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Scott Parker always said he wouldn’t be able to take stock of Burnley’s record-breaking campaign until the season was done – but now that time has come.
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'Locked in': Scott Parker discusses Burnley's pre-season plans and outlines frie...](https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/locked-in-scott-parker-discusses-burnleys-pre-season-plans-and-outlines-friendly-hope-5122287 "'Locked in': Scott Parker discusses Burnley's pre-season plans and outlines friendly hope")
Despite cruelly missing out on the Championship title on goal difference, it’s still been a remarkable season in the second tier under Parker’s tutelage.
The Clarets, for the second successive year in the Championship, managed to reach 100 points. They remained unbeaten at home and boasted the best away record in the division.
The best stats, however, come in defence, where they shipped just 16 goals and kept 30 clean sheets – matching the all-time English record, first set by Port Vale in 1953/54.
"It takes some doing,” Parker said.
"I mean, the numbers are there and they're pretty remarkable to be honest with you.
"To concede 16 goals in the Championship, which is the most relentless league, week in, week out, to be able to be at your optimum, it's pretty special really.
Scott Parker's Burnley broke all sorts of records on their way to achieving Championship promotion (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)Scott Parker's Burnley broke all sorts of records on their way to achieving Championship promotion (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Scott Parker's Burnley broke all sorts of records on their way to achieving Championship promotion (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
"Clean sheets, where we went through a phase where we obviously generated a lot of clean sheets on the bounce, to be undefeated in 33 games in the league, which is, like I said, hugely competitive, these players deserve full credit for what they've done this year.”
By conceding just 16 goals in 46 games, Burnley missed out on the English record by just one goal.
During the 2004/05 season, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea conceded 15 goals. However, that came in 38 league games compared to Burnley’s 46, giving the Clarets a better goals-per-game ratio.
Ironically, Parker was a part of both sides, having been a member of Mourinho’s Chelsea side 20 years ago before leading Burnley to Championship glory as a manager.
When asked if that’s a coincidence, the Clarets boss joked: “I'd like to say it was, but I didn't really play a lot in that team! I'd like to say I was a pivotal role in that team and that was the reason why it happened, but not really. I was probably watching from afar.
"I mean, we've built a team around that. As a coach, you come into a place and you need to make decisions and you need to work out quickly what gives you a foundation in games and that was the decision I decided early on to go that way.
“We built a team around that, done a lot of work, an enormous amount of work early on in that defensive phase and that probably coincided with the criticism we were getting on the attacking phase. I understood the criticism and maybe I was partly responsible for that because my main focus was the defensive side.
"But overall, we've built our game on a foundation. The solidness has given us a foothold in most games and in the end, it became contagious. That became contagious. It was a badge of honour on our chest that you can see this team and the desire and the passion to keep clean sheets really and it's put us in good stead.”
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