CHERRIES will suffer relegation from the Premier League under inexperienced boss Gary O’Neil, believes former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.

Jordan was speaking today as part of his regular co-presenter spot on talkSPORT.

Cherries have scored just one league goal and picked up a solitary point since O’Neil moved from being interim to permanent head coach in November.

That run has seen them tumble down the table, into the Premier League relegation zone with 17 games to play.

Two of Cherries’ relegation rivals have sacked their managers in the past few weeks, with Frank Lampard replaced by Sean Dyche at Everton and Leeds United seeking a new boss after dismissing Jesse Marsch on Monday.

Discussing the situation at Cherries, Jordan said: “We worked with Gary O’Neil in this studio. He’s a thoroughly nice lad.

“I do think the challenge for him of managing Bournemouth in the Premier League was always going to be a difficult one.

“I was an advocate of him not getting the job. Not because I don’t like him, not because I don’t rate him, but because I think he’s got one opportunity to be a manager and it might have been a very difficult task.

“I know you’ve got to take the ones that are in front of you. If they are prepared to stay with Gary O’Neil and prepared to learn with Gary O’Neil and they are prepared to be relegated with Gary O’Neil and give him the chance to get them back, that’s one thing.

“If they’re getting Gary O’Neil in, in my view, to stay in the Premier League, with all due respect to the fella, who I like, I think it’s a fool’s errand.”

He continued: “Players do not change. You saw the reaction from the players when Scott Parker was booted out the door.

“They all reacted in a way that ultimately they didn’t like what Scott Parker was saying and they didn’t think they were as bad as Scott Parker was alluding to. They all pulled themselves together.

“How have they been since Gary O’Neil got the job? Since he moved from being a person that was potentially going to get the job, somebody in situ that they liked and spoke their language, to the guy who has now got the job.

“He has moved from being a temporary manager, filling a gap, potentially playing players the way they want to play, to being a full-time manager now.

“They’ve lost. They’re not winning anything. They’ve dropped down from where they were, which was moving towards mid-table, their now in the relegation zone. I expected them to be there, so why put Gary O’Neil in charge?

“Gary O’Neil got a bump, he got the false dawn. They’re going to get relegated. They might’ve had the choice to have had a more experienced manager.”

Reflecting on improvements at Everton, Wolves and Aston Villa since changing managers, Jordan added: “The fella in the dugout knows precisely what he’s doing. He’s in a space and place where he knows what the solutions are, he’s experienced, he’s managed at big football clubs.

“Now let’s look at Bournemouth. With due respect to Gary, look at (Julen) Lopetegui, an international manager. Look at his career.

“Look at Sean Dyche’s achievements at Burnley. Look at (Unai) Emery.

“Look at those guys, they’ve got form of understanding what it takes to be a manager. You can’t buy experience.”