If Rudyard Kipling was decided by Rudyard, it could go to someone who kept their heads when all around the loss and to trust when others threw a doubt.
This season at least, Scott Parker was your man, my son.
Burnley de Parker struck the front with six to play in the long race of the Premier League earlier this month, fighting from behind to emerge as winners in Coventry while others have weakened.
Leeds drew in Luton and had only won once in six games. They have turned things to win their last four and win a promotion, but it will not be a problem for Burnley.
Sheffield United, meanwhile, was still worried about these two points deducted while sliding to an unusual defeat in Oxford. And, after defeating the Blades 2-1 on Easter Monday, Parker had started it again.
There are now three of three for the former championship midfielder. Fulham, Bournemouth, Burnley. They and Leeds are in Up – United is intended for a dance of death in the playoffs, where endurance and mental resilience will be tested by those charged on momentum.
Burnley from Scott Parker obtained promoting the Premier League after defeating Sheffield United 2-1
The Clarets return to the elite at the first time after being relegated last year
Parker has become one of the best young English coaches and next season will be intriguing
“It is an emotional tension if you let it consume yourself,” said Parker after winning in Coventry. “Jump on the roller coaster mountains of, oh, they have won and that means that, all these things are going through your head, and it’s a drain and becomes very stressful.”
He jokes about the deactivation of his phone but admits that you need a commitment to avoid noise.
“15 years of training my mind”, as he says. “I speak to someone on a weekly basis in terms of control of things and control my mind, and not to get emotionally involved.”
Respect for Burnley this season was reluctantly. Difficult to beat is the usual reference for the Parker team, rebuilt after losing Wilson Odobert, Sander Berge and Dara O’Shea.
Indeed, they were undefeated in 31 championship games, having conceded only 15 goals in 44 games and that scored by Coventry in a 2-1 victory was clearly offside.
It is a remarkable defensive record, the source of which extends far beyond the talent of James Trafford, the goalkeeper took a step for a move at the end of the Premier League this year.
Maxime Esteve and CJ Egan-Riley, both 22 years old, are excellent central halves ready for another Premier League test, and protected by a solid midfielder and full industry back.
Fanted house fans who filed the CBS arena estimated that visitors would not last long in the Premier League by playing this way, but Burnley went up two years ago by playing football under Vincent Kompany of the opposite end of the specter.
Parker had difficulty but has now become one of the best young coaches in England
The promotion has done three years in six years at the level of the championship for Parker at the age of 44
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This plan did not last at the next level, just as he did not do this season for Russell Martin in Southampton.
They were easily exposed by stronger teams with better players, even if it did not work too much for Kompany, who took his pure philosophy of passing into the richest club in Germany and is now at the top of the Bundesliga.
Parker will expect quality this summer. He has already lived it and always carries the scars.
He rebounded from top to bottom with Fulham without finding a footer and spent an embarrassing summer after the promotion in Bournemouth while waiting in vain for an imminent takeover to finance reinforcements.
His decision to make public with the fears he had disseminated in private for weeks after losing 9-0 in Liverpool a few days before the transfer window in August 2022 turned spectacularly.
He was dismissed, Gary O’Neil intervened, the takeover was completed while Parker began 67 days in charge of Club Bruges. Bournemouth remained standing and did not look back.
Parker flirted with the management scrappheap. There is little tolerance for those who learn their job in modern English football.
But Burnley gave him another chance as an expert in clubs relegated to the Premier League and was rewarded.
He was from top to bottom with Fulham and had an embarrassing summer after promoting Bournemouth
Burnley gave him another chance as an expert in the best clubs relegated to the elite
The promotion was three years in six years to Parker at the age of 44.
We must see it among the young emerging British coaches. He took the time to learn the strings of the Tottenham Academy and as an assistant of Slavisa Jokanovic and Claudio Ranieri in Fulham.
Just as he did as a player, he jumped in clubs leaving a good impression. Those who worked with him describe him as studious, determined and ambitious and just.
Some people seem to be more likely to throw sarcastic comments on his chief references and fashion errors, while sticking perceptions on charmed access to attractive jobs, with the advantage of parachute payments.
These things undoubtedly help the championship. But this is not a spring walk. Daniel Farke’s Leeds illustrate as much. With other evidence provided by Luton in the fall zone or Huddersfield in Ligue 1.
There is a lot of selective snobbery. This season, he tends to frown on Parker for his football style, but he will not listen to now.
