Parker was placed in caretaker charge of the side after the club parted ways with Adnan Beganovic on Thursday, despite the fact the Bosnian coach had led them to the Nedbank Cup decider.
Unless there is a swift permanent appointment, Parker will lead Galaxy in the final and hope to become the first person to win the Nedbank Cup as both a player and a head coach since it was first played in its current guise in 2008.
The former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana striker is no stranger to final glory and already has a special place in Nedbank Cup history.
He scored the winning goal for Chiefs in the 2013 decider as they defeated SuperSport United in extra time. It was a special goal too, as he fired the ball into the back of the net from all of 25 yards.
He picked up the ball and, as he drove towards the box, shot low into the bottom right corner beyond Ronwen Williams in the SuperSport goal.
Parker kept playing until he hung up his boots at TS Galaxy at the end of the 2023/24 season, his 16th season as a professional.
He featured in 28 Nedbank Cup games, 21 of them starts, over his career and scored three goals. His other strikes came for Chiefs against Lamontville Golden Arrows in 2018 and Chippa United in 2019.
He played for Chiefs in the 2019 Nedbank Cup final against, ironically, Galaxy, when the then second-tier side stunned the AmaKhosi with a 1-0 victory. Parker has therefore tasted both victory and defeat in the final already.
Speaking last month, Parker was confident Galaxy could go all the way in the Nedbank Cup this season and that his experience would help the side.
“TS Galaxy came out victorious in that 2019 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium. It’s just the magic of the Nedbank Cup, and surprises will always come up,” Parker said. “For us, it’s about how you deal with the moment and how you manage the game within the moment.
“Unfortunately, then I was on the losing side, but this time around I want to be on the winning side as a coach, to get the Nedbank Cup winning medal as a coach, which I know is possible and I believe is possible.
“As far as I remember, only Macbeth Mahlangu, our centre-back, was part of that squad in 2019. The rest of the guys are fairly new, and they haven’t tasted success yet with TS Galaxy. The main importance for us as a club is to make sure that we can repeat history.
“From my experience as a former player, bringing that to the players will assist a lot. It’s also about making sure the senior players take charge of the game, control certain moments and enhance the moments that can help us win the match.”