Sol Campbell has pledged to stick around at Macclesfield next season – but insists the board must do more to sort out their financial chaos.
The former England defender admits his move into management at the bottom of League Two has been a real eye-opener.
He has kept the Silkmen in the Football League against the odds, amid turbulence off the field, with the players receiving their wages late four times this season.
The club had to stave off a winding-up order six weeks ago over unpaid debts, and have no training ground – having to hire a school field almost 20 miles away in Northwich.
Fans have had enough of the disarray being suffered under owner Amar Alkadhi and chairman Mark Blower, and found time amid Saturday’s post-match celebrations to chant: “We want our club back.”
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Elliott Durrell’s coolly taken equaliser made sure of survival after former Macclesfield midfielder Paul Lewis had threatened to send them down with a deflected first-half opener for Cambridge – although Campbell’s men would have been safe anyway thanks to Notts County’s defeat at Swindon.
But he is adamant that he will not stand for another season of mayhem off the field.
“Who wants to be in this scenario? We’ll be getting grey hairs all day long,” he said. “No one wants to be in this scenario.
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“But you’ve got to start right. They didn’t do a proper pre-season, things like that. It’s been all over the place. Those things have got to be addressed before we start again.
“I’m starting next season. And I hope I can see everything is done properly. That’s key really, to make sure we start on a good foot, because that wasn’t the case this season.
“We can’t afford to have a scenario where we have no training ground and no pre-season. That’s a recipe for disaster.”
Macc are set to face Football Association sanctions after a bottle was thrown from behind Cambridge keeper Dimitar Mitov’s goal early in the second half, smashing against the crossbar and leaving shards of glass in the penalty area.
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Play was held up for two-and-a-half minutes while the debris was cleared – with Macc then finding their momentum to equalise through Durrell.
The forward admits it has been tough dealing with the on-field chaos, but is thrilled to have pulled through.
“Listen, I’d love to be on the salary that Raheem Sterling is on, but we’re here,” Durrell said. “We love what we do. Yes, it pays our bills, it pays our mortgages, it pays for our children to have nice things. But we love it.”
