Glen Little, a favorite of Clarets, says the team is happy that the hunt for Vincent Kompany’s replacement has finally been resolved, allowing the team to proceed. The search lasted five weeks.
Parker, who has committed to a three-year deal at Turf Moor, will have the responsibility of assisting the Clarets in their initial effort to return to the Premier League. The forty-three-year-old has already accomplished this with Fulham and Bournemouth.
Doesn’t it seem like a long time has passed since Kompany left? Although so many names and managers were mentioned, Scott Parker was ultimately chosen, according to Little.
“I don’t know if there have been people turning them down and this is not their first choice, who knows? But the good thing is that he’s been there, seen it and done it on a couple of occasions. Let’s see if he can do it for a third time.
“I know people might say Fulham and Bournemouth were favourites anyway but Burnley are favourites, aren’t we? So you’d like to think he’s got the squad there if we keep hold of the main players.
“For me, the squad is there to get promoted. If we kick-off at Luton and four or five big names have left I might change my mind, but as it stands I still feel we’ve got a great chance.”
While no-one can doubt Parker’s credentials in the Championship, some have expressed doubts about his ability to make the step-up to the top flight.
He suffered an instant relegation with Fulham while his spell in the Premier League with Bournemouth lasted just four games.
Little added: “You could be a little concerned with what’s happened with Parker in the past when he’s made it up to the Premier League, especially the Bournemouth one as it didn’t end well. He half threw the towel in early on, but they’ve stayed up ever since.
“If Bournemouth had come straight back down you might have looked at it and thought: well, what was he supposed to do? They were always going to go down. But it’s the fact that he didn’t have much faith in his players, he pretty much wrote them off after that disastrous 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, but since he’s left Bournemouth have done pretty well, so that doesn’t look good.
“But I’ve always said, you always give people a chance. You can only judge them on what they do, so let’s see.
“With all managerial appointments now, is anyone bomb proof? Everyone’s a bit of a gamble aren’t they?
“I’m sure when you look back, when we gave Eddie Howe the job, was there a lot of excitement? I’m not so sure. Sean Dyche coming in, was there excitement there? Not really and look what a great job he did. And Vincent Kompany, we all looked at that as a bit of a gamble, he was a great player but as a manager he was inexperienced. No-one could have seen what happened there, for the one season anyway.
“We will give him a chance, but the one thing he has got is a squad that is more than good enough, so let’s hope that’s the case.”
