Sol Campbell- The Macclesfield Story
Sol Campbell- “When you get me, you get me 100%”
I don’t think anyone would disagree with that statement after witnessing Sol Campbells first 6 months in football management. Not many Managers would experience as many highs and lows in their whole careers never mind before they have completed a full season.
Campbell took charge of Macclesfield town on 27th of November 2018. The Silkmen were bottom of League 2 and 5 points adrift from safety. Quite like Campbell looking for his first Managerial role, not many people gave them a chance.
However, things were worse than Campbell feared. His first few weeks with the club were spent putting out fires and dealing with issues with the players which were beyond just the pitch.
He spent a lot of time talking to each one of them individually, instilling belief, sparking a desire for football again and rebuilding players from the bottom up.
There were signs though of a club and a team that still had the ability and desire to stay in the division. A few days before Campbell was announced they had beaten relegation rivals Yeovil 1–0. Then with Campbell watching on they beat Exeter City 1–0 away from home. Back to back wins, things were on the up.
As is so often the way with football though, reality hit. Campbell’s first game in charge ended in a 1–0 defeat to Colchester.
The January transfer window was an opportunity to bring in new faces and freshen up the team. Campbell bought in an incredible 11 players, with an average age of 24 and not spending a penny. Perhaps Campbell showing his ability to adapt to his surroundings and use his contacts.
Skip to May and amazingly, on the last day of the season. Campbells keeps Macclesfield in League 2 thanks to a 1–1 draw with Cambridge United, finishing 3 points above the relegation zone, completing an 8 point swing.
Campbell’s record in his 6 months of charge was 7 Wins 10 Draws and 8 Losses, a win % of 25.9%. Before Campbell had arrived they had only won 2 games out of 19.
After such a huge achievement and the highs of staying up, you would be forgiven into thinking this was a fairytale ending. However, news quickly broke that the players and Campbell himself had not been paid for the last 2 months.
Campbell has spoken about how players boycotted training and were even very close to boycotting a match and replicating Bolton Wanderers. This makes Campbells 6 months in charge even more impressive. Dealing with situations he would have never faced before and still managing to keep it “In-house” so all the attention was still on football.
This saga is still unresolved with no news of when players and staff will be paid. However, Campbell remarkably has stayed 100% committed to Macclesfield and has been attempting to arrange a pre-season tour in Italy for next to nothing.
Who knows what the next 6 months of management looks like for Campbell. What we can say is that he has done a fantastic job against all odds. However, the question remains why did he have to go so far down the league to a club on its knees to get an opportunity to manage?
I think it’s fair to expect Campbell to be managing at a much higher level in years to come.