Scott Parker denies 'failure of recruitment' despite Burnley's £90m bench
Scott Parker has played down any notion of last week’s bench proving how unsuccessful Burnley’s recruitment has been in the Premier League this season.
Around £90m worth of summer signings were consigned to the substitute’s bench last week as the Clarets played out a goalless draw with Bournemouth.
Florentino Luis, Loum Tchaouna and Armando Broja were all among those to make the move to Turf Moor before the season got underway – but have all struggled to nail down a starting spot.
Marcus Edwards, whose loan move from Sporting was made permanent last summer, was also on the bench against the Cherries, albeit on his return from a back spasm.
Many Clarets fans have suggested the fact these big money signings can only make the bench is indicative of the club’s summer recruitment – attributing it to one of the many reasons behind their struggles this season.
Parker, however, doesn’t agree.
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"I don't think so,” he said.
"Obviously you're constantly picking players at a certain moment for what's best for the current situation.
"Like I've said before, I think for everyone this year, there's been certain inconsistencies at certain levels of performances and I think you've seen that.
"I think you've seen certain players have performed very well and then drop off a little bit. New players coming into a different environment, different culture. I'm always just trying to pick the best XI that I see best in the training week that can try and get us a result, really.
“So, while, of course, you could look at it and say: ‘is it a failure of recruitment?’ I don't think that's the case. There's a strong squad here in certain moments and obviously, I just pick accordingly to that, really, and also having an understanding of where current situations, current players are and, yeah, that's what we do.”
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