When replacing the long-term-injured Mark Kinsella, Parker had a cracking 18 months at Charlton. What is often not mentioned is that this happened to coincide with fellow midfielder Claus Jensen moving to and settling into the club. While not the most asstute scoring system, the OPTA index for the seasons ending 2001/2002/2003 had Claus Jensen listed as a Top10 midfielder (like Kinsella was in 99), while Parker wasn’t Top20 in any year.

His move to Chelsea didn’t work out (it happens), his time at Newcastle was met with comparisons of Bryan Robson right up until he actually kicked a ball. Making appearances in under 65% of league games and under 25% of cup games while up north he was continually found out to be a player that desperately needs an intelligent player next to them.

The move to West Ham has been beneficial for him, primarily because he sits in front of a back 4-5 and is largely never asked to make any telling passes or runs in the way he was able to when he received his first cap.

0 goals this season, 1 goal last season. For a central midfielder, especially one of his height and stature, is not good enough.

In my opinion, there is a reason why he’s only had 1 England call up per club he’s signed to; he’s found out far too often when having to make decisions.

That said, he’s still better than most of the dross up here Thanks for the article.