View attachment 458537December 2014
Parker lifts lid on Swindon dismissal
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Crystal Palace manager Scott Parker has given an exclusive interview which reveals the story behind his dismissal from the County Ground four months ago whilst also thanking the Swindon Town fans for their support since the incident.
Earlier this week, Scott Parker's agent arranged an interview for the former England midfielder so he was able to finally let the truth be known. Parker started the interview by stating: "Before anybody gets the wrong impression or criticises me, I want to let it be known that I'm not doing this to get back at my former employers or Swindon Town as a club. Myself and Jed had a good working relationship up until the incident and have kept in touch since. My reasoning behind revealing the truth is because I feel as though the Swindon fans were maybe mistreat after the incident and they were always very fair to me and I'd like to think I was always very fair with them in return."
Parker continued: "The incident started on the Wednesday before the Villa game. We'd beaten Birmingham in the cup the day before and that morning in training, two or three of the lads had a little bit of an argument while I'd left them under the coaches supervision. Of course, following the incident, the staff members who had oversaw the training session came and reported it to me. Before training started on the Thursday morning, I pulled the two lads responsible into my office. There was no serious punishment, they settled their differences and both received minor fines for their behaviour and I thought nothing more of it because they trained well later that day and on the Friday."
"The pair responsible started the game on the Saturday against Villa and put in good performances - the argument in midweek had slipped to the back of my mind by this point and we just continued on fine. After the Villa game, there was a two week international break so the few lads left at the club had a few days rest from training and were due back in on the Tuesday. I'd already planned to go in on the Monday and look at some coaching reports and maybe study our next opponents a little. However, I received a phone call early on the Sunday morning - the day after the Villa game - from Jed who asked me to attend a meeting at the training ground immediately."
"On my way there, I wasn't worried and thought it may have just been something to do with finances or board changes. When I arrived, Jed revealed he'd had two complaints of unfair punishment from the first team. When I asked who the lads were, it was the same two lads who'd had the argument the week before. I explained the incident in length to Jed but he told me it was maybe time to move on and my contract at the club had been terminated with immediate effect. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stunned at the quickness of his decision - but I guess that shows you how ruthless football is nowadays."
"There were two really disappointing things about the incident for myself. The first was that the players weren't even new lads in the team - they were with us the season before when we got promoted and I'd communicated well with them in the past. It was disappointing to know they couldn't come and see me and say "look, gaffer, we think those fines were a bit over the top" and we could've sorted things right then, one way or another. The second disappointment for me was the way in which the decision was made to terminate my contract. It was a horrible feeling to know the board had made the decision before I'd even walked into the room to explain myself. You know, I'd done a lot for them - when I was hired they were happy for me to just keep the team in League One and all of a sudden I'd taken them to the Championship. Then the next thing I know I'm out the door like I'd been mauled by a group of savages. It was sickening."
"Away from myself, though, I was very, very disappointed and saddened for the Swindon Town fans. They'd been so passionate, so full of joy through my entire time there. I went anywhere and I was mobbed - anywhere around the training ground or the stadium and they were there chanting for us. On matchdays it felt like we had twelve or thirteen men with them behind us and in the immediate aftermath they were offered no explanation as to why I was gone. It's now four months later and this is the only explanation they have. I'd like to end the interview with an apology to the Swindon Town fans - I'm sorry we weren't able to continue on with that great adventure. I really felt we were onto something, together as a club, and it was ripped beneath my feet and the fans' feet. I'll be forever grateful to the Robins' fans, but now I have to focus on the present and the future. Swindon Town will always have a place in my heart, no matter how short there my stay was, but for now I have to focus on Crystal Palace. We've got an interesting project going on at Selhurst Park and I'm very excited by what we can achieve. Thank you."
