Football Season Guide

Macclesfield endured another messy pre-season in which they became something of a laughing stock and will be determined to show when the actual football starts that they mean business and will not be there to just make up the numbers. The Silkmen board gathered world fame for a day with their proposal to give the chance to anyone who pays a certain amount of money to be given the chance to actually play in a competitive game for Macclesfield during the season. It was an idea so ridiculous that within hours, it was taken away but the embarrassment stayed and it leaves the question what sort of men are running the club. Macclesfield are currently going through a process of cost-cutting and trying to remain competitive on a limited budget and offered other schemes to pull money from the local community to the club. They had a proposal to give the manager's job to former Liverpoor legend Robbie Fowler. He actually turned down the job and former academy coach and Macclesfield legend Jon Askey remained as full-time manager for the upcoming season. Askey is loved and respected by the fans but his managerial credentials has to be questioned after the team lost five out of six games when he was in caretaker charge at the end of last season. The feeling remains was that he was the only one keen to do the job given the tight ship that is currently run and may well face a struggle over the season. The Silkmen lost a number of important players over the summer, among them Matthew Barnes-Homer and Kieran Murtagh and have only recently started adding up to their bare squad. Chris Holroyd will be the lead striker and he is quite dangerous at this level if he can be bothered while Steve Williams and Joe Connor will shore up the defence. The fact that Rhys Taylor have remained as number one keeper is a big bonus too. However, the Macc remain too dysfunctional to be really taken seriously and a place in the lower mid-table is most probable for them.