Burnley have confirmed this morning that Scott Parker has left his position as head coach.
The parting of ways is reportedly “mutually agreed” and comes after the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League last week.
The club will not make a new permanent appointment until the summer.
Until then, and cue a wave of King of Pop jokes, Mike Jackson takes interim charge for the Clarets’ remaining four Premier League fixtures.
The first of those is Friday’s match at Leeds United.
Parker had been due to face the media on Thursday but that press conference is obviously cancelled now, and the suggestions are that Jackson won’t hold one pre-Gameweek 35.
WHO IS MIKE JACKSON?
You may remember the name from his last caretaker stint as Burnley boss, which came at the back-end of 2021/22.
Jackson followed on from Sean Dyche and stuck to the tried-and-tested gameplan, rolling out a 4-4-2 for his first five matches in charge.
The then-interim head coach dallied with a wing-back system in the following two fixtures.
And talk about a new manager bounce.
(above image adapted from Transfermarket)
Dyche had lost five of his last six games in charge of Burnley, leaving the club 18th in the table and four points adrift of safety.
Jackson came in and went unbeaten in his first four matches, lifting the Clarets five points from the relegation zone.
Alas, the honeymoon period couldn’t last. Burnley couldn’t win any of their remaining four fixtures, although they gained a creditable draw at Villa and lost narrowly in two of the other three matches.
The underlying numbers certainly moved in the right direction, although we’re talking a small sample:
| xG rank v other clubs | xGC rank v other clubs | |
| under Dyche | 18th | 15th |
| under Jackson | 8th | 10th |
Burnley had scored 25 goals in 30 matches under Dyche, keeping seven clean sheets. 44 goals flew in at the other end.
Jackson oversaw two shut-outs, with the Clarets scoring and conceding the same number of goals (nine) in his eight matches at the helm.
BURNLEY’S REMAINING FIXTURES
There’s not going to be a wave of fresh Fantasy interest in Burnley picks just because Parker has gone. Rather, the Clarets’ impact on FPL will be more measured in how they perform against more well-represented clubs.
Owners of Leeds, Aston Villa and Arsenal players will certainly be hoping there’s no ‘bounce’ this time.
What some wags have unkindly dubbed ‘El Crapico’ falls in Gameweek 38.
Burnley have actually beaten Leeds (2-0) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-2) already in 2024/25.
