Scott Parker says that he is looking forward to making his debut in claret and blue - and that his rift with manager Alan Curbishley is a thing of the past.
The £7m signing from Newcastle was speaking to reporters at a press conference this morning to announce both his signing and the club's tie-up with XL Airlines, who will be sponsoring the club for the next three years.And Parker - when asked about the fall-out he had with Curbs when both were at Charlton - confirmed that any problems he had were all 'water under the bridge'.
"It was never a personal thing," he told the packed conference. "If you go around holding grudges you get nowhere.
"When I played under Curbs [at Charlton] it was the best football of my career. If you had said a year ago would Newcastle let me go, I’d have said no chance. But that’s football."
Curbishley was equally delighted at his new signing, with Parker being a player he has known since his early teens. He too denied that the rift would cause any problems.
"I think what you have to realise is that there is a lot exaggerated. We [Charlton] were doing well, going places. I had been at the club for a long while. We both had frustrations.
"I was a little disappointed [he left as] we were fourth in the league at the time. Obviously Chelsea came in. I appreciated what he had done for me at the club.
"But there has not been a problem between us. At the time, I was speaking on behalf of everyone at Charlton, it was something we didn’t want to happen. But it was a great opportunity for Scott."
Looking ahead, and with the question of West Ham's future captain in mind, he added:
"Playing against him in recent seasons, I was always in fear every time he got the ball. No disrespect to Nigel [Reo-Coker], but I have got Lucas [Neill] as well who is a strong character.
"One of the problems we had last year was [a lack of] leadership. We went into a run of games we couldn’t get out of in terms of results. Scott has been though bad times and come out of it. That’s the sort of person I need at the club."
* You can see the entire press conference here.
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