Parker’s gong mad

SCOTT PARKER would gladly swap the Premier League medal he won at Chelsea for a Europa League one with Spurs.

That is, of course, if he could find his gong!
The Tottenham ace admits he has no idea where his 2005 medal is — or his Carling Cup winner’s medal from the same year.
It highlights how little the Blues’ title triumph means to him and how small a part he played in it.
So Parker hopes helping Spurs to Europa League glory will finally give him a medal he can be proud of.
Parker, 32, will be in Andre Villas-Boas’ line-up as they take on Swiss side FC Basel in their quarter-final first leg at White Hart Lane tonight.
Parker said: “From the outset, our main objective was a top-four finish but if we win a European cup, it’s a massive achievement. So I think we’ll take both.
“There is nothing more rewarding than going to a final and lifting a trophy. It’s something I’d love to do.
“I got a Premier League medal at Chelsea, but I don’t know if it was official because you have to play 10 games to qualify.
“There were four of us who didn’t play enough games but I think the club got replica medals made.
“I wouldn’t know where it is now, though. I wouldn’t have a clue. That says a lot, doesn’t it? I didn’t really feel part of it.
“I felt more a part of the Carling Cup one but I still didn’t really feel at the bottom of my heart. I don’t know where that medal is, either.”
“Would a Europa League medal mean more to me? Yes, I think it would.
“If I won that it would have to go on the fireplace — somewhere a little bit more special. I’m sure I’d treasure it a little bit more than my Premier League one.”
AB won the Europa League with Porto two years ago and on his first day as Tottenham boss last summer he told his players he wanted to win it again.
Parker said: “The manager told us from the outset that we were going to try and win it, that we were going to go strong and it was a part of our season.
“In previous years, you may take a lesser squad, but that’s never been the case this season.”
Third-place Tottenham were also on course to finish third last season before they blew a 10-point gap and were overtaken by Arsenal.
Then sixth-placed Chelsea won the Champions League to earn them automatic passage into this year’s competition so fourth was not enough for Spurs.
Many thought Tottenham were going to wobble again when they lost three games on the trot last month.
But Saturday’s 2-1 win at Swansea backs Parker’s belief that Tottenham are becoming a team of winners.
He said: “When you win games consistently it becomes a habit. Like losing becomes a habit.
“That’s the way it works, that’s football — if we lose it’s a ‘crisis’ and everbody thinks that we’re going to crumble again.
“We need to prove that we’re not going to do that and I think we’re very close to doing that.”
TOTTENHAM (likely): Friedel, Naughton, Gallas, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Sigurdsson, Dempsey, Bale.