Gaffer Sympathy for Silkmen

ARGYLE manager Ryan Lowe knows better than most what it feels like to work at a financially stricken football club, which has left him with a more philosophical outlook on the weekend’s postponement at Macclesfield Town.

“You know, part of it brought a sadness to me on Friday night,” said the Pilgrims’ gaffer. “To be fair to Daryl McMahon [Macclesfield manager], he actually texted me on Saturday afternoon, saying ‘apologies, it was out of our control, the last 24 hours.’

“He’s a manager too. I said ‘look, mate, it’s not a problem.’ They prepared, the same as us, and it’s out of their hands.”

A part of me is sad that it could potentially be difficult for them. There’s obviously one club, that’s close to my heart, that’s suffered, and whether there is going to be another two or three, I don’t know. But, it certainly needs to stop now.”

Lowe’s previous club, Bury FC, were sadly expelled from the EFL this year after a prolonged takeover attempt failed at Gigg Lane, and the Argyle manager is hopeful that the Silkmen do not fall short in their attempts to balance the books.

 “I can’t comment on what Macclesfield are trying to do; I know there’s potential buyers and investors, but I just think the quicker they can get out, the better for the footballing world,” he said.

“It’s tough, isn’t it? With all due respect to Macclesfield, they’ve been in the lower leagues for a few years, they got up to League Two, they consolidated. [Former manager] Sol Campbell did a great job under the circumstances to keep them up. This season, they started quite well until they got the points deduction. I just hope it gets resolved.”

Of course, despite feeling sympathy for Saturday’s not-quite opposition, Lowe was also keen to point out that the fixture’s postponement, coupled with Macclesfield’s existential threat, causes an administrative issue for the executives at the EFL.

“There’s teams now, who have had games postponed [against Macclesfield], like us and Crewe, what happens there? Nobody has said whether we get the points, don’t get the points, or it gets rearranged,” said Lowe. “There are teams that have played them and either won or lost, and you just don’t know what’s needed to be done from it.”

Given that the game was postponed at 9pm on Friday, less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to be played, Lowe was asked as to whether he felt the Greens had a case to be awarded the three points outright.

“I think that’s a question for the hierarchy in the EFL and the Football League. For us, we just get told what to do,” he said. “If the fixture gets rearranged, then we’ll turn up and play – that’s no issue. I feel for the Macclesfield players, the manager and the coaching staff, because they have prepared right to play Argyle, the same way as we have.”