Parker Out

[Facts Not Fiction]

Dean Smith would be another I'd like to see us approach if he gets sacked.

Knows the championship, and plays a good style.

[grandad]

Hughton is terrible choice. Ask any Brighton fan. Keep Scotty, he plays the right way just not very well at the moment. He is learning.

Get the defence sorted and we will be fine, even really good. Face it this is much better than last season and although frustrating we are not going down.It is a fun league and frankly I do not want promotion I would far rather we had a good season with some good wins and all the madness of the Championship. It's fun, Leeds game was great !

Who wants a boring 1-0 winning team all the time ? That is tedious and certainly not the Fulham way. Go support another club, that is simply not the FFC way.

Hughton, in every world, will be better than Parker.

In every word I would disagree with you.  I'm a bit on the fence where Parker is concerned but Hughton? No thanks.

In what department is Parker a better manager than Hughton?

Parker has a job & Hughton hasn´t. If he was that good he would have been snapped up by now.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Under the circumstances I thought Hughton was unfortunate to be sacked by both Brighton & Hove Albion. However, his system of play will bore the pants off us, more than you can ever imagine, with no guarantee that he will be more successful that Scott Parker. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but in Hughtons case it was more parched than fertile.

[ScalleysDad]

But Tosh comparisons with JOka are more weighted in his favour. 'The run' had some key players playing the football of their lives and this was not the coached version but the natural ability they had that forged unlikely partnerships.

Nearly spat out my cornflakes when I read this!

Does it apply to Hodgson as well - was it just luck and "unlikely partnerships" that made the likes of Etuhu and Zamora better than Cannavaro and Del Piero?
And I suppose the difference between Hodgson and say, Magath or Sanchez, was that Magath and Sanchez just didn't have that luck.

Since coaching makes no difference according to you, perhaps we should just stick the tea lady in charge and wait for her to get lucky with "key players playing the football of their lives" and "unlikely partnerships"

Whilst toying with my pain au chocolate this morning I wondered how on earth Hodgson, Sanchez and a couple of Italians got involved in a thread about Parker and my comments to Tosh. I had to look through my coaching manuals to see if I had missed something and then reread my post "key players playing the football of their lives". Did I misread Cairney, Stefjo and Sess getting a host of EFL awards during the period in question and for the most part has that form not been missing for quite a while now, pre Parker as well. Cairney was dictating games and that speed of thought and execution is not coached. He had Stefjo alongside doing the hard yards but also scoring goals. Unexpected bonus? Unlikely partnership? There has not been a similarly effective partnership since despite the huge amount of money spent to get one.
Back in the day I was at a seminar about FA Centres of Excellence. Terry Venables talked about how the selection process for centres could actually be detrimental to the game as under the criteria set then, circa 2002, the likes of Gascogne, Le Tissier and Gerry Francis would not get in. The whole process had to be flexible enough to allow this type of flair player to thrive and not be shackled by systems, results and tables. That approach only partly worked but many senior coaches left a space on the register for a player that 'had something special'. For the most part these players would be practicing free kicks, hitting targets at 25-30 metres or keeping the ball whilst being shadowed and not playing five a sides, fine tuning two touches or defending set plays. Cairneys natural flair got him and us out of many a problem. Do you think a coach took him to one side and showed him how to receive a ball, shield it, ride a tackle, change direction and lay off a twenty yard pass. Not many coaches can actually do that so it was 'natural flair'.

[Statto]

@ScalleysDad

I'm not disputing the concept of "natural flair" but if that's all that matters then why, according to you, is Cairney (and almost all our players) not doing as well now under Parker? Has he lost that "natural flair"?

Similarly, why did ostensibly average players like Etuhu get us to a European Cup final under Hodgson? Was that just "natural flair" too?

Nothing to do with the managers at the time? Nothing to do with coaching, advice, motivation, tactics, subs, a setup that exploit each player's best qualities, etc?

[Logicalman]

@ScalleysDad

I'm not disputing the concept of "natural flair" but if that's all that matters then why, according to you, is Cairney not doing as well now? Has he lost that "natural flair"?

Similarly, why did ostensibly average players like Etuhu get us to a European Cup final under Hodgson? Was that just "natural flair" too?

Nothing to do with the managers at the time? Nothing to do with coaching, advice, motivation, tactics that exploit each player's best qualities, etc?

I think that plays into it, totally, but just as you point out Natural Flair is not alone in determining outcome, perhaps neither is just the coaching, etc. I guess the trick is that a good coach can spot Natural Flair and incorporate it into their tactics, or adjust their tactics to accommodate natural flair?

[Statto]

I guess the trick is that a good coach can spot Natural Flair and incorporate it into their tactics, or adjust their tactics to accommodate natural flair?

Nail on head. Ergo Parker is not a "good coach"

[ScalleysDad]

@ScalleysDad

I'm not disputing the concept of "natural flair" but if that's all that matters then why, according to you, is Cairney (and almost all our players) not doing as well now under Parker? Has he lost that "natural flair"?

Similarly, why did ostensibly average players like Etuhu get us to a European Cup final under Hodgson? Was that just "natural flair" too?

Nothing to do with the managers at the time? Nothing to do with coaching, advice, motivation, tactics, subs, a setup that exploit each player's best qualities, etc?

None of our players were particularly good under both JOka and Ranieri last season and yes I believe he, Cairney, has lost 'it' but that has been the case for quite a while. Two years on, too many knocks, confidence shattered in the Prem? I saw a thread earlier where Cairney was dropped to the bench without a forum outcry which was sad to see. Parker was part of somebody else's game plan last year which was left in a royal mess for him to pick up. It would seem he had the support of key players then and I suppose by January 31st we will know if he stil has it. He seems to have been right about Onamah much to many posters angst.
As you mention Etuhu and Hodgson. Coaching, coaching and coaching and more of the same did that as well as a well drilled back four way better than what we have now. Some of Hodgsons sessions are a thing of beauty.
Parker will come good. Hodgson amongst many others says so.

[Twig]

Cairney looked really good today before picking up a niggle. Lost it? Not so sure.

[AnOldBrownie]

I guess the trick is that a good coach can spot Natural Flair and incorporate it into their tactics, or adjust their tactics to accommodate natural flair?

Nail on head. Ergo Parker is not a "good coach"

Today's first half is one example of quite a few where I think it's pertinent that we hold off judging whether or not Scott Parker is a good coach or not.

At first I thought Bobby Reid wasn't made for our system...yet he's scored 4 in 4.     I'd thought that Cyrus Christie was a poor FB, yet he's playing the position well.   I definitely had started to have concerns about Josh Onomah (Scott's pupil) yet when he left the game today there was an obvious offensive drop off.

Scott is getting his feet wet this season.  He's made poor decisions and he's made some good half time adjustments.

What I saw in the first 45 minutes today should be replicated every game, with hopefully an upgrade at both the CDM and CM positions helping us climb into the top 2.

I think Scott not being a consistently good coach is ok for this season.   He's liked by the owners and players, the team will undoubtedly win more games than they lose...they'll get better...and "hopefully" he'll at worst have the team in the top 6 of 24 teams at seasons end.

[SadOldGit]

Realistically I believe that of the 7 games we've lost this season, we could have won two and drawn 1.  That would give us an extra 7 points, and we'd still be third!  There are clubs like us that would love to have that problem.  Parker is going to be a winner.  With what, 8(?) managers in the past 10 years it's about time the bosses showed patience, courage and trust.

[Asotosyios]

What I saw in the first 45 minutes today should be replicated every game, with hopefully an upgrade at both the CDM and CM positions helping us climb into the top 2.

I don't think we need any more central midfielders: apart from Reid, Onomah and Cairney that started today, we also have Johansen, Arter, McDonald and O'Riley - also Reid has played as part of the midfield three.

Let's assume we get those CDM and CM you want. Who are you going to leave out of the starting eleven from the three that started today?

[ScalleysDad]

Cairney looked really good today before picking up a niggle. Lost it? Not so sure.

Yes, the man on the train said Cairney "looked more at ease". The Omanah effect, just a good day at the office or his form is picking up. What price on TC hitting top form with a more solid back four and a more aggressive midfield. Stranger things and all that.