Reunion of Hughes and Howe 'would surprise few'

Bournemouth's announcement on Tuesday that first-team technical director Richard Hughes would be leaving at the end of the season did not come as a surprise, though it ends his lengthy association with the Dorset club.

He arrived at Dean Court as a teenager in 1998, joined Portsmouth in 2002, then returned to Bournemouth in 2012 after a year out of the game before retiring for the second time in the summer of 2014 and taking on a backroom post under manager Eddie Howe.

Hughes' exact role and duties rather flew under the radar of most supporters in the early days, but the multilingual, Italy-raised Scot's influence behind the scenes soon became apparent as the Cherries spread their recruitment net across Europe and beyond.

Indeed, when Howe nearly took the Celtic job in 2021, the immediate speculation was that close friend Hughes would follow, and recent media reports have linked Hughes with several clubs including Liverpool, Roma and - inevitably - Newcastle.

A potential reunion with Howe on Tyneside, with Hughes effectively replacing sporting director Dan Ashworth (currently on gardening leave while compensation over a switch to Manchester United is thrashed out) would also surprise few in the game.

When Simon Francis was appointed as Hughes' assistant soon after his own retirement, it had the immediate air of succession planning by Bournemouth. Like Hughes, Francis has always come across in interviews as more intelligent and articulate than your average footballer, while both dabbled with media punditry as their playing careers drew to a close.

Owner Bill Foley credited Hughes and Francis with the identification of Andoni Iraola as the manager to take the club forward, a move which has borne fruit after many in the national media were quick to criticise Bournemouth for replacing Gary O'Neil with the Spaniard.

And Francis knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity. He joined Bournemouth in 2011 as a journeyman lower-division right-back who was struggling to get into Charlton's League One side. He went on to win two promotions (making the PFA divisional team of the season both times), successfully transitioned to centre-back in the top flight, and ended his career as a multi-year Premier League captain.

Francis' journey - and Bournemouth's - is far from over.