EDDIE Howe stressed the need to “push new boundaries” at Cherries after reflecting on his first decade in management.

The Cherries boss will bid to mastermind victory for the Dorset club at Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday (4.30pm).

Howe first stepped into the hotseat at Dean Court as a 31-year-old on New Year's Eve of 2008 following the departure of Jimmy Quinn.

He received a phone call offering him the role while at a party at Richard Hughes’s house.

Cherries had been 91st in the Football League pyramid at that point, with Howe working in the club’s centre of excellence.

Ten years on and now in his second spell as Cherries manager following a stint at Burnley, the 41-year-old has piloted the club to 12th in the top flight this season.

With 10 more points at the halfway stage than the previous campaign, boss Howe insisted he would never stand still in search of perfection.

He said: “For me as a person, I have just thrown myself into the job on every level. The job has consumed me.

“I am just a walking football person. I am thinking football constantly. Every minute is evolved around the job and making sure I’m continuing to take the team and the club forward and it never stops.

“The thing I have noticed in recent years, when you get to the Premier League, is how quickly the game changes.

“You can never be complacent or content with your work. You have to consistently try to push new boundaries.”

Howe’s revolution is a far cry from the club structure he took charge of 10 years ago.

He was offered the job initially on a caretaker basis and presided over League Two defeats at Darlington and Rotherham.

But having been made permanent manager in January 2009, the former centre-back pulled off the great escape to keep Cherries in the Football League that season.

During the same campaign, Sunday’s opponents Manchester United celebrated winning the Premier League. They were runners-up in the Champions’ League and won the FIFA World Club Cup.

Asked if there was a moment where he felt he was not ready for management at that time, Howe replied: “Probably all the way through!

“When I was appointed permanently, that was a change in me then. There was no way out. It was ‘this is going to be you and you’ve got to make a success of this’.

“It was a very shrewd move by the club to make it permanent and put all the doubt in the back of the players’ minds.

“Coming from where we were to where we are now - it’s incredible and I wouldn’t change it.

“I wouldn’t change all the hard times and the moments where you are doubting whether we could achieve things or go any further.

“But it has happened and I think that has been a very valuable lesson to me – that you can never say never, you can never say you can’t achieve anything.”