Latest news with #MacPhee
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Scotsman
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
How Austin MacPhee became 'perfect fit' for Portugal as Aston Villa coach claims Scottish first
Former Hearts and Scotland coach helps Ronaldo and co to Nations League title Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When news emerged that former Scotland set-piece coach Austin MacPhee had been recruited by Portugal following an international sabbatical due to his father's ill health, the initial reaction was to wonder whether he had signed up for the easiest job in the world – or should that be least enviable? Showing Ronaldo how to take free kicks? You're having a laugh, surely? Now, having spoken with the man in question in the aftermath of Portugal's Nations League triumph nearly a fortnight ago, the first thing to point out is that MacPhee is not solely a set-piece coach, although this is now his specialist subject. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He is 'assistant head coach' to Roberto Martinez, a title he shares with Ricardo Carvalho in a three-pronged frontline coaching staff. The perhaps unlikely trio have produced almost instant results while at the same time earning some 'historia' for Portugal for good measure. They are the first country to win the Nations League twice, something the tee shirts Ronaldo and co pulled over their heads after defeating Spain with a 100 per cent success rate in the penalty shootout two Sundays ago referenced. 'Campeoes Faz Historia' read the slogan on their chests - champions make history. Portugal players and coaches celebrate with the Nations League trophy after defeating Spain in the final. Pic: Portuguese Football Federation | Portuguese Football Federation Such an achievement isn't to be sniffed at of course. However, what really counts as true football heritage, as the kids like to say, is the status now claimed by MacPhee as the first Scottish male to win a senior international football tournament. Ever. Put that on a tee shirt, why don't you. It's unlikely MacPhee will do that although he did wear his medal at breakfast with his family one morning for a laugh and then forgot to take it off as he went out to take out the bins, to funny looks from the neighbours. 'It is very heavy,' he reports. It's good to know such details given Scotland are a million miles away from winning international tournaments that aren't played in Japan, sponsored by a Japanese beer and involve just three countries, including the mighty Bulgaria. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Simply qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years will be the aim come this Autumn. Nothing is guaranteed in terms of Portugal, who are in a group with Republic of Ireland, Armenia and Hungary, but having beaten Germany – in Germany – and then Spain to claim the Nations League title, hopes are understandably high. Not simply to qualify. They have designs on winning the damn thing. 'Since I came into the camp for the Nations League it's been, 'Can we practice winning the World Cup?' says MacPhee. 'Right from my first conversation with Roberto Martinez it was about can we all contribute to trying to win the World Cup? That is what he said to the players: 'We have a week here (in Germany) to practice what it's like'. 'The trust you have in the depth of the Portuguese squad and the fact you have an icon in the world leading the team in the summer shows the kind of special generation that we have got and the absolute belief.' Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates give their attention to assistant coach Austin MacPhee at the tactics board. Pic: Portuguese Football Federation | Portuguese Football Federation From Forfar failure to Ronaldo coach Ah yes, the 40-year-old phenomenon that is Ronaldo. A potentially tricky if talented customer, one might imagine. And yet he and MacPhee, who at 45 is nearer the veteran superstar's age than anyone else in the Portugal camp, appears to have already struck up a good rapport. The Scot by his own admission is a 'failed Forfar Athletic footballer', although does that even matter these days anymore? Martinez's own career was moderate. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for Ronaldo, there's an interesting piece of footage from the win over Spain, when the already substituted superstar is seen joining MacPhee on the edge of the technical area – recipe for disaster, perhaps? Memories stirred of the Euro 2016 final between Portugal and France, when some felt the injured Ronaldo had been disrespectful to Fernando Santos by being so animated on the sidelines, at one stage even standing in front of the head coach while issuing instructions to his teammates. In the case of his interaction with MacPhee, however, it seemed clear he was adhering to the chain of command. There was no sense of oneupmanship. 'He was just talking about the delivery, it was a free kick – whether Bruno (Fernandes) should shoot or Bruno should cross,' recalls MacPhee. 'There was no right answer in this particular situation.' MacPhee is already learning Spanish to help aid dialogue with his manager at Aston Villa, Unai Emery, so he might wait a while before downloading the teach yourself Portuguese app on Duolingo. He won't want to confuse things. Still, he has been witness to the force of Ronaldo's stirring dressing- room addresses, which, naturally, are delivered in Portuguese. 'You can see that when he speaks in the changing room after the game before the manager, it is very powerful,' he says. 'Also how he is in terms of respect for everyone. It's the little things. Everyone wears the same kit. Everyone sits down for dinner. No one stands up to get their dinner until everyone has sat down, including the kit man and bus driver, everyone. That has very much been driven by him and Roberto.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Austin MacPhee imparts some advice to Cristiano Ronaldo during a Portugal training session. Pic: Portuguese Football Federation | Portuguese Football Federation Scottish set piece influence MacPhee's influence can also already be traced. Eagle-eyed set-piece afficionados might have recognised an old routine in extra-time of the final against Spain, when both teams were striving for a winner while locked at 2-2. Neither side were able to find a goal but Portugal came close with a free-kick routine that Hearts and Northern Ireland have already employed to good effect when MacPhee was on the staff. For Fernandes, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes, read Sean Clare, Jake Mulraney and Steven Naismith, who combined to score the second goal for Hearts in a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in February 2019. The trick is successfully relaying a message to players of different skill - and perhaps intelligence - levels. The concept of space is the same in the Scottish lower tiers as it is on the highest rung of international football. Providing players can recognise this, MacPhee's own limited playing credentials are not a factor. "I go back to what I learned at St Mirren,' he says, with reference to his time coaching under Danny Lennon, who he also helped at Cowdenbeath. 'Every player only asks themselves one question, 'Can this person help me?' Of course, you have to be able to engage – set pieces is an area of football that is perceived as less entertaining. It is more enjoyable to play five v fives than it is to do set pieces. But sometimes an engaging physics teacher can make physics more fun. And a bad PE teacher can manage to make PE not very enjoyable, when it should be enjoyable. That's more or less my philosophy.' Fast forward to many of the world's finest footballers frolicking with MacPhee at the Allianz Arena as they celebrated Portugal's latest international crown. This was an altogether happier, not to say cathartic, experience for the Scot, who nearly a year earlier was in the dugout for Scotland's 5-1 humbling by Germany (Scotland's goal came from a set piece) in the opening game of Euro 2024, when Ryan Porteous was sent off just before half-time. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It helps when you keep eleven players on the field, as Portugal did. It also helps when four members of their squad had won the Champions League with Paris-Saint Germain the week before, which highlights the company MacPhee is now keeping. Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez. Cr: SNS Group. | SNS Group How Martinez found his 'perfect fit' While the Fifer has now earned the right to be considered among the best in the world at what he does, circumstances do often play a part. Thomas Tuchel's appointment as England manager started a chain reaction that saw MacPhee approached by Martinez. Anthony Barry, who worked with Martinez at both Belgium and Portugal, was poached by Tuchel, with their relationship dating to Chelsea days. Martinez was now a coach short. It didn't seem impossible that Martinez and MacPhee might already know each other – the Portugal manager enjoyed a brief spell at Motherwell, after all, and is married to a Scot, Beth. It turns out they didn't, which seems novel in a world where positions are often offered on the basis of pre-existing relationships. Of course, Martinez was aware of MacPhee, who has overseen set pieces at Villa for four years, but his name emerged following 'an open search', which is how the Portugal manager himself described it to The Scotsman. 'We highlighted from a very technical point which areas we wanted the new staff member to focus on,' he explained via text message as he flew to the United States, where he is a member of Fifa's technical study group at the Club World Cup. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We used AI to find the best performing team in Europe in those technical areas - and the answer was Aston Villa,' he added. The league tables spell this out. Villa currently have the best record in the Premier League for defending corners: they concede just one every 97 on average when the world average is one every 29. They lead the way in Europe's top five leagues in the past two seasons for goals scored from set-pieces, with 45. Martinez explained that they then started to find out more about MacPhee's career and 'his human quality'. Very quickly, he added, 'he became our perfect fit'. Some further investigation uncovered the fact that the only goal Portugal had conceded from a set play in their Nations League campaign last year had come against Scotland, when MacPhee was still involved. 'It made sense very quickly,' writes Martinez. He was appointed in February, before a 5-3 aggregate win over Denmark in the Nations League semi-final. Aston Villa set-piece specialist Austin MacPhee joined Roberto Martinez's backroom team with Portugal in February. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Wire) Written in the stars Paramount above all this in the process was an improvement in MacPhee's father's health, which meant taking on further responsibilities became possible. Concerns regarding his dad's cancer diagnosis had led to him stepping away from Scotland in September. 'He has a letter saying he should be dead in November,' says MacPhee. 'He is now very much alive, swimming up and down the pool in the Fairmont (outside St Andrews) and playing golf and going to the pub and following Dunfermline – telling me about the poker champion who has bought Dunfermline.' Understandably, Villa were very keen for MacPhee to broaden his horizons and make some new, talented connections in the process. As he puts it, 'you have a relationship with some of the best players in the world who you might want one day to sign'. There could be no downsides. It also seemed written in the stars. When he was offered the post, MacPhee's son Dino, who was once on the books at both Hibs and Hearts, had just accepted a place at the University of Lisbon, where he will start studying business and entrepreneurship in the coming academic year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad MacPhee couldn't say yes to Martinez quickly enough. It helped knowing that the majority of the Portuguese squad, including Ronaldo while in his second spell at Manchester United, had already felt the impact of Villa's set-piece proficiency, as have many of Portugal's England-based players. It's hard not to be slightly wowed by MacPhee's trajectory. Eleven years ago he had just joined up with Northern Ireland, having met Michael O'Neill at an Aberdeen game. He wasn't yet known as a set-piece coach per se but when 11 of the 16 goals Northern Ireland scored en route to qualifying for Euro 2016 were from set-pieces, it was clear something was changing in football. Now those such as Bernardo Silva are eager to reply to messages about MacPhee's influence. On the day he was named among the substitutes as Manchester City opened their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Moroccan side Wydad AC, Silva responded by text to a request for some information on how the players have enjoyed working with MacPhee. 'As you know, set pieces play a major part in football nowadays,' he replied before taking his place on the bench. 'We are creating a lot of problems for our rivals since he joined, so honestly it has been a pleasure for all of us'. He added that the 'message and ideas are very clear - simple but at the same time very effective'. He referenced a photo that circulated on social media showing Silva pulling pints next to MacPhee following the Nations League victory. 'The one thing to say,' he added with a laughing emoji, 'is that he's not very good at pulling pints – I am better!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Former Scotland set piece coach Austin MacPhee with captain Andy Robertson during the match against Switzerland at Euro 2024. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group / SFA Switching from Scotland MacPhee, who played football in Romania, Japan and the United States, is not finding it strange switching from Scotland, where his heart clearly lies as a former Tartan Army member who travelled to support the team at France 98 in a Renault 5. 'I have been seven years with Northern Ireland as well,' he says. 'I think you become connected with a group of people with a common identity and a common goal. Of course, it is different. I am not Portuguese. But I think you can care more but you don't necessarily try any harder is the best way I can describe it. "I tried as hard as I could for Northern Ireland, I tried my best. I tried to do the same with Scotland. In the big moments there is slightly more euphoria and in the bad times there is slightly more hurt, probably, because you are thinking of all your family and friends from Scotland, there is an extra thing. It's slightly different. 'One of my dreams as a wee boy was to go to a World Cup,' he continues. 'I have never done that. I've experienced the Champions League, the Conference League, the Euros. This season we are playing in the Europa League. I've done the Nations League, worked abroad. The World Cup is the missing experience, the one I've not had.'
Ottawa Citizen
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Sea Dogs select top prospect in QMJHL draft with first pick overall
Article content The Saint John Sea Dogs secured a major player for their future and the Moncton Wildcats landed a top hometown prospect as the QMJHL draft unfolded over the weekend in Quebec. Article content Saint John, which finished 17th overall in 2024-25 and then landed the top pick overall in the draft lottery earlier this spring, landed six-foot-four centre Alexis Joseph with their No. 1 pick Friday evening to kick off the annual draft. Article content Article content Article content Joseph was rated at the top of many draft prognosticators' lists because of his size and abilities with College Esther Blodin in Quebec, where he racked up 56 points in 42 games with the Quebec U18 AAA squad. Article content Article content Saint John also secured five-foot-seven-and-a-half speedster Nolann Heroux of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que., with the No. 10 pick overall, and six-foot-one-and-a-half inch goaltender Jase MacPherson of Montague, Prince Edward Island, with its third pick, 29th overall. Article content Heroux recorded 50 points in 41 games with St-Eustache in Quebec U18 AAA this past season while MacPherson was 11-7 with a .908 save percentage with the Kensington Wild of the NB-PEI Under 18 Major Hockey League. Article content The Sea Dogs entered the draft with the No. 18 overall pick as well, following a trade with Rimouski that finalized a deal for former captain Eriks Mateiko in January. Article content Article content However, Saint John shipped that pick to Rouyn-Noranda for a series of picks, including a No. 2 and No. 4 on Saturday, a first rounder in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027. Article content Article content The Gilles Courteau Trophy champion Wildcats waited until the second round to make their first pick and after a trade with Rimouski to drop to No. 24 overall (while gaining additional picks), they landed centre Marc MacPhee of Moncton. MacPhee was also the top New Brunswicker selected in the draft. Article content MacPhee, a five-foot-eight-and-a-half inch centre, racked up 38 points in 33 games with the Moncton Flyers of the NB-PEI Major under 18 league and then added seven points at the Telus Cup national championship.
Calgary Herald
14-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Indigenous Services Canada renews commitment to fully fund Stoney Nakoda students attending Canadian Rockies school
A 'renewed commitment' from Indigenous Services Canada has resolved a funding issue that had threatened to halve the number of Stoney Nakoda Nation students able to attend a school in the Canadian Rockies school division. Article content Article content Without full and sustained funding from the ISC, the Canadian Rockies Public Schools board of trustees had made the 'difficult decision' April 30 to cut about 150 seats — from the current 306 — dedicated to Stoney Nakoda Nation students beginning in September, a decision that would have affected students at the kindergarten to Grade 8 Exshaw School. The Canmore-based school division had warned that further reductions were possible in future years unless the situation was resolved. Article content Article content But a Wednesday news release announced that Stoney Nakoda Nation students will continue to have access to Exshaw School, due to ISC committing to fully fund 'into the foreseeable future' an educational services agreement between the school division and Stoney Education Authority, which is responsible for administering the funding received from the federal government. Article content Article content All tuition costs for Stoney Nakoda Nation students attending CRPS will now be provided at the start of the federal government's fiscal year on April 1, providing 'much-needed consistency and reliability to support uninterrupted educational services.' Article content 'This is the news our families, staff, board, and community have been hoping for,' said Canadian Rockies Public Schools superintendent Christopher MacPhee in a Wednesday statement. Article content 'Our students and staff deserve stability, and this new commitment gives us the ability to move forward.' Article content Partnership successful, but financial uncertainty remains Article content Article content CRPS says its partnership with Stoney Education Authority stretches back over 50 years, supporting students in Exshaw, about 75 kilometres west of Calgary, and Canmore, and achieving graduation rates among Indigenous students that exceeded provincial averages. Last year, 84 per cent of Stoney Nakoda Nation students attending Canmore Collegiate High School graduated within five years, a significantly higher rate than the Alberta average of 69.4 per cent, said Canadian Rockies in an April 30 news release. Article content Article content 'CRPS' model of service to Indigenous students had been cited by ISC itself as an example for other divisions to follow,' it said. Article content Despite the ISC's new commitment, MacPhee said financial uncertainty remains. That's due to the school division having no direct funding relationship with ISC, leaving the division with 'limited ability to respond to unforeseen changes — as was experienced earlier this year when federal monies were delayed for the 2024/25 school year.'
New York Times
12-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Aston Villa's Austin MacPhee appointed Portugal assistant coach
Austin MacPhee has landed a new role as the assistant coach of Portugal, which he will combine with his current position as Aston Villa set piece coach. MacPhee previously combined his position at Villa with a similar role at Scotland but was forced to reduce the workload in September due to his father's illness. Advertisement The 45-year-old's intentions were to remain away from the international scene but his family circumstances have since changed and he viewed the opportunity to join the Portugal setup too good to turn down. Roberto Martinez wanted the Scotsman to join his staff and replace Anthony Barry who has linked up with Thomas Tuchel as the new assistant manager of England. GO DEEPER Villa have learned to love set pieces - and the man who devises them For the past five months MacPhee has been working solely in the West Midlands as part of the extensive coaching team under manager, Unai Emery, where he has played a key role in the coaching setup. A number of other international teams registered an interest in MacPhee before Portugal agreed a deal that will run until at least the end of the 2026 World Cup. Helping prepare the nation for the tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will now be a priority for MacPhee when he links up with his latest international team. In 2016 he was the assistant to Michael O'Neil during Northern Ireland's European Championships campaign and last year he also worked as the set-piece coach for Scotland at Euro 2024. MacPhee will start working with Martinez in March when Portugal face Denmark in the quarter finals of the Nations League. GO DEEPER Soft signals, variation and routines - Aston Villa's inventive set plays (Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
CBC
09-02-2025
- Sport
- CBC
'Feels like my mom was in the building': For this Moosehead, Fight Cancer Night is personal
For the second straight season on the Halifax Mooseheads' annual Fight Cancer Night, Braeden MacPhee has found a way to honour his late mom. MacPhee's mom, Jolene Conway, died of cancer in April 2023 at the age of 46. MacPhee, a 20-year-old forward from Moncton, N.B., scored his team's first goal on Saturday night on the way to a 2-1 comeback win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. "It just kinda has some relief off the shoulders and it feels like my mom was in the building with me, which is always really special," he said. MacPhee also scored at last season's Fight Cancer Night game. The cancer night games raise funds and awareness for all types of cancer, and the purple jerseys players wear for the night are auctioned off. Halifax Mooseheads goalie Jacob Steinman, 20, joined the team last month in a trade. He said that while he's still getting to know his teammates, he knew what the game meant to MacPhee. "I know this night means the most, [it's] the biggest thing to him," said Steinman. "And just for him to score was just unbelievable to watch and especially just to win." The Mooseheads had a slow start, only getting their first shot on net about 15 minutes into the first period. The team was trailing 1-0 until MacPhee's goal with about one minute left in the second period gave the team a spark. MacPhee was named the first star of the game, earning a rousing ovation from an announced crowd of 8,300. His mother only told him and his younger brother about her cancer diagnosis a couple of months before her death. She wanted them to focus on sports. Her obituary noted Conway's passion for her kids' sporting activities. "She had a kind and generous heart and was always willing to help others," it said. "Her positive outlook on life and infectious smile will be deeply missed by all who knew her." MacPhee said his mom always told him to look at the bright side of things. "It's a missing part of my life, but she would want me to keep working hard, keep chasing after my dreams," he said. "And that's exactly what I'm gonna do."
