Scott Parker has to smooth out the season at Club Brugge. The 42-year-old former midfielder has been appointed as successor to Carl Hoefkens, who was recently fired. Parker must ensure the turnaround in the second half of the season, as Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder also ensured in Belgium in the spring of 2022 as an interim appointed coach.
After the dismissal of the Belgian Hoefkens, Club Brugge bet on an internationally acclaimed name. Kasper Hjulmand, Roberto Martínez and Steven Gerrard were polled, but in the end it turned out to be Parker. The Englishman also enjoyed interest from Norwich City, the number seven in the English Championship, but ultimately opted for an adventure in the Belgian league.
Parker had an impressive career as a player. He played for Chelsea, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, among others. The former midfielder played eighteen times for the England national team and was also captain. Parker was most recently active as a manager at Bournemouth, the club he guided to the Premier League. His adventure was then quickly over, because Parker was fired in August. Before that he was manager of Fulham for many years.
Club Brugge managed to survive this season under Hoefkens in the group stage of the Champions League, so that an eighth final is now on the program against Benfica. Things went significantly less well in the Belgian league: Bruges currently occupies fourth place and is already twelve points behind leader KRC Genk. However, the play-offs for the championship that are common in Belgium still give every chance of winning the title. Schreuder also won the championship via the play-offs last year after a huge deficit on then leader Union Sint-Gillis.
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