However great Eddie Howe’s and Bournemouth’s stories are, it’s been influenced by Liverpool men Brendan Rodgers and Sean O’Driscoll, the young Cherries manager has confirmed, as quoted by ITV Sport.
On Monday, the 37-year-old gets to face off against the two men he considers role models as his Bournemouth side visit Anfield in one of the biggest games in their history.
Speaking in his news conference prior to that game, the former Burnley manager said: “[Rodgers has] been a role model, really, for me. Someone you look up to and admire. I admired watching his Swansea teams play.
“When you try and analyse games and analyse systems, and philosophies, he’s certainly someone that I’ve looked at. I respect the way he conducts himself as well.
“I think he’s now building another Liverpool team, a new Liverpool team, this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how they do.
“Liverpool are going to be up there competing in the top places in the league, there’s no doubt about that. That’s why it’s going to be one of our toughest games of the season. [It’s] Liverpool’s first home game of the season, making it even more special. For us, we’ve got to make sure we turn up.”
Brendan Rodgers enjoyed great success during his time as the manager of the Swans, winning them promotion before showing the Premier League how a newly-promoted team can still play good football, which earned him his move to Anfield when Kenny Dalglish left.
He’s not always been successful since, but he almost guided the Reds to their first Premier League title in 2013-14, and has played good football on the whole while in charge.
O’Driscoll meanwhile, only joined the club as the assistant manager this year, after a spell managing the England Under-19 teams, preceded by roles in charge of Bristol City, Crawley, Nottingham Forest, Doncaster Rovers and Bournemouth, where he managed Howe for a number of years.
And Howe was also full of praise for his former manager, quoted by the Liverpool Echo as saying: “It won’t mean anything to me during the game because you’re working and you’re there to do a job and get a result, but it’s great to see Sean doing so well and at a great club like Liverpool, so congratulations to him on that move.
“I thought it was nothing more than he deserved, really, because he’s an outstanding coach. It’s great to see the good guys do well in football. I’m delighted for him but when we meet up it’ll be purely work.
“(O’Driscoll was) probably hugely influential, without me really directly knowing it, in a sense that you’re moulded by experiences and people that you work with and work for.
“I was associated with Sean for a long time, way back to my youth team days. Naturally, when you look at someone and observe them closely you inherit their beliefs and some of the ways that they work.
“I certainly believe Sean had a huge part in my management style. Obviously he’s moved on and I haven’t seen or worked with him for a long time, but I think that stays with you.
“I was very lucky, as a young professional, to have such a forward-thinking coach as Sean.”
