Ian Pethick

Steps 2,3,4 and 5 are effectively done and dusted by the end of April. May and June (until pre season training cranks up) does feel like a long drag for us non league connisseurs.

Has got a similar sort of feeling to when Peter Shilton was appointed at Argyle. Very high profile, raised the profile of the club and attracted decent players to Plymouth, captured the imagination of the public. Things went very well for him in his first full season when he had a strong backroom staff and support of the board. All unravelled pretty quickly when John McGovern left though (a book on Shilton's time at Argyle, The Nearly Men, is a great read). If Wayne Rooney has a decent assistant and staff, then who knows. It certainly is a very brave appointment, especially after how it went for him at Birmingham.

"The annual pre season friendly is massively important to our club and helps the club to continue to grow.” - Mark Russell, Parkway Chair, October 2020 Bit of a change from that to, "more of a headache than it's worth." I did read comments on PASOTI (Argyle fans forums) referencing some of the challenges meted out by Parkway players on their youngsters . No idea if this would have driven their thinking, but Argyle are by far the senior club here and will always do what's right for them.

Have to be patient I guess, June is usually when the non league scene starts to get going again. Would hope though that the process is of appointing a new manager is well advanced, worth the wait if they make the right appointment and don't just get somebody in to fill the post.

You old cynic. Pretty sure River Allen has always admired Willand and dreamt of one day playing for them. 🙄

A few teams at Southern Prem and NLS level are making "announcements" regarding players, but pretty sure the transfer/registration window doesn't open until July 1st. See that Willand have made a load of these this evening, River Allen being amongst them. New manager and new era both on and off the pitch at Parkway (see that they are also looking to bring in a new directors and a finance director), so a bit of patience is required. Impressed with the interviews that Chris McPhee has given so far, excited to see what the squad will look like come August. Regardless of who the opposition is (beyond the obviously financial gain,not always sure how beneficial high profile friendlies are) , a strong and constructive pre season will be essential.

Managing a non league side is now pretty much a 7 day a week/52 weeks of the year thing, with the level of scrutiny (and criticism) they receive from many directions at unprecedented levels. As well as this, they have to also fit a family life and day job in somewhere. No wonder people walk away. Remember a few years Torpoint's ECPL side manager talked on the CS Podcast about how even running a side at that level felt like a full time job.

Are they required to have some sort of low key test event before a safety certificate is issued? Would think that the local authorities might like to check everything works.

See that Truro City's pre season friendly schedule has been announced. No home fixtures amongst the games.

A golden, never to be repeated, era (before it all went pop in the early eighties, heard that's a story in itself). All the talk at the moment is of Falmouth Town achieving step 4 football for the first time in their history. Technically, that's not true, pre the Alliance Premier Conference league being formed in 1979, the Western League Premier was actually step 3 in today's money. The Southern League was the pinnacle of non league football at the time (alongside the Northern and Isthmian Prem), Southern Div 1, then Western Prem.

Know it's not the way these things work, but Richard Washburn at Millbrook would have been my choice.

Any word on a likely timescale for the appointment of a new manager at Truro? Understand that the new NLS season will start on the 2nd Saturday in August, so would think that we're now about 4/5 weeks away from pre season beginning. Notice that a lot of City's rivals in this league have already been very busy making additions to their squads.

On the face of it, yes. But these are pretty straightforward things to put in place I would have thought. Sounds to me more like a **** up/oversight by Exeter Uni. Surely they would have read the ground grading requirements and produced a to do list?

Believe both Dylan Jones and Jacob Smith were involved in the youth system at Exeter City before being released at 16, so would think that new Parkway boss Chris McPhee has previously worked with the pair of them. Hopefully he is aware of a few more gems like these two.

Can't see Ryan Richards dropping down a level. Assuming he's fit and available, will be in demand from plenty of step 4 or 5 clubs. Everybody wants a goalscorer.

The Western and Southern Leagues are the place to be now for Cornish clubs. Wadebridge boss Paul Rowe mentioned this in an interview with the CS Podcast a few weeks, basically said they need to get promoted out of the SWPL or continually risk having their players picked off. No doubt his squad, and several others around, will contain targets for step 4 and 5 teams.

Yes, great models for Bude to follow. Dobwalls differ slightly to Lanson and Cally though in that they aren't local lads. Ben Washam has done a great job in pulling together a talented group of youngsters, but most of them are Plymouth based. Many of them played for Adam Castlehouse when he ran Parkway under 18's.

Truro don't want to go anywhere near Andy Westgarth. Seriously poor, over rated manager...😁

Makes it sound like Pope Francis is in the frame... 😁

Southern Prem football will be a very different environment and mentality to working within a professional club's youth system. Unlike this, it is results, not developing players, that is everything. Chris McPhee spoke very eloquently about his vision for the club and players, but it has to be remembered that they are part time, you only get to see them a couple of evenings a week. Looking at the sides that have been promoted, been relegated from the NLS and then those that are still around from last season, Parkway's league will get tougher again next time around. A strong pre season and start to the campaign proper, is vital. At the end of the day, it is winning matches and getting points on the board that matter to supporters, not "playing identity."

Chris McPhee was the head of youth development at Exeter City, and holds a UEFA "A" coaching licence. Very well travelled midfielder/striker around the league and non league, was previously player/coach at Salisbury City and then briefly assistant manager to Craig Duff at Buckland. Another interesting appointment is his new assistant. Lee Peacock, another ex midfielder/striker at pro level who was most recently Head Of Youth Coaching at Swindon. Both these hires would suggest that Parkway have the aim of moving towards recruiting and developing younger talent. Bit of a change from the usual suspects that were being touted for the role, and I wish them nothing but well in the new era at Parkway.

Getting Paul Wotton to sign a "multi year contract" looks like a great bit of business now.

Would think that Torquay will be looking at full time players and loanees from professional clubs, rather than a wholesale raid on Truro . Especially as it looks like the new consortium is going to bring more financial backing with them, and they will also have use of new Technical Director Neil Warnock's extensive networks and contacts .

Keep hearing that, these sort of rumours do tend to feed on themselves though. Barnstaple would be a very good fit for Hobbs, a very ambitious chairman who sees them as a step 3 club in a hurry to get out of a very competitive Western League and would financially back a manager who's had success at this level and could get players in to achieve this. Lots of similarities to Parkway of a few seasons ago.

Not sure about Matt Cusack to Truro. Very bright, intelligent and ambitious manager, yes. But he's never managed above step 5, and only coached at step 4. It is a huge jump to the NLS at step 2. If it did happen though, Helston would have a vacancy that would need filling by a proven step 4 manager. Lee Hobbs maybe?