Marcus Tavernier says the pending departure of head coach Andoni Iraola has only made Bournemouth hungrier to compete for their goal of achieving European qualification.<\/p>\n
The Cherries boosted their hopes of securing their debut on the continent with a 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, while stretching their club-record unbeaten run to 13 games.<\/p>\n
Adrien Truffert scored a late winner at St. James’ Park, where Tavernier’s first-half strike had been cancelled out by William Osula.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth subsequently moved level on points with sixth-place Chelsea, who will play Manchester United later on Saturday, in what was their first match since Iraola announced he would leave the club at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
“Football changes thick and fast, and it has made us want to compete more for the rest of the season,” Tavernier said.\u00a0“We want to achieve getting into Europe; it’s tight in and around us at the moment.<\/p>\n
“We’re performing consecutively for games and keeping our performances high, and that’s why we are doing well.<\/p>\n
“We’re in great form, 13 unbeaten now. That’s not lucky from us. We’ve worked hard and earned it on the training pitch.”<\/p>\n
“We are in a good place and arriving at an important part of the season,” Iraola added.\u00a0“We are trying to keep this unbeaten run [going] as long as we can, because the players have shown me they will take no days off.<\/p>\n
“Very pleased, I think we played really well. At 1-1, the game changed, which was expected, but we showed composure to keep playing.\u00a0This is a very difficult place to come as an away team, but overall, we have defended really well.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Newcastle were booed off following their eighth defeat in 11 Premier League matches, with only Tottenham suffering more losses since the start of 2026 (nine).<\/p>\n
The Magpies’ poor form has led to speculation surrounding the future of head coach Eddie Howe, which he acknowledges is understandable.<\/p>\n
“When you’re not delivering what you want for your supporters, that really hurts,” he said.\u00a0“It’s the ultimate disappointment when you feel like you’re letting people down.<\/p>\n
“When you lose games for this football club, there’s always going to be noise and that sort of media attention on the club. You understand you’re in the business to win. I certainly feel all the frustrations of everyone else.<\/p>\n
“I think the lads were present. They were trying. I don’t think there’s a lack of motivation. We’re certainly not playing well at the moment. I don’t doubt the character of the players.<\/p>\n
“I thought we fought back well in the second half. At 1-1, I felt we could be the team that goes on and wins the game. We never quite stamped our authority from that moment. Similar to recent weeks, we conceded a poor goal late on.<\/p>\n
“They’re a very good team. I don’t think there was a lot in the game. At home, we should be more productive in front of goal. That’s probably been my biggest disappointment. I don’t think we were under massive pressure in the game, but they had more product.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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