Robbie Savage

Robbie Savage: It’s something I’m thriving in, it’s something that deep down I wish I’d have done earlier. I’m 50 years of age, but still young in terms of managers. Managers can go on into their seventies.

It’s something that I’ve really embraced. As a Director of Football, the frustration was inside me watching games.  The narrative if we got beat was that it was my fault, so I thought, ‘I’ve always been a person that’s accountable for my own actions.’ I had an opportunity in the summer to do it and so far it’s going okay.

I’ve learned a lot in the space of four years running a football club with my partner Rob (Smethurst). As Director of Football, (I’ve learned) the recruitment side, managing staff, building an Academy, the BTEC programme, and that’s given me a great platform to go into management. It’s something that I’m thriving in and being on the grass is what I’ve always done.

I’ve taken from every manager I’ve worked with and how they managed me and how I’d like my son to be managed. I’ve taken all of that, I’ve written things down over the years, so again I’m in a good place now to give my experience to my group of players.

We lost in the play-off final to Marine, who were the better team on the day. It really really hurt seeing them celebrate on the pitch in front of their fans.

The narrative was do I pick the team, do I have such an input that managers at our football club can’t make their own informed decision? I thought, ‘You know what, it’s now that I need to get that frustration out of me.’

Because when I was going home, my wife and my kids were bearing the brunt of my frustration in terms of my moods. I had the disappointment of not being able to switch off. So in the summer, when I had a phone call to see if I would be interested in going in as a Head Coach at another club, I went to my Board and said, ‘Listen, I think it’s time I managed.’

The owners were very keen for me to stay, so they offered me the job as Head Coach and to take us up. I had to think about me and it suits me. It’s 10 minutes from my house, but it’s a journey that I’ve been a part of. I’ve lived it, I’ve thrived in it, and I thought, ‘You know what, yeah,  I’ll give it a go here.’

But I knew I had to be judged on results  and so far the results are going well. I know it can turn in an instance, believe me, but I’m privileged to be manager of Macclesfield Football Club. They’ve had some unbelievable managers in the past and now it’s my opportunity, my first step on the ladder.

When I was at Derby, I did my level one and two and then applied for my B and never really followed through with it, because of the media side, the Director of Football side.

But I love analysis, I love tactics, I love formations. And sitting in the green rooms with Glenn Hoddle, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Joe Cole, Chris Wilder, doing shows with lots of experienced managers, Champions League winners, I would take little bits of knowledge from them.

I hadn’t done my coaching badges but I gained knowledge through speaking and and listening and being like a sponge. I’ve just completed my B License with the Welsh FA. I was on the course with so many good people and Wayne Hatswell was my mentor. I’ll be on my A next year.

It’s something that I’ve loved. It’s quite nerve-wracking to be fair. I don’t like speaking in front of large groups, but I believe in what I do. So when people say, ‘Well, I’ve played x amount of games, do I really need my coaching badges?’ Yeah, you do. That’s what surprised me, the amount of detail you need.

I was always of the impression, ‘Oh, I’ll be fine, I’ve played that many games.’ That was my belief, but since I’ve been doing my coaching badges I know the detail, know the different methods and methodologies, and it’s given me a great insight into coaching. I loved it to the point where I wanted to to carry on after all my assessments on the grass.

I believe if you’re on your A Licence, you can manage in the Football League. I think you need your Pro for the Premier League and that’s my expectation. I want to manage as high as I can. My goal as a player was to try and play in Manchester United’s first team. It didn’t happen. 

Then my goal was to try and play as many senior men’s games of football as I could, whatever level. Then the next goal was, ‘Can I play as many Premier League games, can I play for my country, can I win trophies?’ I won one trophy, played numerous games.

Can I captain a Premier League club? Captained four. So again, everything I’ve ever done is to be better. To better myself in the media – started on Five Live Sports Extra, now presenting the biggest football phone-in show in the UK (606).

I’m not scared of hard work, I’m not scared of disappointment, I’m not scared of adversity. I’ve had it all my life. Of course I want to manage at the highest place I can and if I do that it’ll be through dedication, sacrifices and hard work, like I’ve done all my life.

When you’re an owner and then the manager, if you lead from the front, people follow. So if anything needs doing, I will do it and help, because if the people at the top are doing it there’s no excuse for anybody else not to follow.

The other night there was lots of snow and I was there till 10 at night, I was there first thing in the morning, helping. Because if the volunteers and the staff and the fans are seeing an owner there doing it, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t follow. 

That’s what my beliefs are in life – if you need to do something, can you do it yourself? If you can manage people in the right way, they’ll want to do it for you. Don’t think you’re better or worse than anybody else.

If you can do that and show a great example, then people will want to go on that journey with you. The away fans we had who came to us on Tuesday night (when they lost to Mickleover Sports), took them six hours to get there. I think there was about 30 fans and I bought them all a drink.

It’s such a great community and I’ve loved it, I thrive in it and again I’m no better or worse than anybody to think that I shouldn’t be managing at these levels. It’s my first opportunity and who am I to think that I can go in straight into League football? I haven’t got the right. I’m an inexperienced manager at non-league level, so who am I to suggest that I’ll do my coaching badges and automatically get a job in the Football League?

I’ve not earned the right and I want to earn the right with Macclesfield.

We were on an unbelievable run up until last week, the only team in the top 268 teams in League football who were unbeaten. We lost in midweek but then bounced back with a great win at Workington at the weekend, so again the lads are on board.

I try and treat them like I would want to be treated as a player and how I’d want my son to be treated. When I go into to training on a Tuesday morning, a Thursday morning, a Saturday gameday, I honestly think how would I want my son to be treated by his manager?

And I try and instil that in myself and do it in a way where I’m on it and open with the players.

It was difficult for me at first, because, as Director of Football and owner, they (the players) would come to me. They used to call me ‘Sav’ and on the first day (as Manager) my Assistant said, ‘You have to call him Gaffer,’ which I still find strange.

Lads who I’ve treated at times like I would my own son are then now calling me Gaffer. I thought that was difficult, but the lads have been remarkable.

Because my son’s having an unbelievable period at the minute of Reading and Ruben Selles has been great with him, I look at how he speaks to him. If I can do that with my players and make them feel like they’re the most important player in the room, whether they’re 19th man, sub or a starter, we’ll have a great opportunity.

My biggest strength and my biggest weakness is my emotion. As Director of Football, that emotion came out too much in a negative way, where even sitting in the stands I would be shaking my head if we missed a chance – the manager would be looking at me and I probably didn’t help in that way. But that was just my emotion.

So again, as a manager now, your vocabulary changes. You can’t rant and rave at everybody. I think it’s like a game of chess. At half time, you’ve got a short period of time to get your message across. If you’re shouting and arguing with players, you’re wasting time, so I’ve realised that and worked on it.

Of course there will be times when you need to really get into the players, in a hard but a fair and honest way, and I think so far the reactions I get from our players is there for all to see. I’ve had a couple of run-ins with a couple of players in a positive way, where I’ve had to say, ‘Listen, you know you need to respect me. I respect you, but you need to show that same respect back.’

I don’t mind players arguing with me in the right way, at the right time. Of course I’m more than happy to have a debate, but it’s got to be done in a respectful manner. As a captain, I used to go above and beyond in terms of letting people know that it wasn’t good enough and not acceptable.

I’ve got standards, but again it’s completely changed. You can’t now go in there and shout and rant. You have to be more reasoned and educated. There’s no point – it goes in one ear, out the other. If I’m going to get my message across to a youngster, you need to talk them through and show them.

On the training pitch, you can get your message across, but the common language in football is the ball. In our dressing room, we’ve got screens, so you can show them visually instead of shouting and ranting. I think that’s the best way and that’s one of the things I’ve learned.

We analyse all the opponents, we analyse the games, we analyse individual patterns, rotations, everything. If you can show them in a calm measured way and say, ‘Listen, this is what I expect, this is what I want,’ and they can see it, then it’s beneficial.

They’ve taken that on board and are really relishing and thriving in an environment where we have to win every game and it’s amazing to think that at a football club like Macclesfield FC, where the expectation wasn’t great, because of the profile of the club and the ownership and a large budget, now has expectancy to win every game.

Everybody, when they play against us, it’s a cup final and an occasion, so again it’s a different mentality for our players at these levels and for me. As a player, I never played for a team that was expected to win every week. That pressure, that drive, is a new experience for me. I’ve been in teams where it’s against all odds, it’s, ‘can we get something today, let’s sit in for 90 minutes try and nick one in transition.’

We’re like a Manchester City at these levels, where we’ve got a great budget, we’ve got everything we need. For me, it’s a different mentality, where I’ve got to set teams up to go out and win games, to go and get goals, to be entertaining, with expectancy when we cross that white line.

It’s how I get that message across consistently to our players that every game, no matter what, when you cross that white line we have to try and win.

The recruitment process for us in the first season was a 4-3-3. I had a Head of Recruitment who was brilliant for us – Jimmy Holmes. He was magnificent, built two teams.

He knew the players at those levels and what I’ve had to do in that short period of four years is to learn the levels, go and watch games at non-league level, get to know players, get to know characters. I’ve had to get to know what they do outside of football in terms of the day job.

When you build a team at non-league level, there’s so many factors that come into it. So we built a team, a 4-3-3, and then we won the league by 15 points. The second season, teams were going into a low block, so we thought, ‘We need four lines.’

We wanted to get the best number 10 we could and got Alex Curran from Curzon Ashton, who’s been magnificent. We went 4-2-3-1 and what we did was my methodology. Can we play attacking entertaining but winning football?

We could get the best players, because we could pay more at their level, and I wanted to create a side where it was so entertaining and you could go 1-v-1 all over the park. I love pace, so we’ve got wingers as full-backs in a 4-2-3-1 , we’ve got a youngster from Stafford Rangers who was at Stoke (Tre Pemberton), and on the other side we’ve got a boy from Marine (Neil Kengni) who hit the crossbar against Spurs in the FA Cup, both wingers, but we decided to put them to full-back.

Then, with our wingers, we play a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left, so inverted. When they come in, you have three, so the opposition have a decision to make when the wingers come inside. What do the full-backs do? What do the center-halves do? Because you’ve got the wingers, natural right footer, natural left footer, when they get on the outside they’ve got a big problem, so five in attack at times.

When the two inverted wingers come inside and drop a little bit deeper, the centre-forward stays high and you’ve got the wide players getting down the sides. Or you can reverse that – the full-back gets inside, the wide player stays out, so you create so many problems and overloads and teams aren’t being able to hand handle us.

Then what’s happened is people are starting to work us out, going to a low block, to a 5-4-1 or at times a 5-5, and just creating another problem for us. So this year, I started with a 4-2-3-1 but then, when good players became available, I’ve gone to the 3-4-1-2. If we need to change it, I can always go to the 4-2-3-1.

We can talk about systems, but it’s about players. If you’ve got your best players fit, it’s how you mould those players into a formation. When D’Mani Mellor became available, who’s played for Manchester United in the Europa League, who played league football, and Danny Elliott, I’ve got two centre-forwards.

You look at Premier League sides, you look at sides in general, and for the most successful sides a very high percentage of goals are scored inside the box. I look at Man City, I think it’s 68% of their goals have come inside the box, which is unheard of for them. So again, how do you get you know more bodies in the box by playing a 3-4-1-2?

Well, you got two centre forwards to start with in there, you can get the wide players, you can get the 10, you can get one of the sixes, that’s something that we’ve worked on. It’s worked and at the weekend we started with that but Workington went into a low block and after 51 minutes I went to the 4-2-3-1.

I took off my top goal scorer, Dan Elliott, who’s got 19 goals. You can see the crowd thinking, ‘What’s he doing, he’s taking off his top scorer at nil nil,’ but I wanted to get a different problem for their back four.

I thought, ‘Right, let’s create a different problem with the inverted wingers and the full-backs flying on the outside.’ The goal came when the left-sided Sean Etaluku, who we got from Barrow, dropped into the pocket, got on the half turn and played Kengni in on the overlap.

He crossed it and Mellor, our nine, who got across and that left (Luke) Duffy, the 10, to get into the middle of the goal and he scored in the last minute. I love seeing that.

Because we are in a position where we’ve got the best players and a great way of playing – and because we’re winning most games – I’ve found it quite calming.

Still, my heart rate in the technical area goes up to 150 – I think my maximum heart rate is only about 170, 180 – and that’s without  physical exertion. That’s what it does to you and that’s what I found quite alarming. That’s just a nervousness of getting beat or not winning a game, so again I try and control it.

I’ve got John McMahon and and Peter Band as Assistants. Peter played a thousand games in non-league, knows the levels, and John has got an experience as an Assistant Head Coach in league clubs. He was also Rafa Benitez’s reserve team manager at Liverpool, he’s got his Pro Licence, he’s Steve McMahon’s brother, so again he’s my calming influence.

If there’s any emotion with the opposition bench, I let them do it. I’m just more calm and I watch the game and analyse . If something needs to be said, I get emotional, but then I’ve surprised myself in how calm I am.

Really, I don’t like to engage with the opposition management. Of course I’ll be respectful, shaking hands before the game and after. On one occasion I’ve not shaken hands with an opposition Manager, because I didn’t think their actions deserved it. And I’m fair in that way, I try and be respectful of the level – I’m at that level because I deserve to be right now, because I’ve done nothing to achieve going higher.

My Assistant writes notes down. I’ve got a great memory, I can see things. I’ve seen Managers being stubborn and it’s only their way, but if I’m wrong, I’ll be the first to admit it. I think you’re only as strong as your weakest link and if my weakest link is as strong as me, then we’ll have a successful journey.

There’s been games when they’ve said, ‘Listen, why don’t we try that?’ and I’ve said, ‘Yeah, great idea.’ We’ve done it, we’ve won the game and they get the utmost credit. It’s never them and me, it’s we and that’s one thing I’ve learned – you need people around you who will tell you the truth and push you.

I’m not going to be satisfied with people just saying yes. I want people to say no and to push me to make me better. That’s what I’ve done all my life.

It surprised me, because I’ve seen teams even at our levels trying to do it, but they haven’t got the players and the capability to do that. They’re doing it because maybe it looks good, but my philosophy is that my goalkeeper – who’s been brilliant – has to keep the ball out of the net. My philosophy is old school, keep the ball out of the net.

I don’t want you dribbling, doing Cruyff turns to look good and make us play out. Get the ball to the full-back, to the centre-half or to the midfield, play as quickly as you can. I say to my defenders, ‘Play forward quickly, get into the final third as quickly as we can, because that’s where our most dangerous attacking players are.’

And the further it is away from our goal, the less likely they’re going to score. Be compact, be high, then the more chance we’ve got of scoring.

My most creative and best players technically are in the final third, so I don’t like to build up side to side. Play quick, play forward early. Let’s go and put the pressure on them high in their third. I want to press, because we’re the fittest team in the league. Good players, when pressurised, can give the ball away.

At our level, when players aren’t as good, if you can pressurise them they’ll give you the ball more.  I like to get final third recoveries.

I don’t like playing offside, because I’ve got enough pace in my back line that if we play high, we can catch the person who gets through. I want to make the pitch compact in the opposition half, I want to be brave, I want to be aggressive.

I’m not one for playing out from the back. At times I’ve got frustrated when I watch and we’re playing the ball around the back and it looks nice.

For me, you’re playing without a purpose. For me, the purpose is to entertain, to score goals, to be aggressive and to get the crowd off the edge of their seats, whether that’s with the ball or without the ball.

The slower we move the ball, the opposition can retreat, they can get set. I would do the same if I was in the opposition dug out. I would say, ‘Listen, let’s disrupt the game, let’s waste time, slow it down.’

But we’re in a period at the minute where if teams go toe to toe with us we’ve got the bette players, we’re fitter, we’re quicker, we’re stronger. We’ll beat them if teams go on a low block, we’ll eventually break them  down. When I was in the Premier League and we used to go to Old Trafford, it was relentless. You knew you’d be in a low block for 60, 70, 80 minutes, hanging there, trying to nick a win in transition.

It’s relentless, the way we play. You keep going. I say be relentless in attack, wave after wave after wave, we will break them down.

That’s what happened at the weekend, where an individual, who I believe had had a lot to drink, was allowed to stand arm’s length from me in an area where it was not permitted. That individual was not moved for a considerable amount of time after hurling abuse at me. I don’t think that can happen.

At these levels, you are accessible. Before the game, I’m in the boardroom, the sponsors lounge, signing programmes, having pictures and all the niceties and then I’m expected to smile and get on with it when the abuse levelled at me is uncalled for.

I understand as a player when obscenity is thrown at me; I get that when people have had a drink and the tribalism and the rivalry, but not when it spills over to individuals going over the line.

That’s why I’ve got Joe, who has the GoPro to film it. The place we’re in as a society, if you’re not represented in the right way by footage it can be construed in many different ways.

For instance, if I was to have a go back at someone and that was on camera, the footage before would not be shown, so I like to be covered in terms of, ‘If I react like this, this is the reason.’

When you’re in the public eye, stuff can be put out there all one-sided, so that’s why I do it. At the weekend it was not nice, it’s something that I hope will be dealt with. It happens in most away grounds.

It shouldn’t be part and parcel, because at non-league level you’re so accessible, you’re not protected, whether it’s 300, 400 or, in our case, 3,500, 4,000 – you’re so accessible and can drink within vision of the pitch.

It’s something that is not right, but people think they’ve got the right because they know me, because they’ve seen me, because they think I’m a celebrity. But I’m not a celebrity, I’m a non-league manager. It’s not my fault that I’ve done what I’ve done in the game, through hard work and desire.

I just want to be treated like every other non-league manager, some who are better than me, no problem. On social media, after every single game we play, the abuse is quite alarming and I’ve had it all. I was expecting it as a non-league manager. That’s one thing which I’m proud of – that I’ve gone in at these levels.

We’re doing okay and we should do okay, make no mistake about. I’m no idiot to think that we shouldn’t be winning games, we shouldn’t be up at the top of the league, with everything at my disposal.

Let’s be fair, teams in every single level of football, if you’ve got a large amount of money you will be successful if you can manage the group in the right way, so of course we should be up there.

It’s a point now where everybody’s looking for us to fail and there’s no better feeling than when you get a last-minute winner against a team that have given you a little bit. That’s how you answer of people – not from verbally getting into shouting matches, by doing it on the pitch. By enjoying your team, embracing your team, looking after your players and scoring goals winning goals.

Then you can celebrate. We had a long bus journey back from Workington and the lads’ camaraderie and the spirit – that’s why you do football, to look at their faces and at what it means to them. All I want is for my group of players to be successful and to get more money, because, let’s be totally honest, you’re playing football a because as a kid you love it, but B for money.

Players will play for Macclesfield (A) because they get paid more than most clubs and (B) because it’s an unbelievable journey to go on. I say, ‘This time next season, I want you to be giving up your daytime jobs to be full-time footballers, to get more money for you and your family.’

If I’m standing here next season, that means we’ve won promotion and that means you will hopefully be full-time footballers and on more money. If we all obtain that goal, we’ve all won. I don’t get paid at the minute as a non-League manager and nor should I. When my directors and partners are putting money into the football club, how can I take money out?

Of course I want to be paid. If we win the league and go up, maybe we go full-time. Maybe then I’ve got to re-consider what I do, then I’ll need to be paid. 

I’ve always thought, ‘Who am I to criticise a manager?’ I speak to Premier League managers now and I understand. If a team’s struggling or doing well, there’s reasons behind that.

We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, what managers do. There’s some brilliant pundits out there but, for me, never being in the situation as a manager, never being in the spotlight or on the touchline, or making decisions that affect communities and players’ livelihoods… I’m in a much better position now as a pundit.

There are pundits out there who have given management a go, but maybe they realise management’s not for them. Maybe it might be a little bit too stressful, a little bit too time-consuming. Maybe all your energies go into that, maybe because you can’t switch off, you’ve got the worries of a community on your shoulders; maybe you’ve got players phoning you up every hour, maybe you’ve got players who have been injured.

Being a pundit is a brilliant job and it’s a hard job. People think it’s easy – it’s not. You’ve got to do your research, the travel, everything. It’s a brilliant job, of course, and we’re very fortunate to do it.

I’m in a position now when I’m seeing pundits who have never put themselves in a technical area. I now listen to the ones who have done it, because they have an understanding of what it takes to be a manager.

And if they only lasted a number of months, then so be it, at least they’ve experienced it. I’m in a much better place as a pundit by being a manager. The long-term goal is to be a manager and if I’m not, I’ll always have the punditry to fall back on.

It maybe won’t be as regular, because you have to make a decision on what do you want to do, if you want to do this full-time. I don’t think you can mix the two. 

I was the first player to do 606 and be a current player, when I was at Derby. I think it would be great if, whatever level I’m managing at, I went on 606 at half seven. That would be a great insight for me and for the listeners.

It’s the consistency of the messages. We lost midweek. It was our first defeat, against a team who gave everything. Did they deserve it on the night? Probably not, when you hit the crossbar five times and create numerous chances and don’t take them. Of course it’s a frustration but again it was the consistent message of, ‘Listen, it’s not too bad.’

That might change when there’s four or five defeats and we will get beat again this season.

I’ve had offers already. I don’t think I was ready, because I need to make mistakes. How would I like managing a team near the bottom of the table, with the 19th biggest budget, where you have to get the best out of the players against teams like a Macclesfield?

I’ve been in that position as a player, so I understand that situation. The situation I’m in now is uncharted for me. I’m in a successful winning team that’s expected to win. I never played for Man City, Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool teams. As a player, I’ve experienced those emotions of being up against it, let’s stay in the Premier League, let’s finish as high as we can.

I can take that from the managers I worked with, in motivating players who were up against it. Now I’m on the other side, where I’m a manager who needs to keep the players motivated and have that mentality of a Manchester United or Man City to win every week.

Yeah, it could have been. That’s why it’s one of the best Youth Academy set-ups in in the world. If you don’t have a career at Manchester United, the amount of players that go on to have successful careers elsewhere is frightening.

I was one, my son’s doing okay, there’s numerous players who, if you don’t get offered the contract at Manchester United it’s not the be all and end all, there are opportunities elsewhere.

The platform they give you with education, with the way you learn about football, with the morals, shaking people’s hands, little things like that, you take further in your development. Under Eric Harrison, Paul McGuinness, Brian Kidd, there’s been so many fantastic people at that football club who helped me and now there’s Nick Cox and people doing unbelievable jobs.

When you say make or break, there are so many people who don’t end up being footballers. Either it’s about that inner belief that desire those sacrifices don’t give up up adversity. And I thought I’m going to give this another go. You need a little bit of luck, right place right time, I get that, but the smallest amount of luck with the bigger amount of desire and sacrifice gets you to where you want to get to.

Inevitably, if you’re good enough and you’ve got the right attitude and desire you’ll get an opportunity. And that’s what I did.

It’s obviously so so sad, because as young players the dream is to go and play on the biggest stage in front of thousands of people. It’s before and after this and there are so many players who come out of the game who struggle as well, because they’ve had all that, they’ve had everything, they’ve had money, they’ve had successful Lifestyles and then when it finishes mentally it can be very very difficult.

That’s why I’m in a fortunate position now where I’m still mentally driven in terms of what I’m doing with the football. I go to the gym every day, just to keep me me mentally stimulated, and this has given me a platform now where I can enjoy it as well as being mentally stimulated.

With young players it’s amazing. I took a team at Macclesfield, under 14s to under 16s, it was lads who got released, because the the area of Macclesfield is a great catchment area, you’ve got Liverpool, you’ve got Manchester City, you’ve got Manchester united, Everton, hackington, Blackburn, Barry, you got all the teams around this area, Wigan, who if you get released.

I created a team of players who had been released a grassroots team and in our final season Under-16 level listen 

I was the manager, used to get up on a on a Sunday morning, go to all the teams you know be there and learn that way as well and we had the most successful under 16 team I think in in the history of of the Manchester leagues, won everything, played Liverpool Academy, played Leeds, Leicester, beating these teams. Of course they would probably play the under 15s with some under 16s who needed minutes, but we were beating these teams with a group of lads would had come out of the game, who got released, but I give them that desire and that belief back, saying, ‘Listen, it’s not over, some of those lads have gone on to be part-time again and Under-21s, which makes me proud, because I’ve just showed them what happened to me. 

I just didn’t have the right opportunity that time and it was somebody’s decision so you are good enough. Let’s go and show people how good you are and how you can get back. And we did it and we won the county cup, we won the league, we were unbeaten, we went to Chelsea, we lost 5-1 but again it was an amazing experience for him we beat Liverpool I think it was 3-2 we beat Leeds with Archie Gray in the team.

We beat Wrexham some six so it was a group of individuals who had followed the same path. I got them into a grassroots team and people thought I paid the parents, I paid the players at grassroots level, which was nonsense. It was a such a team that were organised, that were determined, that had this ambition, this desire to prove people wrong. And there was one young boy, Callum West, Burnley took him from us, he’s now at Barnsley and I think he was scorer of the year last year. He’s now at Barnsley in the 21s and he’s play he played in our first team at Macc.

We’ve just taken a boy from Blackburn Rovers, James Edmonson – a high potential player. Because of my relationship with ex-players and managers, the way I speak about them in the media, I think people respect me and I think people will trust me with young players, trust us as a club.

James has come into our environment, in the dressing room, and absolutely loves it. We’ve now extended his loan and he’s learning a different side to the game. At Blackburn, you get the ball, you take it on your back foot.

Growing up, I played on the concrete, jumpers down, diving around, getting cuts on my knees; played on the local playing field, where the grass was that long. Lads who go to Academies early probably haven’t experienced those kind of conditions. We went to Matlock away, Tuesday night – good crowd, wet, muddy.

We went 2-0 up and James was thriving, he was loving it, but then they come back to 2-2 and now he faces a different pressure. In Under-21 football it’s about individuals and a team around them playing for that individual to get into the first team. Now he’s in a game which means a lot to the community and to the other players and their livelihoods.

There’s a huge difference there for that young man now. So instead of getting the ball on the back foot and maybe playing Academy football, it’s just turn it in behind them, just put it in the channel, turn it behind and when it comes to you flipping behind. Little things like that – second ball duals, winning headers, doing the dirty side.

But when you come off the pitch, three points mean so much more for that group of people you’re sitting next to, because it’s their livelihoods in terms of if they don’t get a new contract at these levels, what does it mean for them and their family, so again he’s learned a different side now. He’s embraced it and monitor his minutes, sending the Veo clips to Blackburn to monitor it, constant dialogue.

Academy football’s great but, for me, it’s about the individual. Listen, do people really care? Of course the FA Youth Cup, historic. I won it in ’92, lost in the final against Leeds in 93. It’s a great competition to win, but in the league it’s a team playing for individuals who that club want to push quicker than most.

Coming to our level and playing, it’s about him realising what it means to get three points on a Saturday or a Tuesday. And that’s the biggest difference for me, three points actually mean something for young players instead of the niceties of Academy football.

We’ve got the best pyramid in world football and the problem you probably have is convincing young players to step down to step three, because when they are in the niceties of Academy football, when they drop down and into Matlock away or Prescott Cables away – listen, Prescott Cables is a great old stadium that’ll be great for young players to go and see, I love going there – some will think, ‘Oh, I don’t want my players dropping down to those levels.

But it’s great for them to see it, to experience it – and the biggest thing is making young players know what three points means.

When I played, it was a pantomime. I had to orchestrate the pantomime, I had to get the best out of individuals around me, I had to get the crowd going every time. I would fly into a tackle needlessly when it was 0-0 to get everybody going, to get myself going, to get the crowd going. I would do theatrics to wind myself up, to wind the opposition up, and I knew what I was good at. But let’s not take away – I had lots of ability.

I hear it said, ‘Oh he wasn’t very good.’ You have to be mentally tough, you have to be a certain type of character to keep fighting back, to keep getting abused most weeks, to succeed, and I did that as a player. I did it in my own special way. To play nearly 350 Premier League games and captain four clubs, you have to have something inside you which is special.

Off the pitch I’m quiet, I’m insecure, I’m a worrier. I worry about my family. My family’s my be-all and I’ve got two sons, one’s playing for Macc, one’s playing for Reading, and what I try to do is give them the best opportunities I can. I live for my family. I’ve still got my mum, I lost my dad to Alzheimer’s – he had it at 58 died at 64 – so again I just try and look after everybody around me.

One thing I’ll say is that if you’re part of my bubble, I will do everything I can for you as an individual and your family. People won’t see that and I don’t need to talk about it and celebrate it, because I know I’m doing it. I hope the players realise that and all my staff realise that.

I was unselfish in the way I played. I didn’t mind getting the ball and giving it to the better players, that was my job, that was my role. I don’t mind helping all my players out if they need something, of course I don’t, because I know if I can get them focused on being the best they can be it will help me.

Listen, I’m clever, I’m not stupid, I understand that at times they’ll be up against adversity. I’m going to try and not give my players any excuses, that’s one thing I never did as a player, I never made excuses. I think excuses are for weak people. I never made them and I don’t want to give my players any excuses, so I do everything I can in terms of every stone unturned for whatever level of football we’re at, giving them the mentality of going into that pitch believing that they can take on the world.

At the minute we’re doing that. I’m a decent guy, I’m all right, I love talking about football, I’m addicted to football, I want to be the best I can be and I want to make the people around me the best they can be with a sense of worth. My staff are the same. I want them to come in with a smile on their face and thinking,’ I want to do well for him, I want to show him I can be the best.’

So far we’re experienced that and I’m in a very fortunate position that I’ve got an opportunity given to me by Macclesfield. I want to take it with both hands and give back. Listen, if we don’t win the league and if we don’t go up, I know the outcome. It will be, ‘Who he think he is? He failed.’

I get it, I understand it, but it won’t be for the want of giving everything I can for a group of players and staff. 

My standards are high. I don’t like my bench engaging with the opposition and on Saturday I said to them, ‘Be quiet. We’ve got standards of a league club. Do not lower ourselves to anybody else’s standards.’ 

So look, this is my little book. I’ve got it all in there. I’ve got the games, the players; I mark them and I’ve got what was said about the opposition, what the manager said to me.  It’s for my knowledge. I’ve got all the analysis, I’ve got all the data sheets, I’ve got minutes played, I’ve got every single note here. 

I’ve got my analyst who’s brilliant, got his Masters in it. Before Tuesday it’s on my desk, every detail – goals scored inside, outside, left foot, right foot, header, when they were scored. Like a league club, we’ve got it all. I understand the game through data and I’m up to speed on that. I’ve got so many data platforms and people I know who I can lean on.

I’ve been creating an analysis room now at Macc, where I can bring the players and show them. The loan market, I believe I can use really well, because of my relationship with managers. They trust me, so the higher we go, I think I can utilise that.

Whether it’s Macclesfield or higher, anybody that employs me will be getting somebody who is driven, who cares, who can improve players, who’s got a great style of football and can utilise managers higher with a loan system.

We’re in a good place with Macclesfield right now. Will it be Macclesfield forever? Who knows, but it’s something I’m loving and can only be thankful that they’ve given me the opportunity.