A Letter To Scott Parker

Scott Parker c/o
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Bill Nicholson Way
748 High Road
Tottenham
London
N17 0AP

27th September 2011

Dear Scott Parker,

You probably didn’t know this, but I never wanted you at Spurs. Over the last few transfer windows your name was constantly linked with a move to The Lane. I spent all of those transfer windows telling anyone who’d listen, and many who wouldn’t, that I thought it was a terrible move.

There were many reasons I cited for this, these were the main ones: your rejection of Spurs in favour of moves to other clubs, despite you being a Spurs fan as a kid; Your age bothered me and I figured that you needed Spurs way more than Spurs needed you; Being friends with Jamie Redknapp, it seemed that you coming to Spurs was just an ‘Arry job for the boys’ move; I was convinced that your Footballer of the Year award was a result of being the best player in the worst team in a poor Premier League; It seemed to me that for every decent performance you had in an England shirt, there were two average or rubbish games; Whenever I watched West Ham, all I saw you do was win the ball, run forward 20 yards, turn around and pass it sideways or backwards; Your supposed inspirational team talks were put down by me, mainly because I figured it couldn’t be hard to be more inspiring than Avram Grant.

I have no problem in admitting that I was wrong. Yes, you’ve only played three games and it could be that this letter is premature. Somehow though I sincerely doubt that will be the case (if it is, then prepare yourself for another less complimentary letter).

I am now willing to forgive your prior rejection of my beloved club, mainly because it’s obvious that 99.9% of footballers are in it for the money. I have no doubt that Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham threw stupid cash in your direction and I can’t ever ask a footballer to love Spurs as much as I do. Those days are long gone. Your age is not the issue I believed it to be, sure you’ll have little resale value but that’s Daniel Levy’s problem, not mine. At nearly 31, you bring an experienced head to a team that, Ledley King and Brad Friedel aside, is in their early 20’s. As for Spurs not needing you as much as you needed us, the two games against Manchester’s finest showed how wrong I was, we needed a battler and a character, especially in the middle of the park. You are that man.

So what if you’re mates with Jamie Redknapp? That literally isn’t a problem, it was me trying to justify myself. To myself mostly. From what I’ve seen so far, the Footballer of the Year award was just reward for looking as good as you did for West Ham. To be honest, you deserved something for having to play with the likes of Matt Upson and Carlton Cole week in, week out. England performances are no way to judge anyone and that was definitely unfair, Messi could look average in an England shirt so we’ll forget about that.

As for what you did with the ball once you got it, on last season’s evidence, I don’t think I was far off. That however was more to do with the quality – or lack thereof – of the players around you. As you’ve shown already, with top class players around you, you’re capable of much more than Ray Wilkins-esque crab passing. That assist for Ade’s goal on debut was fantastic and on a number of other occasions, you’ve shown a delightful range of passing along with the tackling that I did credit you with. I still hold the belief that it can’t be hard to be more inspirational than Avram Grant, but props for being the man to stand up and take on that responsibility.

Basically Scott, I’d like to say I’m sorry for doubting you. As I’ve said, I have no problem admitting I was wrong. Particularly when I’m proved wrong to Spurs benefit. That very much seems to be the case so far. Keep it up Mr Parker, you and Sandro can eat opposition midfields for breakfast in the coming weeks and months. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be feeding the balls for Rafa, Luka, Bale and Ade and that really can only be a good thing for Spurs.

I hope you can find it in you to forgive me?

Yours sincerely and

COYS

Stuart Watts

Submitted by www.thfc1882.com