Scott Parker leaves Burnley with Craig Bellamy among club’s targets

Scott Parker has left his position as Burnley head coach after the club’s relegation from the Premier League, although their hopes of landing Craig Bellamy as his replacement appear difficult.

Parker had remained tight-lipped about his future after Burnley’s fate was sealed by last week’s defeat by Manchester City. Mike Jackson, the assistant coach, will take charge for the final four games of the season.

The club confirmed Parker’s departure in what was described as a “mutually agreed” move on Thursday morning, which is odd timing, given a fixture away to Leeds United is looming on Friday night.

Bellamy, the Wales manager, is believed to be high on Burnley’s list of potential replacements, although he has made no secret of his ambition to lead his country to the 2028 Euros after recently falling agonisingly short of taking them to this summer’s World Cup finals, losing on penalties in a qualifying play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina last month.

“It’s massive, and it was when I signed here, it was always in the back of my mind,” Bellamy said recently, when asked about the home Euros in 2028. The 46-year-old lost out to Parker for the Burnley vacancy in 2024 after the departure of Vincent Kompany to Bayern Munich. Bellamy worked as Kompany’s assistant at Burnley and Anderlecht before taking the Wales job two years ago.

After the defeat by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bellamy, whose contact runs until 2028, said of continuing in his post: “It’s always difficult after not achieving your objective. I think this is the best, nothing will ever compare to this. So why would I want to wish it away? I don’t. But also, is it the time? I don’t know. Do you understand what I mean? I really enjoy this.”

It is understood Burnley have yet to make an official approach for any candidate.

Steven Gerrard has also been linked with the job and has expressed an interest in returning to management at some point, although, having turned down Rangers earlier this season, he would have to assess how attractive the prospect of managing Burnley in the Championship next season is.

“I’m not throwing my CV around, I’m not itching, I’m not desperate for any opportunity, but if the phone goes . . . the phone’s gone a few times recently and it’s just been bad timing, or family-wise, or it just hasn’t been the right thing,” Gerrard, 45, said recently on The Overlap podcast. “But if something comes that’s right, I’ll be open to a conversation, for sure.”

The last available accounts, released this week for the 2024-25 Championship season, showed a 46 per cent drop in revenue at Burnley, to £72million, and an underlying loss of £74million, up 171 per cent from the previous season, in which they suffered relegation from the Premier League under Kompany. Pre-tax losses for the year totalled £29.2million.

Even allowing for parachute payments next season, the situation will be challenging for the new Burnley head coach as they attempt to bounce back at the first attempt, for what would be a third consecutive time.

This season continues a remarkable run for Parker, the former England international, who has led three clubs to promotion from the Championship in his first full season in charge — Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley 12 months ago — without managing to keep any of them in the top flight.

Parker made a dramatic impact at Burnley after replacing Kompany in 2024, leading them to automatic promotion with 100 points, a campaign that included a 33-game unbeaten run and an English Football League record of 30 clean sheets. Their total of 16 goals conceded was a new record low for the top four divisions in English football.

But that pragmatic, defence-first approach did not win universal approval from Burnley supporters and they lost faith in Parker this season, with the team having not won at Turf Moor since mid-October.

A home defeat by West Ham United in February had home fans chanting for his removal, leading to Parker expressing his frustration and Alan Pace, the chairman, publicly backing him. The relationship between the head coach and supporters became increasingly toxic with every passing week.

“It has been an immense privilege to lead this great club over the past two years. I have enjoyed every moment of our journey together, but feel that now is the right time for both parties to move in a different direction,” Parker said in a statement.

“I reflect back with great pride on what we achieved during my time at the club, especially our unforgettable promotion season, and it was a true honour to lead this team into the Premier League.”

Parker also spoke about the toll that this season had taken on him, describing it as the toughest of his career. As Burnley edged closer to relegation in recent weeks, it had become increasingly obvious that he would part ways with the club, with Parker refusing to discuss his future. Talks about his departure began in earnest this week.

It was agreed that, given the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the fans and Parker, that it was in the best interests of all parties for him to leave immediately, rather than in the summer. Parker had one year remaining on his contract and talks centred on his compensation package.

Jackson, who was Burnley’s caretaker manager after the departure of Sean Dyche at the end of the 2021-22 season, will take charge of their visit to Elland Road on Friday. The final game of the season, at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, could yet decide which of the clubs finishes bottom of the Premier League. In between, Burnley host Aston Villa and have a trip to face title-chasing Arsenal.

Jackson was named the Premier League manager of the month in for April 2022 after an impressive start to his previous stint as interim. However, he could not save Burnley from relegation to the Championship at the end of that season.

Parker is the eighth manager to leave one of the bottom five clubs in the Premier League table during this season.

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