ONE of the men behind Bournemouth’s meteoric rise to the Premier League feels “betrayed” after the club axed him, claiming they could not AFFORD to keep him on.
Johnny Yems spent nearly six years with the Cherries and was a key member of Eddie Howe’s backroom team.
In fact, he was responsible for bringing Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall back to Bournemouth from Burnley.
The highly-respected coach worked closely with — and mentored — the management duo as the three of them guided the south coast minnows into the top flight for the first time in their history.
In charge of scouting and recruitment, Yems identified and signed many of the stars who got the club promoted and kept them there.
They include winger Matt Ritchie, signed from Swindon for £400,000 in 2013 and then sold to Newcastle three years later for £12million, and striker Callum Wilson, now valued at £35m after Yems oversaw his arrival from Coventry in 2014 for a bargain £3m.
When Yems joined Bournemouth they were struggling to survive in League One.
Last year they earned £113m in TV and prize money alone after preserving their Prem status for a third successive season.
No wonder Yems feels aggrieved after the club told him they were axing him because they could not afford to keep his £45,000 a year role as football operations manager.
And, to rub salt into the wounds, they gave him a statutory pay-off of just £3,810 plus holiday pay.
But Yems, 59, said: “It’s not about the money, it’s the way they have treated me.
“I like to think I played my part in their success and getting them to where they are now.
“To say I feel let down by them is an understatement. I feel totally betrayed.”
Yems was brought in by former chairman Eddie Mitchell with the approval of owner, Russian businessman Maxim Demin.
The ex-Crawley boss holds the prestigious Uefa A coaching licence and is a hugely respected figure in the game after spells with a long list of clubs including Fulham, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Exeter, Torquay and Gillingham in a 30-year career.
Yems recalled: “Bournemouth were struggling in League One when I went in. We had a five-year plan to get into the Premier League. Eddie and Jason were central to that.
“It wasn’t easy but we finally managed to get them to come back. All of our contracts were incentive based. I knew what their contracts were. I was on £60,000 a year but with excellent bonuses.
“Over the next five or six years we became a three-man team. They worked on the coaching side, I on the scouting and player recruitment.
“And because of my contacts I was the one who introduced them to senior figures in the game.
“Before games they would ask my opinion on selection and players.
“Together we built probably the best squad of players I have ever known in 30 years in the game.
“And with Eddie and Jason coaching them it is no surprise we ended up in the Premier League.”
Yems was a familiar figure in the dugout with the pair and popular with the players as the Cherries won promotions to the Championship and the Premier League.
When he suffered a health scare in 2015, which forced him to reduce his hours on medical advice, he took a voluntary drop in salary to £45,000 a year.
Then last February he was informed by chief executive Neill Blake that his contract would not be renewed.
Yems said: “I was told there was no money at the club so they could not sanction another contract for me from February onwards.
“Eddie and Jason told me not to worry and they would sort it out.
“So I didn’t worry because I trusted them.
“We had been so close for six years. I had no reason to doubt them.
“Then three days after our final game of the season my P45 came through the door.
“I phoned Eddie and Jason again and they again told me not to worry.”
But when the big kick-off came and nothing had happened, Yems decided to take legal advice.
Unfortunately the three-month period in which he could appeal against the club’s decision had now elapsed.
Yems added: “It meant there was nothing I could do. To make matters worse, my legal bill was £3,500, which was nearly all my redundo money.”
He added: “Of course I am disappointed to lose my job — we had some great times at the club — but I accept that is their prerogative.
“However, I’d rather they were honest and told me the real reasons for getting rid of me because I am now going for other jobs and people cannot believe a Prem club in this day and age has made me redundant due to a lack of money.
“They understandably think something else must have gone on — which it hasn’t. Had they just said to me, ‘Yemsy, we are going a different way and you are not part of our plans’ I’d have totally accepted it.
“But for a club earning millions and millions to say they cannot afford to keep me on at 45 grand a year is absolute nonsense and I don’t believe it. And more importantly for my future job prospects, a lot of other people don’t believe it either.
“They think I must have had my hand in the till — or worse!
“That is not the case, you can ask Bournemouth and I have the letters to prove it.
“Chief exec Neill Blake told me after 30 years I was lucky to be involved in football. What a cheek, I’ve forgotten more about the game than he knows.
“I’ve still got a lot to offer and I am hoping when people read this I’ll get a few calls.”
Bournemouth said in a statement: “We can confirm John Yems, left the club at the end of June 2018, upon the expiry of his contract and following a review of the role.
“The club would like to thank John for his service over 5½ years.”
