In Part Two of his interview in our 'New Breed' series, he tells us about some of his coaching methods and how they have helped him steer the club through some of their best ever times.

Former Reading midfielder, Parkinson, joined Colchester directly from the playing staff at the Madejski Stadium and opts for a hands-on approach to his coaching and management style.

The 38-year-old is a true 'tracksuit manager' and can regularly be seen at Layer Road warming-up with the team prior to a match.

"It’s something that has just happened," revealed Parkinson. "It’s not that I planned to work like that, but after my assistant Geraint Williams and our fitness coach/physio Stuart Hales take the team on the first part of the warm-up, I like to get out for the second part.

"I like being out there and it gives me a chance to chat to the lads as we warm-up, make sure they are focused and in the right frame of mind and it works well."

And who can argue? As well as enjoying three of their best ever Cup runs in the three seasons he’s been in charge, Parkinson has taken Colchester to within one match of the LDV Vans final in Cardiff on two occasions and their League form has seen the U’s finish 12th, then 11th.

This season, though, is even better. An FA Cup run, which is set to take them to either Chelsea or Everton and a spell at the summit of League One – the club’s highest ever league placing – has given them a serious shout of automatic promotion.

Parkinson, and the rest of the people around Colchester, are pleased that the club is finally getting the recognition it deserves and the accolades have started arriving. The Pro-Licence holder was also named the division’s manager of the month last week.

"I’m well aware that even though the title is ‘Manager of the Month’ it’s an award for the whole club, the players and the rest of the coaching staff." he told TheFA.com.

"We’ve got a lot of young players and the good thing about that is that they are all hungry to succeed.

"Anything we have asked of them, whether it’s fitness, diet, organisation of the team, they’ll do it because they are desperate to do well. And I love working with people who have that determination and desire and we’ve got that in abundance in this squad." he added.

"But we’ll take the accolade, because we’ve moaned in the past that we don’t get enough exposure at Colchester, and now we have it’s important we take it in our stride and not let it distract us from our focus on the football."

To read the first part of our interview with Phil Parkinson, click here.

If you are interested in taking up coaching, you can find out more by visiting our FA Learning area.