If automatic promotion was decided by Rudyard Kipling it might go to someone keeping his head when all around lose theirs and trusting himself when others cast doubt.
This season at the very least, Scott Parker has been your man, my son.
Parker’s Burnley hit the front with six to play in the long race for the Premier League earlier this month, fighting back from behind to emerge as winners at Coventry as others faltered.
Leeds drew at Luton and had won only once in six games. They turned things around to win their last four and earn promotion, but that won’t be a problem for Burnley.
Sheffield United, meanwhile, were still fretting about those two deducted points while slipping to an uncharacteristic defeat at Oxford. And, after beating the Blades 2-1 on Easter Monday, Parker had done it again.
It’s now three from three for the former midfielder in the Championship. Fulham, Bournemouth, Burnley. They and Leeds are on the up – United are destined for a death dance in the playoffs, where stamina and mental resilience will be tested by those charged up on momentum.
Scott Parker’s Burnley earned Premier League promotion after beating Sheffield United 2-1
The Clarets return to the top flight at the first time of asking after being relegated last year
Parker has become one of the best young English coaches and next season will be intriguing
‘It’s an emotional strain if you let it consume you,’ said Parker after winning at Coventry. ‘Jump on the rollercoaster of, oh, they’ve won and that means this, all these things go through your head, and it’s a drain and becomes very stressful.’
He jokes about turning off his phone but admits it takes commitment to avoid the noise.
’15 years of training my mind,’ as he puts it. ‘I speak to someone on a weekly basis in terms of controlling things and controlling my mind, and not getting emotionally involved.’
Respect for Burnley this season has been grudging. Difficult to beat, is the usual reference for Parker’s team, rebuilt after losing Wilson Odobert, Sander Berge and Dara O’Shea.
Indeed, they were unbeaten in 31 league games, having conceded only 15 goals in 44 matches and the one scored by Coventry in a 2-1 win was clearly offside.
It is a remarkable defensive record, the source of which stretches far beyond the talent of James Trafford, the goalkeeper tipped for a move to top end of the Premier League this year.
Maxime Esteve and CJ Egan-Riley, both only 22, are excellent centre halves ready for another Premier League test, and protected by a strong midfield shield and industrious full backs.
Frustrated home fans filing out of the CBS Arena reckoned the visitors wouldn’t last long in the Premier League playing that way, but Burnley went up two years ago playing football under Vincent Kompany from the opposite end of the spectrum.
Promotion has made it three in six years at Championship level for Parker by the age of 44
That plan did not endure at the next level up, just as it didn’t this season for Russell Martin at Southampton.
They were easily exposed by stronger teams with better players, although it did not work out too badly for Kompany, who took his pure passing philosophy into the richest club in Germany and now sits top of the Bundesliga.
Parker will expect to add quality this summer. He has been through it before and still carries the scars.
He bounced up and down with Fulham without finding a foothold and spent an awkward summer after promotion at Bournemouth waiting in vain for an imminent takeover to fund reinforcements.
His decision to go public with the fears he had been airing in private for weeks after losing 9-0 at Liverpool days before the transfer window in August 2022 backfired spectacularly.
He was sacked, Gary O’Neil stepped in, the takeover was completed as Parker began a sobering 67 days in charge of Club Bruges. Bournemouth stayed up and have not looked back.
Parker flirted with the managerial scrapheap. There is little tolerance for those learning their trade in modern English football.
But Burnley threw him another chance as an expert in leading relegated clubs back to the Premier League and have been rewarded.
He was up and down with Fulham and had an awkward summer after promoting Bournemouth
Burnley threw him another chance as an expert in leading relegated clubs back to the top flight
Promotion has made it three in six years for Parker by the age of 44.
We should view him among the emerging young British coaches. He took time to learn the ropes in Tottenham’s academy and as an assistant to Slavisa Jokanovic and Claudio Ranieri at Fulham.
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Just as he did as a player, he hopped through clubs leaving a good impression. Those who have worked with him describe him as studious, determined and ambitious, and fair.
Still some people seem more likely to cast snide comments about his head boy credentials and fashion mistakes, while peddling perceptions about charmed access into attractive jobs, blessed with the benefit of parachute payments.
These things help in the Championship, no doubt. But it is no springtime stroll. Daniel Farke’s Leeds illustrate as much. With further evidence supplied by Luton in the drop zone or Huddersfield in League One.
There is a fair bit of selective snobbery about. This season it tends to frown upon Parker for his style of his football, but he won’t be listening now.
