McPhee hopes new role can be of benefit to Exeter
EXETER City Academy coach Chris McPhee hopes his new role as manager of Plymouth Parkway can be a win-win situation for him, his new club, the Grecians and the players he is helping to develop at St James Park.
The 41-year-old was named as the successor to Lee Hobbs at Bolitho Park recently and the Southern League Premier Division outfit will continue to operate with a part-time manager, which will allow McPhee to continue his work with the Grecians.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion, Torquay United, Ebbsfleet and Kidderinster Harriers attacker has been coaching within the Grecians’ Academy set-up for ten years now and takes on the role of Youth Development Phase lead coach.
Now, he will combine the two roles and create a situation that sees Parkway benefit from having good youngsters on loan, those youngsters get a stage on which to perform and the Grecians benefit from having further close links with one of the region’s top non-league clubs.
“When I spoke to (Parkway chairman) Mark (Russell), he did explain that it would be a part-time role and laid out to me how the week might look and I went to my line manager at Exeter and said: ‘look, this is the situation, I am interested in doing this,’ he said.
“My line manager at Exeter knows that I have been interested and been looking to take the next step in my coaching career. I explained how I could see it working and they went away for a bit of a chat and came back to me and said they would really like to keep me on.
“They could see the positives as well, such as the opportunity for some of our young players to be involved, be developed and be coached and I will continue to work for three days at Exeter. I was in for five days a week at Exeter, but by reducing it to three allows me to stay there, really sink my teeth into this new role (at Parkway) which I am really excited about, and a little bit of time to switch off from football and give my time to my family.
“One thing I have learnt over the years is that it is important to take that time when you are not in work to recharge, or de-stress because you are not going to fulfil your duties at your maximum if you are constantly switched onto football because it is one of those games where, if you really love it, you can literally dedicate every minute of your day to it and I don’t think that’s healthy.”
The Grecians are renowned for letting their young professionals and top Academy prospects go out and serve time with local non-league clubs as part of their player development plan as it gives them a taste of what real men’s football is like.
The pressure to win games and figthting for promotion or surrvival in such a competitive environment – and in front of crowds – is something that can’t be taught in Academy football and with City not having an Under-21 or Under-23 development team, forging close links with top non-league clubs in the region benefits them, the player and the loan club that they join.
“When I knew that Mark was interested in taking things further, I had that conversation with Exeter where I have been working hard and been loyal for ten years and I didn’t want them thinking I was turning my back,” McPhee said.
“But they understood it wasn’t a case of me wanting to turn my back, or be selfish in terms of my next steps, I wanted to do things where everyone gets a little bit of benefit and I get an opportunity to test myself.
“I believe I have the capabilities, the mindset and skill set to do well in management in men’s football, they agree and now I continue to do that with my individualised player development role within the club – and focus on players individually within the 18s group and youth development phase – and open up the channels to give young players a chance of men’s football to help them with their programme.
“Exeter don’t have an Under-21s programme, so they will be looking to get one or two lads out on loan and it is good for everybody. The communication should be really good and how we support the players at Parkway will very much be how Exeter want it to be done and we can give them feedback and footage of the games.
“The same thing goes for all the other clubs in the region, I would love to strike up a relationship with Plymouth (Argyle) and Parkway be the ‘go-to’ club in the area for Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay and Yeovil, so we become a trusted club that treat their player with respect and help them with their development.”