Why Keep Scott Parker

[bill taylors apprentice]

I see a lot of good things about Parker as our manager but nothing a very good assistant manager wouldn't bring to the club except maybe his sartorial style.

I believe he see's in his mind what he want the players to achieve e.g. play without fear and improve their decison making etc   I even think he wants them to play with a more attacking approach e.g. getting more players in danger areas and delivering the ball earlier.

But for all his people skills, decency and football knowledge he lacks the spark to create something of beauty, not many managers or coaches do and his teams reflect his style of playing, discipline, commitment and some ability but that's not enough to win PL games these days.

Even Burnley have a plan that's affective enough times a season to achieve their aim while Parkers tactics are generally effective in only 2 thirds of the pitch at best.

Will he develop his tactics and ability to coach players to a higher level?
Regardless of if we survive or not, he needs to use what he's done so far as a base level to build a more expansive winning mentality or he is just keeping the seat warm until the next incumbent due later next season! 

[Facts Not Fiction]

One more season. A rebuild.

I agree. Let him build a squad that caters to him, and see how he does. Last season we just bought everyone without any real thought. This season was masked over with loans.

No there was thought, Parker had a say in all the transfer in, TK didnt just go out and buy players, they had recruitment meetings Parker had an input, he wanted the defence sorted he got it sorted he wants players that can keep the ball that's what the team does. This is Parker ball all about possession if we have it the other team can't score hope to nick a 1-0 win, been like that last season as well. Why anyone wants to keep the borefest going is beyond me

You think Parker didn't want attackers too? Because we left our business so late, we were left with no choice.

Parker ball has changed since last season. Dramatically so. We are no longer a possession for possession sake based team. We create good chances every game, it is finishing that's costing him.

[colinwhite]

It comes down to which direction we want the club to be heading. Continuity or change ? Parker has shown he can be adaptable and can organise a defence ,as well as bouncing back time and again when the chips have been down. The real question for me is how the table would look now if our strike force was even in the average bracket in this division. Wewould have amassed alot more points this season with better attacking options . Loftus cheek ,Cavaleiro ,Mitrovic have been a huge disappointment. BDR and Lookman have done ok ,but we simply dont have enough premier league quality in attacking areas. IMO.
we have the basis of a decent defensive unit even without our loan players and i think Scott deserves huge credit for developing Robinson,harrison reed  and aderbyio in particular which few would have thought could cut it consistantly in the Pl.
Lets keep Parker and back him with the players we need.

[RaySmith]

One more season. A rebuild.

I agree. Let him build a squad that caters to him, and see how he does. Last season we just bought everyone without any real thought. This season was masked over with loans.

No there was thought, Parker had a say in all the transfer in, TK didnt just go out and buy players, they had recruitment meetings Parker had an input, he wanted the defence sorted he got it sorted he wants players that can keep the ball that's what the team does. This is Parker ball all about possession if we have it the other team can't score hope to nick a 1-0 win, been like that last season as well. Why anyone wants to keep the borefest going is beyond me

You think Parker didn't want attackers too? Because we left our business so late, we were left with no choice.

Parker ball has changed since last season. Dramatically so. We are no longer a possession for possession sake based team. We create good chances every game, it is finishing that's costing him.

Agree with your points Facts.

Parker  just said that defenders was the most immediate requirement, in the short time available, not that we didn't need strikers too.
And he was right,  our new, better defenders, helped stop us becoming adrift. Parker wanted strikers in Jan, but it proved hard to get anyone, though we  managed to sign Maja.

We have been unlucky with converting chances we've created in nearly every game. IF they start going in, could  save us.

[Holders]

Bobby Robson.

[blingo]

Our problems lie in midfield and wingers. Couple that with an inexperienced manager and you have relegation. Be honest, we were darned lucky to go up after a lot of really bad performances last season.

[MJG]

Sorry can't think of a reason why I would keep him apart from not shelling out the few million in compensation he would be due.
91 league and playoff games he's managed and in one way or another have watched almost all of them fully.
For a start 101 goals in all those games is shocking really. (1.1 per game)  111 against (1.21)   47% of all goals for Fulham
For comparison:
Slav: 131 games 205 goals (1.56) 174 against (1.32) 54% of all goals for Fulham
Symons 55 games 85 goals for (1.54) 93 against (1.69) 47% of all goals for Fulham

He has shown moments (few) of good coaching and ideas but very easy to read his tactics on the whole.
His way of holding out for the one goal leads for last 10 mins of games was successful result wise, but dig deeper and you see we rode our luck big time and it was very much back to the wall defending at times.
This year its keep it tight and hope for something. Patterns of play attacking wise are missing.
I know I've never been a fan of his since he joined but I have given him the benefit of the doubt especially after the 4 wasted games at the start of the season. But too many times we have blown chances, not turned up, started flat and just not been good enough tactically.  I don't see anything that tells me he will change and for that reason if we go down, I wont bat an eyelid if he goes.

[Mickeyboro]

Not only that but the rubbish he spouts at press conferences is increasingly at odds with what we see.

I suspect this is his mentor coaching him in the hope of shining his reputation as a 'thinking young manager'.

[WindyCity]

Why Keep Scott Parker?

Continuity/stability

I'm for keeping SP on board for at least another 2-3 years, regardless which league we find ourselves in......

[FFC In Oz]

Why Keep Scott Parker?

Continuity/stability

I'm for keeping SP on board for at least another 2-3 years, regardless which league we find ourselves in......

And if we get relegated to L1 next season would you still be on board with SP?

[WindyCity]

Why Keep Scott Parker?
Continuity/stability
I'm for keeping SP on board for at least another 2-3 years, regardless which league we find ourselves in......

And if we get relegated to L1 next season would you still be on board with SP?

Admittedly, if that dreadful event takes place, I might have to re-evaluate my position in this matter.  Not saying SP sacking for sure, but need to see what he was given to play with, etc.....

[FFC In Oz]

Why Keep Scott Parker?
Continuity/stability
I'm for keeping SP on board for at least another 2-3 years, regardless which league we find ourselves in......

And if we get relegated to L1 next season would you still be on board with SP?

Admittedly, if that dreadful event takes place, I might have to re-evaluate my position in this matter.  Not saying SP sacking for sure, but need to see what he was given to play with, etc.....

I know it's an extreme situation, but football is a very fickle business.

If we keep SP around I would like to see some changes to his backroom staff, Wells seems to be the #2 judging by how much more he seems to be conversing with Scott, and he's hardly an experienced head.

[3 Cherries]

Our problems lie in midfield and wingers. Couple that with an inexperienced manager and you have relegation. Be honest, we were darned lucky to go up after a lot of really bad performances last season.

And that is why sadly Scotty has to go

[Milo]

Excellent content on this thread! Some great posts.

[colinwhite]

Our problems lie in midfield and wingers. Couple that with an inexperienced manager and you have relegation. Be honest, we were darned lucky to go up after a lot of really bad performances last season.

Totally disagree with that ! Lucky to go up ? Do me a favour Blingo ,youve been reading too many of your own posts !!

[S.F.Sorrow]

There are a couple of reasons why I would consider keeping Parker:

He has never really been given a fair chance IMO. Our transfer strategy of "too little and too late" means we start our season in October and effectively have our preseason when other clubs have started collecting points. Replacing Parker probably won't change this. Sacking yet another head coach doesn't make much sense to me unless we get someone successful with lots of experience and I honestly can't see anyone like that wanting to join us under the current cirumstances.

Parker will probably improve when he gets more experience. He is still learning and we already know he is capable of getting us promoted.

On the other hand, the results have been disappointing. Even worse, Parkerball is boring to watch. That's the worst part for me. I don't mind another season in the Championship but I don't look forward to another season of Parkerball. Even last season when we were promoted I didn't really enjoy watching Fulham except for a couple of games (playoffs, Millwall?, ???). We were rubbish pre-lockdown and I honestly can't see us getting promoted again next season (IF we're relegated, there is still hope!).

So yeah, I think I've finally joined the Parker Out crowd but I don't think it will do us much good unless we also sort out the TK situation. He can keep all his fancy titles for all I care but we need someone who will do the job a DoF is SUPPOSED to do. Someone who is present at the club, qualified for the job and not doing it part time from across the Atlantic. We can't just keep sacking head coaches to paper over the cracks.

[FFC In Oz]

Sorry can't think of a reason why I would keep him apart from not shelling out the few million in compensation he would be due.
91 league and playoff games he's managed and in one way or another have watched almost all of them fully.
For a start 101 goals in all those games is shocking really. (1.1 per game)  111 against (1.21)   47% of all goals for Fulham
For comparison:
Slav: 131 games 205 goals (1.56) 174 against (1.32) 54% of all goals for Fulham
Symons 55 games 85 goals for (1.54) 93 against (1.69) 47% of all goals for Fulham

He has shown moments (few) of good coaching and ideas but very easy to read his tactics on the whole.
His way of holding out for the one goal leads for last 10 mins of games was successful result wise, but dig deeper and you see we rode our luck big time and it was very much back to the wall defending at times.
This year its keep it tight and hope for something. Patterns of play attacking wise are missing.
I know I've never been a fan of his since he joined but I have given him the benefit of the doubt especially after the 4 wasted games at the start of the season. But too many times we have blown chances, not turned up, started flat and just not been good enough tactically.  I don't see anything that tells me he will change and for that reason if we go down, I wont bat an eyelid if he goes.

A couple of really good points in this post:

1) Attacking pattern of play - I agree, it's very haphazard and stagnant, there's no continuity and fluidity.

2) I agree he's had decent moments and glimpses of ability, but for the most part, as you point out, we are very easy to read and simple to defend against.  There's no complexity in our play at all

[blingo]

Our problems lie in midfield and wingers. Couple that with an inexperienced manager and you have relegation. Be honest, we were darned lucky to go up after a lot of really bad performances last season.

Totally disagree with that ! Lucky to go up ? Do me a favour Blingo ,youve been reading too many of your own posts !!

You really think we were not lucky to go up Colin?  You think our midfielders and wingers are performing? If affirmative, then why are we in the position we are in in the league? Blingo is the supreme optimist, look back to the blingo lighthouse scale, but even I can see when something is drastically wrong. Rose tinted specks and dreaming come to mind. SP and TK are destroying everything good that SK is doing. Watching Fulham is a living nightmare right now and it's not the players, it's the coach and his useless tactics.

[clarkey]

Look Parker has not just been bad this year. If you want evidence of his lack of management ability look to last season. We had a good squad compared to other teams but we played staid, defensive footie, never really putting a game to bed and with neither style nor great skill. And that was with StefJo and Cairney who were the best midfielders in the league.And Mitro the best striker.
His subbing was always suspect and nervous and he was too quick to defend deep.
This year all the same failures and no battle plan for scoring.
Also to be fair he had the ear of TK and a direct communication path...he needed to demand additional strikers to Lookman, not allow Kebano and AK 47 to leave, and play with more men upfield. But for me just the selection policy regarding Cav and RLC is enough to condemn him. They were both useless all year. Look at the stats.
So he decided to play with nine men, not Khan and not anyone else. He chose those two terrible members of the squad, week in and week out.They have not contributed anything of note.Two outfield goals between them in 60 matches is not great by any standards.

[Lambo]

Why Keep Scott Parker?

Continuity/stability

I'm for keeping SP on board for at least another 2-3 years, regardless which league we find ourselves in......

You want to watch that style of football for another 2 to 3 years?