Former Arsenal man given backing in Bournemouth manager search | OneFootball

Patrick Vieira has done the hard work and received the grounding required to be capable of taking on the manager’s job at Bournemouth.

That’s according to Viera’s former Arsenal teammate Martin Keown, who is confident that the French World Cup winner is capable of making the required impact at The Vitality Stadium.

Vieira’s is one of a number of names to have been linked with the Bournemouth job following the sacking of Jason Tindall, and Keown believes that the former New York City and Nice boss has what it takes to step into the hotseat at the Cherries.

Speaking to TalkSport about Vieira’s links with the Bournemouth job, the ex-England international said: “I think he’s done the hard miles as a manager.

“In 2013 he was given the job to run the Man City reserve team and did that to really good effect, he then went to New York City, managed there for three seasons, he’s just done three seasons at Nice.

“I think he’s somebody who has got great leadership qualities, he knows exactly what he wants, he loves the game and wants to be a manager and he has that education, that grounding. It’s up to Bournemouth to decide what they want next.”

Vieira has been out of work since being sacked by Nice back in December after two-and-a-half years with the French club, having won 35 of his 89 games in charge of the Ligue 1 club.

Bournemouth are currently sixth in the Championship table, ten points adrift of the automatic promotion places going into their clash with Nottingham Forest at The City Ground on Saturday afternoon.

The Verdict

I do think that Keown may have a point here with his backing for Vieira.

Having already managed at top-flight level in both the USA and France, the 44-year-old would certainly not be lacking in experience and pedigree were he to take this job.

Indeed, with the insight he has into the English game from his time with Arsenal and Manchester City, you also feel as though he has the right background for a role such as this in every sense.

With the names that are being mentioned as candidates for this job, it will certainly be interesting to see just who gets it, and you do feel as though Vieira ought to have a good chance of being that man.