Eddie Howe made an emotional apology to Bournemouth fans, as he saw his side relegated from the Premier League on the final day.
A fine win at Everton wasn’t enough for survival as Aston Villa secured the point they needed for safety, and the Cherries boss admitted it was the toughest day of his career, as his players shed tears in the dressing room.
Howe also suggested that he will now have talks with the club’s owners over his future as manager, and he said: “I feel deeply sorry for our supporters. and as a manager I take full responsibility, for this.
“The performances this season haven’t been good enough and I would like to say sorry to the fans for that. I feel so very sorry for them tonight, and sorry that they couldn’t even be here to share this moment with us.
“In terms of emotions I feel very disappointed, dejected and very emotional. This was the hardest moment of my career, no doubt. I saw the players in the dressing room and they are hurting, they are so disappointed with what happened.
"But the performances haven’t been good enough this season, and we will have to reflect on that.”
Howe suggested that he will meet with the Bournemouth board in the next few days, and the implication seemed to be that he will discuss his own future after the misery of relegation.
“You look at our team today and you’d say it was a team that was never going to be relegated, but it’s a reality and you have to deal with it,” he said.
“There is a lot to take in, because in the season as a whole we haven’t hit the standard of performance we have come to expect.
“So there will be a period of reflection. The best step for me is to speak to the owner and the board of directors to see where we go from here. There is a very strong vision for the future, and we will have to discuss where we go with that.”
