As soon as news of Nuno Espirito Santo's departure was announced, only one name seemed to make sense for West Ham. The Hammers want to get out of the Championship. They need someone who has taken a relegated Premier League side back into the top flight in style.
Scott Parker has done both on several occasions. At Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley, the former England international achieved tickets to the promised land with all three games. Parker dealt with the high expectations of all three clubs and delivered on his promises.
While his credentials at Premier League level can be fairly scrutinised, Parker knows the Championship. He knows West Ham, being named the club's player of the year three seasons in a row and won the Football Writers' Player of the Year during his time at the Hammers. On top of that, he is tactically proven at this level.
In Parker's most recent promotion campaign with Burnley in 2025, he made the Clarets incredibly hard to beat during their 100-point season. Conceding just 16 goals at a rate of 0.33 per game, they broke the record for the best defensive season in an English league campaign. They went 12 consecutive league games and over 1,000 minutes without conceding a goal.
They became the first team in English league history to not concede more than one goal in a game all season. Given West Ham are leaking goals for fun at the moment, especially at home, that's exactly the type of defensive solidity needed to balance out their free-scoring nature. West Ham are the Championship's top goalscorers this season despite their eighth-place position.
But on top of this, Parker - like he needs to do at West Ham - guided that season after a tricky start to the campaign. Not only was there the early-season challenge of trying to pick up a relegated squad, but results weren't always there right from the off. Parker's Burnley went on a run of just four wins in 12 between August and November.
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