GARY ROWETT has lauded AFC Bournemouth manager Scott Parker and has played down the role of finances in the Cherries' promotion.
Parker achieved his second promotion to the Premier League after beating Nottingham Forest last week, his side then finished the season with a win over Rowett's Millwall.
Kieffer Moore scored the only goal as the Cherries defeated the Lions 1-0. Parker's squad is one of the most expensively assembled in the Championship, costing nearly £200m.
The result left Millwall, whose squad cost £7.5m, to finish the season in 9th place.
Bournemouth had the luxury of being able to bench £19 million striker Dominic Solanke and £12 million defender Chris Mepham during the match against Millwall.
The total cost of all the squads in the Championship per their most recent accounts come to £1,193 million. Over a third of the total relates to two clubs. pic.twitter.com/5wbgnveFjc
— Price Of Football (@KieranMaguire) April 20, 2022
Rowett was asked if he was jealous of Parker's resources after the game, but he believes that success is not just bought and that his former Charlton teammate is doing a brilliant job on the south coast.
He said: “Bloody loads of jealousy, what are you talking about? You are kidding, aren’t you, no I’m not jealous at all of Solanke and Kieffer Moore.
“Listen, I spoke to him before the game.
“I played with Scotty at Charlton, he’s a great lad.
“Top, top player and what he’s turned into is a top young manager.
“He’s had two promotions with two very good sides but you’ve still got to turn that mentality around.
“He’s got a really fit, mobile team with a mixture of youth and experience. And they run for him.
“I said that to him before the game, you’ve got good players to run for you and that’s half the challenge as a manager, because they’ve got the quality.
“He’s done a fantastic job, I wouldn’t want to take anything away just because they’ve got a good squad.
“You’ve still got to lead it, you’ve still got to shape it and it’s a tough division.
“They’ve been absolutely fantastic this season. Them and Fulham have been the ones that have most deserved to be promoted automatically.”
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