Rooney spins us a Yarney - ex fans’ views on our new signing
Rooney drafts in former teammate
We’re crying out for a right back and midfielder following the departures of Tre Pemberton and Laurent Mendy. So what does Macclesfield’s new manager John Rooney do? He signs a central defender…
But wait a second. Rooney’s inaugural capture as Silkmen boss looks a belter following today’s acquisition of centre half, Josef Yarney. The 27-year old defender is well known to Rooney having played with him when they were together at Oldham Athletic in the second half of the 2022/23 season.
Yarney, who joined the Latics on a free transfer during the January of their first season in the National League, was voted the supporters' player of the season. He was offered a deal to stay that summer, but instead made the step up to League Two and signed for Tranmere Rovers, where he made 28 appearances in all competitions without holding down a permanent spot in Rovers’ starting eleven.
Having started his youth career at Everton and Newcastle United, Yarney went on to play at Chesterfield and Morecambe, making 60 appearances for the Spireites in the National League.
In 2024, Yarney signed a short-term deal with Palestinian Premier League side Hilal Al-Quds – the first English player to play in Palestine and compete in what was effectively Asia’s Europa Conference League. No stranger to venturing overseas, Josef also made 15 appearances for Indian side RoundGlass Punjab in the 2021-22 campaign during his stop-start, nomadic career which has only seen him take part in 29 games in a single season due to him hopping around!
In total, Yarney has made 142 appearances during a seven-year senior career. More recently, Josef had a short-term spell at National League South side Boreham Wood, helping them to win promotion to the National League following their play-off final victory over Maidstone United in May.
Interested to know more about our second summer signing? Scroll down to read more about what we can expect from Yarney from fans’ of his previous clubs – Tranmere, Oldham and Chesterfield.
Tranmere fans
“I had him MOTM today. Played outstanding and shouldn’t be dropped when Turnbull is available”
“We saw the passion”
“He has had another great game”
“I think he’s been good all season. Unfairly criticised early on. Reads the game very well. Excellent on Saturday”
“Just goes about his business with no fuss and keeps it simple. Been an integral part of the team this season”
“He’s come on a lot this season”
“MOTM for me. His positional play and ability to be in the right place at the right time was off the chart. Has come on leaps and bounds from the early days, going to take something special to move him”
“Excellent yesterday and arguably deserves to keep the shirt when Davies is back”
“He played amazingly well yesterday and bailed out Turnbull and Walker a few times. Yarney is getting more confident and composed the more he plays and I think he deserves to keep his place next week against Crawley. You can see he’s improving with every game”
“He was poor at the start of the season but was amazing yesterday. Easily MOTM”
“Starting to do well now. Didn’t think he was up to much at first”
“His best performance this season and hopefully a big part of the squad for next”
“Give him a new contract. The lad knows what’s needed – asset to the club”
“I liked Yarney – thought we should have kept him”
“Sad to see big Jo Yarney go. Thought he was solid and versatile as a reserve defender”
Oldham fans
“Josef Yarney not getting a sniff at Tranmere – shows the gulf of skill between L2 and NL”
“Been played as a bit-part player all over the backline according to my Tranmere supporting colleague. He could deffo do a job in L2 as a CB if played consistently”
“Think Yarney is an average player (look at his career) who just had a really good spell for us for a few months”
“Yarney’s getting his pay cheque though and that’s what he went for”
“Oldham’s best player last season by some margin. He will be missed”
“Josef has looked good in defence, playing with his head up, keen to get forward… which is exactly what we want to see”
“Need to tie him down to a longer contract as he’s been one of our better players since we got him in”
“Been superb for us so far”
“One of the best players we have. Keep hold of him”
“Brilliant signing for us, probably been man of the match every game he’s played in. Absolute rock at the back”
“One of the better signings in recent times”
“Since joining our club you have been absolutely brilliant. 100% effort with some class thrown in”
“Not one negative comment. Solid defender, great signing. Won’t have a problem when we’re back in the Football League”
“Yarney looked great for Oldham in the second half of last season, hence why he won their player of the season award”
“Decent player at National League level. No more than that”
“We’ve replaced him with better but he really could have been the start of our rebuild and become a favourite if he’d just have been sensible”
“Had a great 6 months with us. Solid and was our best defender – he’s physical with a decent touch”
Chesterfield fans
“A decent player. A big lad who won’t be pushed around”
“One of the only players who seems to try putting a shift in”
“Hope someone buys him a ‘learn how to pass a football’ manual for his birthday”
“Give him some football knowledge”
“No thanks, not up for keeping Yarney!”
The Silkmen’s right back conundrum
Yarney is a known quantity to Rooney and looks like a real asset for the National League North, having previously excelled in the National League and in League Two. His capture may suggest that the Silkmen boss sees Paul Dawson’s future back in midfield, or he’s potentially considering playing with three centre backs next season.
Of course, we still need a specialist right back to fill the void of Tre Pemberton joining Forest Green. Yarney can play as a makeshift right back, as can Lewis Fensome, but we’ll have to wait before we get a clearer insight into Rooney’s thinking.
One of our recent trialists above (taken from social media training photos) seems to have a passing resemblance to Kwame Boateng - a right back who was part of Chorley’s squad last season who played on loan for Matlock against Macclesfield in November. Boateng sustained a serious knee injury soon after which curtailed his season. Of course, my powers of observation could be hopelessly wrong, but judge for yourself.
The Silkmen have also being linked with central midfielder Regan Griffiths, formerly of Altrincham, Marine, Kidderminster and Crewe, where he emerged from their youth set-up. Again, there’s been no confirmation from Macclesfield as to whether Boateng and Griffiths are on trial, but all eyes will be on our first pre-season friendly against Mansfield Town on Saturday.
Wanted: 60 trialists to turn up for a trial
Saturday’s trialist event at the Leasing.com stadium was rather a damp squib in the end. From 270 registrations, the club announced that 90 trialists had been selected to take part in the afternoon from 1pm until 5pm.
In total, only 32 players turned up on the day and they all appeared to be young men from academy backgrounds. The standard of football from those involved was nevertheless high, with a couple of unnamed youngsters in particular catching the eye. In the club’s defence, they can’t be held responsible for players not turning up (if indeed that was the case).
Similarly, this trial event was not arranged for the benefit of Macclesfield FC alone. Officials, scouts and coaches from other clubs were invited to attend to watch invited players from Step 3 and above (to include youth players with experience of professional academies). The trial event was wrapped up just after 3pm, but the 25% off drinks and food in Bar 27 cushioned the blow.
It was a wonderful feeling to be back at the club again amongst good company, feeling positive about the coming season after the disappointment of Robbie Savage’s exit.