According to Sullivan - and interestingly he admits his words will upset a lot of people - Scotty wasn't trying in a West Ham shirt because he was protecting himself, wanting to secure a transfer to Tottenham. He said:
"He was protecting himself either consciously or subconsciously. If you want to be kind, it was subconscious. If you want to be unkind, he was consciously protecting himself."
Now that comes as no surprise to some of us. The big question is, was he protecting himself over the last couple of months of last season? When I dared to suggest it, I was howled down. Scotty wouldn't do that! Scotty was Mr West Ham! Scotty loved the club, loved the fans, loved the shirt!
But where was Scotty when we played Man City? Sitting in the stands watching Tottenham play Chelsea - alongside best mate Jamie no less. Where was Scotty between April 9 and May 15 after he broke into the England team and we had collapsed at home to Man Utd? Rubbing shoulders with Keiron Dyer in the treatment room. How badly was he injured? We will never know.
But as I pointed out at the time, two substitute appearances tuned Scotty up nicely for the England games at the end of the season. The big question is, could Scotty have pushed himself to play the 90 minutes against Wigan? A victory there and it was game on as far as survival was concerned. But knowing he was off to Spurs and that England games were upcoming, was Parker "protecting himself" instead?
Dale didn't dare to ask the question.
14 comments:
Anony-mouse says,
Scott Parker was great for us. However at the end of our final Premier League game he said his goodbyes to the crowd. He must have been as shocked as the rest of us that he started the season with us. He didn't play to his previous high standards in those first games of the season- he was all right, but did not reach his own exceptional standards. Mentally he'd left the club. But to knock his contribution at the end of last season is ridiculous. He was fantastic up til his injury. His injury was directly linked to our massive slump and subsequent relegation. He came back when others would not have. The man had guts and application to burn.
That's why most of us still love him, even though he plays for that team. Want proof? Then go into any pub on match day and try to start an anti-Parker song and see what happens. Good luck with that.
By the way rather than regurgitate Ian dale's blog why not start trying to emulate it. I don't agree with his politics but he is articulate, intelligent and thoughtful. I guess that's why he got the interview with Sulivan rather than you.
Im surprised you had no commentary on Part 1. You are correct in giving full credit to Dale. Parts 1 and 2 are must reads if you support WHUFC.
to continue the answers given by ds
He didn’t want to play for the club. In the nicest possible way, he said “I’ve given you my all for the last 3, 4, 5 years, you owe it to me to let me go”. Now there is an argument that he’s right. There’s no player who has given more for the club in recent years, so to make him stay against his wishes…
You are so deluded when it comes to Parker you even try and skew a report from a decent west ham blog. Your slant is that working at 90% is a crime when you are waiting for the last and final move of your career. You cut and paste bits and ignore others to try and justify a myopic stance on the best holding midfielder in the Prem (other than Yaya) . As a West Ham season ticket holder for 30 years I have seen only about 5 other players put their body on the line for the Claret and Blue as Parker did. Even at 90% in the last 7 games he was 4 times the player and gave 4 times the effort of wasters like Nolan.
He still manged to put in 90 mins each time, chip in with a goal or two and cover the lack of effort that besieges others every match.
A true legend that I hope goes onto the euro's for England showing as much passion.
He was sh#t today!
Here we go again...
Yet another attempt to try and justify the unjustified.
The fact remains that Scott Parker did more than anyone to help the cause in the relegation season. He was voted player of the year.
USA Dave .. why are you surprised HF ignored part 1? DS explains the reasons for relegation and refers to the fact we had a bad manager (Grant). That would not reconcile with HF's views.
DS does however, take some responsibility. It is a great shame that the Board did not bite the bullet last January and appoint Martin O'Neill or BFS (second choice) at that time. Had they done so I reckon we would still be in the Premier League today in a similar position to say Sunderland.
A lot of players outside the top 5 clubs would like to play for 'arry's Tottemham, simply because they are a better club than the one they are at. I have no problem with Parker's attitude at West Ham. Whenever he played, whether in or out of his best postion, he put more of a shift in then everyone else. When Tottemham came sniffing I wasn't surprised he went. He was an England squad regular, and since his move has cemented his stake to the holding midfielder role- even to the extent that he is in with a shout for the captaincy.
Unlike others, Parker has only ever said good things about our club and I wish him well for the rest of the season and the Euros.
WHTID makes this place look like a bogroll!
Just because of one interview 21:17? How people get to the bottom of Chandross' articles I'll never know.
Anony-mouse says,
I think 21.17 is spot on Stani.
It's so typical of HF that his only post about Ian Dale's interview does not reflect the interview and focuses only on Parker, who is one of HF's bug-bears.
Did you see the stuff about Upson? Now that was worth an article. Or Ba? Or Torres? Tevez? All completely fascinating.
Or what about he clear reference that Sharp wanted to come to UP, but Allardyce (rightly in my view) thought he might not make the transition to the top flight if we go up. Now that may partly explain why Sharp was such a disgrace at UP last week.
Other West Ham sites are full of this stuff. There was so much in that interview but this site doesn't recognise a story when it sees one, in the same way that it's author doesn't recognise a player when he sees one.
Well, I agree that HF was always more forgiving of Moron Grant. But it would pretty remarkable for anyone to still defend the hire after the Chairman admitted it was a mistake. And I dont think he does that.
And to be fair, a few of my West Ham friends think the team was so disjointed and screwed up last year nobody could have saved them. I think that is wrong, but it's an opinion of a very few.
In any event, the whole interview was top notch. Wish there was more.
2307, that's why you come to the site as well as to others, because my take is different. No point writing what others write is there? I missed the Ba stuff actually, first one I picked up was Part 2 and I haven't read Parts 3 & 4 yet. I note you don't mention Green running down his contract - that doesn't chime with what you want to believe does it?
I agree that the interview section I read was remarkably revealing.
Oh HF- you get it so, so wrong to the point of making you look either deliberately myopic or maybe just plain delusional.
The reason why I come here? Statler and Waldorf like I said the other day. You're stuck with me til the end of the season then I'm gone. I want to see your reaction to our season- my guess is that if we stay down you'll react like a smug spotty kid that's just lost their virginity. Or if we go up- a churlish, unthankful tw@t who will claim that BFS got lucky (for the whole season) and will get his comeuppance in the Prem.
What do you think my attitude to Green is ? I've never expressed it on here so are you now claiming to be a mind reader. For what it's worth, nothing in the interview contradicted what I think about that situation.
It's a shame you couldn't keep up with yesterday's stuff- but I don't blame you, there was so much there. That's why I didn't mention Green, which much have been about the 8th most interesting thing in the piece. I myself forgot to mention the O'Neill stuff. That was truly amazing.- the most revealing, insight into the workings of a modern day football man you could hope for. Now there's a guy who really deserves the treatment you meted out to Scotty Parker yesterday. Another real, potentially explosive story missed by yourself- that's myopia for you.
Scott Parker West Ham Legend
That is probably the stupidest thing I have ever heard about West Ham even tops Harry's I'll never manage another club after West Ham
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