Parker's example is a lesson for all West Ham's flops
The upcoming transfer window should herald the exit of several players, yet no-one’s exit would be as keenly felt as Scott Parker’s.
West Ham willing to sell every player except Scott Parker - Exclusive
There is every chance that he is hankering for a move - certainly he is far too good for another season of toil - yet if that is the case, it has not been reflected in his performances. Here, then, is a lesson for any wantaway stars, of which West Ham have had their fair share over the years.
For teams like West Ham, it is always complicated to maintain an upward trajectory, but their ultimate failure is an inability to plateau after decent seasons. In 2001-02 under Glenn Roeder, they finished seventh and were relegated the next season. In 2005-06 under Alan Pardew, they finished ninth and reached the FA Cup final. The next season, Pardew was gone by December and relegation was avoided only on the final day. And last year, in Zola’s first season they finished ninth again, before continuing the sequence this year.
In all three cases, a heady mix of under-investment, weak management and overly cocky players precipitated a drop down the table. It is clear that West Ham need a manager who does not pander to his players’ whims, and indeed players who do not allow the slightest of successful seasons to inflate their already sizeable egos.
Jermain Defoe, for example, might have been a nightmare to manage before he left for Tottenham in 2004, but West Ham were not better off without him, and no-one should posit that they were. True, Defoe was a nuisance, yet better players always need to be managed properly. It is within their nature to think they are special, and it is a manager‘s task to prick their bubble.
West Ham need to find a balance in this regard then. Jonathan Spector, a right-back who has toiled at left-back all season, has a commendable attitude. You would not want to fill a team with players of his stature however. That would be to aspire only to mediocrity.
Undoubtedly it will have been difficult for Parker to summon up the required energy each week to soothe West Ham’s woes. Somehow he managed. His example can show his contemporaries the way.
A job that should never have been required in the first place is done. West Ham achieved Premier League safety on Saturday in the most inglorious of circumstances, and the euphoria of top-flight status being secured is punctured by reality. This was no achievement. Mismanaged both on and off the pitch, Gianfranco Zola’s side are eminently lucky to have avoided relegation.
When Wolves fans realised their side was all but safe on Saturday, they mounted a pitch invasion at Molineux in jubilation. Those scenes were not mirrored at the same time at Upton Park, where victory over Wigan Athletic coupled with Hull City’s defeat to Sunderland meant West Ham could look forward to another season in the Premier League.
There was no outpouring of emotion. No wild celebrations. The only pitch invasion was led by a lone, sun-kissed idiot who was swiftly apprehended by the stewards. The mood, if anything, was one of indifference. No raucous rendition of Bubbles. A few half-hearted chants of “We are staying up!” The ground was empty not long after the final whistle. Thanks a million. You’ve done your bit. But we’re not going to celebrate with you. The season has been far too underwhelming for that.
Perhaps a lack of tension pervaded the arena, as if West Ham knew that even if they lost to Wigan, the astonishing ineptitude of Hull and Burnley meant they could probably rest on their laurels anyway. West Ham may be one of the worst teams ever to avoid relegation, but they escaped because the Premier League contained two teams who were somehow even worse than them - and another, Portsmouth, who were deducted nine points.
No one should be ashamed by the nature of West Ham’s escape route this year. In 2003 they were, after all, one of the best teams ever to go down, relegated with a record 42 points. There is a maddening symmetry to the entire situation. Then there was genuine despair as a brilliantly gifted team threw it all away. That team contained Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe, Paolo Di Canio, Freddie Kanoute, David James and Trevor Sinclair. At times their combined skills could leave you feeling elated, even if their demise was one of the saddest episodes in English football’s recent history.
It was not inexplicable however. While genuine despair pervaded the club, fury was directed at the dreadful waste by those players, a lackadaisical attitude contributing to their downfall. How they could have done then with the inspirational qualities now demonstrated by Scott Parker who, incidentally, destroyed West Ham in the January of 2003 while he was still at Charlton.
Much debate has been forthcoming this season about the one-man teams, with Manchester United the target for many people due to Wayne Rooney‘s excellence. In a team sport, such a thing can never really exist, despite the importance of any given player, but West Ham, with their reliance on Parker have arguably been as close as a side can get to being utterly dependent on one man.
It was fitting then that his superb, swerving strike to beat Wigan should seal West Ham’s safety. His importance to West Ham cannot be overstated. In a side very obviously lacking leadership, Parker has more or less single-handedly dragged them away from danger, his commitment to the cause setting a standard others have not always achieved.
Parker’s importance has been such that there have been occasions when Zola has left him out in order to avoid him getting injured or incurring a suspension - the midfielder’s combative style means he has picked up 10 bookings this season and one red card. Yet if West Ham are a fairly awful side with Parker present, without him they are utterly dreadful, and with people starting to take notice of him once more, there is every chance a better team will come in for him during the summer.
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