Bev’s backing Phil to inspire the Lionesses
No 2 Priestman hails ‘world-class’ Neville
There is a moment in the BBC’s recent
Lionesses documentary when Phil Neville is moving pieces around a Subbuteo table to demonstrate to his coaching staff how england’s pressing game had momentarily failed them in a recent game.
he moves them fast, talks even faster, and his discussion of a need for ‘better angles — not straight angles but depth of angles’ is hard to follow. ‘I’ll look at it, yeah,’ says the woman sitting to his right.
By all accounts this chink in the england armour was sorted in the next training session.
The fixer is his No 2 Bev Priestman (below) — england’s quiet woman in the shadows. A 33-year- old unheard of to most in england, never interviewed by British media until now, but the cognitive core of Neville’s side. She’s the one who puts his machine gun output of ideas into practice.
By every available account, the partnership has worked to strong effect in the 10 months since she replaced Casey Stoney, who left a role as Neville’s assistant to manage Manchester United.
her playing career was not so stellar, a creditable career at everton compared with Stoney’s 130 appearances for england.
But Priestman has quietly developed a reputation as
one of women’s football’s shrewdest international coaches, playing integral roles in developing the game in Canada and New Zealand before joining Neville. her own source of inspiration is equally obscure — John herdman, a fellow denizen of Consett, Co Durham, who left Britain to manage the New Zealand and Canadian teams and now coaches Canada’s men. Priestman first worked at his Brazilian soccer schools, later following him to New Zealand and Canada. ‘They’re very different, they’ve been on very different paths,’ Priestman says of herdman and Neville. And it’s clear from all she says that Neville brings a much bigger motivational component, leaving her to nail down the detail. ‘What he’s brought is his man- management,’ she says as england prepare for tomorrow’s second group game against Argentina in Le havre. ‘ he is world- class at that and you have to allow him the time to not get bogged down in the details so that he can get the best he can out of every player. he’s taking it in his stride, but I can see the excitement in his eyes.
‘You know he’s had Champions Leagues and everything that’s been in his past — but he eats, sleeps and breathes the Lionesses and that’s refreshing.
‘The girls feel that and they will run through a brick wall for him.
‘he’s got a great intuition and gut feel. historically, I’ve always believed that women have a good gut instinct, feel, emotional intelligence. They understand women.
‘But I actually think Phil’s sister Tracey being in netball means he has that.’
Priestman — who has a 10month-old son, Jack, with partner emma humphries, the Liverpool women’s coach — joins the wellestablished 6am runs that Neville leads for the coaches who want to join in. ‘Phil can get a bit hardcore with his hill sprints and that sort of thing,’ she says. ‘I’m more sprints, high intensity, 25 minutes and I’m done.’