The current biggest home and away wins in League Two this season both belong to Macclesfield Town. Two 4-0 victories, against Hereford United and AFC Wimbledon, has turned a shaky start into the club’s best since 2007/2008.
Gary Simpson’s young squad took a few games to settle. A good opening 45 minutes against Dagenham on the first day of the season was dampened when summer signing Waide Fairhurst limped off before half time. Dagenham came back into the game and eventually won with a solitary goal.
A surprise 2-0 victory away at Hull City in the League Cup; both goals scored by striker Emile Sinclair, showed the potential in the side, but the next game, against Crawley in their first home league game, was always likely to be a defeat for the Silkmen.
The pasting of a woeful Hereford side, a 0-0 draw with Bristol Rovers, and an entertaining 2-1 defeat by Bolton in the Carling Cup followed. Last Saturday’s 4-0 home win over AFC Wimbledon was the biggest home victory since 2005.
Cause for excitement at the Moss Rose, and a nervous few days before the transfer window closed. The upturn in form has come with an upturn in style. The Silkmen play genuine passing football these days, building from the back and moving forward as a team.
The change in style is a reaction to the summer sale of big striker Tyrone Barnett. Without a target man in the side, Simpson warned during pre-season that a new style would have to be found.
This was compounded by the loss of winger Colin Daniel and aforementioned striker Fairhurst to injury. Both would be in the first-choice side if fit.
Simpson has compensated by playing a 4-5-1 formation with Sinclair as the lone front man. Exploiting his pace is the key to the style. The system uses cultured centre-half Tony Diagne as a left winger, an unorthodox but surprisingly successful move.
It is a very different style to that usually associated with Macclesfield, who have been unfairly labelled a ‘hoofball’ side during the last few seasons. AFC Wimbledon manager Terry Brown confidently repeated that accusation in the run-up to last week’s match. He evidently hasn’t been doing his homework this season.
The Silkmen’s unexpected star man has been Sinclair, previously known as a player with obvious potential and not enough end product. Watch the BBC highlights of Macclesfield’s recent wins and it often looks as if Sinclair is playing on an empty pitch, as his pace allows him to leave defenders trailing so far behind that they’re off-camera entirely.
But now he’s gone. Sold to Peterborough on deadline day for anything from 150-300k depending on which rumours you believe. Even a month ago, that move would have shocked many Silkmen fans. It’s not that Sinclair is a bad player. But like that other front-man named Emile, he’s not much of a goalscorer. He managed 14 goals in 77 starts and 18 substitute appearances for Macclesfield Town.
Contrast that to Tyrone Barnett, sold to Crawley this summer for the same fee as Sinclair after 13 goals in 45 starts last season. Back in June, no-one would’ve believed that Sinclair would end up in the Championship before Barnett, who is a much better all-round player.
There are mitigating circumstances – during Sinclair’s first season at the club, he was used mainly as a winger, a position in which he often accidentally ran the ball off the pitch and got a load of stick from his own fans. Since then, his general play has improved considerably, helped by moving back into a central striker’s role.
To see him go just as he was playing to his full potential is frustrating for Macclesfield Town fans. The general feeling is that the club has done a good deal in selling a player who was out of contract next summer and would doubtless leave on a Bosman if his current form continued.
Peterborough have signed a player with a similar game to Craig Mackail-Smith, though nothing like the same finishing ability. If Sinclair can fine-tune his shooting, and score more from one-on-one situations, then he could be a success in the Championship. His pace scares defenders at any level.
Under previous Macclesfield managers, the loss of Sinclair would cause something of an optimism failure amongst Silkmen fans. But there is a great deal of trust in Gary Simpson. Almost all of his major signings for the club have turned out well.
But last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Torquay did nothing to reassure fans worried by Sinclair’s departure. This week has brought more positive news – extended contracts for stalwart defenders Carl Tremarco and Nat Brown, and a new signing in Fleetwood Town striker George Donnelly, who joins on an initial one-month loan.
The trip to Cheltenham Town this Saturday will be a tough one. The upcoming trio of league games this week could turn the Silkmen’s start to the season into one of the best since promotion to the Football League. Or it could return the club to business as usual, a struggle in the lowest quarter of the table.
Six more points on the board by next Saturday night would be a good outcome. As the fans on the forums say; in Simmo we trust.
Written by Matthew Brown, We Are Going Up’s Macclesfield Town Blogger
Matthew tweets at @mattbrown01
