Sol Campbell deserves praise for taking Macclesfield job as fellow England aces Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard had it much easier
SunSport's Chief Football Reporter says the former Arsenal and Spurs defender faces a battle to succeed where other top-class stars have failed in bossing less talented players
SOL CAMPBELL is just another name now.
He is a League Two manager in the thick of a relegation battle with the likes of Neal Ardley (Notts County), Michael Duff (Cheltenham) and Joe Dunne (Cambridge).
Venturing down the, “You’ve got one of the best international footballers in the world coming to your club” road, as he did at his official unveiling, will soon wear thin.
After all, you are talking about a dressing room full of footballers earning £500 a week.
Humility has never really been Sol’s thing.
If Macc’s players have any interest at all in Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell’s life story they can look it up on Wikipedia — or read his authorised biography.
Surviving in League Two is all that matters to them.
The top players, and Campbell really was a top player, often struggle to communicate their ideas at a lower level.
Roy Keane could not cope at Sunderland, then Ipswich, because the players would not make the same sacrifices he did to get to the top.
Glenn Hoddle showed David Beckham how to take free-kicks at the 98 World Cup. Bobby Moore failed miserably as a manager at Oxford City.
The sport is littered with failures from top-level players.
Even so, Campbell deserves enormous credit for taking this job, for accepting the challenge of trying to keep rock-bottom Macclesfield in professional football.
Something still does not sit right that two of his contemporaries — Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard — walked into top jobs.
The moment Lamps announced he wanted to become a manager, Derby were falling over themselves to appoint the former England midfielder.
Gerrard, who started out as a coach at Liverpool’s academy, also went straight into work at .
Turned out a bit different for their former England team-mate.
Campbell, 44, has been a manager in the making for seven years — “nicking ideas” from other coaches, as he clumsily put it, during a global tour of top clubs.
The ex-centre-back, who boasts 73 Three Lions caps, quipped: “I have done a lot of miles. I probably should be an ambassador for BA with the amount of Air Miles that I have done.”
On Tuesday, he went Flybe — jetting to St James’ Park to watch his new charges win at promotion-chasing Exeter. It is a positive start.
In time he will learn to become a manager, losing some of the clumsy cliches that jarred during his presentation at Moss Rose.
“Hats off to Macclesfield” because Sol is ready to “work his socks off”, to “get his hands dirty” and the phone “is already hot”.
Campbell cannot be faulted for his enthusiasm.
As a player, first with Tottenham and then with Arsenal, Campbell was acclaimed, but never idolised.
He was used to the oohs and ahhs of big crowds when he was on the way to becoming an Invincible with Arsenal in 2004.
That season he played in front of 52,141 at St James’ Park, partnering Kolo Toure in the centre of defence in a 0-0 draw against Newcastle.
There will be one man and a dog there on Tuesday when he takes Macc to the same stadium to play their Under-23 side in a Checkatrade Trophy tie.
The setting will be familiar, but hearing the shouts from a smattering of supporters who turn up to watch this fixture will be a novel experience.
He has put up with sub-standard facilities before, laughing every day when he trotted out for training on parks pitches full of dog dirt during a spell with Portsmouth.
Money is tight in League Two, with Campbell’s managerial skills about to be tested in a relegation battle.
Campbell will be quite a scalp for some of the plodding managers at this level.
Even so, Sol thinks they will be just fine. He said: “I think this season is all about getting them up to mid-table, something like that, and getting to safety.”
It all sounds so easy when you say it quick, Sol . . .
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