Scott Parker has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson bestowed upon him some “truly inspirational” advice following his appointment as Fulham’s caretaker manager.
The 38-year-old former player replaces the sacked Claudio Ranieri, who lasted less than four months in charge, and has been inundated with messages of support – including a text from Ferguson himself.
Parker has a difficult first assignment as a football manager, with the Cottagers 10 points adrift of safety and only 10 Premier League games remaining.
“Yesterday – I don’t really have many friends – the phone was just pinging away,” said Parker.
“I had some amazing text messages. Sir Alex text me late last night, which was pretty incredible – to think he spent the time to write a long, detailed message giving me some advice on how he sees things was truly inspirational. I know it sounds a big comment but it’s the truth.
“I think we all understand what the football world’s like, there’s times in despair or times when things are going well you really see the love.
“Certainly over the course of 24 hours, the phone has been pinging.”
Outgoing boss Ranieri returned to the club’s Motspur Park training ground on Friday morning to say his goodbyes.
Parker said there were no hard feelings from the experienced Italian, who lasted just 106 days in the job after replacing Slavisa Jokanovic in November.
“We all know what Claudio is like as a man – a true classy man in every sense and he came in this morning and addressed the players,” continued Parker.
“We had a 10-minute conversation in a room. I thanked him for his time and his effort with me and likewise the same.
“This is football and Claudio said to me: ‘We all understand how football works’. As a man, he’s a class act.”
Of Fulham’s fight to avoid the drop, Parker said: “I realise the task ahead is very difficult, but it’s not mathematically impossible so certainly it’s something we’ll strive to do.”
Additional reporting by agencies
