Nat Brown insists there’s no need to push the panic button just yet. Macclesfield may be second-bottom and still searching for their first win of 2012, but the big centre-back puts the current anxiety in the squad down to fear of failure.
"In the first half against Barnet we were on top but the lads seemed to get nervous in the second half," said the 30-year-old. "Some lads were so keen to get a result that they became afraid to make a mistake. It’s hard and it’s tough because we’re right in it but we’ve just got to keep battling, we can get out of it if we do that."
Brown was forced to say a farewell to outgoing manager Gary Simpson last week and admits that with a new manager comes new ideas and a new approach, one that he hopes will see the Silkmen to safety.
"I really feel sorry for Simmo because the past three years certainly haven’t been the easiest," added Simpson’s fellow Yorkshireman. "No one’s ever had to put up with what he’s gone through in football. He could have said ‘I’ve had enough’ when Butch died and retired but he kept on and worked really hard and he tried his best, he’s unlucky not to still be in the job for me.
"He’s well respected here still, he was like a big uncle to me, he’s done a lot for me and he’s the reason why I’m at this club. I spoke to him after he was sacked and he told me we have to keep the club up, that’s all he was trying to do. We were all down that he left but we’ve all got to try and fight to keep us in this league."
Although Brian Horton has only just completed his first week back at the Moss Rose, Brown recognises that with a thousand matches – and counting – under his belt, Horton has the know-how to secure Macc’s league status, and he’s got enough old heads within the squad too.
"It’s a new era now, the new gaffer’s come in, he’s got his own ideas and the lads listen because we want to stay in this league," he added.
"The new lads have done alright, the big lad up front has done well, and Futch (fellow defender Ben Futcher) has got a lot of experience and it’s experience like that that can help us get out of this."
