5 former players who currently manage their old club

#3 Eddie Howe - Bournemouth

Eddie Howe is a club legend at Bournemouth

The Premier League has a reputation for being a playground for both expensive foreign bosses with big reputations and the British “old boys” club – managers like David Moyes, Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew who manage to be recycled over and over despite various failings. On the odd occasion, there’s a manager who bucks that trend, and one of them right now is Bournemouth’s stylish young boss Eddie Howe.

Howe has gained a reputation for moulding teams who look to play attractive, attacking football, and due to his success, he’s already been touted as a potential future England boss. Right now, however, he seems intrinsically linked to Bournemouth, and in all honesty, it’d be surprising to see him leave anytime soon. And it makes sense when you consider that during a playing career that lasted for thirteen years, eleven of them were spent at Dean Court.

A strong defender, Howe spent the first eight years of his career with Bournemouth after coming up through their youth system. He became a key part of their side and even played for England’s u-21 team in 1998, and then went on to become Harry Redknapp’s first signing for Portsmouth in 2002.

But he always remained popular at Bournemouth – when Portsmouth loaned him back there in 2004/05 and offered him a permanent move, the Cherries couldn’t afford to sign him until the fans clubbed together and raised £21,000 to fund the move.

Retiring in 2007, Howe took over the reins at Bournemouth in 2008 and managed them for almost three seasons before moving to Burnley. Like his playing moves away from Bournemouth though, it was a brief move, and he was soon back at Dean Court – where he masterminded two promotions in three seasons to put the Cherries into the Premier League for the first time. He’s a true club legend.