sponsor's image

Robbie Savage: Diary of a (title-winning) Football Manager: Now to be best-ever champions…

Robbie Savage

In association with Planet Sport Bet, Robbie Savage is taking us behind the scenes each week at Macclesfield FC.

Robbie has played one of the leading roles in the rebirth of a now-thriving football club, first as director of football, now as first-team manager as the Silkmen climb their way from the ninth tier back to the Football League. 

The gaffer reveals how he celebrated after being crowned English football’s first champions, and what Macclesfield’s next targets are…

 

 


We did it! Macclesfield FC, my Silkmen, are Northern Premier League champions and destined for the National League.

As I write two days after sealing the title, it hasn’t yet sunk in. I knew we were going to secure promotion, but getting the (C) next to our name at the top of the table, with six games still to go, is still a huge release of pressure, lifting the massive weight of expectation off my shoulders and those of my brilliant boys.

That might sound curious, given the lead we’ve built up and the form we’ve been in. But so many have been waiting for us to fail. First they expected it, then all they could do was hope for it. Now, even our biggest critics have to admit that we are worthy of our status as the football pyramid’s first champions.

That release was prompted by the full-time whistle on Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Bamber Bridge that saw us come from behind yet again.

Our biggest league crowd since the rebirth of the club – 4,724 is more than the average attendance of 10 League Two clubs – watched us trail 1-0 at half-time. The first-half performance wasn’t us. It felt like the occasion was weighing heavy on the players, which is entirely understandable.

These are still semi-professionals, for whom there has been so much on the line. They are human and the scrutiny was immense. But like every other test of their mettle this season, they passed it with flying colours.

Looking for some fresh impetus, a few might have raised an eyebrow when just after half-time, my first substitute was a centre-back for a wide attacker. But I felt the midfield needed a refresh and Rollin Menayese’s entrance allowed for Paul Dawson to move into the engine room, in turn shifting John Rooney a little higher and D’Mani Mellor wide.

We were level within seven minutes. And when your holding midfielder rattles one of these into the top corner, you start to think it might be your day…

If it was typical to seal the title by coming from behind – no team has gained more points from losing positions – then Danny Elliott, with his 35th of the season, was a fitting scorer of the goal that secured us promotion. Once we got our noses in front, we were never going to let it slip.

Fair play to Bamber Bridge. They came and made sure that it was no title procession. As I said to their manager Jamie Milligan, on the basis of what I saw, I have no idea how or why they are in a relegation scrap. But I’ve said similar things to many other managers this season.

And that, for me, is why this title triumph is so impressive. Everyone has been out to get us this season. Opponents raise their game to new levels because they want to beat Macclesfield and me more than any other team. I get it – we are, undeniably, the biggest club in this league and one of the biggest outside the EFL. But the fact that we face teams every week that have never been more motivated than when they meet us means that we have had to maintain our relentlessness throughout the whole season. To succeed, we were not allowed even a dip in form.

We had one off-day: at home to Leek Town on Boxing Day. That is the only game we can be accused of not working hard enough or allowing our standards to slip. To make up for having almost spoiled my Christmas, the players raised their intensity again and scored five on New Year’s Day.

The other games we have lost, we ought to have won. We played well, we didn’t get the rewards, more often than not because of a lack of ruthlessness in our finishing. Losing at Ashton United to an injury-time goal in early January was typical of that type of performance.

That was a turning point for me. It prompted suggestions from some people that we might fold as the going gets tough. But I drove home that freezing cold Tuesday night determined that we wouldn’t lose another game until we were champions. That’s a hell of a lot easier to say than achieve. Our record in the 10 games since: nine wins and a draw.

We’ve buzzed off every victory, from the very first at Worksop back in August. I felt then that our opening-day hosts stood the best chance of stopping us and the table suggests I was right. In so many ways, on and off the pitch, that first win provided a taste of what was to come.

I arrived for my first league game as a manager to be met by one punter who had gone out of his way to greet me personally. “What a **** you are,” he said. And he certainly wasn’t the only person who felt it necessary to pass on such sentiments.

The scenes of joy at full-time on Saturday must have really ruined that fella’s weekend. And plenty more besides. For their spite, I thank them. It has all been fuel on the fire.

Robbie Savage’s Diary: Unacceptable abuse | Speculation and regret | Transfer shenanigans | ‘Minted Macc’ myths

How did I celebrate? Exactly as I wanted to – by going home with my wife and both sons after a quick shandy. The players, staff, supporters all deserved a party, and we’ll have a few more before the end of the season, especially on the final day when we get our hands on the trophy. But I headed for my sofa rather than a dancefloor, to get cosy with my dog Gigi while making plans for next season. We have lots to do and I won’t waste a moment.

As I have written previously, retention rather than recruitment is my first priority. These lads deserve the chance to step up to a level that I believe they are more than capable of thriving at, and I expect that we will keep the vast majority of the squad intact.

We will make some additions, of course, and there is no shortage of players keen to come to Macclesfield. Previously, some players and agents have looked down their nose at us, unwilling to drop down to the the seventh tier. Now, having seen what we can offer, many of those agents are suddenly keen to talk.

They will have to wait because we still have other targets to achieve. I believe us to be the best side ever at this level, and I want the record to show it. At present, Colne Dynamoes hold the points record having amassed 102 in 1989-90. We can get to 109. Maintaining our current points-per-game average of 2.52 gets us to 106.

So we must retain our intensity, for our own ambitions and to be fair to the rest of the league. But my lads don’t know any other way. We have played like champions all season. Now to be the best champions ever.

Robbie Savage is a brand ambassador for Planet Sport Bet

ICYMI: F365 does derby day in Robbie Savage’s dressing room: Melees, penalties, and pride…

F365 Features Robbie Savage