Club Brugge hires Scott Parker as head coach

Seattle Sports

BRUSSELS (AP) — Former Bournemouth manager Scott Parker was hired Saturday as the new head coach of Belgian club Club Brugge.

The 42-year-old Parker had been out of work since being fired by Bournemouth in August, having voiced his unhappiness regarding the Premier League club’s approach in the transfer market.

Parker’s new job with the three-time Belgian champions will see him get an opportunity to manage in the Champions League after they progressed to the knockout stage, where they are due to face Benfica when the competition resumes in February.

However, Club Brugge is off the pace in the Belgian league, 12 points behind leader Genk in fourth after a 1-1 draw with OH Louvain on Monday.

That, coming on the back of a 4-1 home loss to St. Truiden in the Belgian Cup, led to the club dismissing former Stoke and West Bromwich Albion midfielder Carl Hoefkens only six months after he stepped up from his role as assistant when Alfred Schreuder left to replace Erik ten Hag at Ajax.

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