Bristol City have requested permission to speak to Bournemouth assistant boss Tommy Elphick about their vacant manager’s position, talkSPORT understands.
Any talks are not expected to take place until after Sunday’s final Premier League game of the season.
3
The Cherries have already secured European football for the first time in the club’s 127-year history.
And Elphick could help Bournemouth clinch Champions League qualification.
As it stands, the south coast outfit sit in sixth spot – three points behind Liverpool who occupy the final place in fifth.
Though with the Reds boasting a better goal difference of +6, Bournemouth look set to plying their trade in Europe’s second-tier competition.
Cherry picked?
Bournemouth are already planning for a new manager with Marco Rose confirmed to succeed Andoni Iraola at the end of the campaign.
And talkSPORT understands that Bournemouth, whose draw against Manchester City on Tuesday resulted in Arsenal being crowned as Premier League champions, want to keep hold of Elphick.
Meanwhile, there is also a possibility that Iraola will look to bring Elphick with him for his next managerial role.
The 38-year-old has been part of Bournemouth’s backroom staff since taking a coaching position with the development squad in September 2021.
He was promoted to become their interim assistant manager following Scott Parker’s sacking in August 2022, with his position made permanent after Gary O’Neill’s appointment four months later.
An icon at Bournemouth, ex-centre-back Elphick scored five goals in 142 outings for the club between 2012-2016 – helping them earn promotion from League One in 2013, before winning the Championship in 2015.
3
Should Elphick decide to join the Robins, he would replace Roy Hodgson in the dugout.
Hodgson returned to Ashton Gate in March – 44 years after he had a brief 21-game spell in charge at in 1982.
Taking over on an interim basis following Gerhard Struber’s sacking, the 78-year-old picked up 11 points from his seven matches.
He won three and drew two fixtures to guide the Robins to a 12th-placed finish in what was the club’s 11th successive season in England’s second-tier.
But he has been adamant that he did not want the job on a full-time basis – a statement he once again made clear after Bristol’s 2-0 win over Stoke on the final day of the Championship season.
After helping seal a top-half finish, Hodgson said: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I didn’t actively seek this position and, much as I have enjoyed being back at Bristol City, it seems unlikely that a similar situation will arise again.
3
“If someone says, ‘We need you to do a job,’ and I think I can, then maybe, but it’s a long shot.
“I am certainly not going to be putting my name out there because there are lots of managers and coaches needing jobs.
“The game has been very kind to me and I don’t need the work anymore.
“It’s nice to go out on a win and, while I didn’t think it was one of our better performances, I couldn’t fault any of the players for effort.
“Next week I have a meeting planned with the club’s chief executive and then another with the owner, who was not able to be here today.
“I have left it in their hands to talk about the next manager and recruitment for next season, but of course if I am asked for an opinion, I will be happy to give it.”
