Sources: Ex-Spurs chief McDermott may scupper Tottenham manager plan
Ex-Tottenham academy chief John McDermott could scupper the club’s interest in Scott Parker, Football Insider has learned.
This site revealed on 1st May there is a growing interest from Spurs in the 40-year-old Fulham boss and his cause is being championed by all-powerful Daniel Levy.
But Parker has also been identified by England as a top target to become the new Under-21s manager and they could make an early move for him.
An England source has told Football Insider that Parker features prominently on the FA’s shortlist along with former Exeter City and Bristol Rovers manager Paul Tisdale.
FA technical director McDermott is charged with appointing the Under-21s manager and he wants Parker or Tisdale in charge.
McDermott, who joined the FA from Tottenham last year initially as assistant technical director, could now battle his former club for the in-demand Fulham man.
Parker is set to lead the Londoners straight back to the Championship and relegation will be confirmed if they fail to beat Burnley tonight.
But his reputation has not suffered from Fulham’s campaign and many high-placed figures in the game believe he has the attributes to be a top-class manager.
Critically, it would not cost a huge compensation fee to extricate Parker from Fulham, something that is a major hurdle to Tottenham landing the likes of Brendan Rodgers.
The FA’s interest in the former midfielder is an intriguing development.
Parker is well known to McDermott as he spent two years as a player at Tottenham and also began his coaching career in 2017 overseeing the club’s Under-18s.
He left a year later to join Fulham as first-team coach working alongside then-boss Slavisa Jokanovic before eventually being promoted to the manager’s job.
In other news, Chelsea are frontrunners to sign Tottenham star after Abramovich vow.