CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe described as a “no-brainer” the decision to reappoint Carl Fletcher as the club’s loan manager.

Fletcher left the same position at the Dorset club in October last year to become the first-team manager of Leyton Orient.

But less than a month into the job with the League Two outfit, he was sacked after no wins in five games.

In an interview with the Athletic last month, the former Wales international joked: "I hadn’t been away long enough for people to realise I’d left!”

And Howe insisted it was a boost to have Fletcher back at Cherries.

The boss told the Daily Echo: “He’s the best man to reappoint because he was doing a brilliant job for us in that role before.

“We obviously lost him and wished him well in his new role. We were trying to recruit someone to fill that position.

“Unfortunately for Carl, he quickly lost his job and it was a no-brainer for us because you had someone who already had the experience, the knowledge and bringing someone else in you’d possibly have to train them to get that.

“He’s a great fit for us, he’s doing really good work with the players there so we’re very happy with him.”

Fletcher, who also managed Plymouth Argyle between 2011 and 2013, admitted a return to first-team management “doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm”.

Howe added: “I think he’ll probably need some time to digest what happened and get his head around it.

“But I think the beauty of it is he’s got work to do for us and it’s such an all-consuming job, as every job really is within the football club, that he’s not going to have too much time to think.

“We did speak to Carl just to make sure that he was committed to us and to the role. We don’t want to be making changes in that position.

“We see it as a long-term role and we’re looking for stability there and he gave us the assurances we wanted.

“Look, you can never tell what’s going to happen in life, but at this moment in time he’s very focused on doing that job for the foreseeable future.”