Chelsea opponents Krasnodar hope English fitness guru who worked with Bale at Southampton can be their secret weapon
ENGLISHMAN ABROAD John Phillips is the former QPR fitness guru trying to ruin Frank Lampard’s Champions League plans.
Portsmouth coach Phillips joined Russian side FC Krasnodar this month as their new Head of Sport Science.
And he will be the man trying to get the competition debutants up to physical speed before tonight’s glamour tie against Chelsea.
Until May 2019, Phillips worked at Championship side QPR for more than six years, primarily as their head of performance.
Over a decade ago he was academy and reserve fitness coach at Southampton at a time when superstar Gareth Bale was coming through the ranks on the South Coast.
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In a varied career, he has also worked at the FA, the EFL, in Sweden (Malmo), Saudi Arabia (Al Ahli), Taiwan (national team) and China (Nantong).
And he will be using his experience of English football to give Lampard nightmares on the long flight home.
Phillips, who attended Southampton Solent University, said: “Southampton and QPR are both big clubs, very similar to Krasnodar.
“They compete in multiple competitions the same as we are now with the League, the Cup after Christmas, and obviously the European football and Champions league.
“When I was at QPR it was like a new project as well, so we had to develop everything and build systems and protocols to try and improve on-the-field performance. There are similarities there, yes.
“This is a great challenge for me.
“Obviously, I spoke a lot with the club representatives when they asked me if I’d be interested in the project and I really liked the ambition and the ideas.
“It’s a great opportunity to try and develop and improve within playing European football and competing in the Russian League.
“It’s good to now try and evolve everything else around football.
“I’m well aware of the history within Russian football and particularly following and being involved in European football.
“And I’m well aware there is a lot of history over here and a great reputation for players being hard working and aggressive.”
For Krasnodar, nicknamed the Bulls, this will be a special occasion, their first match at home in the Champions League.
Phillips added: “Chelsea, same as most English clubs, they’re going to be aggressive, the speed of the game will be high.
“They’re doing okay in the league, but they will want to come and they will want to really try and dominate so it’s going to be tough.
“Obviously with the injuries we’ve got and things like that.
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“But for me we have to fight, we have to work hard, and try not to be intimidated by them in any way. It’s a lot to do in the mentality and as well as the physicality.
“We need to concentrate for 95-96 minutes. We can’t switch off because you’ll get punished by these sort of teams.
“Don’t give them the respect and allow them to play, we have to be aggressive and take the game to them.”