“Coach Gavin knows me well from our time at Chiefs and he said to me, ‘No, man, rather you train with the team [SuperSport] because we‘ve got a young and exciting team here and come and inspire the boys.’
“I didn’t even ask anything else, I just said, ‘What time should I come to training tomorrow?’ I came in and trained and they were very impressed. The technical staff believed I could add value and they took it up higher.
“The league started and things went on and on and I decided to go with the option to come to 'the Rockets' [Galaxy] because me and the chairman [Tim Sukazi] have got a bit of a relationship since [Dutch club] FC Twente.
“He [then-agent Sukazi] came to visit me at Twente when he brought 'Tower' [defender Eric Mathoho] on trial in 2009. From there we had a good relationship.
“He called me and said he wanted me to be part of the family. I accepted it, I took on his blessing.”
Parker joins Galaxy, who have started the season on an excellent note, drawing their first DStv Premiership match 0-0 against Stellenbosch before winning their next two games against five-time successive league champions Mamelodi Sundowns (1-0) and SuperSport (2-0).
Galaxy visit Lamontville Golden Arrows at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu, Durban, on Saturday.
‘I wasn’t told anything’: Parker says Chiefs never offered him off-field post
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Bernard Parker has revealed there was never any firm talk between him and his former club Kaizer Chiefs of taking up any post-playing position at the club after his contract expired at the end of last season.
Veteran forward Parker, who spent 11 years at Chiefs, joined TS Galaxy last week. This was after he spent two months of the off-season training on his own and later with SuperSport United, having been released by Amakhosi.
“I don’t know who came up with that talk,” the 36-year-old said at Galaxy’s training ground at St Stithians College in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
“I really don’t know because I wasn’t told about that. I did ask what’s happening and the way forward.
“I wasn’t told anything and things just went quiet, hence I decided to sit down with my family to look at the best way forward.”
The former Bafana Bafana striker nearly found a path to joining his former Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt at SuperSport.
“I was training alone for quite some time and I was hoping for something,” Parker said.
“Coach Gavin knows me well from our time at Chiefs and he said to me, ‘No, man, rather you train with the team [SuperSport] because we‘ve got a young and exciting team here and come and inspire the boys.’
“I didn’t even ask anything else, I just said, ‘What time should I come to training tomorrow?’ I came in and trained and they were very impressed. The technical staff believed I could add value and they took it up higher.
“The league started and things went on and on and I decided to go with the option to come to 'the Rockets' [Galaxy] because me and the chairman [Tim Sukazi] have got a bit of a relationship since [Dutch club] FC Twente.
“He [then-agent Sukazi] came to visit me at Twente when he brought 'Tower' [defender Eric Mathoho] on trial in 2009. From there we had a good relationship.
“He called me and said he wanted me to be part of the family. I accepted it, I took on his blessing.”
Parker joins Galaxy, who have started the season on an excellent note, drawing their first DStv Premiership match 0-0 against Stellenbosch before winning their next two games against five-time successive league champions Mamelodi Sundowns (1-0) and SuperSport (2-0).
Galaxy visit Lamontville Golden Arrows at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu, Durban, on Saturday.
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