Thankful for the directors we have

[ezz]

So glad they chose to keep cool heads and keep Sammy at the club even when he handed his notice in. Said it at the time and I'll say it again, getting rid of him wouldn't have helped. We've had a bad season, but it looks likely that were close to safety now even though its not over yet.
Sammy has been man enough to admit the new season in a new stadium hasn't been what everyone thought it would, I think the stadium was more dissappointing to most people on here. At least its getting better and they have listened to what the fans suggested in terms of poor food service etc.
Glad Sammy has recovered whats been a very poor season, but whatever he decides to do in Summer if he leaves at least it'l be with pride intact and fond memories, if he stays (hopefully he does) then I hope we wake up from this bad year and do what we did in the conference, build the squad and resources up (maybe some sort of youth system) and continue our development of the club!

Only fair Sammy gets some praise for the huge win at Barnet, as I'm sure he'd have many knives in his back if we had lost.....

[marky No.1]

Interesting how many people stay away from SV's and keep their knife in their pocket after we win. They will be waiting for their next opportunity no doubt. When you see how such as Port Vale treated their Club and Manager, Morecambe must seem like a picnic.

We have a bit of breathing space, but no way can we afford to take our foot off the gas.

Free travel to Gillingham anyone?

[shrimper]

While we shouldn't coast to the end of the season and neither should we merely write this one off as a blip, I'd like to see us planning now for next season.

There are good players about who we know are out of contract in the summer and I hope we are working behind the scenes to approach them now with a view to securing their services for 2011/12.

I don't like leaving it all until close-season, although I am aware that a lot of players will mess about and see what other offers come in.

There are, though, a lot of occasions when well-prepared clubs plan ahead and pick up players earlier than we tend to.

We also need to secure the likes of Parrish and Fleming and make sure we're on the ball with Hurst (if we really rate them).

[marky No.1]

Yes, we can't keep on letting everyone have a head start on us for ever. We usually play catch up but preperations this last 12 months have been very much disrupted.

[P/T Indie]

While we shouldn't coast to the end of the season and neither should we merely write this one off as a blip, I'd like to see us planning now for next season.

There are good players about who we know are out of contract in the summer and I hope we are working behind the scenes to approach them now with a view to securing their services for 2011/12.

I don't like leaving it all until close-season, although I am aware that a lot of players will mess about and see what other offers come in.

There are, though, a lot of occasions when well-prepared clubs plan ahead and pick up players earlier than we tend to.

We also need to secure the likes of Parrish and Fleming and make sure we're on the ball with Hurst (if we really rate them).

We should but we wont

We should be out now scouting players who's contracts are up at the end of the season and making initial enquiries if possible but on a number of occasions we have failed to do this.

Instead we will wait for agents to phone us at the end of the summer telling us who they have left.

[ezz]

Definately need to re-contract our most valuble players, Parrish, Wilson, Fleming, sign up hurst, Carlton??, Roche (for life). If were going to improve we need better players, one criticism of our club is we don't scout enough and just take 'agents' word of mouth as gospel. Obviously crying out for a prolific quick striker, and with Stanley going a new center mid.

[George Dawes]

i have been thinking the same about building for next season we should be learning by now off mistakes from previous seasons, now instead of leaving things to the last minute and bringing in the "dregs at the bottom of the barrel or left overs etc " that nobody else wants a week or two before the season starts

lets get players we want to keep for next season signed up NOW! before this season ends.

then in the summer we can hit the floor running with recruiting quality players and get them playing in the pre-season fixtures team gelling! so then for once we can get off to a good start to a season

[The Fury]

Definately need to re-contract our most valuble players, Parrish, Wilson, Fleming, sign up hurst, Carlton??, Roche (for life). If were going to improve we need better players, one criticism of our club is we don't scout enough and just take 'agents' word of mouth as gospel. Obviously crying out for a prolific quick striker, and with Stanley going a new center mid.

It's not just the "valuable" players who need contracting but the ones who are saleable assets. Usually the two are mutually exclusive but it can also be about perception. Nevertheless, I'll be really unhappy if we ever find ourselves in the position where the likes of Perkins, Thommo, and Duffy can leave for nominal/free amounts because we haven't negotiated contracts earlier than we ought to, whilst the likes of Blinkhorn, Wainwright, Rundle etc are given two year deals and left to rot at the club. Frankly, this is (or should be if it isn't) the manager's responsibility and I reckon he has been seriously neglectful (probably because of poor judgement, rather than oversights) in this field.

The same can be similarly applied to the lack of youth development and scouting at the club. Watching us at Bury the other week I thought we had the basis of a strong team, barring pace down the flanks. If I was Sammy, I'd have looked at that and put two pacey widemen at the top of my shopping list. It should be in Sammy's mind to start identifying areas where we can improve. I don't think he works like this though and, if previous years are a barometer, then we will probably see out of contract experienced pro's joining the club, simply because they are available, disrupting the qualities that we do have and not addressing frailties.

I'd be happy for Sammy to stay at the club, because I think he is a decent motivator of players, and generally gets decent results (barring this season of regression), providing big changes are made to the points above, which we are all pretty much in total agreement about on here (and that is a rarity!). Either Sammy needs to take the initiative himself, or he needs to be told. Either way, it is more important for the future of the club, in my view, that such changes are made rather than the retention of a manager who has been very successful for is in the past.

[thegentlegiant]

Definately need to re-contract our most valuble players, Parrish, Wilson, Fleming, sign up hurst, Carlton??, Roche (for life). If were going to improve we need better players, one criticism of our club is we don't scout enough and just take 'agents' word of mouth as gospel. Obviously crying out for a prolific quick striker, and with Stanley going a new center mid.

Carlton is a must for me, he has been brilliant since his return and for me deserves one more go!!

[marky]

So glad they chose to keep cool heads and keep Sammy at the club even when he handed his notice in. Said it at the time and I'll say it again, getting rid of him wouldn't have helped. We've had a bad season, but it looks likely that were close to safety now even though its not over yet.
Sammy has been man enough to admit the new season in a new stadium hasn't been what everyone thought it would, I think the stadium was more dissappointing to most people on here. At least its getting better and they have listened to what the fans suggested in terms of poor food service etc.
Glad Sammy has recovered whats been a very poor season, but whatever he decides to do in Summer if he leaves at least it'l be with pride intact and fond memories, if he stays (hopefully he does) then I hope we wake up from this bad year and do what we did in the conference, build the squad and resources up (maybe some sort of youth system) and continue our development of the club!

Only fair Sammy gets some praise for the huge win at Barnet, as I'm sure he'd have many knives in his back if we had lost.....

In which case, I presume it's only fair Sammy takes his share of the blame for tonight's defeat? Can't have it both ways Ezz... He should have gone back in November when a new guy would have had enough time to turn things round. As it is, we've been hovering around the lower reaches of the league all season and one utterly awful side in Stockport and a very ordinary one in Barnet are the main reason we're not facing up relegation. Praise for Saturday, criticism for tonight. I trust the next time we battle our way to victory you won't go quite as OTT.

[George Dawes]

fair shout Marky! even them lot on here who wear them rose tinted Elton John stlye specs cant defended that set up tonight

[ezz]

Only fair Sammy gets some praise for the huge win at Barnet, as I'm sure he'd have many knives in his back if we had lost.....

In which case, I presume it's only fair Sammy takes his share of the blame for tonight's defeat? Can't have it both ways Ezz... He should have gone back in November when a new guy would have had enough time to turn things round. As it is, we've been hovering around the lower reaches of the league all season and one utterly awful side in Stockport and a very ordinary one in Barnet are the main reason we're not facing up relegation. Praise for Saturday, criticism for tonight. I trust the next time we battle our way to victory you won't go quite as OTT.

Have I asked for any other way? Most people only come on here to moan after a defeat, hence its always so quiet after we win.

[marky]

Check out any letters page in any newspaper, any customer comments file for any business, etc. Generally the vast majority will err towards the negative and/or be a complaint. That's just the way it is. I was delighted with the win on Saturday but it didn't blind me to the fact it wasn't a particularly good performance in terms of the football played, nor did it suddenly mean that Sammy McIlroy had found a magic wand overnight and transformed himself into a wonderful manager. So, Ezz, do you concede that Sammy has to share the blame for tonight's defeat, or are you just going to fight against those who criticise?

[ezz]

The whole squad, staff and manager take the blame and priase for every performance. Sometimes a manager sets his stall perfect and players on the pitch let him down. Sometimes the manager gets tactcis wrong but players bail him out. Works both ways, but you've NEVER had a good thing to say about Sammy.
This is a manager who up until this season bettered his results year after year, that can only happen for so long. I saw a bad season coming a mile off because no way were we ever going to beat last seasons 4th, but if were still in the football league next season then what does it matter. We dont have the resources to go up, so if were not going down it doesn't matter where we finish as long as its not bottom 2. Infact the end to this season has been more exciting than most, now we have something to lose.

But even when we finished 4th you barely had a good word to say about Sammy, you let your personal issues with him cloud the fact that he's been the best manager at our club in recent history!

[Morecambe Jack]

Completely agree with you Ezz, and Marky is not the only one like that. There are a load of posters who come with all the answers after a loss but are pretty quiet before the game and after any win.

Some people even posted that if Sammy played the same team as Barnet we would win and then after he did that, they say he played the wrong team and someone else should have started

[Pobble]

The whole squad, staff and manager take the blame and priase for every performance. Sometimes a manager sets his stall perfect and players on the pitch let him down. Sometimes the manager gets tactcis wrong but players bail him out. Works both ways, but you've NEVER had a good thing to say about Sammy.
This is a manager who up until this season bettered his results year after year, that can only happen for so long. I saw a bad season coming a mile off because no way were we ever going to beat last seasons 4th, but if were still in the football league next season then what does it matter. We dont have the resources to go up, so if were not going down it doesn't matter where we finish as long as its not bottom 2. Infact the end to this season has been more exciting than most, now we have something to lose.

But even when we finished 4th you barely had a good word to say about Sammy, you let your personal issues with him cloud the fact that he's been the best manager at our club in recent history!

Unbelievable rubbish, he is the worst Manager and tactitian I have seen in football in the last few decades.
Who takes a striker off straight after he scores.(last night)
Who takes a striker off and replaces with a midfielder five minutes from time when losing 1-0.(against Bradford)
Who makes substitutions three minutes from fulltime when 1-0 down,(against Bury) this is generally accepted as way of running down he clock, of course Irish clocks might be different.
Who brings in a player who Scottish football did not want and in his only game at Leeds was laughed off the pitch.(Guess who ?)

Before the fanatical Sammy gang start, I am just as much a supporter as any of you, Barnet and Chesterfield were fantastic results, my season ticket is renewed each year, whatever happens, but anyone with half a brain can see that the problem at the Globe comes from the top, and if it is not SM who is it?
Some of you should think about it instead of slagging some of us as negative.

[Lloydie]

Have you forgotten some of Jim's subsitutes in his last few years?

[ezz]

The whole squad, staff and manager take the blame and priase for every performance. Sometimes a manager sets his stall perfect and players on the pitch let him down. Sometimes the manager gets tactcis wrong but players bail him out. Works both ways, but you've NEVER had a good thing to say about Sammy.
This is a manager who up until this season bettered his results year after year, that can only happen for so long. I saw a bad season coming a mile off because no way were we ever going to beat last seasons 4th, but if were still in the football league next season then what does it matter. We dont have the resources to go up, so if were not going down it doesn't matter where we finish as long as its not bottom 2. Infact the end to this season has been more exciting than most, now we have something to lose.

But even when we finished 4th you barely had a good word to say about Sammy, you let your personal issues with him cloud the fact that he's been the best manager at our club in recent history!

Unbelievable rubbish, he is the worst Manager and tactitian I have seen in football in the last few decades.
Who takes a striker off straight after he scores.(last night)
Who takes a striker off and replaces with a midfielder five minutes from time when losing 1-0.(against Bradford)
Who makes substitutions three minutes from fulltime when 1-0 down,(against Bury) this is generally accepted as way of running down he clock, of course Irish clocks might be different.
Who brings in a player who Scottish football did not want and in his only game at Leeds was laughed off the pitch.(Guess who ?)

Before the fanatical Sammy gang start, I am just as much a supporter as any of you, Barnet and Chesterfield were fantastic results, my season ticket is renewed each year, whatever happens, but anyone with half a brain can see that the problem at the Globe comes from the top, and if it is not SM who is it?
Some of you should think about it instead of slagging some of us as negative.

I was wondering when you would show up again, obviously nowhere to be seen when we won the last couple of games. Yep Sammy is an awful amanger that took a tin pot team to league 2 beat the best teams in the league and finished 1 place off auto promotion.


No pobble it is infact you who knows nothing, but Sammy is clueless and clearly knows nothing about football management. Maybe you should be manager.

[Christies Child]

No point in talking about what has been...it's about the future...

[morecambegeek]

No point in talking about what has been....

like you flouncing off in a huff for instance

[Morectalk]

I don't know why people so blindly back the manager when a season that started so full of anticipation is going to complete rat shit. He has taken the team from promotion candidates to relegation candidates in the space of ten months, yet people still back him. Don't be afraid of change, change is good. We can't go on like this and the buck stops with the manager - not the new stadium, the pies, the gazebos - the manager. He must go now, and he should walk and not hold the club to ransom over what is left of his contact. At least then he will not burn his bridges & he will be welcomed back when he visits & not remembered as a boss who held a gun to the boards collective heads/wallets.

[Morecambe Jack]

I don't know why people so blindly back the manager when a season that started so full of anticipation is going to complete rat shit. He has taken the team from promotion candidates to relegation candidates in the space of ten months, yet people still back him. Don't be afraid of change, change is good. We can't go on like this and the buck stops with the manager - not the new stadium, the pies, the gazebos - the manager. He must go now, and he should walk and not hold the club to ransom over what is left of his contact. At least then he will not burn his bridges & he will be welcomed back when he visits & not remembered as a boss who held a gun to the boards collective heads/wallets.

Thats a very selective argument though isn't it? Because he is the one who elevated us to a position of promotion candidates in the first place. Thats why, IMO, he deserves more respect than he is getting. If he was a faultless manager he wouldn't be managing Morecambe or indeed anyone at this level but he has a proven record at this level and people seem to easily forget that.

[ezz]

I don't know why people so blindly back the manager when a season that started so full of anticipation is going to complete rat shit. He has taken the team from promotion candidates to relegation candidates in the space of ten months, yet people still back him. Don't be afraid of change, change is good. We can't go on like this and the buck stops with the manager - not the new stadium, the pies, the gazebos - the manager. He must go now, and he should walk and not hold the club to ransom over what is left of his contact. At least then he will not burn his bridges & he will be welcomed back when he visits & not remembered as a boss who held a gun to the boards collective heads/wallets.

What you don't realise is that Sammy has had us punching above our weight for years now, we came up through the play-offs as we were 'strong' enough to win the conference outright. First season in the league was always giong to be ok as its classed as the honeymoon period, we finished mid table....great result.
2nd season the one that was going to be most worrying, we again finished in a very good mid table position!
3rd season we didn't really add much, Jevons had a great season and we went on 2 amazing streaks and finished 4th. Do you really think we were going to beat that and storm this league? Your heads in the clouds and you cant get over the fact that we've over-performed for too long and this season shows us where we truly are. Be realistic, any fan can demand instant success, Sammy's done a great job and as long as were safe from relegation then what does it matter if we come 20th or 9th......very little right now.

[morecambegeek]

Sammy's done a great job and as long as were safe from relegation then what does it matter if we come 20th or 9th......very little right now.

Football is about entertainment as well as results. This season, Sammy has compeltely failed to deliver entertainment. I don't mind losing if we play well and actually play football. Last nights excuse was indefensible.

[Ntini]

He must go now, and he should walk and not hold the club to ransom over what is left of his contact. At least then he will not burn his bridges & he will be welcomed back when he visits & not remembered as a boss who held a gun to the boards collective heads/wallets.

Firstly, that's a pretty audacious claim to make, and an unfair one in my opinion. However, he's offered to walk twice this season, and that's what worries me most. My opinion is that a manager can only be changed in January or in the close-season. Anything else and you're asking for trouble, as at least those two times of the year gives a new manager the chance to make some changes. So for me, regardless of the poor results we've had since January, I'd stick with Sammy.

The fact though that he's offered to leave shows to me that he doesn't want to be here and so has given up on Morecambe football club. I don't see how he can stay on at the club past May even if he were to win the rest of this season's games, purely because his heart isn't in it. I just hope that the board realise that and are putting plans in place to make some changes. Whatever they may be, though, I'll back their decisions as a supporter of this club.

But maybe that's what people aren't getting. The club changed the manager who brought us success through promotion as well asyear-on-year improvement. That ended at the start of this season, but they backed Sammy to keep us up. It may be close, but I believe we only need 3 more points to be safe this year, so it looks like they were right. If they want the club to go further, then Sammy has probably brought us as far as he can (which is why he probably wants to move on), and so the board will have to look to make changes in the summer. So let's back the board, as they haven't let us down so far.