Scott Parker leaves Burnley four games before end of Premier League season

Scott Parker has left Burnley by mutual consent, the club have confirmed.

It follows their relegation from the Premier League last week.

Getty

The Clarets’ immediate return to the Championship was sealed by their defeat to Manchester City on April 22.

Craig Bellamy and Steven Gerrard are currently in the running to replace Parker, talkSPORT understands.

Gerrard is without a club after leaving Al Ettifaq in January 2025.

Meanwhile, Bellamy has been in charge of the Welsh national team for the last two years.

Burnley statement

Announcing Parker’s exit in a statement, Burnley said: “Scott Parker has left his position as Head Coach of Burnley Football Club by mutual consent.

“Following confirmation of the club’s relegation from the Premier League last week, Parker and the Board held discussions and mutually agreed that his time at Turf Moor would conclude.”

The club have also confirmed Mike Jackson will take charge of their final four Premier League matches on an interim basis, starting away at Leeds United on Friday, live on talkSPORT.

Burnley will also host Aston Villa and Wolves either side of a trip to Arsenal to close out the campaign.

Jackson had a previous caretaker spell at the end of the 2021/22 season following Sean Dyche’s sacking.

The 52-year-old has spent the last four years as an assistant manager to both Parker and Vincent Kompany.

AFP

Former Clarets manager Dyche will join Jeff Stelling on talkSPORT Breakfast on Friday.

Dyche spent just under a decade in charge at Turf Moor after being appointed in 2022.

As for Parker, he took over in the summer of 2024 following Kompany’s departure.

He guided the club to promotion as Championship runners-up behind Leeds.

Burnley ended the campaign on 100 points after a club record 33-match unbeaten run.

However, they have failed to reach those heights since returning to the Premier League.

AFP

The Clarets have won just four of their 34 league matches so far this season.

They are also currently on an eight-match winless run dating back to February.

talkSPORT verdict

Simon Jordan reacted to the news of Parker’s dismissal on White & Jordan on Thursday morning.

The former Crystal Palace chairman explained: “What’s the point? If a decision has been made, what’s the point of hanging around? The die has been cast, the agenda has been set.

“Whether it’s a combination of mutual or one person has jumped faster and the other one pushed, who knows? But if you’ve made a decision, there’s no point in sticking around, the club’s been relegated.

“You might find a few people having a few choice words to say to the manager at the back end of the season, because they’re disappointed with the club’s relegation.

Getty

“Why subject him to that? Why subject yourself to that? Because I think there’s a little bit of disquiet about some of the performances from certain sections of the Burnley fans, if I read the room right.

“If I’m wrong, I’m happy to be corrected. But Scott Parker can leave with no worse a job than, say, Vincent Kompany did.

“I am disappointed that I thought they would be more competitive, insofar as I care about Burnley. But I thought they would be more competitive because they came up in such a way, with such a robust, resilient defence that seems to have completely evaporated since they’ve got to the Premier League.

“It’s often easier to be disruptive than it is to be constructive. The best players are the ones that score goals, and they’re the ones that are most difficult to buy.

“The ones that can stop you from scoring goals are slightly easier to acquire. But they’ve gone, he’s gone, Burnley will rebuild again. They’ve got another set of parachute payments, they’ve got another set of Premier League money that came in, they probably didn’t spend all of it, or a significant portion of it.

“So, they get to rebuild again. They go down with the massive advantage of parachute payments and of course, the massive consequence of Premier League wages.

“Scott will go on, I think, reasonably intact. People will position him as a Championship manager now, someone that can get you out of the Championship and into the Premier League, and not any further than that.”