Who will be the Silkmen’s new manager?

Plan B needed as Savage’s exit draws closer

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

As the wall of silence from Robbie Savage continues, sadly it’s looking increasingly likely that the Silkmen Head Coach is heading towards the exit door. The club Savage has been heavily linked with, Forest Green Rovers, today sacked their manager Steve Cotterill as widely anticipated.

The Gloucestershire club’s short statement made no reference to an interim management team being placed in temporary charge, suggesting that Cotterill’s replacement will be appointed imminently.

And according to this website’s source who reported that Cotterill would be dispensed with earlier this week, the belief is Savage will be unveiled as Forest Green’s new manager on Monday when the club’s players report back for pre-season. Seemingly all Silkmen fans can cling onto is Savage having a last-minute change of heart, but hopes are fading as time goes on.

Beyond question Robbie’s departure, if confirmed, would be a monumental blow to the Silkmen both on and off the pitch as it prepares to compete in the more challenging waters of the National League North next season. We can speculate on why Savage sees his future is better served at Forest Green than Macclesfield, but with pre-season around the corner Robert Smethurst and the rest of the Board have no time to lick their wounds.

Who will replace Robbie Savage?

Even before Robbie Savage signed his recent two-year contract extension, Smethurst will surely have given much thought as to who might succeed him when he inevitably decided to move on. The silver lining (if there is one) is that at least Macclesfield will be entitled to compensation from Forest Green which could fund the recruitment of a new manager.

But who is likely to be on the shortlist, and are Macclesfield more likely to go internal or external when appointing a new boss?

Much may hinge on whether Savage elects to take any of his close knit coaching team with him – John McMahon, Peter Band and Nigel Keogh. McMahon’s future in particular is likely to have a fundamental bearing on Macclesfield’s new manager strategy. Lauded by Savage for his stellar coaching ability, the 61 year-old has gained outstanding experience as the former reserve team coach at Liverpool, in addition to coaching at Tranmere and a three-year spell as assistant manager at Morecambe.

If McMahon stays, the Silkmen may elect to promote from within and hand John Rooney his first managerial start with the wise head of McMahon alongside him. It’s not known if the 34-year-old Rooney would be interested in making the leap into management at the expense of potentially compromising his remaining days as a player, but you can’t always dictate the timing of your opportunities.

At the players’ end-of-season awards bash, Savage revealed that Rooney would take on some coaching responsibilities this season and had already proven to be an emerging influence off-the-field for Macclesfield FC. Rooney’s talent, character and knowledge of the club speaks for itself, and he’ll already have the respect of Macclesfield’s existing title-winning squad which has remained intact, not to mention the appreciation of Silkmen supporters who adore him.

There could also be a more influential role for Nigel Keogh, who made a strong impression when joining the backroom team last season and forged an excellent reputation for the work he did previously at Buxton and Ashton United in assistant manager and academy roles.

External candidates – slim pickings?

While I’m sure they’ll be lots of interest externally in the Macclesfield manager’s job should it become vacant, on initial reflection there doesn’t seem to be too many suitable candidates that immediately spring to mind.

The Silkmen’s promotion to the National League North surely means that we are shopping in different waters now. The club has more recently gone down the tried-and-tested route of hiring established non-league managers in Michael Clegg and Dave McNabb, whilst also giving former players their first crack on the managerial ladder such as Neil Danns, Mark Duffy, Alex Bruce and, of course, Robbie Savage himself.

If hiring externally, it seems plausible that the club will look for a new manager with National League North experience.

Two obvious candidates could be Warrington Rylands’Neil Reynolds, formerly of FC United of Manchester who did a good job in galvanising Rylands midway through last season in the Northern Premier League. Reynolds was singled out for praise by Savage as his managerial counterpart and is admired by others at Macclesfield. In fact, according to a Silkmen News insider, Reynolds has previously been under consideration for a managerial role at the Leasing.com stadium.

The other option might be Mark Beesley, who replaced Reynolds at FC United, but is better known for this achievements in leading Warrington Town to promotion to the National League North and a top-half finish the following season.

Of course, this is all conjecture for now until Savage’s future is confirmed. But whilst the shock of having to search for a new manager would be felt by all, the Silkmen remain an attractive destiny for many should we need to move quickly to appoint a new boss ahead of the players commencing pre-season training on 1 July.