Peter Varney on Scott Parker's transfer to Chelsea

PragueAddick

One of the many good reasons to subscribe to Rich Cawley's Substack is "The Peter Varney Diaries". In this edition he gives some insights into the 1999 "Floodlight Gang" which saw us nail an Asian match fixing gang - and as Peter relates, the FA trying to take credit for it😡.  But the main story is Parker to Chelsea. Peter is very good at revealing some juicy details but leaving it up the reader to draw their own conclusions. So we learn that Parker (and his agent) was insistent that when he had signed a new contract, Richard Murray had "promised" him that if a big club came in for him, he would let him know. But Peter as CEO had no knowledge of this and RM had buggered off to "Bermuda or the Bahamas" to visit his sister, just as the window had opened. That wasn't clever of RM if  so; but I'm sure that he was not the only owner at the time to do things like that. Nowadays we are all used to young talented players with "trigger clauses" making such promises part of the contract, and often naming a minimum price a club has to offer, to trigger talks. 

But as someone who already hates Abramovic with every fibre of my body, I was triggered by this revelation: "... they told Scott: ‘If you don’t sign in this window, we won’t be signing you’." WTF? I'm certainly one of those who believed that Abramovic made this move (after the Boxing Day tonking which Parker orchestrated) primarily to "take Charlton out" much like a Moscow gangster would take out a rival with a car-bomb. Otherwise why say such a thing? And of course in the event Parker hardly featured when he did make the move. Probably Claudio Ranieri never quite knew why Scott had arrived there. His career didn't exactly stall but it lost a lot of momentum, whereas if he had stayed until May, having helped us into Europe (as PV discusses) he would have had plenty of better options than that circus.

Great insights. I can't recommend too highly what Rich Cawley is delivering with his new venture, there is plenty of audio (with Louis Mendez) as well as regular news articles. Since he's not even a fan, I'd say we're lucky he's chosen to pick us, rather than the Spanners, for his venture (although I suppose he dreams of expansion at some point...)

The Red Robin

Parker would have had his pick of clubs that summer. He didn’t need Chelsea. 

MartinCAFC

It was always done to derail the competition at the time, Parker from us, Southampton with signing Bridge and Duff from Blackburn the three closest teams to Chelsea at the time it was very clear what the strategy was at the time.

MrOneLung

The Red Robin said:

Parker would have had his pick of clubs that summer. He didn’t need Chelsea. 

He would have been so good in that Arsenal midfield 

guinnessaddick

MrOneLung said:

The Red Robin said:

Parker would have had his pick of clubs that summer. He didn’t need Chelsea. 

He would have been so good in that Arsenal midfield 

Could of replaced Keane at the end of the season at Utd, with him leaving.

The Red Robin

MrOneLung said:

The Red Robin said:

Parker would have had his pick of clubs that summer. He didn’t need Chelsea. 

He would have been so good in that Arsenal midfield 

Or Utd as Keane’s successor. If anything, the Chelsea move cost him a squad place for Euro 2004.

SELR_addicks

Man Utd was the better fit. 

They had the likes of Djemba-Djemba playing that Parker would've been ahead of. 

DaveMehmet

He surely must regret making the decision to join Chelsea. Yes, he made a fortune but it’s tragic that someone with the ability he had never won a trophy. He’d have been an England regular if he’d made the right move as well. Also feels like it was the point our downfall started. 

The Red Robin

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

SELR_addicks

DaveMehmet said:

He surely must regret making the decision to join Chelsea. Yes, he made a fortune but it’s tragic that someone with the ability he had never won a trophy. He’d have been an England regular if he’d made the right move as well. Also feels like it was the point our downfall started. 

Probably feels learning from the likes of Mourinho, Makelele etc. led him to be able to refine his midfield positioning and led to his performances at Newcastle, West Ham and Tottenham. 

Dugdaleclass

guinnessaddick said:

MrOneLung said:

The Red Robin said:

Parker would have had his pick of clubs that summer. He didn’t need Chelsea. 

He would have been so good in that Arsenal midfield 

Could of replaced Keane at the end of the season at Utd, with him leaving.

Yep Arsenal or Utd would have been a better fit for him. If he had stayed with us through to the summer he would have continued getting media attention and the rave reviews, helped us into Europe and probably secured a place in the England squad for the euros that year. I reckon it took him a while to get his career fully back on the rails and probably West Ham got the best out of him. 

golfaddick

The Red Robin said:

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

And manage Burnley  🙄.

Will still be Mr Moneybags. 

Him, Taylor & Defoe can all do one as far as I'm concerned.

SantaClaus

I seem to remember there being a rumour that Wenger thought he was too small and didn't rate him.

SELR_addicks

SantaClaus said:

I seem to remember there being a rumour that Wenger thought he was too small and didn't rate him.

They signed Flamini that summer who is an inch taller, so not sure that would be true. Fabregas too obviously. 

Weegie Addick

The Red Robin said:

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

Not really?

MrOneLung

golfaddick said:

The Red Robin said:

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

And manage Burnley  🙄.

Will still be Mr Moneybags. 

Him, Taylor & Defoe can all do one as far as I'm concerned.

Cant believe a child who never played for us still gets stick 

Kips

SELR_addicks said:

SantaClaus said:

I seem to remember there being a rumour that Wenger thought he was too small and didn't rate him.

They signed Flamini that summer who is an inch taller, so not sure that would be true. Fabregas too obviously. 

Every inch counts

CAFCsayer

Great read

Siv_in_Norfolk

Yeah... fair play re: Cawley 

How much is the subscription? 

CAFCsayer

60 quid a year... worth every penny, there has been some great articles 

Scoham

SELR_addicks said:

SantaClaus said:

I seem to remember there being a rumour that Wenger thought he was too small and didn't rate him.

They signed Flamini that summer who is an inch taller, so not sure that would be true. Fabregas too obviously. 

Siv_in_Norfolk

CAFCsayer said:

60 quid a year... worth every penny, there has been some great articles 

Yeah, just checked: £5/month or £50/year

Diebythesword

The Red Robin said:

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

Earnt boatloads more in the physio room and on the bench for Chelsea too. Can’t imagine Newcastle, West Ham and Fulham were paying peanuts either. 

Still, think he missed out on a lot more England caps and probably trophies, both of which are priceless. 

Still think he’s the best player we’ve ever produced and the way it ended and how his career stalled is still a sore point for me. 

AllHailTheHen

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but still feel that Parker was incredibly naive to think that Chelsea would be the only club interested in him that season. He was getting better all the time and it seems he wanted to jump ship at the first bit of interest. As others have said Chelsea seemed to be more intent on disrupting a rival that season and given who they already had in their midfield, Parker was unlikely to break into the team immediately. 

fenaddick

AllHailTheHen said:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but still feel that Parker was incredibly naive to think that Chelsea would be the only club interested in him that season. He was getting better all the time and it seems he wanted to jump ship at the first bit of interest. As others have said Chelsea seemed to be more intent on disrupting a rival that season and given who they already had in their midfield, Parker was unlikely to break into the team immediately. 

I think top level athletes brains are wired slightly differently to ours. What we see as naivity they see as confidence. He was running the show in a team competing for the top 4, in his head why wouldn't he be able to do the same at Chelsea? I can see the logic in him thinking "Chelsea want me, they must think I improve their midfield"

3G

MrOneLung said:

golfaddick said:

The Red Robin said:

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

And manage Burnley  🙄.

Will still be Mr Moneybags. 

Him, Taylor & Defoe can all do one as far as I'm concerned.

Cant believe a child who never played for us still gets stick 

He was young but he knew what he was doing. 

Confirmed his lack of club loyalty when he handed in a transfer request the day after West Ham were relegated.

Obviously this footballer attitude is common place these days, and as fans we have kinda had to accept it (don't tell the Mags re Isak) . But back then it was considered very poor form to disrespect your current club in this way 

SporadicAddick

3G said:

MrOneLung said:

golfaddick said:

The Red Robin said:

I doubt he regrets it. Went on to captain England. 

And manage Burnley  🙄.

Will still be Mr Moneybags. 

Him, Taylor & Defoe can all do one as far as I'm concerned.

Cant believe a child who never played for us still gets stick 

He was young but he knew what he was doing. 

Confirmed his lack of club loyalty when he handed in a transfer request the day after West Ham were relegated.

Obviously this footballer attitude is common place these days, and as fans we have kinda had to accept it (don't tell the Mags re Isak) . But back then it was considered very poor form to disrespect your current club in this way 

It was considered poor then (Pierre Van Hoojidonk) and it's considered poor now (Alexander Isak), but only by fans. Even clubs that profess disdain (Newcastle) are quiet when they are the beneficiaries of such player behaviour.

For most footballers, it's a career move - better pay / better opportunities. Generally it's only the fans that are emotional.

 

Billy_Mix

He was 23 when Chelsea and Abramovic's millions came knocking.  After 4 years in Charlton's first team he'd already have been very well paid but then came the offer to set him up financially for life.  Anybody on here suggesting they'd have risked putting off that transfer until the summer so they could see Charlton through to a possible European place, is deluded or a hypocrite or both.  He was 3 years married at the time.  One bad injury and that security is dust.
Chelsea's financial might meant they had the whip hand in negotiations, not just over Charlton.  They mopped up more than just Spotty, from 'smaller' clubs then threatening the top 6.
The leak that he'd demanded the move, ensured his reputation was ruined with (some of) the faithful.  The appearance of his brand new Aston Martin in the players' car park was a pretty loud FU.  His conduct since has been exemplary but the sin of ambition is vehemently unforgiven in the minds of this noisy few.  Weird.
Who really was the greater sinner? Parker and his ambition, or moneybags Chelsea and their flagrant abuse of the rules?

In contrast, the sale of Lee Bowyer to Leeds is accepted as 'one of those things, we're a selling club, can't turn down those millions'.  I don't remember any leaks or rumours about how blatantly Lee had been tapped up, or how he then behaved if/when he found out.  He had of course already misbehaved in ways for which people could legitimately think badly of him.  He matured, didn't continually repeat the misdemeanours and his reputation with (most) Addicks is fully restored.  Odd innit? 

fenaddick

I don't think it will ever happen but I do sometimes wonder what would happen if he came back to manage us. It's already 21 years ago, a lot of younger fans (myself included) can't properly remember it happening and our opinion is based on the things we've heard and read from others. I understand why it would take older fans (sorry!) more time to be won over but I think a decent chunk of the fan base would be fully behind him if he made a solid start, it could turn sour very quickly if things went wrong though

AllHailTheHen

fenaddick said:

I don't think it will ever happen but I do sometimes wonder what would happen if he came back to manage us. It's already 21 years ago, a lot of younger fans (myself included) can't properly remember it happening and our opinion is based on the things we've heard and read from others. I understand why it would take older fans (sorry!) more time to be won over but I think a decent chunk of the fan base would be fully behind him if he made a solid start, it could turn sour very quickly if things went wrong though

I do think there would be a pretty big undercurrent of animosity at the start but fans can be fickle. Think he'd be given a lot less leeway than a manager without the previous baggage if things went awry. Could never see him managing us though.

ElfsborgAddick

Billy_Mix said:

He was 23 when Chelsea and Abramovic's millions came knocking.  After 4 years in Charlton's first team he'd already have been very well paid but then came the offer to set him up financially for life.  Anybody on here suggesting they'd have risked putting off that transfer until the summer so they could see Charlton through to a possible European place, is deluded or a hypocrite or both.  He was 3 years married at the time.  One bad injury and that security is dust.
Chelsea's financial might meant they had the whip hand in negotiations, not just over Charlton.  They mopped up more than just Spotty, from 'smaller' clubs then threatening the top 6.
The leak that he'd demanded the move, ensured his reputation was ruined with (some of) the faithful.  The appearance of his brand new Aston Martin in the players' car park was a pretty loud FU.  His conduct since has been exemplary but the sin of ambition is vehemently unforgiven in the minds of this noisy few.  Weird.
Who really was the greater sinner? Parker and his ambition, or moneybags Chelsea and their flagrant abuse of the rules?

In contrast, the sale of Lee Bowyer to Leeds is accepted as 'one of those things, we're a selling club, can't turn down those millions'.  I don't remember any leaks or rumours about how blatantly Lee had been tapped up, or how he then behaved if/when he found out.  He had of course already misbehaved in ways for which people could legitimately think badly of him.  He matured, didn't continually repeat the misdemeanours and his reputation with (most) Addicks is fully restored.  Odd innit? 

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