AFC Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie has identified attention to detail in preparing for games as a key similarity between Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers and his current manager Scott Parker, speaking in-depth about the latter to the Glasgow Times.

The 26-year-old and Rodgers spent three years together at Celtic between 2016 and 2019 before the latter's departure to the Foxes, with the former becoming a key player in Glasgow during their last season together north of the border.

Christie has also moved on since then, arriving at the Vitality Stadium on deadline day in the summer and impressing under Scott Parker on the south coast thus far, not being able to score his first goal for the Cherries yet but recording an impressive five assists in 12 Championship games.

 

 

This has helped the club to remain unbeaten in all but one of their opening 17 league matches of the 2021/22 campaign, climbing to the top of the second-tier table in the process and bouncing back well from a defeat against Preston to record an impressive 4-0 victory over Swansea City in their last match.

Joining earlier in the summer following his departure from Fulham, manager Parker is another key figure at the Vitality Stadium that has impressed many, coming in after the Cherries' failure to win the play-offs at the end of last term, seeing former main man Arnaut Danjuma leave for Villarreal but still guiding the club to a formidable position.

Christie has nothing but praise for the 41-year-old, comparing him to FA Cup-winning manager Rodgers and providing potential insight into why the young manager has been such a success at Bournemouth thus far.

He said: "He has been brilliant

"I spoke to him on the phone before I signed and I was really impressed with him there. But since then I have seen the way he takes training and the intensity he sets and been even more impressed.

"He played at the top level as a player and has done really well as a manager. He is so passionate. Every time he steps onto the training pitch you know you have to be right at it.

"Like I said, the boys have been flying and a lot of that will be down to him. Long may it continue.

"I would say he is like Brendan in terms of the kind of preparation and detail he puts into games. He is very switched on. I like to have managers who are like that, I feel like in this day and age you need that.

"You need to be constantly performing. He is a wee bit more hands on than Brendan was at Celtic.

"As I said, you can see how he has done so well in his managerial career so far."

The Verdict:

This attention to detail from Parker has not only been mentioned by Christie, but also by teammate Jack Stacey and that attribute is likely to give the Cherries a marginal gain over other teams throughout this season in their quest to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking.

Recent West Brom setbacks and Sheffield United's underwhelming start has only helped their cause, but you can't take anything away from the south-coast side who have been exceptional this term and are currently eight points clear of the play-offs.

To be that far ahead at this stage of the campaign is impressive - and now people are starting to see why he's so highly rated already in the management industry - a tough one to operate in and one where not all legendary former players succeed.

But the Rodgers comparison just goes to show how much he's thriving, something that would have potentially been expected at Fulham having spent time there as a player previous to becoming manager, but not at Bournemouth where many people would have forgiven him for making a slow start.

He has started extremely well though and Cherries fans will be hoping this is a sign of things to come - and not an extended new manager bounce. The consistency is there though - and that's the most important thing.