Parker focused on preseason, confident of success with Galaxy

Despite admitting that being head coach of TS Galaxy came too early, Bernard Parker is confident he will be successful in the new season.

Parker was given the opportunity to lead the team this season by club chair Tim Sukazi after he was brought in as caretaker coach last campaign when the Rockets parted ways with Adnan Beganovic.

Sukazi praised Parker’s leadership qualities after he successfully steered them away from relegation last season and said it is logical for continuity for him to continue coaching the team.

“I felt like it came too early because I feel I still have a lot of school fees to pay in becoming the head coach,” Parker said.

“But then with the type of experience I have and the type of people I have around me, it helps. The same with the chairman; he is giving me the blessing, and I said, ‘Why not?’

“As brave as I am, as confident as I am, I believe that I had to take this opportunity and make sure I make the best of it, and I’m confident I will make the best of it.”

Parker also feels it is a bit of an advantage for him after he was told earlier, before the Fifa World Cup, that he will continue coaching the club.

“The chairman told me before going to the World Cup with the legends; he said to me, ‘When we come back, we will plan.’

“And during that time, we were on the phone every day in terms of the plans, the players, and also what we are looking forward to in everything we want to achieve in the coming season.”

The former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana striker is also pleased with how things are going in the preseason.

“Pre-season has been going well. It’s my first preseason as a head coach, and so far so good. It’s not easy at a team like TS Galaxy where you lose so many players and you get to have so many [new] players in.

“You have to make sure the players get to understand the culture and the philosophy and how we want to gear ourselves up so that we can be ready for the first game of the season.”

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