Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
All white on the night
EMOTIONAL SCOTT PARKER THANKS STAFF AS FULHAM CLINCH PREMIER LEAGUE SPOT WITH PLAY-OFF FINAL WIN OVER BRENTFORD
FULHAM’S players and most of the backroom staff were embracing in a huddle at Wembley, bouncing up and down while singing Freed From Desire when Scott Parker went for a little wander on the pitch, writes Alan Smith.
The club’s head coach was overcome with emotion, frequently putting his hands to his face. He briefly ended up on the phone as the party continued behind him and it was a telling reaction from such an ordinarily stoic character that he sought a moment of relative quiet amid the mayhem to gather his thoughts.
Parker has had more than a few doubters this season, questions over his ability and whether he was the right man to take Fulham back up lingering even as they finished the campaign well.
But at the end of this longest season their primary objective was ultimately achieved thanks to a 2-1 extra time win over Brentford that was far from the pretty fare everyone had expected beforehand.
“It’s my proudest moment by a long way,” Parker said. “I’m proud of the players, proud of the team, because I’ve seen them grow along a journey which has been tough.
“I’m the one who fronts it up and the players go out there to play but underneath it all there is a support mechanism around myself – my family, my friends, the people closest to me – and that’s the same with the players.
“I’m emotional and proud for them. At times this year it has been very difficult. It has been tough.
“When you’re in amongst it and it’s going 100mph, you lose sight of other things, family and everything else.
“But I couldn’t do it [without them] for the last year, 100%. There would have been times I would have broken. I’ve got an amazing staff and network of people around me that make me feel strong when I’m at my weakest.
“That’s why I’m emotional. I just hope this is something for them, to make them realise it’s hopefully been worth it.”
It would be a stretch to say Fulham were forgotten about before this game but so much of the build-up had been dominated by Brentford’s journey.
Theirs was a fresh tale: the thrilling style, a front three that had scored 59 goals and a manager in Thomas Frank who has struck a fine balance between finding the human touch amid the club’s well-known data-driven approach.
But Fulham’s knowhow and familiarity was key on a night of such fine margins. They possessed more experience in the ranks and, perhaps crucially, a feeling that they belong at the top table, as a guest if not a host.
The same cannot be said for Brentford, a team that was last among the elite in 1947 and still grappling with that status of a small club by second-tier standards.
A magnanimous Frank pointed out at full-time that having the second best defensive record during the regular season and being second top scorers would ordinarily mean promotion. “It’s crazy, but that’s football,” the Dane said before talking about those fine margins.
It was on one that Fulham broke the deadlock and it was fascinating to hear Parker detail the planning that went into Joe Bryan’s free-kick that caught out Brentford’s goalkeeper David Raya, so often their rock throughout the campaign.
“We did our due diligence on the keeper and he has a very aggressive, high starting position from wide free kicks,” Parker explained.
“We looked at it and brought it up in a set play meeting and spoke to Joe and Harrison Reed, who would have been on the opposite side.
“I called Joe over [before the kick] because I felt that when we brought Mitro [Aleksandar Mitrovic] on, Joe was going to cross the ball because one of Mitro’s biggest strengths is heading. So I called him over but didn’t want to let on to Brentford’s bench and players, and tried to bluff it a little bit.
“But I said to Joe, ‘listen I want you to give it a go, I want you to commit to it and really give it a go. See what happens.’ Thankfully, it went in. It was executed well. He has an unbelievable left foot.”
Parker is too self-effacing to claim it as being a tactical masterstroke but he was eventually nudged into admitting it. “We tried it when we last played them and it didn’t work but it probably is. It’s decided the game tonight,” he added.