Why Keep Scott Parker

[H4usuallysitting]

To me it's not a Mr Parker problem.... it's the whole club's ideology, in that there isn't one....or doesn't appear to be one - we keep making the same mistakes...... somebody at the top has to have clear vision & dedication to the day to day and future direction of the club.....at the moment I haven't got a clue what the club are after

+ 1

But wasn't this why Slav old asst was brought in as Ass DOF to develop a style thought out the Club, that or have someone in place if they had to sack Parker, dont think it would be the style Parker has been turning out,  but he moved on and no replacement yet probably down to Covid

Whoever has the ideology, it must be shared & lived..... Wenger for instance was the driving force for everything including the colour of the paint on the walls....we haven't got a club ideology or identity....look at Porto or Ajax

[ron]

Cosy old Fulham. Turn up for training, do just enough, go and have a butcher's at the team sheet to see what time to turn up, stick on the headphones and wander off.

[Blawarmy]

Agreed, and whilst you're at it, get rid of TK as well.

From what I have been told from a reliable source, that the reason a striker was not brought in was that Parker was happy with what he had being Mitrovic, Kamara, BDR, Cav and a couple of promising youngsters, TK was asked to get defenders. How true this is, well I don't know, but if it is then it's hardly TK's fault if he done what the head coach wanted.

If that is true then definitely get rid of Parker.

[HobGoblin]

We need a fresh start for next season, Crab has to go. The team was boring to watch last season and this season the excitement has been few and far between.

[We Are Premier League]

I would keep Parker.

I think he has done a pretty good job with what was a very tricky and short pre-season, and the improvements made around December to March really showed he could be a very good manager in the making...only last month he was being highly praised by many.... Just had a bad few weeks recently that looks to have finished off the team mathematically and spritually.

I look around and what other options are there ?...Ranieri again ?... Nah, Scott has done a good job, learnt a lot in very tricky circumstances, and I would be happy if he stays, and give him a chance at promotion back again... Maybe if he doesn't do that then he can go, but I think he definitely deserves one more season at least.

:plus one:

[Arthur]

To me it's not a Mr Parker problem.... it's the whole club's ideology, in that there isn't one....or doesn't appear to be one - we keep making the same mistakes...... somebody at the top has to have clear vision & dedication to the day to day and future direction of the club.....at the moment I haven't got a clue what the club are after

May I ask how I might know whether a club has an ideology? How would I tell? What would I see? And, importantly, how would having an ideology prevent us from 'making the same mistakes' - whatever these are. (You give no clue.)

Might I also ask: Roughly speaking, how many clubs - especially outside of the Premier League - have an ideology? And how do different clubs' ideologies vary? Perhaps you would be kind enough to provide some examples.

[alfie]

I can't help but feel that Parker is the coach the players want, but not the coach they need. They need to be chewed out when they screw up, and need to lose their spots. Based on his interviews, and the constant dialogue on the sidelines with Wells, it just seems so heavily based on "developing players". We're not getting results, but we're developing players. Forget that - we need results. This is just a gut feeling from a former college player.

Interviews he gives after games is vastly different to what he says behind closed doors.

[toshes mate]

Unless you are a club (e.g. Brentford in the past few years) with a recruitment system that works regardless of turnover caused by loss of better players when promotion targets are missed, you are playing poker, often with a less than decent hand, in the marketplace.   That holds true for almost everyone outside the more successful clubs.  Our history under the Khans does not suggest we have an efficient plan or system for identifying talent at either management or playing levels.  It is hit and miss.  We have also seen, when our owners have demonstrated sensitivity to this issue, that there is no easy resolution to the problem and bringing in help is not so easy to do.   Having said that the corollary of not having a good coping system is that when you strike lucky with recruitment and find a recruit who actually performs well in the job you hang onto them and move heaven and earth to provide them with the right support.  That is especially true of key employees.  Our owners have failed to do that.

Getting sorted at the top of the Club will work wonders everywhere else.  If Parker goes without our owners having a certain winning hand of cards for the marketplace will be just another big mistake unless, of course, the other players fear the worse and fold.   Miracles happen but I think our owners have squandered much of their better fortune.     

[FulhamStu]

Why keep Parker = continuity, popular with the players and he is most likely to keep the squad together.

Why fire Parker = his football is boring to watch and he does not make the most of the talent at his disposal.

[RaySmith]

I can't help but feel that Parker is the coach the players want, but not the coach they need. They need to be chewed out when they screw up, and need to lose their spots. Based on his interviews, and the constant dialogue on the sidelines with Wells, it just seems so heavily based on "developing players". We're not getting results, but we're developing players. Forget that - we need results. This is just a gut feeling from a former college player.

Interviews he gives after games is vastly different to what he says behind closed doors.

I'm sure this is  true -Parker is tough , driven character, as shown by his achievements in the game, and I'm sure he can  read the riot act if necessary, , but, as has been said elsewhere by people in the game,, these days managers can't a rant, give  abuse and call  players  out in front of everyone, like they did in the past - the  players just won't accept it.

I think Parker is also good at having a quiet word with a player, finding out if he has a problem, rather than just turning on the 'hairdryer' of Alex Ferguson fame.
That is in the past, along with pitches like bogs, playing with blood running down your face through a bloody bandage, or numbed with painkilling injections, the 'robust', or even not so robust, tackle, and the team bonding for a once a week  p*** up, for good or for ill.

I like the way Parker  communicates with coaching staff, to get a balanced view of things, also. I don't see this as a weakness, though he obviously makes the final decision.
And i think the players respect and like Parker, and he thus gets the best out of them though many seem to see this as not the case and that our players could do better under someone else.

But, when it come o scoring say,  who of our players has a career record of  scoring a lot of goals, apart from mitro.

I think Parker has done well to gain promotion with this team, and to manage to at least stay in touch, after looking as if we would get a record low points, with the  loans brought in defensively - but we obviously are still lacking in other  areas especially goal scoring.
But Parker can only work with the players he has.

[toshes mate]

I can't help but feel that Parker is the coach the players want, but not the coach they need. They need to be chewed out when they screw up, and need to lose their spots. Based on his interviews, and the constant dialogue on the sidelines with Wells, it just seems so heavily based on "developing players". We're not getting results, but we're developing players. Forget that - we need results. This is just a gut feeling from a former college player.

Interviews he gives after games is vastly different to what he says behind closed doors.

I think both of these opinions can be true together without a positive outcome. 

Parker clearly has a system honed to deal with two things that have haunted his teams ever since his first games:  i) defensive frailty and ii) performance inconsistency.  On the first count the appearance of Andersen has had a major impact on steadying us defensively but is not the complete answer because of the second count.  You can be difficult to score against without having enough up front to disturb and distress the tactics of more experienced personnel.   That is not a situation resolved easily if player faults are being driven by the constant pressure of being on the wrong end of a scoreline.  Psychologically defenders feel the pressure of keeping the ball out of their net but not seeing the ball go into the other net.  Sooner or later something has to be changed or the whole will simply collapse.  Parker has to be sure that he knows where the faults are and deal with them.  If he faults individuals he must be sure his system is not at fault and I do not believe from what I have seen from Parker throughout that he can be sure.  Individuals will always make mistakes.  Parker knows that from hs playing days.  Jokanovic called risk taking 'bravery' and it starts with the coach and spreads to individuals by custom and practice.

Is Parker the coach brave?  The jury is still out.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Keep Scott Parker, we need stability and consistency, we have had far too many changes of management in recent years and we keep going back to Square One. Far too many loanees, a poorly balanced squad due to last minute scatter gun approaches to recruitment.
No long term plan, no short term plan, just a complete lottery.
To start with we need a full time D of F with the proper qualifications and experience who will actually be full time and work on site and be hands on.

[bobby01]

Just a thought,
The unmitigated disaster that was ranieri, 3 wins in 16
Parker 5 in 32.

[H4usuallysitting]

To me it's not a Mr Parker problem.... it's the whole club's ideology, in that there isn't one....or doesn't appear to be one - we keep making the same mistakes...... somebody at the top has to have clear vision & dedication to the day to day and future direction of the club.....at the moment I haven't got a clue what the club are after

May I ask how I might know whether a club has an ideology? How would I tell? What would I see? And, importantly, how would having an ideology prevent us from 'making the same mistakes' - whatever these are. (You give no clue.)

Might I also ask: Roughly speaking, how many clubs - especially outside of the Premier League - have an ideology? And how do different clubs' ideologies vary? Perhaps you would be kind enough to provide some examples.

Yep... I'll play - have a look at Porto...what is there ideology...get un-named/un-heard of talent into the team on a regular basis, sell at a fat profit - while year after year playing a similar style of successful football... everybody within the club is part of that ideology.... Ajax do the same, but usually through youth, but whoever manages them plays the Ajax way ..... Prem league....ManC get the best at any cost, and improve them...reasonably new stadium, fantastic new training facilities while helping the local community, wanted to be recognised globally & have done so.... Hotspuds, new stadium, new training facilities - attract reasonable to good player's from the prem & around the world to turn into profit....with Southampton, Spuds nicked the old Manager & most of the youth staff to nick Southampton's successful youth programs

[blingo]

I would keep Parker.

I think he has done a pretty good job with what was a very tricky and short pre-season, and the improvements made around December to March really showed he could be a very good manager in the making...only last month he was being highly praised by many.... Just had a bad few weeks recently that looks to have finished off the team mathematically and spritually.

I look around and what other options are there ?...Ranieri again ?... Nah, Scott has done a good job, learnt a lot in very tricky circumstances, and I would be happy if he stays, and give him a chance at promotion back again... Maybe if he doesn't do that then he can go, but I think he definitely deserves one more season at least.

:plus one:

Just a thought,
The unmitigated disaster that was ranieri, 3 wins in 16
Parker 5 in 32.

The difference was that Ranieri took the job as a stop gap, knowing that he would have no influence over TK at all. He took the pay packet and which amongst us wouldn't have. Ranieri isn't a bad manager at all. I would have him over SP. BUT TK would have to give him the players he wanted

[H4usuallysitting]

If you like have a look at Brentford....very easy to see their ideology.... in fact the management throw it down your throat wether you ask them or not.

[Whitestone]

I am interested to hear of any reason to stick with Scott Parker. In my opinion he under performed last season with a decent squad. We have, in my opinion, gone backwards as a club with arguably a much stronger group of players ( please note I didn't say team). Only rarely have I seen solid team performances this season ( I've watched every game) and conclude that Mr Parker is way out of his depth.

Scott Parker got the team promoted last season in his first full season as a manager. That is most definitely not under performing.

Its clear to see that last seasons squad wasn't as good as you say. Most of them haven't had a look in this season with numerous out on loan because they aren't good enough.

I get it that you aren't a Parker fan, fair enough, but you seem to have diluted the facts to suit your agenda.

Now, if we had a full time Director of Football giving his/her undivided attention to Fulham Football Club, we may find ourselves in a better position.

[bobby01]

I would keep Parker.

I think he has done a pretty good job with what was a very tricky and short pre-season, and the improvements made around December to March really showed he could be a very good manager in the making...only last month he was being highly praised by many.... Just had a bad few weeks recently that looks to have finished off the team mathematically and spritually.

I look around and what other options are there ?...Ranieri again ?... Nah, Scott has done a good job, learnt a lot in very tricky circumstances, and I would be happy if he stays, and give him a chance at promotion back again... Maybe if he doesn't do that then he can go, but I think he definitely deserves one more season at least.

:plus one:

Just a thought,
The unmitigated disaster that was ranieri, 3 wins in 16
Parker 5 in 32.

The difference was that Ranieri took the job as a stop gap, knowing that he would have no influence over TK at all. He took the pay packet and which amongst us wouldn't have. Ranieri isn't a bad manager at all. I would have him over SP. BUT TK would have to give him the players he wanted

Sorry blingo, the point I was making was, most on here lambasted ranieri, and rightly so, but some are happy with Parker with a very similar set of figures. It was just a thought.

[abfg]

I'm somewhat ambivalent on this question. I don't think he's been amazing, and does seem to value a less attack minded focus than we would all enjoy. But when you look at it, this season particularly - we don't have decent enough forwards and wingers. Our DoF hasn't provided a proper balanced squad at any point in time.  I remember once, there was a prevailing wisdom that a balanced squad required 4 centre forwards - these days I would argue 3 is enough (and I'm only in my 30s so it's not like we're talking decades ago!!). We've had only one at the start of each of the last 2 seasons now.

I'd like to think that Parker is still jury's out. Give him a balanced squad, with 3 centre forwards and players not just returning from injury (Kongolo, RLC etc.) and see what happens. The common thread in Slav, Ranieri and Parker is the DoF.

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

If Parker Stays I can genuinely see Fulham Storming back next season as run away Championship winners. Not saying definitely, but very possible.

The squad will be very different, but I feel Scott and the Khan's have learnt so much the last two years. We will have a very different squad as the loanees leave, but will get in similar players that fit the blueprint...and have a proper pre-season to prepare this time.

2021-2022 could be a truly memorable Championship Season, and the basis of a long stay in the Premiership, with Mr Parker consolidated and there for ten years.

(I will bookmark this post and come back in 11 years to say I told you so)