Scott Parker: From Player to Manager

ZeCarlos said:
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May 2015
FA Cup Final Preview​

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Barclays Premier League Champions Chelsea face Crystal Palace in the Budweiser FA Cup Final today as they look to secure their 3rd competition of the 2014-2015 season. The Blues, having won the Premier League and UEFA Super Cup, face a Crystal Palace side high on confidence as manager Scott Parker has instilled a belief amongst the Eagles' players and fans.

Chelsea go into the Final having already won the competition 7 times whilst their opponents have never won the competition - this being only the second time they've reached the final. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho gave this statement on the game: "It's got the potential to be one of the best cup finals ever. On one side we have ourselves, creating magical, magical football and on a winning run. We've won two trophies already and have the UEFA Champions League Final to look forward to after this so it's obvious we're a trophy winning side. In the other corner, we have Crystal Palace - they've probably outdone everybody's expectations this year but I didn't doubt Scott Parker once. As soon as he was appointed, I picked up the phone and said "well done" because I knew he is a very, very good manager. It's definitely going to be interesting and one to look forward to."

Scott Parker, manager of Crystal Palace, released a statement before the game reading: "It's a massive game for our club. Having only reached the final once before in 1990 and losing to Manchester United, it means so much to the players, myself, the board, and most importantly, the fans. The press are saying the pressure isn't on our side as we aren't expected to win, but I'm putting pressure on myself because I know what this game means to our fans. It would be fantastic news to be able to win a cup final - especially against a team of Chelsea's calibre. As an assurance to the fans, I'd like to say we're going out to win this. We aren't looking to play on the counter or soak up pressure - we know what Chelsea are all about but we'll do our own fair share of attacking and hopefully it'll pay off."

Sky Bet odds on the result of the Budweiser FA Cup Final

Crystal Palace 3-1
Chelsea 4-5 (Favourite)​
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I'll put a metaphorical fiver on Scott Parker and Palace...;)
 
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Saturday 9th May 2015
Chelsea 1-2 Crystal Palace​

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Crystal Palace have won the 2015 Budweiser FA Cup after beating league champions Chelsea in the final. A capacity 90,000 attendance viewed the game as the underdogs, in the Sky Bet Championship just 2 seasons ago, outplayed favourites Chelsea in an enthralling game with goals from Alex Pearce and Yannick Bolasie for the Eagles whilst Fernando Torres scored for the Blues.

Scott Parker's team took the lead in just the 4th minute. Jesse Lingard, signed in January from Manchester United, beat three men before he was challenged inside the box and the ball rolled out for a Crystal Palace corner. The young winger swung the cross in with centre-back Alex Pearce getting across the front of his man to power the ball home and give his side the lead. On the stroke of half-time, Chelsea equalised. I swift counter attack, led by none other than Eden Hazard, saw Koke shoot from outside the box. Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan got a fist to it but former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres tapped home to make the score 1-1. In the 79th minute, the Eagles earned a corner. Lingard knocked the ball in deep and it was headed away - Yannick Bolasie played the ball to Mile Jedinak inside the area who was brought down by Cesar Azpilicueta. Bolasie stepped up and slotted the ball under Courtois' arm who had guessed the right way to give Palace a 2-1 lead. The final whistle ten minutes later sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the Palace fans as they celebrated their first ever Budweiser FA Cup victory.

After the trophy presentation, Crystal Palace manager Scott Parker was interviewed whilst Mourinho refused to comment. Parker said: "The lads put in an absolutely fantastic performance today. We matched Chelsea from beginning to end and that's not something many teams have managed to do this season. It was an exciting, end-to-end game with lots of action. I'm a little disappointed the result was decided through a penalty as I don't feel a penalty does the game justice but the Chelsea defender can't afford to take down my player in that manner. The tackle from behind is bad enough but he also gives Mile an elbow so the penalty was fully deserved. That shouldn't be the focus of today for us, though. I'm usually the type of gaffer to have them back in first thing the next day after any victory but I think I'll let the lads have this one off because they thoroughly impressed me today. I'm very glad for the players but I must give a huge thank you to the fans who were massive for us today - they deserved the victory more than the players."

Chelsea Starting Eleven

Thibaut Courtois, Cesar Azpilicueta, Nicolas Otamendi, Inigo Martinez, Cristian Cuevas, John Obi Mikel, Nathaniel Chalobah, Oscar, Koke, Eden Hazard, Fernando Torres

Chelsea Substitutes

Petr Cech, David Luiz, Charly Musonda, Samuel Eto'o, Kenneth Omeruo, Victor Moses, Kevin Mirallas

Crystal Palace Starting Eleven

Matthew Ryan, Jack Hunt, Marquinhos, Alex Pearce, Ricardo Rodriguez, Mile Jedinak, Oliver Norwood, Yannick Bolasie, Jesse Lingard, Marouane Chamakh, Dwight Gayle

Crystal Palace Substitutes

Julian Speroni, Ryan Shotton, Marc Crosas, Jonathan Parr, Adrian Mariappa, Gary Mackay-Steven, Andi Weimann​
 
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2014-2015
Crystal Palace Season Review​

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Crystal Palace finished in a surprisingly-high 7th position in the final Barclays Premier League Table. Manager Scott Parker took charge in early October with the club in a relegation-burdened 18th place and instantly brought a positive atmosphere to the Eagles cause as they climbed 11 positions under his guidance whilst confidence soared and form improved. The 34-year-old manager then led the Selhurst Park club to Budweiser FA Cup success as they also qualified for next seasons UEFA Europa League thanks to the win over Chelsea.

In his final press conference of the 2014-2015 Barclays Premier League season, Parker said: "It's been a fantastic few months for myself and the club. When I was initially offered the job, I went away and spent a lot of time researching the club - looking at the players, the staff, the board, the fans and came to the conclusion it was a very exciting project with lots of potential. I was appointed with little managerial experience and Steve Parish took a huge gamble - so in all fairness, without him I wouldn't be sitting here today because I don't think many chairman would have took the risk he did. To climb all the way to 7th was an amazing, amazing achievement as we passed teams like Newcastle United, Swansea City and Arsenal. The success we had in the Budweiser FA Cup was utterly astounding - beating Chelsea in the Final is the highlight of my career so far and to earn a spot in next years UEFA Europa League is a big step in the clubs' future. I'll sit down with the board over the summer and analyse where we are, where we need to go and how we'll get there because it's going to be a tough, tough season. Teams will now do a lot more research into us before playing us and we've now got the spotlight of Europe on us. We need to add to the squad in terms of depth and quality - firstly because we'll have more games to play and because we'll be competing at a higher level so it's going to be very tough but I'm extremely excited for the 2015-2016 season to start. Before the season draws to a close and we get down to hard work, I'd like to give special praise to striker Dwight Gayle. The young lad signed with the weight of the world on his shoulders and initially struggled but since I've been here, he's thrived on the energy in the team and to be top goalscorer in the Barclays Premier League is an achievement and a half for a lad of his age."

Barclays Premier League Table

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Forget to mention anywhere in that update that Swindon got relegated in 23rd position or something. Feel free to ask any questions!
 
Hi Mate. As always a superb read and very in depth. Congratulations on your success so far. Keep up the good work.

Just letting you know, I've had to stop my story due a 'crash dump error' which affected the save, meaning I couldn't continue my story! Having a think if I should do another one or not. :)
 
Streaky25 said:
Hi Mate. As always a superb read and very in depth. Congratulations on your success so far. Keep up the good work.

Just letting you know, I've had to stop my story due a 'crash dump error' which affected the save, meaning I couldn't continue my story! Having a think if I should do another one or not. :)
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Thanks man! Was worried people had lost interest because I hadn't had the chance to update in a couple of days, so it's great to see you're still reading!

Ah, that's a great shame man :S They seem to be pretty frequent this year - don't know if it's the game or just coincidence. If you started another, I'd be sure to follow:)
 
ZeCarlos said:
Thanks man! Was worried people had lost interest because I hadn't had the chance to update in a couple of days, so it's great to see you're still reading!

Ah, that's a great shame man :S They seem to be pretty frequent this year - don't know if it's the game or just coincidence. If you started another, I'd be sure to follow:)
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I always enjoy your stories so you haven't lost my interest.

I've re-installed game and got the proper downloads of graphics etc this time, so maybe that could've been the issue. But have seen quite a few have similar problems.

Hopefully be back soon with another story.

Cheers mate
 
Read through the whole story so far one of the best I've read in ages you've done brilliant! Will keep on following from now on keep up the good work (except for beating Chelsea ;) :p)
 
Well done mate, brilliant read and the win in the FA Cup was spectacular! KIU
 
Sorry for not commenting in the last few days, I've been following this very closely. Well done on the FA Cup win, and I love the extended update for the final, please do that again in the future! Keep it up buddy! :)
 
ffs I don't believe this. I jumped on the save earlier tonight, played through pre-season signing several players, then played through the Premier League fixtures of August and until the last one of September against Nottingham Forest when I got a crash dump. Becoming very disheartened with this game - I'm not blaming SI but everything that could possibly go wrong seems to for me and that's probably just coincidence - I'll still play the game either way. Cheers for all the support to everyone who's commented, liked and followed - it's made this story my most enjoyable.
 
TheFalse9 said:
Sorry for not commenting in the last few days, I've been following this very closely. Well done on the FA Cup win, and I love the extended update for the final, please do that again in the future! Keep it up buddy! :)
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coolmcool said:
Well done mate, brilliant read and the win in the FA Cup was spectacular! KIU
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cfc12345 said:
Read through the whole story so far one of the best I've read in ages you've done brilliant! Will keep on following from now on keep up the good work (except for beating Chelsea ;) :p)
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Streaky25 said:
I always enjoy your stories so you haven't lost my interest.

I've re-installed game and got the proper downloads of graphics etc this time, so maybe that could've been the issue. But have seen quite a few have similar problems.

Hopefully be back soon with another story.

Cheers mate
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Rootsey said:
Looking forward to seeing your new signings :)
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Cheers for all your support to everyone - read the comment above and you may be as annoyed as me.
 
ZeCarlos said:
ffs I don't believe this. I jumped on the save earlier tonight, played through pre-season signing several players, then played through the Premier League fixtures of August and until the last one of September against Nottingham Forest when I got a crash dump. Becoming very disheartened with this game - I'm not blaming SI but everything that could possibly go wrong seems to for me and that's probably just coincidence - I'll still play the game either way. Cheers for all the support to everyone who's commented, liked and followed - it's made this story my most enjoyable.
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Unlucky mate - although this story has lasted ten good pages already, so that's more content than a lot of the stories on the site! Are you going to start another story soon?
 
TheFalse9 said:
Unlucky mate - although this story has lasted ten good pages already, so that's more content than a lot of the stories on the site! Are you going to start another story soon?
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I don't know - I guess it depends whether you, as well as the other regular readers, want to see me post more content. As I said, I'm becoming a little disheartened at the game but I'll continue to play it nevertheless - so it's down to whether you guys want to see me post it because I'd be more than happy mate.
 
ZeCarlos said:
I don't know - I guess it depends whether you, as well as the other regular readers, want to see me post more content. As I said, I'm becoming a little disheartened at the game but I'll continue to play it nevertheless - so it's down to whether you guys want to see me post it because I'd be more than happy mate.
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I personally love your stories, not least because of how regular the updates are, but if you're getting a ****** off with the crash dumps then taking a hiatus from stories may be a good idea.
 
TheFalse9 said:
I personally love your stories, not least because of how regular the updates are, but if you're getting a ****** off with the crash dumps then taking a hiatus from stories may be a good idea.
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As I say, I'm willing to post a story still because I'll continue to play the game no matter how annoyed I get with my luck mate. It's a good start knowing you'd follow - I'll see what general reaction is like and then go from there.
 
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