Under-fire Burnley boss Scott Parker has unleashed an emotional plea for unity ahead of Saturday’s clash against West Ham.
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Scott Parker admits Burnley are running out of time heading into West Ham clash](https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/scott-parker-admits-burnley-are-running-out-of-time-heading-into-west-ham-clash-5503121 "Scott Parker admits Burnley are running out of time heading into West Ham clash")
The result, Burnley’s 15th straight league game without a win, means the Clarets are now 11 points adrift of safety with only 14 games remaining.
While Premier League survival looks increasingly unlikely, tomorrow’s game against fellow strugglers West Ham provides an opportunity to end that miserable 105-day winless streak.
Ahead of Saturday’s fixture, Parker was inevitably questioned about Monday’s debacle at the Stadium of Light, as well as the increasing pressure from the terraces and whether he still feels the support of the club’s ownership.
Here’s what he had to say:
Have there been some harsh words after Sunderland?
Scott Parker speaks to the media ahead of Burnley's game against West Ham United this weekend. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttardplaceholder image
Scott Parker speaks to the media ahead of Burnley's game against West Ham United this weekend. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttard
“Well, I don't think now at this present moment in time, in terms of where this group is at this moment in time, the harsh, harsh words is probably the way forward now at this moment in time.
“And the reason being is you're on the…of course, there needs to be at times a balance to that. You need to have an understanding of that and I think we've got that clear balance at this present moment in time.
“No doubt after a bad result and certainly where we currently are and that confidence is low. and in a young group or experiencing things for the first time, those challenges are clearly, clearly there for us, really.
“So, yeah, what makes us better and what improves us? What do the players need at this present moment in time? And the majority of that is probably psychological. I'm very conscious of that for us to go and perform.
“Football is like any other business. As a human being, you have to go and take your body to an extreme of what it demands of you. To be able to do that in these testing times, you need to have a clear focus and probably an element of a bit of a freedom in that and that's something that I've been focusing on this week.”
What keeps the hopes alive?
“Well, the facts are at the start of this season, me as the manager of this team, the ownership, the fan base and everyone associated with us knew that we were going to have a massive challenge. That's just fact. We knew we was going to be in for a massive, massive challenge.
“Now, at this present moment in time, we are in the midst of that challenge. It's clearly there.
“We set out early on in this season, pre-season in Portugal. I asked the players, each one of them, to write a word that was going to be needed for us or be relevant for us this year. That word or the most dominant word that would come out was: resilience, and that's exactly what we're going to need to be and that's exactly here now at this present moment in time. That's what it is.
“Now, at the start, while we knew there was a challenge, we understood that very, very clearly. We're now in the reality of it. It's the reality now of the challenge.
“All these words, what you need in these moments, are vital. Resilience being one of them, for sure and that's exactly what we need to be now. We've got to have resilience beyond it.
We need to stick together, for sure.
“Again, I understand in certain moments, they are just words. But that's the only way we're going to get through this and that's the only way we're going to grow and become better.
“And while, of course, we understood the challenge, we didn't want it to be that way and we wanted it to be different. It's not and the challenge, what we knew we were going to probably be embraced with, is actually here now. It's here now and we need to stand up to that, for sure.”
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You mentioned resilience, how much is it being tested at the moment?
“It's being tested, yeah. It's being tested, for sure it is. There's absolutely no denying that. I can't see it as anything different.
“It's being tested from me personally, of course it is. It's probably being tested from my coaching staff, it's being tested with every single individual and probably every single person at the football club, I see that.
“Like I said, you probably prepare yourself or you have an understanding, like I said, the understanding of what this season or the challenges we're going to face.
“But when it happens, of course, resilience is exactly what's needed and for sure it's being tested at this present moment in time. But we'll keep going with that.”
Do you still sense that unity, especially from supporters?
“Oh, I'm sure it's fading. I'm sure, again, I've been around a long, long time and I really have an understanding of football and how it works and I do understand it as well.
“Of course, there's parts where I don't and there's parts that I would disagree with, but that's just opinions, of course. That's my opinion and someone else will have a different opinion. I can always accept that.
“The one thing that there is a unity is us in here, for sure, and yeah, we need the supporters.
I get it and I get their frustration. I totally understand it and if that's pointed at me, I understand that as well.
“But there's a group here constantly here. There's a group here that every time they go on a football pitch, all they're trying to do is their best at this present moment in time and get a result and there's some dynamics here and there's some stresses here. They're in the midst of everything.
“I often say to you in these moments, let's just take football out of this. Let's just take football out of it and everyone just put themselves in certain positions, in certain moments in life when they're going through a tough time. What do you need? What do you need? You need people. You need to feel a love. You need to feel a support. You need to feel a commitment that someone has an understanding of that person's situation and what we need to do and that's my biggest message at this present moment in time.
“Again, fundamentally, that's a core value of mine and that's what I believe solely on. I understand there's frustrations, of course, I do. But let's get behind this group. Let's get behind this team. Like I said, there was a challenge here.
“There was a challenge at the start of the season and that challenge is here now. Let's embrace that.
“Let's be different. How about that? How about us be different? In these moments, in challenges, the innate personality of a lot is to go the other way a little bit. Wouldn't it be amazing if we were just different? Wouldn't it be amazing if we were, I don't know, yeah, all of us were just: ‘let's go’.
“Let's embrace this. We're in it now and we're getting jabbed along the way here.
“I hope that can be the case for sure. That's my constant message with this team and I feel every bit of that every time I'm around them, every time I'm with us.
“We're in this together and we're going to keep trying to swing and sometimes, you know what, we'll swing and we'll miss and sometimes it might not just go our way. Sometimes we will let ourselves down, maybe. While, of course, we endeavour not for that to be the case.
But yeah, we'll stick together.”
Do you still feel like you’ve got the support of the board?
“It's still been the case [following Sunderland], it's still not really changed and that's been a constant.
“There's nothing different in terms of the behaviours around me and that support has been there constantly.”
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