'I made it very clear that I'd be different to what the club had been used to' - McPhee

NEW PARKWAY BOSS IS KEEN TO STAMP HIS MARK AFTER TAKING OVER AT BOLITHO PARK

- STUART JAMES

CHRIS McPhee is determined to make the most of his first foray into men's management. And he has promised Plymouth Parkway fans it will be very different to what they are used to, after taking the hotseat at Bolitho Park.

The club have enjoyed seven years of success under former manager Lee Hobbs, who took them from the depths of the South West Peninsula League to their current standing in the Southern League Premier Division.

Given the trajectory of Parkway's progress, it would be hard to continue at that alarming rate, and this last season has not been without its challenges, as the club fought to stay in the division. The wet weather and Bolitho Park playing surface contributed to 24 postponed matches during the course of the season, which led to the Yellows playing their final 13 games in the last five weeks of the campaign.

Parkway survived on the final day of the season - just - with a 1-1 draw at Beaconsfield, which relegated them instead. But the demands of that emotionally, physically and mentally draining run-in certainly took their toll and ultimately led to Hobbs tendering his resignation. Now, chairman Mark Russell has opted for someone very different in 41-year-old McPhee, who boasts over 500 career games under his belt for the likes for Brighton & Hove Albion, Aldershot Town, Swindon, Ebbsfleet Torquay United, United, Weymouth, Kidderminster Harriers and Salisbury.

It was while he was at Ebbsfleet that he enjoyed the perhaps best moment of his career, scoring the only goal of the game in the 2008 FA Trophy final to beat hot favourites Torquay United. And since his playing career, ended McPhee has been coaching at Exeter e City's Academy, which he will continue to do, whilst being the part-time manager of Parkway, his first sojourn into management. And he is determined to make his mark.