7/29/2019 Macclesfield Express Pieces

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CHRIS SIMPSON

WIGAN first-team coach GrahamBarrow is no stranger to the MossRose.

Barrow played for Cheshirerivals Chester City during the two-

year spell they spent sharing theground with Macclesfield, beforemoving to the Deva Stadium in1992.

Barrow will return to the MossRose when Wigan take on theSilkmen in the FA Cup fourthround on Saturday as part of thecoaching staff at the JJB Stadium.

And Barrow, pictured,harbours fond memories of thestadium, having scored a late win-ner against Leyton Orient toensure Chester Citys survival inthe old Division Three on the finalday of the 1991-92 season, in what

would be Chesters last homegame at the ground.

He said: It wasnt ideal in termsof taking the club the best part ofan hour away from Chester for thesupporters to come, but Maccles-field made us welcome.

Obviously we had to pay for itbut they made us feel more than

welcome and it became our homefor two years.

Before playing for Wigan andthen Chester, Barrow played forseveral years at non-league sideAltrincham, who were involved ina number of FA Cup giant-killings,and he knows what to expect especially as he was on theopposite side of it when Wigan fellto League Two Bradford City inthe Carling Cup this season.

Barrow said: Having been inthe Conference myself and thengone on to play in the league, Iveseen it from both sides.

As a player for Altrincham,and as Macclesfield are now,theres nothing to lose.

Its a game that has probablystirred up the imagination of the

Wigan public because obviouslythats the background of Wigan,the old Northern Premier League,

and I think there was a queuearound the ground for tickets tobe fair.

Barrow says that key to Wigansefforts will be respectingMacclesfield and insists ties suchas these show that the magic of theFA Cup remains for all to see.

He said: Over the two gameswith Bournemouth we gave themthe utmost respect.

Youve always got to respectthe opposition but be calmenough to impose your own game,

your own ability on the game, andI think since the draw has beenmade it actually made the replayat Bournemouth that much moreattractive to Wigan as a footballclub and Wigan as a town.

Its like a throwback to the olddays which Wigan have alwaysbeen able to keep in touch withand its got a buzz about it now,

which is nice to see in the FA Cupagain really.

The cup has, some peoplethink, lost a bit of its magic but notfor me, its still there.

And when you see players andteams reacting recently ingames like Alex Fergusonsreaction when United got theequaliser down at West Ham the

FA Cup has still got that feelingand this sort of tie brings it allhome to you.

Barrow reiterates Wigans needto remain professional, treat theopposition just as they would aclub such as Arsenal, and matchthe intensity and enthusiasm ofthe Silkmen.

He said that while Wigan planon giving some of their squadplayers a chance to get on thepitch, their team selection will becompetitive.

Roberto (Martinez) as a man-ager has always been respectful toevery club we play and every game

we play, every competition werein, he insisted.

We like a cup run as much asanybody. People might look at theteam we put out againstBournemouth the last couple oftimes where there are players onthat pitch worth 6m, 2m youname it, so there are a lot of goodplayers on the field wherever we

play. So the team we put out will beevery bit as strong as you want it tobe and show faith in the players.

Hell not change his approachto any football match but in mod-ern football now you have to usethe squad to the full purpose andthats what theyre there for.

One player who Wigan will bewary of is star striker MatthewBarnes-Homer. Although Barrowsaid that Wigan would not bemaking special plans for individ-ual players, they are doing theirhomework on Macclesfield tominimise the chance of an upset.

Weve been watching copies ofthe previous games, thats onething with the modern technologyin the game now, you can getinformation on any team at thismoment in time, he revealed.

Ive been with the gaffer nowfor three-and-a-half years butfrom when I was helping out atAltrincham I know most of theplayers at Macclesfield.

Roberto will be fully clued up,hes a master at knowing theopposition inside out.

Hell treat Macclesfield likeManchester United.

Barrow hopes that a good cuprun will help reignite Wigansleague form, which so far has seen

them languishing in and aroundthe relegation zone.The FA Cup is as important as

its ever been, he added. And wewould like to go a long way in itbecause the excitement around theground with a cup run can onlyhelp us in our league campaign.

MACC PLAYERPROFILE

NAME: Nat BrownPOSITION: DefenderD.O.B: 15/06/1981HEIGHT: 62WEIGHT: 12st 5lbs

MACC captain Nat Brownbegan his career atHuddersfield Town aftercoming through the youthacademy at the GalpharmStadium.

The 31-year-old made 8appearances for the clubbefore sealing a move toKeith Alexanders LincolnCity in 2005.

The defender moved toWrexham three years latein what proved to be adisappointing move forboth parties.

After being signed byBrian Little who left theclub just a few monthslater Brown was deemesurplus to requirementsfollowing the appointmenof Dean Saunders, despiteplaying just one game forthe club.

He was subsequentlyloaned out to the Silkmen November 2008 to re-unitwith then Silkmen managAlexander, with whom hestruck a successfulrelationship at Lincoln.

With the move madepermanent the followingsummer, Brown has sincegone on to become theclubs longest-servingplayer, making close to 20appearances for the club,scoring 16 goals.

Although now a perma-nent fixture in the back-linBrown was originally usedas a midfielder when hefirst signed for Macc.

The highly experienced

and versatile player wasofficially given the captainarmband at Moss Rose thisummer after marshallingthe role in the absence ofinjured skipper PaulMorgan last season.

View from the

Wigan camp

ROBERTOWILL TREATMACCLESFIELDLIKE MANCHESTERUNITED

Latics coach Barrow out to avert a cup upset

LATICS LIKELY LADS

TOP SCORER

NAME: Jordi GmezNATIONALITY: SpanishPOSITION: MidfieldAGE: 27 GOALS: 6

Barring a shock exitor the Ivory Coast inhe African Cup of

Nations and an earlyeturn for star striker

Arouna Kon,Wigans most potenthreat in front of goal will bepanish playmaker Jordi

Gmez.he left-footed creative

midfielder had scored just nineoals in his last three seasonsut has silenced his critics afterecoming the Latics joint-topcorer this season with sixoals in all competitions, fromeven starts.

ONE TO WATCH

NAME: James McCarthyNATIONALITY: IrishPOSITION: MidfieldAGE: 22 GOALS: 2

ince arriving fromHamilton in 2009,he 22-year-old haslready surpassed00 appearances for

Wigan and rapidly

stablished himselfs a force to be reckoned withn the Premier League.A rumoured transfer target forArsenal, Liverpool and Everton,McCarthy is an accomplishedackler and can pick a passoing forward.he box-to-box player bringsnergy, drive and pace into

Wigans midfield.

CAPTAIN

NAME: Gary CaldwellNATIONALITY: ScottishPOSITION: DefenceAGE: 30

Wigans stalwart andlub captain Caldwellas proven to be a

magnificent purchasefter leaving Celtichree years ago,

where he won two SPL titles.He played a crucial role in theatics excellent survival run at

he end of last season and wasWigans Player of the Year for012.

A natural leader, the stopper has3 caps for Scotland and isnown for his ability to organiseis fellow defenders, toweringeaders and body-on-the-linetyle of play.

MANAGER

NAME: Roberto MartinezNATIONALITY: SpanishAGE: 39

he last time RobertoMartinez faced the

ilkmen he was play-ng for Chester Citynd on the receivingnd of a 3-0rubbing in 2006.

After a playing career spentmostly with Swansea andWigan, Martinez has turned hisand to management and taken

o the helm at both of his formerlubs.Now widely-regarded as one

f the brightest young man-gers in the game, Martinezeturns as the man who haserformed miracles and kept

Wigan in the Premier Leaguehree seasons in a row sinceis arrival in 2009.

7/29/2019 Macclesfield Express Pieces

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HRIS SIMPSON

S fair to say that Macclesfieldwn have had a difficult time in

cent years.The sudden, tragic losses ofanager Keith Alexander inarch 2010 and then midfielderchard Butcher 10 months latert everyone at the club devas-ed and the pair remain much

vered by all Macc followers, theost hardy of whom proclaimeir affection home and away byfurling a banner dedicated to

eir memory.Though events on the field paleo insignificance against thosegedies, events on the field havet gone the clubs way, as three

anagerial changes in the lastree years would suggest. Thewnturn in fortunes on the pitchlminated in the Silkmensegation from the Footballague in 2012.Macclesfield legend SammycIlroy had more cause than most

be upset at the relegation,ving guided the club toomotion into the Footballague in 1997 for the first time in

eir history.He said: You do all the work,yself, Gil Prescott, all the coachesho worked with me Mark Lillis,

ter Davenport, everyone whorked with me to get Maccles-ld into the league it was a

ame that they went out of it.The Blue Square Bet Premiera really tough league to get out lets hope that Macclesfield

n get out of it though.

Although McIlroy believesMaccs priority should be gainingpromotion, he is hoping a goodcup run can bring some much-needed cheer to the Moss Rose.

McIlory said: With the cup runyou get a bit of publicity, you getsome money as well which theyneed, and thats all well and goodand its good to see. Theyre thehome side against Wigan and theyhave nothing to lose.

This current cup run shouldhave brought Macc in the regionof more than 200,000 andMcIlroy knows a cash injection

would be of huge benefit.He said: Its very important.

Macclesfield need that money,they need that money to survive,and hopefully that money comingin will help them get players topush for promotion back into theFootball League.

With the departures ofchairman Mike Rance and vicechairman Andy Scott since theyloss of their league status, McIlroyrecognises the club is in a new era.

I think when you drop down aleague and you go into the BlueSquare Bet Premier, and directorsand chairmen leave the club its atransitional period.

Theyve got to get the clubback on an even footing financially

as well as on the park, so theyre ona stage now where this cup run hashelped them.

But they are trying to getthemselves on an even keel nowand starting from scratch allover again.

A steady season so far has left

Macclesfield mid-table with theplay-offs not far out of reach. McIl-roy believes the team need to makesure they do not lose sight of theirultimate aim promotion.

He said: When you have a cuprun the way Macclesfield aredoing, sometimes it affects yourleague performance.

They need to win their gamesin hand as it keeps the playersticking over, it keeps the playerslooking forward to the next game.

You see how theyre doing inthe cup but the league is the onethey want to keep in touch withbecause theyre not far off the play-offs and if they can keep doing that,then it gives them a chance of play-ing League Two football next year.

Crucial to Macclesfieldspromotion bid will be star strikerMatthew Barnes-Homer, who hasbeen in imperious form this seasonnetting 20 goals five of whichhave come in the FA Cup, includ-

ing a brace in the Silkmens 2-1 winover Cardiff.

McIlroy believes he will be keyto Maccs cup run and push for theplay-offs. He said: You need some-one whos scoring goals, somebody

whos doing well throughout theseason whether its cup football orleague.

Hes the one whos doing it forMacc at the minute, hes the keyman, and if he can keep that going,obviously for his own confidenceand for the teams, then that standsthem in good stead.

However, McIlroy believes theteam needs strengthening beforethe January transfer window closes.

McIlroy said: Its great whenpeople are scoring goals so it wouldbe great if they can get another one

who can help, but obviously youvegot to be decent at the back as well,

youve got to be solid. The man-ager, if he gets a few quid in, knows

where to strengthen defensively

and another goalscorer would bemagnificent.

McIlroy has been impressedwith boss Steve King, whoachieved promotions with non-league Lewes and Farnboroughbut wasnt a favourite with theMacc fans when he took the job inthe summer. Positive results andthe cup run have obviously helpedhis stock rise.

He said: I think he was asurprise choice, if you dont mindme saying that. Hes had a fewpromotions where hes been but tocome into Macclesfield, I dontthink many supporters would haveexpected that.

But hes done well, hes stead-ied the ship, hes had a good run,so lets hope he can keep that up.

McIlroy himself has been out ofthe game since leaving More-cambe in 2011 and says he has noplans to return to the game just

yet though he is not ruling out acomeback in the future.

He said: Ive never applied fora job since Ive been out of football.Im just spending time with my

wife and family, and just seeingwhat happens.

I had seven years at Macc andnearly six years at Morecambe,

when I decided to leave More-cambe it was the right thing for me

to do mentally at the time.They offered me a two-yeardeal but it wasnt in me to takethat so Ive had a little break atthe minute and if anything getsinto me and I think Ooh, thats achallenge, maybe Ill get back inthe game.

MACCLESFIELDPLAYER PROFILE

NAME: MatthewBarnes-HomerPOSITION: StrikerAGE: 26HEIGHT: 511WEIGHT: 12st 6lbs

BORN in Dudley, Barnes-Homer began his career as a15-year-old trainee with Wolvbut was released after threeyears at the end of the 2003/0season.

The following season thestriker crossed the Atlantic fshort spells with lower-leagueUS sides Rochester Rhinos,Syracuse Salty Dogs andVirginia Beach Mariners.

Returning to Englishfootball in 2004/05, the hitmaplayed for a series of non-league clubs includingAldershot, Hednesford andWillenhall

Town before successfullytrialling for League Two sideWycombe Wanderers in2006/07.

However, Wycombe misseout on a play-off place andBarnes-Homer was restrictedto one substitute appearance

After moving to Kidderminster Harriers, Barnes-Homerenjoyed the longest spell at aclub in his career so far, andproved prolific, ending the2008/09 campaign as the clubtop scorer with 21 goals.

In November 2009, he wascalled up to the England Csquad to play Poland under-23s, and scored the winninggoal on his debut to earn theThree Lions a 2-1 victory.

Maintaining his scoringform in 2009/10, the frontmawas soon snapped up by Lutowho paid 75,000 for him.

Barnes-Homer endured adifficult time at Luton, whichwas marred by the loss of hisstepfather. Despite this,Barnes-Homer achieved arespectable tally of 20 goals in70 league appearances.

After short stints withRochdale, Nuneaton andSwedish Third Division side

sterlunds FK, the strikerjoined Macclesfield lastsummer. So far, Barnes-Homhas been in magnificent formfront of goal, netting 15 timesthe league and five times in thFA Cup.

Moss Rose legend believes cup run can boost promotion bid

GLORY DAYS Sammy McIlroy toasts promotion in 1997