Bournemouth will begin searching for Scott Parker’s successor following the closing of the transfer window after the 41-year-old paid the price for going public with his repeated criticism of the club for not investing sufficiently on their return to the Premier League. A thinly-veiled statement from owner Maxim Denim stated that Parker was not “aligned to run the club sustainably” and Gary O’Neil took interim charge of this drab goalless draw against Wolves. On the pitch, there was little to enthuse about in a 90 minutes best described as attritional. Bournemouth hadn’t scored since the opening day and left Jose Sa largely untroubled in the Wolves goal whilst Bruno Lage’s side are now without a league win in 12 matches. The Cherries did have a penalty appeal early on when Pedro Neto challenged Jordan Zemura from behind but Anthony Taylor rightly dismissed the fanciful protests and Wolves cleared their lines. On Wednesday, Lage completed the singing of 6ft 7in striker Sasa Kalajdzic from Stuttgart and he will provide much-needed support for Raúl Jiménez who continues to search for his best form since returning from a fractured skull last season. Wolves had the better of things with more possession and more shots but lacked a ruthless streak in the final third to capitalise on the slick approach play of their Portuguese triumvirate in midfield: Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Matheus Nunes. The closest they came was when Nunes rattled a dipping volley against the angle of post and crossbar, pictured below, after Neto had headed the ball back to him.
Neto later went close as he fired narrowly wide from 25 yards after cutting in from his right-hand berth to create the chance.
Following their 9-0 capitulation at Liverpool, interim manager O’Neil opted to give Bournemouth’s own Neto his Premier League debut in goal at the expense of Mark Travers who found himself on the bench.
For long periods, he had little to do with Wolves slick in the build-up but lacking penetration where it mattered most. “Bruno, Bruno, make a sub” rang out from the away contingent as Adama Traoré readied himself with 15 minutes remaining. There were plenty of groans from those who had made the midweek journey from the Black Country.
Jiménez had the chance to seal victory 13 minutes from time when substitute Daniel Podence put him clean through but the Mexican scooped wide of the post as Neto advanced on him.
In their best spell of the second half, Wolves then went close again as Jiménez headed the ball back across the six-yard box to Podence whose close-range header was cleared brilliantly off the line by the retreating Lloyd Kelly.
This is a point which will suit Bournemouth better than Wolves and, given the fixture list they have had, four points from five games can be viewed as an acceptable return. Whether Parker’s insistence that there is insufficient quality to ensure survival over 38 games remains to be seen.