Sol Campbell deserves better than the Macclesfield Town job, says former England team-mate Paul Ince
Former England star questions why Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have walked into top jobs while Campbell has had to go to the very bottom of the Football League
Paul Ince believes former England team-mate Sol Campbell deserves better than the Macclesfield Town job, following his appointment as manager of the League Two side.
Ex-Arsenal and Tottenham defender Campbell has taken on his first managerial role with the team who are currently rooted to the bottom of the English Football League.
But Ince has questioned why a player of Campbell’s quality has been forced to take a job in the fourth tier, while more recent stars are in charge of clubs at a much higher level.
Speaking on Wednesday’s Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Ince said: “I mean no disrespect to Macclesfield, but it’s sad that the only way someone of Sol’s calibre, who was a legend of the game and was a great player, can get his foot in the door is go to a team at bottom of League Two.
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“When people like Stevie G are going to Rangers and Frank Lampard are going to Derby, and yet Sol has got to go to the lowest club in the Football League, it doesn’t sit right with me. It doesn’t sit right with me at all.
“But he’s got his foot in the door and I wish him all the best.”
Ince also got his first shot at management with Macclesfield when they were again at the foot of League Two in 2006.
He spent one season as player-manager of the Silkmen and successfully avoided relegation on the final day of the campaign.
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And he believes Campbell will ‘put his name on the map’ as a coach if he achieves the same feat this season, with the side currently five points from safety.
“Hopefully if he does a good job there, like I did, and he might get closer to the top of the ladder.
“If he can keep Macclesfield up, and it’s going to be a tough job, then it puts his name on the map as a manager.
“That’s why I took the Macclesfield job. I didn’t want to be known as ‘Paul Ince: the player’, I wanted to be ‘Paul Ince: the manager’, but I had to go to Macclesfield and keep them up to do that.”
Meanwhile, Campbell has challenged his players to produce 'magic' in their bid to remain in the Football League.
He told Silkmen TV: "I think we can play more football to really control the games and then at the right moments I want a little bit of magic in the last third.
"For me it is all about being solid, that is the kind of guy I am, but then in the last third I want players to be daring, to try thing, I want crosses, people looking for second balls, things like that.
"I want the magic coming out, that is what it is all about."
Listen back to Paul Ince on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast IN FULL above!