REVEALED: The secrets of Burnley’s record-breaking defence that’s turbocharging their promotion push… and boss Scott Parker reveals the winners of a game of The Traitors amongst his squad
Like a doting father, Scott Parker humorously shakes his head as he approaches a gathering of his Burnley players in the canteen at their Gawthorpe Hall training ground.
The squad are concluding their own game of Clarets Traitors, based on the TV series, and the gossip is heavy with how Ashley Barnes and Joe Worrall have fooled everyone to win.
‘Hours of discussion,’ calls out Parker as he walks across, resplendent in grey knitwear, to join the chit-chat.
The game was striker Zian Flemming’s idea and it has generated team-bonding for two months with daily votes after training and player pictures on the changing-room wall crossed out after every elimination.
Parker is thrilled how his group has gelled after a hectic summer which saw more than 30 players come and go after relegation, besides his own appointment to succeed Vincent Kompany.
‘I don’t think I’ve been around a group this tight,’ he reflects. That is an impressive claim as Parker played for six Premier League clubs and managed Fulham and Bournemouth to promotion.
Scott Parker believes his Burnley squad are the tightest group he has seen during his career
Parker revealed Ashley Barnes and Joe Worrall have won the Clarets Traitors’ game
The game was Zian Flemming’s idea and has been credited with helping team bonding
Burnley are in the mix to give him a hat-trick and sit third in the Championship ahead of Friday’s game against Sheffield Wednesday — but that only tells half the story.
Their defensive record has become a national talking-point with 11 consecutive clean sheets and only nine goals conceded all season, though 11 goalless draws also explains why they trail Leeds and Sheffield United in the table.
Parker is proud of his team’s refusal to concede but insists it’s not prioritised over scoring.
‘The aim is promotion — not to set defensive records,’ he tells Mail Sport firmly. ‘Yes, our ambition is to be rock solid, but also to be an attacking force.
‘There is a narrative that I’m a defensive coach but I still want my full backs to bomb on and commit bodies forward. I just need them to run back the other way just as quickly to protect our goal!
‘Early on, we worked on the defensive side because the group was new and we had to lay down core values; covering, distances, team structure. For the last three months, we work 80 per cent of the time on the attacking phase.’ Parker jokes he hasn’t received a text from former boss Jose Mourinho whose Chelsea team hold the record for goals conceded; 15 in 2004-05.
Both managers have benefited from their goalkeepers. Mourinho had Petr Cech while Parker’s No 1 James Trafford will equal a Championship record if he keeps his 24th shut-out on Friday night.
‘Last season was tough for Traff with losing his place and relegation,’ explains Parker. ‘It would leave a dent on anyone. My job was to build him up again.
Parker credited the tight nature of the group for helping to keep 11 consecutive clean sheets
James Trafford will equal a Championship record if he can keep one more clean sheet
CJ Egan-Riley is part of Burnley’s rock solid defence, but the whole team has contributed
‘Fortunately, this is a young man with incredible belief to brush things off. It’s why I see him as an England goalkeeper. Our back line is really young. CJ Egan-Riley, hadn’t played senior football before. Bashir Humphreys came from Chelsea after six months on loan at Swansea. Lucas Pires didn’t speak a word of English when he signed.
‘The whole team has contributed. The players will tell you I show clips of centre forwards protecting the middle or wingers making recovery runs. Everyone has to be involved.’
Parker the player won 18 England caps and was voted Footballer of the Year in 2011. He was unfortunate his career coincided with the Golden Generation. Even his time at Chelsea was cut short. ‘I was competing with world-class players like Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele who were better than me,’ he acknowledges.
As a manager, the 44-year-old has experienced highs and lows. He was sacked by Bournemouth four games into the season in 2022 after appealing for signings following a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool.
His spell at Club Bruges was over before it started when Benfica knocked them out of the Champions League.
‘It sounds fluffy but it’s a cold, hard fact you find out more about yourself during hard times,’ he assesses. ‘Standing on that touchline at Anfield was one hell of a lonely place.
‘That raw emotion was still there when the camera pointed at me five minutes after the game. Perhaps I should have held my breath but I don’t think I crossed the line by saying the players needed help.
‘I worked tirelessly for Bournemouth. They were in their second season in the Championship and statistics show only 10 per cent of those teams are promoted, but we were. Bruges was difficult because I joined mid-season and had to process things so quickly. I signed a three-year contract and after 10 weeks it was over.
Parker has experienced the lows of management after being sacked by Bournemouth after a 9-0 loss in 2022, left, before a short spell in charge of Belgian side Club Bruges, right
The 44-year-old was chosen to take charge of Burnley after 10 candidates were interviewed
Parker hopes to lead a third club to the top flight after success with Fulham and Bournemouth
‘I was sad about the way it ended, more for my family. I have a boy of 10, we took him out of school and we all went over there. Suddenly, you’re moving back and having to find another school.
‘You get jabbed, you take an eight-count and you get back up.’
Parker was the first of 10 candidates interviewed for the Burnley job last summer. He clearly left an impression because after they had met the others — Ruud van Nistelrooy, Liam Rosenior and Craig Bellamy included — they turned to the smartest-dressed manager in the country.
At some point, Burnley will concede again for the first time since December 21. Parker promises it won’t derail the big picture, the promotion push. ‘One thing about this group, they always react in the right way,’ he says.
Anything else would be traitorous.
