Less than two months after his appointment as coach, Belgian media are wondering aloud whether Club Brugge manager Scott Parker is suitable as coach of the reigning champion. A comparison is also made with Alfred Schreuder, who was immediately on track last year after being appointed as successor to Philippe Clement.
The reason is the game shown in the derby on Sunday afternoon against Cercle Brugge, which, remarkably enough, was the parent (2-2). “If you have to conclude that Club Brugge, with the available material, was not ready to play this derby, then you really have a very big problem,” says former international Marc Degryse in his analysis for Het Laatste Nieuws.
The draw against fellow townsman Cercle was Club Brugge’s sixth under Parker, who has only won one league game since his appointment in December as successor to Carl Hoefkens. Partly because of this, the team of Noa Lang and Bjorn Meijer has been waiting since October 29 for a home victory in the Belgian league. “Scotty doesn’t know,” is the headline of Het Laatste Nieuws above an analysis.
Lack of stability in Bruges
The Englishman is accused of not creating stability. “Scott Parker changes his team completely lame. After six weeks, no player knows where he stands. There is little trace of match management,” writes Sporza. “He also doesn’t present himself as someone a player looks at and believes he’s going to solve it. The players also radiate that, they are out of shape and lack confidence.”
They also see that the players of Club Brugge currently lack self-confidence. “No one knows where he stands yet. While Alfred Schreuder’s choices and philosophy were quickly clear a year ago,” the Belgian newspaper refers to the Ajax coach who was fired at the beginning of this year, who led Club Brugge to the national title after joining halfway through the season.
“A new championship is very far away at the moment. The question is whether Parker can even finish the season in Bruges. Scott Parker is a neat man and a good trainer. He proved that in England where he could incorporate his ideas during a long preparation. But was he the right choice to quickly resuscitate a team in crisis with players. And a league he didn’t know?” writes Sporza.
The Belgian TV channel fears that the conclusion is that the choice for Parker is not the right one. “If there are internal signals that, contrary to what we see, Scott Parker is on the right track. Then perhaps that should be made public from above. Otherwise, action must be taken,” they said. “Because in this way it cannot be ruled out that Club Brugge misses everything.”
