sport news 'I've got fire in my belly again': Scott Parker back in the dugout after shock ... trends now

sport news 'I've got fire in my belly again': Scott Parker back in the dugout after shock ... trends now
sport news 'I've got fire in my belly again': Scott Parker back in the dugout after shock ... trends now

sport news 'I've got fire in my belly again': Scott Parker back in the dugout after shock ... trends now

Before Scott Parker can talk about drive, first there is a telling smile and a revelation about driving his family mad.

Parker, understandably, is in high spirits. It is two weeks since Club Bruges rang to reveal they wanted him to be their new manager. The Belgians, whose pedigree is rich, were prepared to give the 42-year-old time to think but no thinking time was needed.

Here, in his words, was 'an amazing opportunity' and nobody would argue with that. Four months on from his brutal sacking by Bournemouth, Parker is in charge of a young team who, in four weeks, square up to Benfica in the Champions League last 16.

New manager Scott Parker (above) is relishing the 'amazing opportunity' at Club Brugge

New manager Scott Parker (above) is relishing the 'amazing opportunity' at Club Brugge

'We know not many English managers venture abroad,' he says, as we talk at the impressive Belfius basecamp. 'I couldn't wait for the different challenge, the different culture. I'm not scared of it one bit, it excites me massively.'

Few are more thrilled than his wife, Carly, and their four sons Frankie, 19, Murphy, 18, Sonny, 15, and nine-year-old Rafa. After his exit from Bournemouth, Parker found himself on full-time dad duties, ferrying them to weekend football games and pottering around the house.

'You commit so much to football, the family just fits around you, really,' he says. 'That's happened for large parts of my life. I moved around a bit, my wife and kids never really had a say. They just follow you around and the commitment they make is massive.

Parker's first match in charge last weekend ended in a 3-1 defeat at league leaders Genk

Parker's first match in charge last weekend ended in a 3-1 defeat at league leaders Genk

'You feel guilty at times, so it was nice to do some things I'd never really done. I drove them mad, I'm pretty sure! My wife was like 'will you get back to work!'. It was amazing but when football is in your blood and is all you have known, when an opportunity comes you do it again.

'That's what I'm excited about and that's what I'm bringing them back to, this football world they love as well.'

The Parker clan will

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