Are Burnley finally seeing the best of Scott Parker?

Ben Ballard looks back at our trials and tribulations under our old manager and checks in on his progress ahead of a reunion next term.

The success of high-flying Bournemouth under Andoni Iraola and the continued accession of Fulham under Marco Silva are timely reminders of the failures of Scott Parker at both clubs.

For Fulham, the days of watching Harry Arter marshal our midfield and Ivan Cavaleiro skewer chances while a fully-fit Aleksandr Mitrovic watches on from the bench are – thankfully – ancient history; a gloomy liminal space between Slavisa’s magical unbeaten run and the free-flowing mastery of Marco Silva’s Cottagers.

All that remains from that time is an expletive-laden chant and a grateful sigh that our near-future lies in the hands of one of our greatest ever managers. But was Fulham’s loss Burnley’s gain?

Parker upon Thames

The fun in the south-coast sun of our 1-0 victory away at Bournemouth to end 2018/19 was a distant memory when Parker’s wasteful Fulham fell to newly-promoted Barnsley on the opening day of 2019/20.

Our day out at Oakwell was a sign of things to come, with possession often proving fruitless for a side that lacked urgency going forward and solidity at the back. A squad compiled of some of the Championship’s best players in recent history was made to look impotent, relying chiefly on the goal-scoring exploits of Mitrovic to save Parker’s blushes. 3-0 losses to Hull and Barnsley at home were particular lowlights, but arguably more exasperating was the slew of feeble draws against the likes of Wigan, Derby and Milwall.

While Parker deserves at least a morsel of credit for our immediate return to the Premier League, our promotion season – and his role in it – was accompanied by a simmering discontent.

The following Premier League campaign exemplified Parker’s incompetence as a football manager. Despite the riches at his disposal – namely Ademola Lookman, Joachim Anderson, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa, Aleksandr Mitrovic and others – Parker’s Fulham floundered, eventually finishing 19th with 26 points and the leakiest defence in the league.

Despite a famous win at Anfield, ‘Parkerball’ seemed so insubstantial, so vacuous that the word itself became a parody. Parker’s football was contradictory in so many ways: overly cautious but defensively flimsy, counterattacking but unbearably pedestrian, possession-based, but wasteful on the ball.

Given the shortcomings he displayed during his tenure at Fulham, it felt inevitable that spells at Bournemouth and Club Brugge would end in failure, but back in the Championship with Burnley, it looks like Parker’s managerial philosophy could finally be taking shape.

Scotty Parker’s claret and blue army

James Trafford’s double penalty save on Monday night extended the Clarets unbeaten run to 15 games in the league and cup, their last defeat coming at Millwall in early November. A defence led by the stand-out Maxime Esteve and 22-year-old CJ Egan-Riley has shipped just nine goals in 27 games and Burnley sit only two points behind Sheffield United in second. Signed for just £500k from Stoke, Josh Laurent has been a revelation while his midfield partners Josh Cullen and Josh Brownhill are the beating heart of Parker’s side, the latter contributing nine goals so far. Even the dourest and Parker-bashing of Fulham fans would concede that, on paper at least, his Burnley side are an impressive outfit.

On Parker’s part, he walked into a turbulent pre-season, with a barrage of comings and goings – including key players Wilson Odobert and our very own Sander Berge – and has come out the other side with a team that looks outside favourites to win automatic promotion. Parker, himself, has cited a year out of the game, including mentoring from England manager Thomas Tuchel as the catalyst for his newfound coaching chops. The success of the Clarets may well reflect a coach who has reconsolidated, matured and learned from his experiences at the likes of Fulham. That being said, he has by no means reached managerial nirvana and the all-too-familiar Parker-shaped deficiencies still rear their ugly head in his Burnley team.

Boring, boring Parker

59% possession and one shot on goal are stats that would not look out of place in either of Parker’s full campaigns in charge of Fulham and these raised pressing questions among Burnley fans after their 0-0 draw in Sunderland earlier this month.

In fact, 0-0 draws (a fixture of Parker’s Fulham) have been an ever-present for Burnley this season, registering eight over the course of the season. The 11 total draws Burnley fans have witnessed this season is the third highest in the Championship and points to a redolent weakness in Parker’s team. Burnley are the lowest scorers among the top 11 teams in the Championship and lack the creativity and ruthlessness that you would expect from a team of their standing. Luca Koleosho, who looked a solid creative outlet in the Premier League, has been blunted by Parker’s style of play and, much like Fulham in 2020/21 (see Bobby De Cordova-Reid), Burnley have relied on goals from midfield, most notably from top-scorer Josh Brownhill.

While their primary goal-scoring candidate, Lyle Foster, has admittedly had injury troubles, Parker looks once again unable to find a prolific scorer in his team and has even hinted at playing Foster off the left wing. Zian Flemming scored against fierce rivals Blackburn and the return of the legendary Ashley Barnes has undoubtedly lifted spirits at Turf Moor, but their presence up front raises questions about the attacking quality of a team pushing for automatic promotion. Heavily reliant on the quality of Esteve and Egan-Riley at the back and short of goals, Burnley are a team who may once again have their fans concerned about a return to the Premier League.

A results business

Parker was appointed to get Burnley promoted to the Premier League and his reputation of boring football undoubtedly preceded him. Perhaps the legacy of Sean Dyche has made Parker’s football – with its newly found focus on defensive solidity – more palatable in Lancashire than it was on the banks of the River Thames, but its fallibilities are far more evident and its potential limitations in the Premier League much more obvious than any of Dyche’s teams.

Football is famously a results business, and three points are worth far more than the critiques of armchair fans and Fulhamish contributors. Parker may well guide Burnley to the promised land with one of the best defences the league has ever seen and ultimately it is only for Burnley’s fans to decide whether the price of dull football and a potentially difficult season in the Premier League is one worth paying.

It never was for Fulham fans but for now, Parkerball may be just what Burnley needs.