Paywall Article about Scott Parker on The Athletic website

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

https://theathletic.com/2051184/2020/09/09/scott-parker-the-manager-fulham-premier-league/

Behind a paywall so can't read it myself, but the Athletic has some good writing if of interest.

[Deeping_white]

For those who would like to read it but don't have a subscription (FYI they've got an offer of £1 a month for 6 months at the moment):

Matt Lock was in a bad way. The academy midfielder was going through the transition of leaving Tottenham Hotspur in 2018, trying to figure out what was coming next, where he wanted to go, and whether he still wanted to pursue a career in football.

His under-18s coach was Scott Parker, someone who, as a player, had reached the highest level and captained his country but was taking his first steps in coaching.

At half-time, in a youth game against Norwich City, Lock wanted out. "Scott was talking to all of the boys, explaining individually what he wanted, where it was going wrong, what he was expecting them to do in the second half," Lock, who now plays and studies at Campbell University in North Carolina, tells The Athletic.

"My game was going a bad way. I was at the stage where I'd had enough. I just said to Scott, 'Take me off, I'm not up for it, just take me off'.

"He took me to one side and got into my head, asking what was going on. He told me to calm down, realise what was going wrong and get back out on the pitch and play. 'You can't give up in the middle of the game because it's not just about you'. He still took the chance on me and put me back out. Other coaches would have just said, 'You're out' and kick you out the door. He took the time to say, 'This isn't the way, you've got to push through it, you can do it'.

Matt Lock Tottenham Hotspur Scott Parker
Parker went out of his way to help Lock at Tottenham (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
"Scott was there to help me, not put pressure on me. He was just there as a support to help me make a decision (on his next steps). He was so easy to approach and talk to."

For Parker the manager, man-management is central to everything. Lock's experience does not differ from the experiences of the Fulham squad and reflects one of the cornerstones of his style. It stems from his own experiences as a player, gleaning elements of success from the coaches he worked under, including Jose Mourinho, Graeme Souness, Claudio Ranieri, Harry Redknapp and Alan Curbishley.

Parker the manager has a razor-sharp focus on the small details and a well-defined tactical philosophy, reflecting his personality and style as a player. He knew how he wanted his teams to play even before calling time on his playing days. But, above all, he places great emphasis on understanding his players — that is why he commissioned an external company to assess his squad's personalities last summer, profiling each player to improve communication with them. He learned who prefers hard home truths, who wants an arm around the shoulder.

"I believe in managing people," Parker said after completing his UEFA Pro Licence. "I believe in creating an environment and culture that people want to come to work in. If you create that, then you have every opportunity to be successful."

Parker has changed a "losing mentality" at Fulham and replaced it with a resilience that returned the club to the Premier League immediately. His reward was a three-year contract, a sign of mutual commitment from club and manager to pursue the stability that was lacking in the relegation season of 2018-19.

Now, Parker is using a different approach to avoid the same outcome. It is his biggest challenge, one primed to re-establish Fulham as an established top-flight side.

From a very early stage, it was clear that Parker would move into management. Even the untrained observer could sense his leadership potential, his communication as a player, the way he directed team-mates when he captained Newcastle United, West Ham United, Tottenham, Fulham and, once, England. He was a midfielder who led by communication and example. That approach was typified in West Ham's 3-3 draw with West Bromwich Albion in 2011. With his side 3-0 down, Parker was singled out by his team-mates for his inspiring words at half-time.

At 15, when he was selected to England School Boys at Lilleshall, his leadership qualities were evident to technical advisor John Peacock. Through his roles with the FA, Peacock has played an instrumental role in Parker's career, later developing the bespoke FA pilot course that Parker took for his UEFA A Licence alongside Brad Friedel and Michael Emenalo in 2013, and then becoming course director for his Pro Licence.

"He was keen to ask questions, to better himself and improve on every coaching practice he was undertaking," Peacock tells The Athletic.

"What you get with Scott is that he is very humble and honest. He was great in the discussions with other coaches because of his knowledge and the level he played at. He's open; always taking the chance to get the advice from different people."

If there was a period that tested Parker's leadership qualities more than any other, it may have been his first season as a Fulham player. He arrived at Craven Cottage in 2013 — a tumultuous Premier League campaign that cycled through three managers and ended in relegation.

Brede Hangeland played alongside Parker during that unsettling campaign and remembers the club's final manager of the season, Felix Magath, being someone who "couldn't be further from Scott's mentality". Despite that and all the other difficulties, Hangeland believes Parker's best qualities stood out.

"I remember very clearly, it was the end of the season; you have this feeling that you are losing players, one by one, to this madness that we were involved in. But we never lost Scott," Hangeland tells The Athletic.

"We had a lot of players with no real connection to the club, so you perhaps forgive them for starting to think about themselves but there was a small minority who would always try and play for the club — he was definitely one. I remember thinking that he didn't have to be that way because it was his first season.

"He must have struggled just as bad as me with it. You would see players almost die inside one by one with Magath. Scott didn't. He always stood up for what he believed."

That was demonstrated the following pre-season when Parker paid the fines of two youth players — understood to be Emerson Hyndman and Moussa Dembele — for being late pre-season in Austria under a ruthless Magath. Parker didn't dispute the crime but politely disagreed with the proportion of punishment — the young players were fined £10,000, despite only earning roughly £2,000 a week. Magath did not relent, so Parker paid their fines.

Despite the turmoil, Hangeland could see that Parker had the characteristics that would serve him well in management.

"He showed every sign as a player that he could be someone who could and should make that step into management," Hangeland says. "He was very critical of himself and honest about his performance. And because of that, he could, with some strength, criticise others.

"Towards the end of that season, he was one of the leaders in terms of how he played, how he spoke, and in his behaviour. He set an example in a troubled club. He was a first-class example of how to conduct yourself."

Parker made inroads towards coaching well before his retirement. He secured his UEFA B Licence while at Tottenham and began working on his A Licence with Peacock at Fulham. He progressed quickly towards attaining a Pro Licence, the highest coaching certification available, which he completed in 2016. Former Fulham player Jim Hicks tutored Parker through his Pro Licence and recalls a budding coach who absorbed everything — good and bad — throughout his career.

"He had a really clear idea about what he thought about people's behaviours, what he thought about how his team was going to play," Hicks tells The Athletic. "Those things were defined. You can't stumble across that. He must have been thinking about throughout his playing career, taking good and bad examples."

One of Parker's biggest influences was former Tottenham academy director John McDermott, who now works with the FA. McDermott encouraged Parker to move into coaching and, after his retirement at Fulham, immediately presented him the opportunity to work with Tottenham's under-18.

Slavisa Jokanovic brought Parker back to Fulham in a first-team coaching capacity but it wasn't long before he was thrust into the limelight. For Hicks, the one thing that stood out about Parker was his readiness for an opportunity. As head of coaching at the PFA since 2006, Hicks places emphasis on a coach's ability to take a chance when it is given to them.

For Parker, his first job came as caretaker manager at a club that were in a tailspin. But he already knew how he would steer them out of it. He was ready.

"Scott was one of the exceptional ones and one thing that sets him apart is that he listened to that advice about always preparing," says Hicks. "With everything that's going on as a player and with his family, he was still preparing quite sophisticated and mature thoughts: how he was going to behave, what standards he expected for his players, what his pre-season would look like; what's his style going to be? What he's going to do on set pieces? He thought it all through."

It's hard not to notice Parker's immaculate dress sense in the dugout. It's part of his make-up; as a player, he would dress supremely well and even on the field, he was old-school, with his shirt tucked into shorts.

parker-suit
(Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
As a Fulham player, Parker once attended a Christmas signing session at the Cottage dressed in a bow tie, having changed out of his club tracksuit. He was mercilessly laughed at by team-mates but by the time he left, there was little doubting among those in attendance who was the best-dressed.

It's not done for show. Parker is not flash or loud — when he speaks, his words hold greater gravitas. "He knows himself well enough to realise where he wants to be within a room," says Hicks. "He doesn't want to be front and centre." Parker's dress sense reflects the standards he holds of himself and also what he expects from those around him, in all matters. Everyone you speak to about Parker hails his professionalism. He expects the same from his players.

"Scott is a classy guy," says Hicks. "The way he conducts himself, the way he behaves around people, the way he respects officials.

"In football, image is important, and the style he portrays — and by style, you could even probably put that with a capital S — means he looks a sophisticated, thinking manager. He is exactly that. It's not just an image. He has demonstrated that he can do the job.

"He wants his team to play stylishly. He wants to come off the pitch and be proud of those players playing a possession-based game, which looks entertaining and exciting to be a part of."

There is a sense with Parker that you get exactly what you see, typified by the honest interview he gave Sky Sports after Fulham's play-off victory over Brentford.

That honesty translates to the way he communicates with his players. One-on-one meetings take place regularly, with his door open to his players. That level of dialogue has meant it was possible to reintegrate players such as Aboubakar Kamara, who was arrested on suspicion of assault at the training ground last year. Parker conducts meetings with different groups — defenders, midfielders, forwards or other circles within the squad to convey messages. Dialogue is what underpins his management approach and it is appreciated by the squad.

"He's one of the best motivational leaders that I've worked with, by a country mile," defender Joe Bryan tells The Athletic. "You can say, 'Look gaffer, this hasn't been done very well' and if you deliver it in the right way, he'll go, 'OK, I agree with you. We'll change that going forward'. Or, 'No, I disagree with that, Joe. But these are the reasons why, and I hope you respect my decision'.

"It's just about treating your players as adults and being able to listen. There might be a senior player in the squad that has experience in an area you're less familiar with. If they can deliver advice or constructive criticism in the right way, that's a good thing. It's good to have an environment where everyone's willing to learn.

"Everyone wanted him to be appointed (after his caretaker spell). He wants to play football in the right way. He's hardworking and well-respected. He also treats you like a human being: 'How's your missus? How's your family?'. He'll say 'Joe, you didn't play very well at the weekend but you went back to Bristol. Did you have a good time?'.

"A lot of people miss that in this game."

Parker is judged on winning matches, which was no mean feat considering the job he inherited. Fulham were reeling after the dismissals of Jokanovic and Ranieri, leaving confidence at rock bottom.

"It was a losing mentality," admits Stuart Gray, Parker's assistant. "We would go 1-0 down, then you look at the body language of the players and you thought, 'Who's going to be the leader to get us back in the game?'. Towards the end of the season, I felt as though Scott was instilling his beliefs. Suddenly, the lads were responding. We even picked up a few wins."

Overhauling that mentality was the main priority and converting that into a sense of "we will not lose". Parker retains a keen interest in the psychological side of the game and his man-management is said to be excellent, a sentiment shared by players and staff alike. Parker speaks to everybody after his team selection, outlining his decisions.

After his caretaker spell, he instilled a clear set of playing principles that underpin every training session. He wants his team to play in a possession-based style that dominates the ball and moves it at tempo. When they lose it, he expects his players to retrieve it quickly, as high up the field as possible. Fulham seek to control matches through possession, moving in phases. They work attacking moves, then pause to readjust, then go again. Last season, only Manchester City attempted more passes (26,330) than Fulham (26,269) in the top two divisions. Parker's side averaged 61.6 per cent possession, even with target man Aleksandar Mitrovic up front.

"Scott has the belief that he wants the ball played on the floor but he also realises that we've got a centre-forward that can probably win his fair share of aerial battles (in Mitrovic)," says Gray. "Defensively, we've got to be a little bit more streetwise in the Premier League. But going forward, we think we will cause problems with the passing positions that we put the players in. We can hurt terms with the quality of passers we've got."

Again, Fulham's playing style mirror Parker's roles as a player. As he outlined to the magazine Elite Soccer Coaching, he wants his side to place great emphasis on finding the "third man" — encouraging his players to work in threes in all areas of the field and using passing combinations to find a third player free of his defender.

"The concept of finding the third man runs through every single practice we do, which is why we can dominate the ball so effectively in games," Parker said. "We practise this in many different guises but this session in particular will come out once a month. If we know our next opponent is a pressing team, we will do this session more frequently as we know we will need to be effective in our build-up play by bouncing around the pressers."

Parker is first in and last out. The timeline of an average week consists of Parker following up a team debrief by studying at least three or four games of his next opponent, then taking what he learns and working it into the team's training drills with his coaching team. Playing patterns are influenced by areas of opposition weakness, showing Parker's pragmatic side, but those patterns are always underpinned by the possession-based approach. "It's 90 per cent about us and 10 per cent about the opposition," a source says.

Parker's support staff has a balance of experience in Gray, who works on set-pieces, and youth in assistant Matt Wells, whom he worked with at Tottenham. They all have a say in every aspect of the club and are seen as a team by the squad. Parker will defer credit to those around him. In that way, he has helped to galvanise the club as a whole.

The management staff's strong communication means nothing is left to chance. Every angle is considered. It is why they felt confident that Bryan would be able to catch out David Raya in August's Championship play-off final. They knew the Brentford goalkeeper had an aggressive starting position but were also confident that their opposition's coaching team hadn't clocked Bryan's similar attempt during their regular-season game in June. That day, Bryan hit the wall.

Parker has developed an excellent working relationship with vice-chairman and director of football operations Tony Khan. Khan has full control over transfers but Parker has bought into the recruitment structure and they communicate regularly, with Parker far more engaged than the club's previous coaches. The solidity of that relationship could be seen in Parker's conversations with Khan ahead of the play-off final, outlining his tactical approach.

Fulham know they need to strengthen in the right areas but there is shared a determination that the same mistakes of 2018-19 will not be repeated. Maintaining the squad harmony is seen as crucial. Pre-season has been short, lasting barely three weeks and consisting of two matches (a 2-2 draw against MK Dons and another behind closed doors). There is the confidence that they are ready for the fight ahead.

For Parker, it's now about putting all he's learned to the test at the highest level once again. That starts on Saturday with the visit of Arsenal.

[Dodgin]

Good interesting insight read. 

[RaySmith]

Great piece.
Thanks for posting.

[copthornemike]

Excellent article - actually gives me more confidence moving towards what is inevitably going to be a difficult season.

[Logicalman]

Thanks for posting.

Gives some insight into how SP thinks and what drives him. He may make mistakes this season,but we can rest assured he will do his best for us, as we look to survive the first season and build from there.

[toshes mate]

Thanks to Deeping_white for reproducing what is a very good read. 

[Twig]

Really interesting read and I agree, it gives me additional confidence ahead of a tough season.

[SuffolkWhite]

Thank you Deepening, yes a good read and as a fickle fan who queried SP's ability at times last season I can now see the makings of a good Manager for us.

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

Thanks for posting, yes a very good read  049:gif

Whilst here with the tech heads, is there already a thread on the All Or Nothing Tottenham Hotspur show ?... I have just watched the available episodes and thought it was outstanding really, and thought there was already a thread but can't find it.

[WhiteJC]

Thanks for posting, yes a very good read  049:gif

Whilst here with the tech heads, is there already a thread on the All Or Nothing Tottenham Hotspur show ?... I have just watched the available episodes and thought it was outstanding really, and thought there was already a thread but can't find it.

here's a link to the thread...
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?topic=77206.0

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

Thanks for posting, yes a very good read  049:gif

Whilst here with the tech heads, is there already a thread on the All Or Nothing Tottenham Hotspur show ?... I have just watched the available episodes and thought it was outstanding really, and thought there was already a thread but can't find it.

here's a link to the thread...
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?topic=77206.0

Excellent, Cheers