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 Some Chesterfield fans on social media have remarked that Gary Caldwell is the epitome of the modern player who is totally removed from the passion of the fans.
While the man who scored one of Scotland’s most famous goals of the 21st century so far in a memorable win v France at Hampden has played in front of arguably the most passionate club fans of all north of the border in the east end of Glasgow, he is clearly finding it difficult to realise that an English market town and Cricket hotbed can foster just as much passion even if the fan numbers are less and the accents aren’t as loud.
Gary Caldwell is finding it hard to connect with his team and their fans in deepest Derbyshire and in an area of knowledgable football supporters, an area that gave us Clough at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, (Notts County, Forest and Chesterfield are the three oldest league clubs in England) plus teams across the border in Yorkshire of the stature of Sheffield United and Wednesday plus former English champions Leeds United, Caldwell would do well to heed the signs. The Scot was under pressure from Spireite fans again after Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers with those who made the long trip to the south west of England critical of Caldwell's "system" on social media while many said he was playing players out of position.
After a recent 4-0 defeat in the match v Oxford Utd at Chesterfield a clearly frustrated Caldwell said : "When there is criticism and negativity from the sides it doesn’t help. If you want to show negativity, then don’t come." Two days after the comment, he told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I say what I feel. It’s very emotional when you’ve just lost 4-0." The 34-year-old added: "The message I was trying to give them was that this team needs them to be positive and get behind the team. I accept that some people may have taken it the wrong way, but we need our supporters more now than ever."
Caldwell was appointed manager at the Proact Stadium in January following the sacking of Danny Wilson, but has won just one of his ten games in charge. On Saturday, he suggested that some of the players were not showing the mentality needed to lift the team up the table. "There’s no consistency within the group and that has to change," the former Wigan boss said. "Forget the game and tactics, it’s about desire. The players have to show a desire and a focus for this club to keep them in this division. They have to take responsibility. I knew this was a challenge when I came in but the overall resilience and desire in the group has disappointed me."
Wigan Athletic sacked former Celtic, Hibs, Wigan and Scotland International player Caldwell from their manager’s position after 18 months in charge of the Championship club in October 2016.
Former Latics defender Caldwell was appointed boss in April 2015 and led them to the League One title last season and his managerial future looked bright according to local press and general English football pundits.
But Wigan were 23rd in the table after 14 matches this term and failed to win in Stirling born Caldwell’s last four games as boss. "I feel that we need to act now in the best long-term interests of the club," Wigan chairman David Sharpe said after the axe fell. "It’s undoubtedly the toughest decision I’ve had to make since becoming chairman."
Caldwell, whose side had won only two of their 14 league games since being promoted, was the sixth Championship manager to leave their job this season at time of his release from the former FA Cup winners. The 34-year-old, who made 111 appearances for Wigan as a player, was in his first managerial role, having replaced Malky Mackay with the team eight points adrift of safety in the Championship with five games to play of the 2014-15 season.
He was unable to save the Latics from relegation, but led them on a 20-match unbeaten run in his first full season in charge to help them back into the second tier at the first attempt. Chesterfield is now the club of striker Ched Evans who was wrongly convicted of rape last year. The ex-Wales international was jailed in 2012 for raping a 19-year-old at a Premier Inn near Rhyl, Denbighshire. The former Sheffield United, Manchester City and Norwich City player was released from jail in October 2014 after serving half of his five-year term. Evans, 27, has always denied raping the woman.
With a thriving Academy of young players at the Proact and access to Premier League reserve players there is a rich vane of talent for Chesterfield to get hold of to boost their chances of survival. Manchester United defender Sadiq El Fitouri was one of Caldwell’s first signings. The 22-year-old joined Man United in a fairytale story from Salford City after being spotted by Nicky Butt and Phil Neville after they took over the Manchester club and became a regular feature for the United U23s side. Caldwell also secured veteran German goalie Thorsten Stuckmann recently (with 5 appearances for Partick Thistle amongst his UK clubs) and despite saving a penalty in his debut versus Bury he could not stop Chesterfield falling to a 2-1 defeat at the Proact against the side being led by former Killie boss Lee Clark for the first time.
However, Caldwell is clearly unhappy with his young (and more seasoned) players presently and told local press recently about how he was ‘toughened up’ when as a 10 year old he trained with his father’s non-league side in Scotland. saying: "I was training with men when I was still a boy and it really showed me how fit you had to be to play this game."
Caldwell’s prowess as a player is not in doubt but his stoic, slightly conservative manner on the sidelines during Chesterfield matches has maybe not communicated his ‘system’ to the Chesterfield players and that system has at times been baffling and almost begs comparisons with Strachan’s Scotland, lots of possession but a woeful lack of end product. According to one local football scribe Caldwell would never be remembered with the same affection as former Dundee and Spurs goal machine John Duncan who had two spells (1983-87 and 1993-2000) as manager at the old Saltergate peaking with an FA Cup run that saw Chesterfield lose a semi final replay to Middlesbrough after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Old Trafford in 1997.
Another Scot (Jimmy McGuigan) also got Chesterfield promoted from the old 4th Division in 1970 and a visit to the Proact Stadium’s excellent Memorial Garden, complete with old Saltergate turnstile, shows a wall of Scots who have contributed as players and managers to a club formed in 1866, which pre-dates Scotland’s oldest club Queens Park by 12 months.
Sadly, Gary Caldwell looks like being no more than a footnote in the history of Chesterfield FC but with a rolling contract he may be given the chance to lead the Spireites back to League 1 next season, however, the natives are growing restless and if he starts next season in the same way he has begun his Proact Stadium tenure then he may disappear from Chesterfield technical areas very quickly in the second half of 2017.
Personally, I don’t think he’ll make it beyond Christmas as Spireites boss and although he’ll be hanging out in Chesterfield longer than me home crowds of around 7,000 may produce home truths from the stands that can be heard by Caldwell the manager that could never have been heard in the cauldron of Parkhead when Caldwell was a star player and probably never had part of the ground against him anyway.
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