EDDIE Howe admitted delegation was "one of my weaknesses" during his time at Cherries, adding: "I was consumed by the job."

Howe left the club in August, following an eight-year second spell in charge which included two promotions and a relegation.

The 42-year-old is currently without a job and enjoying some family time after he left Cherries by "mutual consent" a week after the club's five-year Premier League stay came to an end.

"I'm incredibly proud of everybody connected with the club that played their part in that journey," Howe said, speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports.

"It was such a unique journey through the leagues, so many things going against us throughout our time there. But just some brilliant memories now to look back on from my perspective.

"Obviously the club is still going and hopefully going in a really good direction now again, but I look back with immense pride."

Howe's former assistant Jason Tindall stepped up to become boss over the summer, with the rest of the previous coaching team also remaining at the club.

Howe has admitted his way of management "took an incredible amount out of you", and acknowledges he could have delegated more to those around him.

Asked if delegation was a problem for him, Howe said: "Probably one of my weaknesses I would say.

"I had very good staff with me all the way through, people that I trusted and I probably didn't delegate well enough because I was consumed by the job and I wanted the best for my players.

"It wasn't a problem with my staff's quality, not at all, but it was more my own quest to try and imprint myself on the players."

Quizzed on what he feels went wrong in his final season in charge of Cherries, Howe added: "I think we just lost our zip a little bit and there's various reasons for that. I think it's a combination of factors.

"A lot of injuries all through the team, different positions and I think when you lose your best players, it's well documented this season with the amount of injuries in the Premier League, when you lose your best players your team gets harmed.

"I think then what got harmed for us was confidence levels. If you don't go out into every game believing you're going to win or believing you can win, that's when there's trouble for your team.

"That's I think where we were last year. The ability of the team, for me, was never in question. It was just we couldn't get our best team on the pitch."