Last updated: 3rd September 2008
Alexander: Tough gig
Keith Alexander has vowed to battle his Macclesfield boo-boys and retain his position at Moss Rose.
The Silkmen have endured a start to the season that nightmares are made of, with Alexander's side having fallen to four league defeats and conceded 14 goals without reply.
A midweek Johnstone's Paint Trophy loss at the hands of Crewe has hardly helped his cause but Alexander is determined not to be driven away from the club.
On the contrary, the experienced tactician has vowed to turnaround the club's fortunes and defy those that feel he is no longer the right man for the job in hand.
"People pay their money to get in and they're entitled to make their feelings known," he told the Manchester Evening News.
"They have the right to boo and say what they need to say, because it's their team and they want us to do better than we're doing.
"You lose football matches like that and you can expect to be jeered. I think the support has been excellent but they've had nothing to watch in the home games.
"But I'll get it right, I'm big enough to take it on the chin.
"It's no good crying about it. I've tried to keep the lads upbeat. I take all the criticism and I'll be working as hard as I can to put things right."
While Alexander accepts the pressure is firmly on him to start delivering improved results, he insists the scale of the job has not fazed or surprised him.
"I knew how difficult the job was when I took it on and that's fine. I think that the chairman and the owner, touch wood, have got the right man for the job," he said.
"I would be disappointed if I hadn't got people's support after six games.
"I know they're not happy, the fans are not happy, I'm not happy and I hope the players aren't happy.
"It's more frustrating after what they showed me at West Ham. How you can perform like that one day and as badly as they did within the same week?
"I can't, for the life of me, understand it. It beggars belief. But we're working hard and we'll pull together.
"I'm not one to shout from the rooftops when we're doing well, I didn't do that when we were doing well at the end of last season and I won't be panicking now."

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| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 8th August | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| 15:00 | Aldershot vs Darlington |
| 15:00 | Bury vs Bournemouth |
| 15:00 | Cheltenham vs Grimsby |
| 15:00 | Crewe vs Dag & Red |
| 15:00 | Lincoln City vs Barnet |
| 15:00 | Morecambe vs Hereford |
| 15:00 | Northampton vs Macclesfield |
| 15:00 | Notts County vs Bradford |
| 15:00 | Port Vale vs Rochdale |
| 15:00 | Rotherham vs Accrington Stanley |
| 15:00 | Shrewsbury vs Burton Albion |
| 15:00 | Torquay vs Chesterfield |
| Saturday 15th August | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| 15:00 | Accrington Stanley vs Lincoln City |
| 15:00 | Barnet vs Shrewsbury |
| 15:00 | Bournemouth vs Rotherham |
| 15:00 | Bradford vs Port Vale |
| 15:00 | Burton Albion vs Morecambe |
| 15:00 | Chesterfield vs Northampton |
| 15:00 | Dag & Red vs Torquay |
| 15:00 | Darlington vs Bury |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Saturday 23rd May | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| Gillingham 1 - 0 Shrewsbury | |
| Sunday 10th May | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| Gillingham 2 - 1 Rochdale | |
| Bury 0 - 1 Shrewsbury | |
| Thursday 7th May | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| Rochdale 0 - 0 Gillingham | |
| Shrewsbury 0 - 1 Bury | |
| Saturday 2nd May | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| Rotherham 0 - 1 Exeter | |
| Bury 1 - 0 Accrington Stanley | |
| Lincoln City 0 - 2 Aldershot | |
| Grimsby 0 - 0 Macclesfield | |
| Dag & Red 1 - 2 Shrewsbury | |
| Chesterfield 0 - 2 Bradford | |
| Chester 1 - 2 Darlington | |
| Brentford 2 - 0 Luton | |
| Morecambe 0 - 4 Bournemouth | |
| Rochdale 0 - 1 Gillingham | |
| Barnet 1 - 2 Port Vale | |
| Wycombe 1 - 2 Notts County | |
| Saturday 25th April | |
| Coca-Cola Football League Two | |
| Bradford 3 - 0 Rotherham | |
| Bournemouth 2 - 1 Grimsby | |
| Port Vale 1 - 1 Wycombe | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accrington Stanley | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Aldershot Town | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Barnet FC | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Bournemouth | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Bradford City | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Burton Albion | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Bury | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Cheltenham Town | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Chesterfield | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Crewe Alexandra | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Darlington | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Grimsby Town | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Hereford United | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Lincoln City | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Macclesfield Town | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Morecambe | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Northampton Town | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Notts County | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Port Vale | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Rochdale | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Rotherham United | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Shrewsbury Town | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Torquay United | 0 | 0 |
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