It was all change for Parkway fans yesterday evening as they travelled to the Circle of Care Community Stadium to cast their eye over new boss Chris (Macca) McPhee in his first outing as Parkway boss against old friends Exmouth Town.

The game itself at times played second fiddle as fans were intrigued to see how Chris and new assistant manager Lee Peacock conducted themselves and orchestrated their new approach to the squad.

Goals from Dylan Jones (2) and Matt Wright (2) provided Macca with a debut win as both sides learned a lot in what was a very productive evening for both sets of management. In what has been a busy few weeks for the new manager, Macca reflects on the adjustment period since taking over the role.

Question: You’ve had a few training sessions and your first pre-season friendly now. How have you found the initial weeks of your tenure?

Answer: I have really enjoyed the last couple of weeks. Training has been productive, the players have worked hard, shown interest and application towards our principles we are filtering into their work, and they are becoming confident to express themselves. We have already seen how we can help the group collectively and individually, and we are enjoying our work. Tonight’s game showed us as coaches that they understand our ideas and they are happy and excited about putting things in motion on the pitch in real scenarios.
It was encouraging to see their interpretations of our principles and how they grew through the 90 minutes.

Question: Your first game in the dugout as Parkway manager, a nice moment for you?

Answer: An amazing moment for us all. For sure, it’s a special moment for me personally as it was a realization of an opportunity I have been working towards. A proud moment and an experience I will cherish. Collectively and more importantly, the game itself exposed the players to bigger pitch work, opportunities, problems, and building habits. We have internal expectations and the players seem to be enjoying the challenges.

Question: An entertaining game, your thoughts on the evening?

Answer: I was very pleased. The players got good minutes in their legs at a good tempo and intensity, which is important in pre-season fixtures as we would like to avoid ‘exhibition game’ intensity levels. Exmouth was a fantastic host and opponent who played at a high intensity themselves, and it was clear to all that both sides got plenty out of the game.
I had intended for the lads to play slightly fewer minutes, but with a few lads picking up knocks and illnesses in the last 48 hours, we had to be creative to lighten the load.

Question: A number of trialists among the team last night, is it still a work in progress building and finalizing your squad ahead of the new season?

Answer: Absolutely. We are very pleased to have retained the nucleus of the squad as they are a fantastic group. The environment they create and maintain is very healthy and professional, which helps every aspect of our development, especially in these early stages with players coming in on trial and looking to make an impression.
We have been happy with the start everyone has made. The young players on trial have come in, done well, and been made to feel welcome, which has helped them be themselves and show us what they are about.

We have been looking to strengthen the group and hope to get one or two more lads on board in the next week or so.

Question: How happy are you with where you and the team are at this early point of pre-season?

Answer: The group, in our opinion, is ahead of where we expected them to be in terms of taking on board our style of play, adapting to our style of play, and the way we work and train. We feel all the players have shown signs of improvement in various areas of their game. Considering we have only had 3 training sessions, with some of each session being fitness-based, we are delighted with the way the group has come together and put into action some of the things we have been embedding through the week.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the fans for attending this evening, supporting the lads, and having patience in recent weeks. It is important we don’t rush our preparation, and the squad will take time to build as I won’t ‘panic sign.’ We have targets and have made offers to players, agreeing in principle with one or two. The players on trial are young and showing promise, and it’s important to give them time on the pitch and work with them in training.

Special mention: We at Parkway would like to send our best wishes to Alex Parsons and his family. Alex joined us on trial and, in our second session, fell awkwardly, dislocating his ankle.
We wish Alex a speedy and full recovery.

Watch Chris and his new-look Parkway side in Pre-Season match day 2 as they travel to Langsford Park to face Tavistock AFC this Sunday (14/07/24) as pre-season continues.