Shrimpsvoices

Just been checking Sammys stats in his managerial career:

Played 368 won 122 33%
Lost 143 39%
Drawn 103 28%

Might explain our predicament!

Should we get rid then?

I think he was very lucky to inherit such a good team that got us the Wembley- some of his signings have been way off mark and think have put us in trouble. I would not have extended his contract.

Who do you suggest we replace him with?!

He's still steading our ship in League 2, give him time. I wasn't the biggest proponent of him having his renewal considering our form but without that he could have been poached by Cork City or someone else.

admiral47 wrote:I think he was very lucky to inherit such a good team that got us the Wembley- some of his signings have been way off mark and think have put us in trouble. I would not have extended his contract.

Dunno. I think Adams, Yates, Sorvell and Blinkhorn, all Sammy signings boosted the squad and drove us to the play-offs last year.

campdave wrote:

admiral47 wrote:I think he was very lucky to inherit such a good team that got us the Wembley- some of his signings have been way off mark and think have put us in trouble. I would not have extended his contract.

Dunno. I think Adams, Yates, Sorvell and Blinkhorn, all Sammy signings boosted the squad and drove us to the play-offs last year.

Ged Brannan? Was he a Sammy signing?

If we are going on the theory of inheriting a good squad, that means either Griff or Leighton James should get the credit for us getting promotion to the Conference?

Mark S wrote:

campdave wrote:

admiral47 wrote:I think he was very lucky to inherit such a good team that got us the Wembley- some of his signings have been way off mark and think have put us in trouble. I would not have extended his contract.

Dunno. I think Adams, Yates, Sorvell and Blinkhorn, all Sammy signings boosted the squad and drove us to the play-offs last year.

Ged Brannan? Was he a Sammy signing?

If we are going on the theory of inheriting a good squad, that means either Griff or Leighton James should get the credit for us getting promotion to the Conference?

Bryan Griffiths should get a lot of credit for our promotion into the Conference. He signed a lot of key players , the famous 5 Coley , Dulligan , Armstrong , etc Jim McLuskie.

None of Sammy's signings have been as bad as the worst "turkeys" signed by his predecessor such as :

Carl Ruffer
Jimmy Kelly
Adam Sollit
Sean O'Connor
Lightfoot
Andy 6 bellies Gouck
Chris Lane
Alan Morgan

Brannan was a Harvey signing and may well have been the last one he made as Morecambe manager. I think he made his debut in the game that Jim had his heart attack.

Lee Collins, Shaun Garnett, Dean Howell, Ryan Sugden and Terry McFlynn are other names you can add to the list of players Jim signed to try and get us out of the Conference and they never really paid off.

Sammy managed to make the necessary signings in one season.

However, another Summer of signings like the ones Sammy has made this year and he may well not get the chance to redeem himself this time.

shaun garnett never played for the shrimps...maybe some people might be happy if the team won 5-0 every week but sure they would find something to complain about....we have been in league 2 for less than two years and still coming to terms with league football in my opinion...take a look at teams like rochdale been in bottom league for ever - it could be worse scarbrough and boston for example

Howe Magic wrote:shaun garnett never played for the shrimps...maybe some people might be happy if the team won 5-0 every week but sure they would find something to complain about....we have been in league 2 for less than two years and still coming to terms with league football in my opinion...take a look at teams like rochdale been in bottom league for ever - it could be worse scarbrough and boston for example

What are you on about? Garnett played a number of games for us at centre back.

Shaun "Alf" Garnett played a number of games for us.....can you not remember him catwalking umbro gear on the local news? We signed him from Halifax Town.

You might be getting confused with Kevin Sandwith, who we tried to sign when he was at Halifax. We had a bid accepted but the player turned us down, citing a move to Morecambe as "sideways". The benefit of hindsight is a marvelous thing.

Howe Magic wrote:we have been in league 2 for less than two years and still coming to terms with league football in my opinion...take a look at teams like rochdale been in bottom league for ever - it could be worse scarbrough and boston for example

Add to that list:

Rushden and Diamonds,
Halifax Town
Oxford United
Cambridge United
Wrexham
Mansfield Town
Torquay United
York City

With the possible exception of R&D, all the rest have quite a long history of being a Football League team, some even in the top league and I think I'm probably right in saying that most have a bigger fanbase than we do, so I do think that the likes of ourselves and Accrington potentially have no real right to be in the FL if you're looking at football tradition.

That said, we are where we are, and we do need to compete in this league if we're to stay in it and not become another Scarborough or Boston United. We can't go on forever saying that we should thank our lucky stars we're here, because we've deserved our place in the league. We need to have a Football League club mentality, and think big time, and not be overawed by more established teams. It would be interesting to see who's contracts are up at the end of the season, because I think there will be a lot not being renewed. Assuming we stay up, next season will be a big one, as the tempter for new players will possibly be a 2 year contract with the second season in the new stadium. So those signings will have to be right.

Lee Collins - very good when on loan, Terry Mcflynn - can't of been a bad player - look what he's achieved in his time at Sydney - unlucky with an injury and wasn't given the chance he deserved.

Agree 100% with Mark - Griff's team got us out of the Unibond.

matty wrote:Lee Collins - very good when on loan, Terry Mcflynn - can't of been a bad player - look what he's achieved in his time at Sydney - unlucky with an injury and wasn't given the chance he deserved.

Agree 100% with Mark - Griff's team got us out of the Unibond.

Not what I was saying really Matty. Jim Harvey got us out of The Unibond. Sammy got us out of The Conference. There may have been a legacy of players from both outgoing Managers (and dont forget Leighton James was in charge for a season before he took an interest in pies), but it was the incoming managers tactics and motivation that was the vital ingredients.

There should be a statue of Sammy for what he has done for us.

We need morecambe to get bigger, or for some unknown reason a major boost in support. Its not pretty but we have to accept that we'll never really be big enough to progress and sustain our club at a higher level. I know the new stadium is suppose to help with that and im happy the board have gone through with it but in terms of geography and fan base at the moment i think were at our limit, so lets enjoy it.

ezz wrote:We need morecambe to get bigger, or for some unknown reason a major boost in support. Its not pretty but we have to accept that we'll never really be big enough to progress and sustain our club at a higher level. I know the new stadium is suppose to help with that and im happy the board have gone through with it but in terms of geography and fan base at the moment i think were at our limit, so lets enjoy it.

People will come to watch Morecambe if they know they will enjoy thereselves. Not necessarily expecting us to win every game, but knowing they can come and see decent football played with a bit of direction and nous, and when they can see the team is going places on the field. As Sammy himself has said countless times, "It's all good and well having a new stadium planned but not when you'll be playing there in the Conference."

The Red Knight wrote:Brannan was a Harvey signing and may well have been the last one he made as Morecambe manager. I think he made his debut in the game that Jim had his heart attack.

.

Ged was indeed Jim's last signing. I was technically his penultimate signing, so at least he managed to redeem himself a bit. Ged made his debut as you say in the Cambridge game at home when Jim had his heart attack.

Sammy took charge about five days later and his first signing was Steve Drench from Blackburn. Every manager has a few signings that just don't work - Sammy is no different. Just look at the managers that are legends and they all had turkeys for signings. Masimo Taibi for Sir Alex amongst many, Benitez has Josemi, Morientes, Kronkamp, Nunez and a swathe of others he randomly signed from th spanish league, Harry Redknapp was famous at west ham for signing dross before he became the january transfer window king. The only one that sticks in my mind for wenger is Francis "fox in the box" Jeffers, but I'm sure there will be someone out there that knows others.

we could look at every managers rubbish signings all night. Here are, in my humble opinion a few of Sammy's gems:

Stuart Barlow
Danny Adams
Carl Baker
Barry Roche ( my player of the season so far)

oh yes and some kid called Joe Lewis.

I'm sure there are more, but those are my personal favourites.

Anyhow screw statistics, I'm looking forward to Tuesday night. The next game is the only one that matters.

Harry wrote:

ezz wrote:We need morecambe to get bigger, or for some unknown reason a major boost in support. Its not pretty but we have to accept that we'll never really be big enough to progress and sustain our club at a higher level. I know the new stadium is suppose to help with that and im happy the board have gone through with it but in terms of geography and fan base at the moment i think were at our limit, so lets enjoy it.

People will come to watch Morecambe if they know they will enjoy thereselves. Not necessarily expecting us to win every game, but knowing they can come and see decent football played with a bit of direction and nous, and when they can see the team is going places on the field. As Sammy himself has said countless times, "It's all good and well having a new stadium planned but not when you'll be playing there in the Conference."

Im quite certain we'll be playing league 2 football next season, but no matter how good we do the attendances won't change dramatically unless the away teams bring significantly more for example if Leeds were to come down or Carlisle. The new stadium may see a small rise in attendances when it first opens but will slowly decrease like our first season in the football league. Though i do agree people will come down to watch decent local football (at times )
But back to the point this all affects Sammy's performance as a manager in the transfer market, we can't generate the funds or attract the better players to our small club. So he has to take chances on conference players, so i'll never criticise him for doing that.

I agree with some of your points ezz, but I think your looking at the stadium move from the wrong angle. The point in moving from Christie is not to increase crowds significantly, its because the project we are moving to will offer us many more opportunities to generate revenue. The club will not be so heavily reliant on crowds, though they would help and increase the budget available for Sammy to spend on wages even further.

At the moment I think we are treading water until we move stadiums. We couldn't afford to bring in many of Sammy's targets this summer because of the wages they commanded. Sammy is limited as to who he can bring to the club at the moment. If all of the off-field projects are managed correctly when we relocate to Westgate we will have revenue streams up there with most at this level, as the board have indicated. As such, I think it would only be fair to judge Sammy and the transfers he makes when he is operating on more of a level playing field with the majority of clubs at this level.

The embargo we are under at the moment is ridiculous. To me, we are being punished because some clubs at this level seem to get themselves into financial difficulty on a regular basis. As such the FL have stepped in to try and limit the spending of every club. Morecambe, a very well run club over the years, have been caught up in this farce of a rule, whilst the likes of the shandy drinking buffoons at Luton (the sort of club the embargo was brought in to protect, the sort of club that has been in administration more seasons than not over the last decade) are allowed to go and spend a six figure sum on a new player. It does make me both laugh and cry at the same time.

RedRedWine wrote:I agree with some of your points ezz, but I think your looking at the stadium move from the wrong angle. The point in moving from Christie is not to increase crowds significantly, its because the project we are moving to will offer us many more opportunities to generate revenue. The club will not be so heavily reliant on crowds, though they would help and increase the budget available for Sammy to spend on wages even further.

At the moment I think we are treading water until we move stadiums. We couldn't afford to bring in many of Sammy's targets this summer because of the wages they commanded. Sammy is limited as to who he can bring to the club at the moment. If all of the off-field projects are managed correctly when we relocate to Westgate we will have revenue streams up there with most at this level, as the board have indicated. As such, I think it would only be fair to judge Sammy and the transfers he makes when he is operating on more of a level playing field with the majority of clubs at this level.

The embargo we are under at the moment is ridiculous. To me, we are being punished because some clubs at this level seem to get themselves into financial difficulty on a regular basis. As such the FL have stepped in to try and limit the spending of every club. Morecambe, a very well run club over the years, have been caught up in this farce of a rule, whilst the likes of the shandy drinking buffoons at Luton (the sort of club the embargo was brought in to protect, the sort of club that has been in administration more seasons than not over the last decade) are allowed to go and spend a six figure sum on a new player. It does make me both laugh and cry at the same time.

How true...How very, very true.

Makes a complete mockery of our embargo.