MANAGER Eddie Howe said he would speak with Cherries’ owner Maxim Demin as well as the board of directors regarding the next steps taken by the club following relegation.

The Cherries boss was speaking after his side sealed a 3-1 victory at Everton today – but it proved not enough to keep them in the Premier League.

Aston Villa recorded a point against West Ham with a 1-1 draw at London Stadium, meaning Cherries were relegated having finished 18th in the top-flight table.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “I think the next step for me is to speak to the owner and the board of directors and see where we go from here.

“We need to have a strong vision of the future, so I think that’s the next step.”

Goals from Joshua King, Dominic Solanke and Junior Stanislas were not enough for the Dorset club, whose own destiny was taken out of their hands ahead of the final day.

Howe added: “I feel very emotional, sad, dejected, loads of different things that of course are difficult emotions to feel.

“In terms of feeling and emotions, this has been the hardest moment of my career. I know the players are hurting – I saw the dressing room.

“I was with the players, albeit not for too long. They are all very disappointed with what’s happened, not so much today but obviously during the season we haven’t been good enough.

“We performed very well today, it was an excellent team performance – one of our best performances in a long time.

“When you look at the team today you think it’s never a team that’s going to be relegated but that is the reality and that is what we have to deal with.”

Asked whether there was anything he could have done differently, 42-year-old Howe said: “Loads of things. Of course, with hindsight you would do things differently.

“I’d love to have the games again – especially post lockdown because our early performances after lockdown weren’t good enough.

“Ultimately, that’s probably cost us. There’s games we look at there and think, if we’d have got something from them it would have been very different.

“But that’s one of the beauties of football and in life. You can’t go back. You just have to learn from what’s happened, certainly there’s a lot to reflect on.”

Cherries finished with nine wins from their 38 league fixtures, as well as seven draws and 22 defeats to total 34 points.

Villa managed to beat the drop on 35 points. Watford (34) and Norwich (21) were the two sides also confirmed as heading back to the Championship next season.