So far, so good for the Silkmen I

T’S a case of so far, so good for new Macclesfield Town coach Mark Kennedy.

Kennedy was appointed as Silkmen boss earlier this month after Daryl McMahon resigned, and he’s been extremely impressed with the attitude of his new side.

Kennedy picked up his first win as coach at the weekend when the Silkmen mounted a comeback to beat Forest Green Rovers 2-1 at the Moss Rose.

And the three-point return was the culmination of what has been a promising start to his coaching career.

“It’s been really good. I’ve really enjoyed it and it’s been great to get to know the lads a little bit more,” he told the club’s official website. “Small difficulties we’ve had, which is nobody’s fault which I’ve mentioned, is our days are quite low level because we always seem to be on our second day of recovery or matchday minus one.

“I have been very conscious not to bog them down with too much detail and information. The transition has been smooth and we’re really pleased.

“I’ve said before, normally when you go into a club, something is wrong. Normally the results and performances, so we’ve been very fortunate that we’ve inherited a strong group who are playing well and are doing well in the league.

“They are where they are through various situations which we are aware of. In terms of where the group is at; it’s been really, really good.

“We’ve come into a stabilised group of players from a football perspective so that’s been positive. But I’m not the previous coach and not the one before that.

“I am who I am and I know what I want to do. We are all different human beings, with different philosophies and styles so it will take time to implement my blueprint.”

Kennedy hailed his side’s team spirit as they came from behind to defeat Forest Green on Saturday.

Despite having Corey O’Keefee sent off with 10 minutes to go, Joe Ironside and Arthur Gnahoua scored late goals for Macc to cancel out Carl Winchester’s opener, much to the delight of Kennedy.

“The team spirit from the group of lads showed that they’re a tough nut to crack in terms of togetherness,” he said.

“I was disappointed in the first half because Forest Green are an excellent side and they have a lovely way of playing but they completely changed their style and tried to hurt us in behind because we like to press and play aggressive

“It was a really poor goal to concede and I thought we were really naive in the first half in terms of how we played, and I was really annoyed.

“They then got the penalty and at first it looked quite soft to me, but I couldn’t really see. I said before they took the penalty that I fancied our goalkeeper to save it and he did.

“I thought it played a huge part in us winning the game as it would’ve been tough to come back from two goals down.

“We felt that Joe Ironside needed some help up front and some pace with him, so we brought on Paddy Osadebe to help him. I thought Paddy was excellent and I’ve got to give him a lot of credit for this big win.

“I love Joe, and I can’t begin to explain to you what a lovely lad his is and what a top team player he is, he’s the ultimate team player. I feel for him when he’s not getting goals and its my job as a coach to find a way for him to get the goals. I was so happy he scored today because he really deserves it and I was chuffed to bits when I saw it nestle in the bottom corner.

“Corey O’Keefe was sent off late on, but any top player would do that in that situation and I said to him after the match that he won me the game. He’ll miss Tuesday’s fixture but when he’s ready he’ll come back into the team again.

“Arthur Gnahoua got the winner and I told him before the game that if he does what I want him to do off the ball then he’ll be our best player.

“He’s a fabulous talent and a lovely boy. We hope at the end of the season that we we’ll be struggling to hold onto him because that means he’s doing the right things and he’s performing well.”