Former Fulham boss Parker appointed as new Club Brugge head coach

Former Fulham and Bournemouth boss Scott Parker has replaced Carl Hoefkens as Club Brugge’s new head coach.

Hoefkens, who was only appointed in May, defied the odds by helping Brugge finish above Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time, where Benfica await over two legs.

However, they have struggled domestically as they sit fourth in the league and were knocked out of the cup by Sint-Truidense last week, leading to Hoefkens’ dismissal on Tuesday.

Parker managed Fulham between February 2019 and June 2021, before taking over the reins at Bournemouth ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

He guided them to promotion to the Premier League, but was sacked after a run of three league defeats in a row, culminating in an embarrassing 9-0 thumping by Liverpool in August.

Brugge are back in action on January 8 with a trip to Belgian First Division leaders Genk.