Troy Parrott goes full Steve McClaren
Something about his smile at the end tells us that he knew what he was doing…but we’re not sure.
As the most expensive signing in AZ Alkmaar‘s history, Ireland striker Troy Parrott is expected to have a big season in the Eredivisie so maybe morphing into a Dutch striker is no bad thing.
He can speak like a Dutchman, so if he can score goals like Robin Van Persie, Ruud Van Nistletroy or Marco Van Basten then we’ll be laughing.
That’s if we’re not laughing already.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of thing.
Joey Barton arrived at Marseille with a Scouse-French twist which would be fairly embarrassing for most people.
For Barton, it was probably the least embarrassing thing he’s done this side of the millennium.
And there was, of course, the famous Steve McClaren incident when the ex-England boss took over at FC Twente.
Notice how similar his inflexions are to Parrott’s, it’s almost a carbon copy.
Troy Parrott
The good news is that pre-season has been positive for Parrott at his new club.
He scored fifteen minutes into his debut and followed it up with an assist a week later.
And the Dubliner from Buckingham Street showed form in the Dutch league last season too.
While on loan at Excelsior from Spurs, he hit ten goals in the regular season and bagged two hat-tricks in the relegation play-off phase.
With the Netherlands now his permanent home, he will be hoping to continue that form throughout his five-year contract at Alkmaar.
It would also be nice to carry that confidence into the international arena.
A few more winners like his goal against Hungary would go a long way towards setting new manager Heimir Halgrimmson off on the right foot.
