spanish coach has been nothing short of a revelation since arriving at the club, establishing himself as one of the Premier League's most respected tactical managers.
His time at the club so far has seen him guide the club to its highest ever Premier League points tally in 2023/24, which they surpassed in 2024/25 with 56 points.
Special attention has also been paid to player development, with many stars improving rapidly under his guidance. However, this has led to major departures in the last few transfer windows.
Bournemouth develops stars
Last summer their entire defense as Ilya Zbarny, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez left for PSG, Real Madrid and Liverpool. Dango Ouattara also joined Brentford in a £36 million deal.
The story continued in the January transfer window as star man Antoine Semenyo joined Manchester City in a club-record £62.5m deal. Marcos Senesi is also likely to depart this summer.
Big departures like this are clearly a problem for Bournemouth. Indeed, one can see the impact such an exit had on Crystal Palace and their crumbling relationship with Oliver Glassner.
Pinto praised Irola
However, Irola has yet to complain publicly about the situation on the south coast. And Pinto insists it's the same behind the scenes.
“I have worked with many coaches and have learned something from all of them,” he said.
“Today I can say that Andoni is different, he is special. He is a modern coach, someone who understands all the dynamics of football.
"A coach has tremendous communication power: he is the club's main spokesperson; he is the person the fans listen to and respect. But behind that, there are many things that are not seen.
"Take the example of Bournemouth. We sold players not because we were happy to sell them, but because there are rules to follow. Any other coach other than Andoni could say, "They sold all my players." He doesn't.
"Not just because he's a great coach and a good person. But because he has all the information and he understands the context."
