My understanding is basically as Bing said. The Board really didn't want to sell. Curbs didn't either but was really afraid of what would happen if Parker threw his toys out of the pram. Unfortunately it did seem as though Parker's head had been turned by the money and glamour. The Board held out as long as possible for as much as possible. On this particular occasion, they did the best they could.
I really admire Darren Ferguson's stance, but when comparing the Parker situation, we need to be aware of the sinister level of skullduggery when its the Premier League, and particularly a club newly owned by a Russian who thinks money can buy everything. The media, and particularly The Sun were recruited by Chelsea to assist in unsettling Parker. In particular, one week before the deadline a totally false report was placed on the Sun website saying that Parker had signed for Chelsea. It made the early editions of the printed version and was then withdrawn from later editions. I contacted the Press Complaints Commission about it, and was actively encouraged to formally complain. In the end though they decided they could not rule because I as the complainant was not directly affected by the report. Subsequently I got a letter from the Sun's own sleazebag version of an Ombudsman, who triumphantly included cuttings of the Sun that day minus the offending report, and -it being after the transfer had gone through - and disputed my assertion that the report had been false, because by now Parker was a Chelsea player.
Football is a dirty business, and there will sometimes be limits to what our club on its own can do to fight the sleaze. I greatly admired Peter Varney's endless determination to take on the sleazebags, but he and Richard got precious little support from other Premiership clubs, mainly because they are mostly run by sleazebags too.
[cite]Posted By: Valley11[/cite]Are we still talking about Scott Parker.....?!
Come on guys
Valley...this story will NEVER go away simply because it was a defining moment...IMHO... more than any other, that sent out ALL the WRONG messages to the footballing world about us as a club.
A mistake from which we NEVER recovered....as I knew we wouldn't at the time having been around for many years and seen it all before!
Well at least Parker got his dream to play in Chelsea's ....reserves. Chelsea got their man, and after splashing more cash on more players have still NOT won the European Cup.
Charlton got 12 million quid, missed out on European football, have been on a downward spiral since, and will be playing league 1 football next season... And Curbs is between jobs...
[cite]Posted By: Six-a-bag-of-nuts[/cite]Sorry Bing, but how is what you are saying disproving my view that neither Curbs nor the board wanted him to go at that time?
Given Parkers stance and attitude they may have seen it as necessary in the end, but Curbs taped interview on the end of season DVD makes it abundantly clear that the whole business ripped his guts out.
6 weeks in the top 4; just beat Chelsea and Spurs ; Parker in the form of his life; realistic chance of Europe, then....bosh
Well it depends on how you interpret what was being said. I have heard Curbs talking about that episode in turns of the way that Chelsea made their approach. I have aslo heard him talk about the inevitablity of Parker leaving and not wanting to stand in his way.
.
That's exactly right, but the key words in my sentence above are "at that time".
As Curbs also said, if he'd have left at the end of the season everybody would have understood, thanked him and wished him well.
As it was he disrupted the season and the club and set in motion the chain of events that saw our steady progress level off and decline.
As others have said it was a defining moment and definitely not one the board or Curbs would have wished at that time
As to the point of the thread suggesting we stand firm and insist he stayed, we can only speculate whether that would have been good or bad, but seeing as he was pivotal to our side I can't imagine a disgruntled and demotivated Parker being a positive influence.
I interviewed Curbs the week Parker went, he was fuming, you could just tell from his body language that he realised Charlton's chance of pushing on had just high tailed it to Stamford Bridge. I do think the treatment Parker got on his last appearance was unfair, anyone else in his position would have done the same, but I do believe the move to Chelsea set him back a fair bit and only recently has he looked like the fine player we saw week in week out.
Totally missed the point, that Chelsea only signed Parker to derail our Champions League challenge, - Chelsea had just been beaten 4-2 by Charlton, the gap narrowed to just 2 points and Chelsea feared a Parker driven Charlton could finish above them by the end of the season.
That's why Chelsea signed Parker - and as far as they were concerned, money well spent.
Totally missed the point, that Chelsea only signed Parker to derail our Champions League challenge, - Chelsea had just been beaten 4-2 by Charlton, the gap narrowed to just 2 points and Chelsea feared a Parker driven Charlton could finish above them by the end of the season.
That's why Chelsea signed Parker - and as far as they were concerned, money well spent.[/quote]
Very true and his career has never really recovered, he has made a lot of money but it has only been in the last few months at West Ham that he has recaptured any sort of form.
The sad thing is that he is now 29 and his chances of making a WC squad for England, which was certainly well within his ability, have gone because he moved to the wrong club at the wrong time.
His best bet would have been to a Villa or Spurs (like Carrick did) and THEN to a big four team.
Totally missed the point, that Chelsea only signed Parker to derail our Champions League challenge, - Chelsea had just been beaten 4-2 by Charlton, the gap narrowed to just 2 points and Chelsea feared a Parker driven Charlton could finish above them by the end of the season.
That's why Chelsea signed Parker - and as far as they were concerned, money well spent.
Not sure it was the 'entire' reason but certainly a huge (and I do mean huge) added bonus which they too had obviously spotted.....double whammy....chumps again!!
A few former Charlton names there, quite an interesting list!
It's a shame what's happened to Parker (not sure if I mean that...) hopefully it will be lesson for other young player, to make small steps instead of jumping straight to a top 4 club. Did Parker really think he was going to replace Makélélé or Lampard? Matt Jansen left Carlise for Man Utd but instead choose Palace before going to Blackburn, injury prevented him going any further.
It's a shame what's happened to Parker (not sure if I mean that...) hopefully it will be lesson for other young player, to make small steps instead of jumping straight to a top 4 club. Did Parker really think he was going to replace Makélélé or Lampard? Matt Jansen left Carlise for Man Utd but instead choose Palace before going to Blackburn, injury prevented him going any further.
parker moved to secure his family future , who knows how secure matt jansen's family's future is ... parker could have stayed got injured and his career could have been over, his number one responsibilty has to be to his family ... yes in the dream world of money not mattering he would have stayed with us and moved on in latter years etc etc
[quote][cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite]
It's a shame what's happened to Parker (not sure if I mean that...) hopefully it will be lesson for other young player, to make small steps instead of jumping straight to a top 4 club. Did Parker really think he was going to replace Makélélé or Lampard? Matt Jansen left Carlise for Man Utd but instead choose Palace before going to Blackburn, injury prevented him going any further.[/quote]
parker moved to secure his family future , who knows how secure matt jansen's family's future is ... parker could have stayed got injured and his career could have been over, his number one responsibilty has to be to his family ... yes in the dream world of money not mattering he would have stayed with us and moved on in latter years etc etc[/quote]
Hmmmm, I would say that Parker would have been on a 5 year deal with us worth AT LEAST 12K (probably nearer 15K, maybe more), I doubt that his family were ever going to end up living on the Ferrier Estate!!!!
In fact, didn't he end up buying Bobby Davro's house in Essex?
You say that, and I know I have the beauty of hindsight, but if he wanted he could still be earning £40k+ now if he'd moved at the right time (or stayed with us, we could be kings of Europe had we qualified for the Chumps League that season)!
[cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite]12k at charlton or 40k at chelsea ... tough one!!
I thought Chelsea would have paid him more than that.
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.
[cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite]12k at charlton or 40k at chelsea ... tough one!!
I thought Chelsea would have paid him more than that.
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.
That's possibly true, but Newcastle or others weren't offering us £10m for him, neither would they have been able to. At that point, there was only one club in for him - he had the choice between Chelsea and tripling his wages, or staying at Charlton. No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Si[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite]12k at charlton or 40k at chelsea ... tough one!![/quote] I thought Chelsea would have paid him more than that.
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.[/quote] That's possibly true, but Newcastle or others weren't offering us £10m for him, neither would they have been able to. At that point, there was only one club in for him - he had the choice between Chelsea and tripling his wages, or staying at Charlton. No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.[/quote]
yep all gone downhill since he left, i dont hold it against him and is still my fave ever charlton player!
couldn't really blame him at the time as chelsea were & still a top team and if he was playing for them would of had more chance to get into the england squad, dont tink it was about money just that he had more opportunities through them, champions league initernational, winning the leage. yes we was pushing them before he went but realistically even with parker we would never have got it, but that is the period where the dimise of charlton started so can understand some resentment towards the player
as for worst buys, i think thats a bit harsh! plus was not parker's fault as im sure if makalele was not there then he would have been able to cemennt his place in the team. he is now performing well (granted injured at present but their most consistent player) for west ham and deservedly is their captain, how i'd love him one day to come back and play for us
[cite]Posted By: BlackForestReds[/cite]No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.
.............
I hope I'd have waited until the season end.
But who's to say that Chelsea would still have been in for im at the end of the season? Considering the likely reasons they bought him (to cover their inujured midfielders, to stunt our progress), it is almost certain they would not have been in for him at season end. Therefore, if it was the choice between triple your wages and Chelsea in January or never, what would you choose?
[quote][cite]Posted By: Si[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: BlackForestReds[/cite]No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made. .............
I hope I'd have waited until the season end.[/quote] But who's to say that Chelsea would still have been in for im at the end of the season? Considering the likely reasons they bought him (to cover their inujured midfielders, to stunt our progress), it is almost certain they would not have been in for him at season end. Therefore, if it was the choice between triple your wages and Chelsea in January or never, what would you choose?[/quote]
If they were not prepared to wait for him until the end of the year then you'd have to question how much they really wanted him at all.
[cite]Posted By: BlackForestReds[/cite]No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.
.............
I hope I'd have waited until the season end.
But who's to say that Chelsea would still have been in for im at the end of the season? Considering the likely reasons they bought him (to cover their inujured midfielders, to stunt our progress), it is almost certain they would not have been in for him at season end. Therefore, if it was the choice between triple your wages and Chelsea in January or never, what would you choose?
If they were not prepared to wait for him until the end of the year then you'd have to question how much they really wanted him at all.
If the offer came in and I was SP, I wouldn;t think "I wonder how much they really want me". I;d think "this could be my only chance to sign for a top 4 club, and I could triple my salary overnight". I notice you didn't asnwer whether you'd have taken it up were you in his shoes..!
when an opportunity like that comes along you either take it or standstill in life ................
parker had to take it for his family's security .... all this he could have a comfortable living bollox on 12k per week is ridiculous when he can have a much more secure comfortable living on 40k per week..... as si said a no brainer
[quote][cite]Posted By: Si[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: Friend Or Defoe[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite]12k at charlton or 40k at chelsea ... tough one!![/quote] I thought Chelsea would have paid him more than that.
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.[/quote] That's possibly true, but Newcastle or others weren't offering us £10m for him, neither would they have been able to. At that point, there was only one club in for him - he had the choice between Chelsea and tripling his wages, or staying at Charlton. No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.[/quote]
Not me - I would have stayed at Charlton for Life - I am a fan though :-)
[quote][cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite]when an opportunity like that comes along you either take it or standstill in life ................ parker had to take it for his family's security .... all this he could have a comfortable living bollox on 12k per week is ridiculous when he can have a much more secure comfortable living on 40k per week..... as si said a no brainer[/quote]
Feck me sideways Oooaaahhh, how many ties can a man wear at once?
Let's say Parker was on a five-year deal at Charlton on 15K per week and he sees out the WHOLE deal, by my reckoning he would have earned AFTER tax the small amount of around 2.2 million quid - by the age of 28!!! How much dough do you need before your family is "secure"?
Look, as far as I am concerned, I would have been more respectful to Charlton and told Chelsea to wait until the end of the year and then signed for them, but then again I am a Charlton fan.
Parker has made a lot of money from football but made a very poor choice back in January 2004 in terms of his career, he should have been at a big four team playing regularly and at least an England squad regular at this stage of his career.
Where did he end up? Newcastle and West Ham who are no more likely to win anything big than we were back in 2004 and he is nowhere near the England squad for the WC.
Comments
I really admire Darren Ferguson's stance, but when comparing the Parker situation, we need to be aware of the sinister level of skullduggery when its the Premier League, and particularly a club newly owned by a Russian who thinks money can buy everything. The media, and particularly The Sun were recruited by Chelsea to assist in unsettling Parker. In particular, one week before the deadline a totally false report was placed on the Sun website saying that Parker had signed for Chelsea. It made the early editions of the printed version and was then withdrawn from later editions. I contacted the Press Complaints Commission about it, and was actively encouraged to formally complain. In the end though they decided they could not rule because I as the complainant was not directly affected by the report. Subsequently I got a letter from the Sun's own sleazebag version of an Ombudsman, who triumphantly included cuttings of the Sun that day minus the offending report, and -it being after the transfer had gone through - and disputed my assertion that the report had been false, because by now Parker was a Chelsea player.
Football is a dirty business, and there will sometimes be limits to what our club on its own can do to fight the sleaze. I greatly admired Peter Varney's endless determination to take on the sleazebags, but he and Richard got precious little support from other Premiership clubs, mainly because they are mostly run by sleazebags too.
Come on guys
Valley...this story will NEVER go away simply because it was a defining moment...IMHO... more than any other, that sent out ALL the WRONG messages to the footballing world about us as a club.
A mistake from which we NEVER recovered....as I knew we wouldn't at the time having been around for many years and seen it all before!
Chelsea got their man, and after splashing more cash on more players have still NOT won the European Cup.
Charlton got 12 million quid, missed out on European football, have been on a downward spiral since, and will be playing league 1 football next season...
And Curbs is between jobs...
No wonder some of us still keep going on about it
That's exactly right, but the key words in my sentence above are "at that time".
As Curbs also said, if he'd have left at the end of the season everybody would have understood, thanked him and wished him well.
As it was he disrupted the season and the club and set in motion the chain of events that saw our steady progress level off and decline.
As others have said it was a defining moment and definitely not one the board or Curbs would have wished at that time
As to the point of the thread suggesting we stand firm and insist he stayed, we can only speculate whether that would have been good or bad, but seeing as he was pivotal to our side I can't imagine a disgruntled and demotivated Parker being a positive influence.
I agree and thus through Curbs gritted teeth the deal was done.
Totally missed the point, that Chelsea only signed Parker to derail our Champions League challenge, - Chelsea had just been beaten 4-2 by Charlton, the gap narrowed to just 2 points and Chelsea feared a Parker driven Charlton could finish above them by the end of the season.
That's why Chelsea signed Parker - and as far as they were concerned, money well spent.
Totally missed the point, that Chelsea only signed Parker to derail our Champions League challenge, - Chelsea had just been beaten 4-2 by Charlton, the gap narrowed to just 2 points and Chelsea feared a Parker driven Charlton could finish above them by the end of the season.
That's why Chelsea signed Parker - and as far as they were concerned, money well spent.[/quote]
Very true and his career has never really recovered, he has made a lot of money but it has only been in the last few months at West Ham that he has recaptured any sort of form.
The sad thing is that he is now 29 and his chances of making a WC squad for England, which was certainly well within his ability, have gone because he moved to the wrong club at the wrong time.
His best bet would have been to a Villa or Spurs (like Carrick did) and THEN to a big four team.
Not sure it was the 'entire' reason but certainly a huge (and I do mean huge) added bonus which they too had obviously spotted.....double whammy....chumps again!!
It's a shame what's happened to Parker (not sure if I mean that...) hopefully it will be lesson for other young player, to make small steps instead of jumping straight to a top 4 club. Did Parker really think he was going to replace Makélélé or Lampard? Matt Jansen left Carlise for Man Utd but instead choose Palace before going to Blackburn, injury prevented him going any further.
parker moved to secure his family future , who knows how secure matt jansen's family's future is ... parker could have stayed got injured and his career could have been over, his number one responsibilty has to be to his family ... yes in the dream world of money not mattering he would have stayed with us and moved on in latter years etc etc
It's a shame what's happened to Parker (not sure if I mean that...) hopefully it will be lesson for other young player, to make small steps instead of jumping straight to a top 4 club. Did Parker really think he was going to replace Makélélé or Lampard? Matt Jansen left Carlise for Man Utd but instead choose Palace before going to Blackburn, injury prevented him going any further.[/quote]
parker moved to secure his family future , who knows how secure matt jansen's family's future is ... parker could have stayed got injured and his career could have been over, his number one responsibilty has to be to his family ... yes in the dream world of money not mattering he would have stayed with us and moved on in latter years etc etc[/quote]
Hmmmm, I would say that Parker would have been on a 5 year deal with us worth AT LEAST 12K (probably nearer 15K, maybe more), I doubt that his family were ever going to end up living on the Ferrier Estate!!!!
In fact, didn't he end up buying Bobby Davro's house in Essex?
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.
I thought Chelsea would have paid him more than that.
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.[/quote]
That's possibly true, but Newcastle or others weren't offering us £10m for him, neither would they have been able to. At that point, there was only one club in for him - he had the choice between Chelsea and tripling his wages, or staying at Charlton. No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.[/quote]
Yes, but not in the middle of the season.
.............
I hope I'd have waited until the season end.
couldn't really blame him at the time as chelsea were & still a top team and if he was playing for them would of had more chance to get into the england squad, dont tink it was about money just that he had more opportunities through them, champions league initernational, winning the leage. yes we was pushing them before he went but realistically even with parker we would never have got it, but that is the period where the dimise of charlton started so can understand some resentment towards the player
as for worst buys, i think thats a bit harsh! plus was not parker's fault as im sure if makalele was not there then he would have been able to cemennt his place in the team. he is now performing well (granted injured at present but their most consistent player) for west ham and deservedly is their captain, how i'd love him one day to come back and play for us
.............
I hope I'd have waited until the season end.[/quote]
But who's to say that Chelsea would still have been in for im at the end of the season? Considering the likely reasons they bought him (to cover their inujured midfielders, to stunt our progress), it is almost certain they would not have been in for him at season end. Therefore, if it was the choice between triple your wages and Chelsea in January or never, what would you choose?[/quote]
If they were not prepared to wait for him until the end of the year then you'd have to question how much they really wanted him at all.
parker had to take it for his family's security .... all this he could have a comfortable living bollox on 12k per week is ridiculous when he can have a much more secure comfortable living on 40k per week..... as si said a no brainer
I thought Chelsea would have paid him more than that.
I get your point, but with £12k a week for 5 years is enough to support a family for life when spent sensible. He would have been able to get £40k or so at a intermediate club such as Newcastle and long term would have been earning more than what he's on now, although I doubt West Ham are poor payers.[/quote]
That's possibly true, but Newcastle or others weren't offering us £10m for him, neither would they have been able to. At that point, there was only one club in for him - he had the choice between Chelsea and tripling his wages, or staying at Charlton. No brainer, and a decision that any of us would have made.[/quote]
Not me - I would have stayed at Charlton for Life - I am a fan though :-)
parker had to take it for his family's security .... all this he could have a comfortable living bollox on 12k per week is ridiculous when he can have a much more secure comfortable living on 40k per week..... as si said a no brainer[/quote]
Feck me sideways Oooaaahhh, how many ties can a man wear at once?
Let's say Parker was on a five-year deal at Charlton on 15K per week and he sees out the WHOLE deal, by my reckoning he would have earned AFTER tax the small amount of around 2.2 million quid - by the age of 28!!! How much dough do you need before your family is "secure"?
Look, as far as I am concerned, I would have been more respectful to Charlton and told Chelsea to wait until the end of the year and then signed for them, but then again I am a Charlton fan.
Parker has made a lot of money from football but made a very poor choice back in January 2004 in terms of his career, he should have been at a big four team playing regularly and at least an England squad regular at this stage of his career.
Where did he end up? Newcastle and West Ham who are no more likely to win anything big than we were back in 2004 and he is nowhere near the England squad for the WC.