Scott Parker pleased with last minute goal
The sight of Lucas Pires hurtling down the touchline to celebrate Burnley’s last-gasp winner against Wolves last week told us everything we needed to know about Scott Parker’s squad.
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The Brazilian left-back, a regular for Burnley last season during their promotion-winning campaign, hasn’t played a single minute of Premier League football this term.
But despite being out in the cold, the 24-year-old couldn’t hold his excitement at Lyle Foster’s 95th-minute winner at Molineux – a victory that made it back-to-back wins for Parker’s side and moved them five points clear of the relegation zone.
Man management is clearly a key strength of Parker’s, but this type of team spirit and recognition of the wider goal shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“It doesn't just happen,” Parker said.
“I suppose, first and foremost, you're trying to build an environment and a culture at a football club where players feel comfortable, they feel part of a team and feel a bond.
“I think it's fair to say that everyone in our squad at this present moment in time, and of course, there's three, four or five players that are probably a little bit unhappy at the moment, because they want to play and they’ve not managed to get game time.
Parker celebrates last week's win at Wolves with his players and coaching staff at the full-time whistle (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)placeholder image
Parker celebrates last week's win at Wolves with his players and coaching staff at the full-time whistle (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“But there's a real mutual respect and a bond amongst them that while, of course, they're disappointed, there's genuinely a spirit here at this present moment in time.
“I think that's what pleases me the most, because that goal goes in at the back end and you just focus on the dugout…Loum [Tchaouna] is coming on at 70 minutes, I was speaking to him about coming off the bench. Then I changed my mind and then I thought about bringing him on again, because the game is moving that quickly.
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“At the end of it, he doesn’t enter the field of play, but we score the goal and he's one of the first running down the touchline.
“I think it speaks volumes for him in terms of having an understanding of how we're in this together this year and one week it’s someone, next week it’s someone else.
“But fundamentally, our goal here this year is to stay in this division and we'll all be accountable for that. It's going to be a massive, massive driver for us.”
Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe, meanwhile, describes the club’s team spirit as a “superpower”.
"The camaraderie here is just different level,” the summer signing said. “Everyone's in it together.
"I mean, even some of the injured lads that haven't had any minutes and haven’t featured this season, they're still part of the group and still speak to me on a daily level and try and make them involved as much as we can.
“That's definitely one of our biggest points. We're very much in this together. If one isn't starting and the other is, no one sort of has a negative tone to it, whereas there have been places where that very much is the case and sort of tears teams apart. But everyone here is just supportive.
"Everyone's up for wanting to hang out with each other and I think we've used that as a superpower this season.”
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