Fergie backs Parker selection

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson has backed the decision of the Football Writers’ Association to make West Ham captain Scott Parker their player of the year for the 2010-11 season.

Parker overcame Gareth Bale to be crowned winner of a prize that has been running since 1948. He is only the second Hammers recipient, following in the footsteps of legendary England skipper Bobby Moore, and comes in a season when his club could well be relegated.

Ferguson has been dubious about the merits of such prizes ever since David Ginola won in Manchester United’s 1999 treble-winning year, a decision he still feels was “an insult” to the Old Trafford outfit at the time.