Scotty Parker, the new Dave Mackay?

The Colossus of White Hart Lane







Another expected routine victory against QPR .
The first four words in that opening statement are not ones that you
could easily apply to Tottenham until recently. But they are now, and
some very decent football as icing on the cake. Actually make that as a
firm foundation for our current progress.

Of course there was a drizzle of hesitancy after half time to spice up the
mixture and a pinch of slapdash in front of goal to add zest to the
fans' enjoyment. But with Bale scoring twice and Lennon chipping in with
a couple of assists there was much to admire especially in the first
half.

Adebayor might have scored and it should all have been wrapped up by half
time. Ledley played a full game and made it five wins in five
appearances. Scott Parker, of whom more later, has never been on the
losing side in his Spur's career.Early days,early days.

The difficulty of picking a MOM suggests a good team performance. Van Der
Vaart was increasingly effective, scored one and should have had another
and played the full game. Modric was once again the beating heart and
usually someone has to play out of their skin to better him.

The general theory is that Scott Parker was that man. So carried away were some people, including Harry, that comparisons with Dave Mackay
came up. Now any Spurs player that makes three firm tackles in a single
game always raises the inevitable question: 'Is he the new Dave
Mackay?'

We did it to Wilson Palacios; then Sandro and now Scott Parker. However I
saw Dave Mackay on many occasions and have to tell you that he was
tougher than Parker and much more skilful and was not lacking in the
'vision' thing.. He played for Tottenham for the best part of a decade
playing 318 times and scoring 51 goals.

He also lifted Billy Bremner up by his lapels and was acclaimed by George
Best as the toughest player he ever played against. So you don't just
have to take my word for it. The man is a Spurs legend. Scott Parker has
played seven times for Tottenham and comparisons in any way whatsoever
are a tad premature. Seven games do not a legend make.

He played well against QPR and was largely responsible for the
disappearance of Adel Taarabt at half time to spend more time with his
delusions. But he was no more than competent in his previous two games.

Anyone who takes the weight off Van Der Vaart and Modric and gives them time
and space to play gets my vote but don't hang Dave Mackay around his
neck. It's an embarrassment and an encumbrance that Scott Parker
certainly doesn't need.

Harry's precise words were : "Parker was just amazing, I haven't seen many displays like that.
You hate to mention anyone in the same breath as Dave Mackay, who was
one of finest players at this club, but it was right up there with the
best. Dave would have been proud of that performance. He won every
tackle, he broke things up, his all round play was top class. He's made a
big difference."

Even allowing for a little post win euphoria it is not quite clear whether
Harry is saying that Parker is as good as Mackay though he hints at it
here. Parker has certainly made a difference. How good Dave Mackay would
have been under modern conditions, faster pace; more technical skills;
new rules which might limit his effectiveness, you can only guess at.

Fans have taken these words and their cue from Harry to go just a little
overboard on just how good Scotty is and how big an impact he has made.
To say, as some are, that Parker has taken over from Modric as the key
influence on recent games will certainly upset the Kent Pub Modric
Appreciation Society

But to me Modric even against QPR was the 'go to' midfielder out of defence
and he was the initiator of most of the play. He played the leading
part and Parker was outstanding in a supporting role: Modric as the
architect and Parker as the demolition and site clearing gang if you
will.

Quite where Dave Mackay fits in I'm not sure. It's like one of those
unanswerable questions as to whether Rocky Marciano was the greatest
heavyweight of all time. Unless you can put him in the ring with his
rivals it's all opinion, assertion and statistics.


Rubin Kazan.
Thursday sees us, well the second eleven, away in deepest Tartarstan for our
most difficult Europa fixture this year. The temperature is forcast to
be -4 and should be a new experience for all but Pavlyuchenko.


Harry, inventive as ever has discovered a rotation system he can cope with:
two almost seperate squads, one for the Premiership and a.n.other for
the rest. A draw would be a very good result and put us on the verge of
qualificationfor the next stage It will be interesting to see who is
asked to make the 2003.6 mile trip from WHL. Defoe, Gallas,Sandro and
Gomes might draw the short straws.

I said this last year "season" that a midfield general was and leader was the missing factor in our team, when i heard we was in for parker and paker was interested it was to the best bit of football news coming out of spurs since the sacking of christian gross .

The bloke has it all leadership and determination, this sort of player can not be taught this he is born with it , yes very much in the mold of Dave mackay i agree, but scott parker is what has been missing from our team for many a year now to long to mention