Scott Parker, a former England international, was appointed coach of Belgian club Club Brugge on Saturday, three days after Carl Hoefkens was fired for poor domestic results.
“Scott Parker takes over as coach of Club Brugge,” the reigning Belgian champions said in a brief statement.
Parker, a former midfielder, was capped 18 times for England and has previously played for Chelsea and Newcastle.
He began his coaching career with Tottenham’s under-18s before joining Fulham’s managerial staff in July 2018 as Claudio Ranieri’s deputy before taking over in February 2019.
The 42-year-old was unable to keep the London team from being relegated, but they did return to the Premier League at the end of the 2019-20 season.
Fulham were relegated again in 2020-21 and Parker left for Bournemouth whom he guided into the top flight, before leaving in August 2022 after just a few weeks in the Premier League.
Hoefkens, 44, was appointed head coach in May but was sacked due to disappointing domestic results, despite leading the outsiders to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The team qualified second in its group after impressive wins over Bayer Leverkusen, Porto and Atletico Madrid.
The club will face Benfica in the Champions League last-16 in February, but are currently fourth in the Belgian Championship, 12 points behind leaders Genk, and have just been eliminated from the Belgian Cup.
Club Brugge have enjoyed major domestic success and growing financial clout in recent years, winning the Belgian Pro League in five of the last seven seasons.
