Super Scotty Parker

Thanks to Scott Parker for all he gave to the club in his four years at Upton Park.

The inevitable has happened and Scotty has gone to Spurs for a reported £5 million. He was Billy Bonds-like in his commitment and gave a seven or eight out of ten performance every game.

Certain things stick in the memory, a tackle away at Everton, playing after the death of his dad against Spurs, that goal against Wigan that kept us up and his run from deep to score against Stoke last season.

Perhaps the move is right for both clubs. We were a one-man team last season and when he was injured it was almost as if it gave the players a psychological excuse to fail. Now Scotty has gone the players we have left will have to take more responsibility. Without Parker a midfield of Noble, Nolan, Collison and Taylor still looks strong enough to take us up.

Super Scotty Parker

Good to see Scott Parker play so well for England against Wales and earn praise from Fabio Capello. No England manager has ever been able to get Lampard and Gerrard to play well together and England look a much better side with Parker in a holding role and Wilshere and Lampard going forward.

A manager like Brian Clough would surely never have been caught in such a quandary - he would have selected one from Lampard and Gerrard and put the interests of the team before fielding the big egos. Hargreaves was our best option a few years ago but now Parker should be a regular (though please don't get injured against Ghana, Scotty).

And just to complete the Superman image Parker turned out at Spurs the day after his father's death. And what's more he's played superbly in a team that's been at the bottom of the league for most of the season. He's reminded me of Billy Bonds the way he just gets on with the job every week.

And further good news was Robbie Keane finding the net for Ireland…