Scott Parker - Not good enough.

[Keefaz]

We've been here before. Scott Parker IS a great individual player. He can tackle, distribute the ball well and has a half decent shot, you can't really fault his effort and work rate either.

 

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable.

 

we've had at least two of these over the past few years.

 

I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc.

[Northern Monkey]

We've been here before. Scott Parker IS a great individual player. He can tackle, distribute the ball well and has a half decent shot, you can't really fault his effort and work rate either.

 

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable.

 

we've had at least two of these over the past few years.

 

I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc.

 

I was thinking specifically of the last few seasons, with Faye and Dyer being the worst, but you can include Emre there as well, and Bowyer should get an honoirable mention for also mimicing Parkers will to get the ball back once he loses it, only with even more cringeworthy results.

[Shak]

We've been here before. Scott Parker IS a great individual player. He can tackle, distribute the ball well and has a half decent shot, you can't really fault his effort and work rate either.

 

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable.

 

we've had at least two of these over the past few years.

 

I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc.

 

Hyperbole?

[Northern Monkey]

We've been here before. Scott Parker IS a great individual player. He can tackle, distribute the ball well and has a half decent shot, you can't really fault his effort and work rate either.

 

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable.

 

we've had at least two of these over the past few years.

 

I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc.

 

Hyperbole?

 

You think he's trying to make Dyer, Jeenas or Faye look better??

[Shak]

We've been here before. Scott Parker IS a great individual player. He can tackle, distribute the ball well and has a half decent shot, you can't really fault his effort and work rate either.

 

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable.

 

we've had at least two of these over the past few years.

 

I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc.

 

Hyperbole?

 

You think he's trying to make Dyer, Jeenas or Faye look better??

 

Wouldn't be particularly hard.

[Northern Monkey]

We've been here before. Scott Parker IS a great individual player. He can tackle, distribute the ball well and has a half decent shot, you can't really fault his effort and work rate either.

 

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable.

 

we've had at least two of these over the past few years.

 

I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc.

 

Hyperbole?

 

You think he's trying to make Dyer, Jeenas or Faye look better??

 

Wouldn't be particularly hard.

 

True enough. Still, as long as we have Pattinson, we'll be ok..........

[Nate]

Well, the time he takes to pick a pass is staggering. How many times in a game does he bring our breaks to a grinding halt? Far more often than Jenas, Dyer, Bowyer or even Ambrose ever did.

[Northern Monkey]

Well, the time he takes to pick a pass is staggering. How many times in a game does he bring our breaks to a grinding halt? Far more often than Jenas, Dyer, Bowyer or even Ambrose ever did.

 

In fairness, Jenas and Dyer broke (breaks) our attacks in other ways, normally  by runnign down a blind alley. As for Ambrose, he was just a nonesense.

 

Parker DOES take too much time, no doubt, and how long he thinks he can get away with his patented "swivel on the ball" is a mystery, but he's not as bad as some we have had/do have.

[Cronky]

It's all very disappointing, because he looked a very different player for Charlton. Chelsea wouldn't have paid £12 million for him if they didn't see something there.

 

At Charlton, he seemed more relaxed and confident. He seemed to be enjoying his football and playing on instinct. With us, he looks very tense when in possession, and seems more worried about losing the ball than doing something with it. His passing is very conservative.

 

I'd agree that Butt and Emre look a better combination at the moment.

[Northern Monkey]

It's all very disappointing, because he looked a very different player for Charlton. Chelsea wouldn't have paid £12 million for him if they didn't see something there.

 

At Charlton, he seemed more relaxed and confident. He seemed to be enjoying his football and playing on instinct. With us, he looks very tense when in possession, and seems more worried about losing the ball than doing something with it. His passing is very conservative.

 

I'd agree that Butt and Emre look a better combination at the moment.

 

*cough* Veron *cough*

[Shak]

Not like Chelsea have to worry bout the bottom line either.

 

12m to them is fuck all really tbh.

[Guest smoggeordie]

Boumsong outplayed Henry, tbf...

 

McClen and Acuna outplayed Vieira and Petit

[Northern Monkey]

Boumsing ran faster than Henry once. Beyond that, he wasn't even capable of outplaying Bramble, a footballer who generates contempt and mockery across the country.

[Optimistic Nut]

Poor man's David Batty. Batty was a much better ball-winner/tackler and would simply give the ball to those who could play football without the need for twisting and turning. Did his job excellently.

[Dave]

Poor man's David Batty. Batty was a much better ball-winner/tackler and would simply give the ball to those who could play football without the need for twisting and turning. Did his job excellently.

 

I assumed this was meant to be in here.

[Menace]

[Yorkie]

Poor man's David Batty. Batty was a much better ball-winner/tackler and would simply give the ball to those who could play football without the need for twisting and turning. Did his job excellently.

 

I assumed this was meant to be in here.

 

Where did he put it?

[Dinho lad]

Boumsong outplayed Henry, tbf...

 

McClen and Acuna outplayed Vieira and Petit

 

I think it was Grimandi who played alongside Vieria in that match.

[Dave]

Poor man's David Batty. Batty was a much better ball-winner/tackler and would simply give the ball to those who could play football without the need for twisting and turning. Did his job excellently.

 

I assumed this was meant to be in here.

 

Where did he put it?

 

Where it was initially he would have been referring to Obafemi Martins.

[Guest Sniffer]

Scott Parker is the least of our problems.

 

Try no decent full backs with Solano being the best available so not attacking support down the flanks.

Taylor the pick of the central defenders with Bramble an accident waiting to happen..... after he's put in a good performance for 85 minutes and the new American ......not that much better than Moore or Ramage that it makes much difference.

Emre will be gone.

Dyer is very good and makes the difference but physically unreliable and one step away from the knacker's yard.

Butt is 32 and never was very fast anyway.

N'zogbia looks like he peaked at 19 and is on the downslide.

Sibierski and ameobi......good god I don't even want to think about them two. Salt and f*cking pepper.

Milner is so inconsistent that most days he wouldn't recognize a final pass if George Best played it.

And Duff....well, aptly named based on this season.

 

And last but not least, a managerial crew that sit slumped on the bench and a manager that actually listens to terry macdermott's opinion FFS. A manager that has absolutely no concept of a game plan and makes Iam McFaul look like a tactical genius. I wonder what the f*ck is going through roeder's mind when he is actually standing on the touchline? Not very much other than what he's having for his dinner by the looks of things.

 

But apart from all that let's focus on parker. Now there's the real problem.

[sicsfingeredmong]

I agree and the stats - ie. the goals per game average - in the original post make sense. Our transition passing game and our potential to hurt teams on the counter suffers when Parker's in the middle - where more often than not he is the first user of the football in our own defensive half - and it' simply due to his inability to see the open passing lanes following an opposition turnover ie. when the opposition is briefly without defensive shape across the midfield line. I happen to think he's a 'slow thinking' or 'dumb' footballer who doesn't have a much in the locker in terms of having the vision needed to spot the passing lanes i'm speaking of, hence the indecisiveness when he's on the ball. We've got some counterattacking weapons on the pitch - ie. Martins, Dyer, Duff, Zoggy - and for a ball-winning midfieder who in most instances is supposed to be the transition/counterattacking game's catalyst Parker's aforementioned weakness is a cardinal sin, especially in a league which is counterattacking football-based.

 

We look a far more efficient counterattacking unit when the central combination is either Butt/Emre or Butt/Dyer. Butt's transition passing game is first rate, and it serves the midfield - and Martins beyond - well.

[Guest SLK]

Parker is part of the problem we lost to Wigan but NOT the whole problem...True when I was watching the game, I realised that the commentator hasn't mentioned Parker's name for a while during the game which shows that he was not in the game at all...True I don't remember him doing anything not any non special player can do...

 

Parker needs to improve...First of all...

2nd of all...Solano and Duff need to improve or else play Full Backs...WE ARE NOT SUPPLYING ENOUGH CROSSES INTO THE OPPOSITION PENALTY AREA...we should bombard them with crosses from flanks like we used to do during SBR times when Solano and Robert used to do so effectively but we don't do anymore...

 

We are missing the creative Centre Midfielders like Dyer and Emre...

 

Our defense need improvement on the sides too as we have no real Full Backs...But honestly I think the main problem is that we ARE NOT SCORING GOALS rather than CONCEDING A LOT OF GOALS...

[Guest Hodgson09]

Parker is crap. What good is footballer who cannot play as part of a team, he has a role to play he should play it, he is crap in attack because he cannot pass that well, so if he is to have a role it should be protecting the back 4 breaking-up play and getting rid of the ball to someone who can use it. Outplayed Gerrard are you guys on Crack? the conditions that day were not suited to a player like Gerrard  who's game is based on sublime passing, if the conditions that day were perfect we would have been hammered 6 nil. The poor conditions helped us allot by removing an aspect of Liverpools game and that was passing and quick movement of the ball.

 

I don't understand why people think we played well against Liverpool we won an important game but we were not the better team we got lucky. Parker is not good enough and he is the first person I would replace in not only the midfield but the team.

 

Can't stand watching him play football it is disgusting to watch 100% heart 0% skill seeing him give the ball away cheaply unable to run with the ball, unable to pass to an advancing teammate just fucking infuriates me, nearly as much as people comparing Gerrard to Parker, what an insult to a talented player like Gerrard. Get yer heads checked guys bar a few players we are completely shit. Martins, Owen, and Given are the only really top notch players, then we have N'zogbia, Dyer, Taylor, Oneywu, Duff, and Milner who are worth keeping, the rest are crap complete utter garbage players or completely past their best.

 

When we beat or draw a top 6 team we are being very fortunate indeed. We need huge investment in the team and if Roeder is telling the truth he knows it and is looking for the right players IMO, Parker should be the first one out of the door, he is useless.

[Howaythelads]

One thing Souness had right, if Parker was ever gonna amount to anything it was as a defensive midfielder. Have him sit in front of the back four, work hard and never let the opposition settle. And, when he gets the ball, play simple passes to someone else.

He could have been quite effective for us in that role, much like Makelele is for Chelsea. The unsung hero of the team.

 

But between himself and Glenn Roeder they seem to have determined that the holding role is somehow beneath Scott Parker. I remember Roeder claiming at the start of the season that he saw Scott Parker as our Steven Gerrard, the box-to-box heart and soul of the team. However comparing Parker to Gerrard on any level is comically absurd, Parker isn't even close to being in the same league as Gerrard. Yet, for some reason, this hasn't become apparent to the manager as of yet and as a result we still try to persist with Parker as our main creative force in center midfield.

 

As a result we've been treated to a headless chicken running around trying to be a hero doing everything, and consequently doing nothing, all season.

 

He has a shocking first touch, dreadful passing range, poor vision, takes far too much time on the ball, doesn't have any real eye for goal, has a dreadful final ball and doesn't get into any good positions in the box. Not what you look for in an attacking midfielder tbh.

 

When he plays with Emre in CM its a shambles to watch. They have it completely ass backwards. Emre sits in front of the back four trying to protect, while Parker tries to get forward. Emre is very poor at tracking back and often leaves our back four exposed, while Parker is completely incapable of providing any sort of service to the front men and wingers.

 

With Butt it's a marginally better tandem, cos at least Butt can do the holding midfield job quite competently. But still we can do nothing going forward, due to Parker.

 

When Butt and Emre pair up in CM, it's no coincidence we look a whole lot better. Emre can go and be our playmaker, something he's a lot better equipped than Parker to do, while Butt protects the back four. Emre still doesn't quite do enough for me in that role, but at least we have balance.

 

With Emre likely to hit the road this summer, I feel one of our biggest needs will be an attacking midfielder. Parker could still be a very effective holding midfielder for us, but he needs to shape up very fast. Stop going for the glory tackles, stop getting pulled out of position and PLAY AS PART OF A TEAM. Do your job.

 

Otherwise he can get lost and it's no loss as far as I'm concerned.

 

His passing ability isn't up to it. Parker needs to be moved on regardless of what happens with Emre.

[Northern Monkey]

If we are honest, none of our central midfielders are world class. None of them are even England class (i.e. a very average International team).

 

Butt, Parker, Emre, Dyer. All much of a muchness. Different players, but not of them are great. I'd take bloody LOADS of players above these lot, any day.