Scott Parker: ‘I see the flaws – I know why Fulham weren’t successful before’

Last summer, Scott Parker brought in a company to assess the personalities of the players in a Fulham squad which had been broken by the experience of relegation from the Premier League, despite a £100million summer spending splurge.

“You have the alpha male who is very confrontational, who likes to see it as it is, is very black and white, doesn’t mind straight talk,” Parker explains. “And then obviously there are other ones, such as observers. Very different.”

So which one is Parker?

“I think I’m an in-between; a bit of both. I was brought up in a generation when everyone was treated like an alpha male and as much as at times you didn’t like it you got used to the environment you were in. I was one of those players who if I had done wrong I needed to brace myself for half-time. That’s not to say that was right but that was the way it was. And it helped me be the way I am today.”

The art of management has changed, too, which is why Parker employed the consultants to profile the players so he could find out about their varying personalities and how to handle them. “There’s a fine line between that and being a bit fluffy and soft which can be taken advantage of,” Parker admits.

Few who saw Parker play in midfield would describe him as “fluffy”, but at the same time the Fulham manager —whose side kick off the new Premier League season on Saturday lunchtime at home to Arsenal — is someone who understands the value of expression; of communication and of emotional intelligence.

“I am very aware of people and the management and understanding of people and how to get the best out of people. It is constantly at the forefront of my thinking,” he says.

Parker is a deep-thinker, but passionate with it. That came across in a heart-felt interview which went viral on social media, conducted moments after he had guided Fulham, who finished fourth in the Championship, to promotion through the play-offs by beating Brentford 2-1 at Wembley.

“I didn’t remember how emotional I was. I suppose that is football and it’s what you live for. The message was coming from the heart,” Parker recalls. “I thought about the fine margins and at the end of that game it’s the people closest to you who see that – my family who also see the other side, the hard side. As a manager you are trying to get people to try and follow you and you are delivering that message but when the door is shut your family see a more vulnerable side to you. That’s why I said what I said.”

Promotion also led to a new three-year contract. “That was massively important to me,” Parker admits. “I had eight months left on a previous contract but, like anything, when you are trying to change things and create an environment and a culture you need people to believe as well. So certainly that commitment makes my word even stronger.”

Fulham is the 39-year-old’s first job in management. He took over in February 2019 with the club 19th in the Premier League position and 10 points from safety with 10 games to go. Already doomed, Fulham saw enough in Parker to ask him to try and gain promotion and – almost as importantly – change that losing “culture”.

How has he done that? “You have some clear non-negotiables which are the pillars by which you stand by as a person. We have them. The changing room can consist of many different cultures and personalities, so trying to get everyone on the same page, trying to get everyone feeling like it’s their team, is something that is massively important.

“I didn’t feel we had that before. It was no-one’s fault. It was just the environment and how it was here made it difficult to have that. I see the flaws and maybe why it wasn’t successful. You need the constant message of what you want – being honest, frank and, at times, very brutal with players. But I feel if there’s always honesty about you then people respect that – I certainly did as a player. And also a caring side. That’s what is most important to me: understanding players.”

Many managers talk about philosophies, culture and “non-negotiables”. But what is an example of that?

“A non-negotiable is a work ethic,” Parker says. “Every day you set foot on the training pitch we expect focus but also having an open mind to being coached. I know they are clichés and every manager is delivering that message but delivering it and executing are not the same. I have played in many teams where it has not happened.”

When he was a player, Parker thought hard about being a manager. A seed was sown, in fact, during a famous game away to West Bromwich Albion in 2011 when he was captaining West Ham. At half-time they were 3-0 down and rather than manager Avram Grant giving the team-talk it was Parker who spoke to the players; the game was ultimately drawn 3-3.

“There are some moments in your career that give you a real buzz – when I sensed that people reacted to what I was saying. That was certainly one of them and I thought: ‘Maybe I would be okay’.”

In the opposite dug-out on Saturday will be Mikel Arteta who, like Parker and Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, is part of a new wave of former players now in the dug-out.

“With my generation there was that question – are they going to take that next step? A lot of us embraced it. I have just had a conversation with Joe Cole and he was talking about it, asking what you need. You need 100 per cent commitment to do this job and do it well.”

Parker says that success this season would simpy be “staying in the league”, but is unfazed by the relatively low outlay on transfers this summer — in stark contrast to that heady £100 million summer two years ago.

“I don’t think the £100million was the big reason we failed last time,” he says. “The reason was exactly what I am talking about. Players need to understand when they come here what they are coming here for and what the club is about: the flaws we have, the expectations on them, and what we can give them. If not then it’s the wrong time for them.

“Now I definitely think we are in a better place. But is there still room for improvement? Are we at the end of our journey? No way. I just see more togetherness and a football club all on the same page. When I took over it was the polar opposite.

“I have been involved in relegations as a player and often you find the same traits, the same flaws at a club. There are fractures along the way and that is what I saw here and we have tried to mend them.

“There are going to be bumps. That’s why I speak about my contract. When you get a bump you need the foundations to fall back on to re-build. If you are building on sand, you have to have another new manager, another 10 signings. In the end my experience tells me that if you build on some sort of continuity, build on an understanding and a process, the club’s more stable.”