Football
9y

Bournemouth's Eddie Howe the 'English Special One' - Gary Lineker

Eddie Howe was hailed by Gary Lineker as the "English Special One," while Harry Redknapp said he should be the "Lord Mayor" of the town after effectively securing Bournemouth's promotion.

Howe's side beat Bolton 3-0 in the Championship on Monday night and are now all but promoted to the Premier League.

Their ascent will be confirmed on Saturday at Charlton -- barring a set of unlikely results -- and former Bournemouth boss Redknapp was full of praise for the 37-year-old manager.

"Eddie deserves to be the Lord Mayor or something," Redknapp said on Sky Sports.

"It's fantastic, thoroughly deserved. They've been amazing all year and the football they produced tonight they have produced all year. It's a pleasure to come and watch them."

Redknapp had 464 games in charge of Bournemouth between 1983 and 1992, and the 68-year-old could not hide his delight after the final whistle.

"I'm very happy," he said. "Everybody has played a great part, the owner has put the money in, the chairman, the chief exec... Eddie has done an amazing job -- a fantastic manager.

"This is the best team in the history of Bournemouth."

Redknapp went on to praise the culture that Howe has fostered at the club.

"This is his club, he's got a lovely way about him, he encourages them to play football and not just boot it up the pitch," he added.

"They've bought into his ideas and I think, you can't speak highly enough of him. He's a quiet man, a quiet lad. I live here and you never hear anything bad about the players. No one says a bad word, they're a pleasure."

Lineker was also quick to hail Howe's achievements and has been impressed with the football that Bournemouth have been playing.

Howe himself admits his pessimistic nature meant he never really believed promotion to the Premier League was possible.

"I honestly didn't start thinking it, you don't want to think it is possible," he said. "You work every day on each game and I hadn't looked that far ahead, that is my honest answer.

"It has been so intense, the Championship is such an intense league and people were waiting for us to slip away. They were looking at our squad and saying it might not be deep enough to maintain our push.

"We just tried to win the games and didn't think about our position too much."

In 2009 Bournemouth were deducted 17 points for being in administration, were forced to use bucket collections to keep the club afloat and had just seven points from 22 games when Howe took charge of his hometown side at just 31.

''I thanked the fans for their support because this club was down on its knees six years ago, we had nothing,'' Howe said.

''But a group of supporters stuck with the club and put their own money from their pockets to keep the club alive. They are reaping the reward for all that loyal support.

''It is a club I watched as a kid and as a 12- and 13-year-old this is where I came to watch football every week. This club was good enough to give me a break as a player and a manager, I can't thank them enough.

''It shouldn't be them thanking me, it should be me thanking them for everything they have done. This club is a very special place and really does deserve its moment in the sun.''

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