Poor day at the office

[Christies Child]

No doubt some will defend todays performance against a very average Grimsby side who had the bulk of the play in the first 65 minutes but seemd as clueless as us as to what to do with it.

Had it not been for WC I dread to think the outcome.

Totally baffled why MrT stayed on for so long. It gives me no pleasure to say this but the magic and sparkle we've come to expect and so admire from Michael seems to have vanished.

And can somebody please explain why we have a loanee who we are paying wages to (I assume) for him to remain on the bench for 85 minutes. A complete waste of money. A loanee should be on the field!

As for todays tactics, why oh why do we constantly use the long ball instead of keeping it on the deck?

For me, the worst performance since we joined the league. Any further peformances like today and today's crowd of just over 1950 including the 200 Grimsby fans will reduce even further.

[Crooky MFC]

For me, the worst performance since we joined the league.

[ezz]

Get used to it, were in a higher league where teams are going to come to the Pie and outplay us. Realisticly we may struggle but were still picking up points, if were picking up points and playing poorly then thats still a good sign. This club is going to go through a big transformation on and off the pitch so we cant expect to play fluid football and be challenging for a play-offs. Il be happy with another safe season with maybe a big draw in the FA cup.

[campdave]

Can't really disagree with what CC said. Much as I love Twiss, he was bobbins today, as were most of the team.

Possession repeatedly squandered weither by giving the ball away cheaply or by hoofing it up the field. Parrish was poor I thought - always looking to cut in to cross or pass with his right rather than using his left.

Grimsby offered little, although by scoring early, they had no reason to push forward. At the time that we scored I felt we were incredibly lucky.

[campdave]

Get used to it, were in a higher league where teams are going to come to the Pie and outplay us.

That's the thing though - Grimsby didn't outplay us. The reason we only got a point today was because we played poorly, not because Grimsby played well.

[PottedShrimp]

Not a good day - if we're not careful we're drifting into the relegation dogfight. Our problem is that we lack teeth and urgency. There was little service from midfield through to the front and prcious few ideas when the ball did get there. I thought that Stanley and Curtis helped rectify both problems a bit. It has to be said we miss Thommo. While he would take men on and take the ball down the wing, now there is just an urge to lay the ball off as soon as possible - potential attacks break down before they've even started.

Oh and on another note now we are warned not to f and blind, will someone being having a word with our clown at half time - 2 bs and an f today and not the first time either....

[Aal]

Thought Stanners lit up the field as soon as he came on.

Other than that a poor perfromance against a poor away side. We'll get hammered by quality opposition if we play like that again.

Feel sorry for Sammy. He lives each moment of the game and you can see his frustration when mistakes are made, Mark as well. We're surely safe this season thanks to Luton et al so can use this one to begin to make progress with this set of players.

[slackAlice]

Not the worst Morecambe performance I've seen since we joined the league; remember we lost to Grimsby @ home last season 0-4.
However , it was very close , it was an awful game to watch until the last 20 minutes or so - no quality from either side. What's particularly worrying is Grimsby were very poor and although its repeatedly said theres NO easy games in this league - we have to improve our all round game, we seemed at half-speed most of the time.

I'd have given MOM to Gary Hunter personally , made mistakes like everybody else, but another goal line clearance and played a beaut of a ball through for Wayne towards the end and he skyed it. I suppose on Negative Neds 'deserved returns' theory neither side deserved anything.
A very poor day at the office , but hey-ho lets look forward to Lincoln.

[campdave]

Oh and on another note now we are warned not to f and blind, will someone being having a word with our clown at half time - 2 bs and an f today and not the first time either....

On behalf of everyone attending, can I plead with everyone to have their open the box ticket out and ready as soon as the ref blows for half time, to reduce the length of time that Ken has for his "unique" half time show

[Arnside Red]

Cant disagree with most of the comments, Twissy was aweful today, he never ran at the defence always looking to pass as soon as he got the ball, he looked frightened to be in possession, could it be his last Morecambe game, Wainwright and McCann are not really up to it either, I thought Parrish did ok, Grimsby ran the show in the first half, deserved their lead, their nos 7, 17 and were yards faster, they looked stronger, more commited and i dont think they were as poor as some are saying on here tonight, although it looked a soft pen, we didnt look like we were trying until the subs came on (Gary hunter being the exception) , Stanners ran midfield and Wayne really got stuck in, we started running at them for the firat time and they looken vulnerable, the latter 20 mins or so were enjoyable, there only looked like one winner, we really miss Thommo and Carl Baker on the flanks

[slackAlice]

Oh and on another note now we are warned not to f and blind, will someone being having a word with our clown at half time - 2 bs and an f today and not the first time either....

On behalf of everyone attending, can I plead with everyone to have their open the box ticket out and ready as soon as the ref blows for half time, to reduce the length of time that Ken has for his "unique" half time show

Did I hear right about the guy who had the winning ticket - that not only had he retained all his previous 'open the box' tickets of varying colours BUT he actually brought them all with him.

Hell I thought I was odd collecting the programmes.

[mounse mk2]

No doubt some will defend todays performance against a very average Grimsby side who had the bulk of the play in the first 65 minutes but seemd as clueless as us as to what to do with it.

Had it not been for WC I dread to think the outcome.

Totally baffled why MrT stayed on for so long. It gives me no pleasure to say this but the magic and sparkle we've come to expect and so admire from Michael seems to have vanished.

And can somebody please explain why we have a loanee who we are paying wages to (I assume) for him to remain on the bench for 85 minutes. A complete waste of money. A loanee should be on the field!

As for todays tactics, why oh why do we constantly use the long ball instead of keeping it on the deck?

For me, the worst performance since we joined the league. Any further peformances like today and today's crowd of just over 1950 including the 200 Grimsby fans will reduce even further.

Gotta agree with the majority of what CC says. That was hard typing that sentence.

Let's face we will not play many worse sides than Grimsby this season. On their performance today.

Our lack of movement was very worrying.

I thought Stanners made the difference when he came on with his drive and energy.

Twiisy just wasn't match sharp but started to play better when the whole team started to play better in the last 30 mins.

With blinkered vision they actually only scored because the referee was crap. Respect the referee. Rubbish. I'll respect the referee when he can be consistent. Even if they are consistently crap, as long as they are consistently crapfor both sides.

2 points dropped today.

[Morecambe Jack]

The first 65 minutes we were awful if we are honest - but we looked a different side once we had the energy Stanley brought. There were several players who were poor today - Twissy, Drummond for me too Im afraid. Some bizzare decisions from the referee today as well which didnt help.

Saying that, we could have taken all three points towards the end - but that would really have been a steal!!!!

[Christies Child]

On the subject of the ref, evidently it's his first season at this level and has already been reported by Exeter for a poor performance this season.

He was being assessed by a couple of ex-referees today.

Score out of 10.....4 and that's being generous!

No doubt he'll feature in 'Match of the Day' sooner or later.

[ezz]

Get used to it, were in a higher league where teams are going to come to the Pie and outplay us.

That's the thing though - Grimsby didn't outplay us. The reason we only got a point today was because we played poorly, not because Grimsby played well.

Still there is a lack of quality obviously, maybe we didn't play well but surely the fact that our team is not that strong anyway will play a big part of that!

[marky]

Gosh. Some pretty damning comments from people who are usually reasonably positive. It really must've been dire! How did it compare to the Rotherham match? Ezz, are we going to have safe survival? It looks (at the moment) that it will be anything but. Again we've played a side who already have a pretty terrible goal difference and seemingly escaped with a draw.

[BHmfc]

Two points from the bottom 2 clubs (discounting the points deductions) is simply just not good enough. The first 65 minutes were worse than awful, Twiss, sad to say, confirmed by his performance he is finished at this level (to be honest, he has not played well in the last 18 months) Parrish is not a left back and I'd rather see Mcstay in the right position than Mcann. Team shape, tactics and urgency were none existent until the substitutions in the 65 minute, and bringing the loan player, Smith, on with 6 minutes to go was a joke, he should have replaced Twiss at half time. RANT OVER. Trying to pick some positives is difficult but maybe with starting Twiss, SM was hoping to see some quality on the left, instead of Wayne's huff and puff, it didn't work and most people know my feelings about Curtis as a wide player, but one positive is that we did get to see him(Curtis) in a role where he is better suited, in the centre of attack, using his strengh and power to worry defenders and getting stuck in which we all know he can do. Another positive was Stanley, he now looks fully fit and ready for a start in a line up which maybe also includes Drummond and Hunter. I,m trying to focus on the last 25 minutes of the game because if i concentrate on the first 65 minutes i may become a manic depressive. but we really do need to start getting some wins otherwise it's going to be a long, hard season.

[The Red Knight]

Gosh. Some pretty damning comments from people who are usually reasonably positive. It really must've been dire! How did it compare to the Rotherham match? Ezz, are we going to have safe survival? It looks (at the moment) that it will be anything but. Again we've played a side who already have a pretty terrible goal difference and seemingly escaped with a draw.

Rotherham was worse.

We didn't escape with a draw, Grimsby hardly threatened.

We should have won the game when Hunter played one of the most intelligent through balls I've seen by a Morecambe player to Curtis but he blasted it over when it looked easier to score.

Adams back in at left back for me when he's fit, Smith and Curtis as the wingers (Wainwright doesn't impress me at all) and Stanners back in midfield but I'm not sure at whose expense as Drummond wasn't exactly impressive today.

[Keith]

Cast-iron penalty, not sure how people were disputing it! Missed the ball by about a foot and took the player down. He may have made a meal of it as he went down but no doubt in my mind that it was the right decision.

Can't remember the last time someone played 30 minutes and got MotM, which spoke volumes, especially as it was the right decision (or Stanners who came on with Curtis).

Ho-hum.

[Posh]

We really are lacking players who excite (Diarmuid and Rene could theoretically but they don't see enough of the ball to make a difference). In their absence we need to play players with passion, energy and commitment. On today's showing I'd stick to the 4-3-3 formation that played for about 20 minutes and on today's showing only Garry Hunter, Wayne Curtis, Jim Bentley, Craig Stanley, Rene Howe and Diarmuid O'Carroll would make that side. Wayne's been one of the few who've given everything to the cause this season and I thought it was incredibly harsh to drop him. He may not be the quickest or the most skilful but he's got heart and puts the effort in.

We can all talk about players but for me the manager has to take the most blame. It's getting pretty clear that the only positions on the pitch we've improved on from last season is up front. More worrying is the quality of the pre-match preparations that sees a Morecambe team look like they've just been woken up for the game (second to everything during the first half, playing statues and hoof). In fact the first hours highlights were Christie the Cat fishing and Mark, rightly, taking the piss out of the frankly embarassing Ken Parker.

I'm a glass half full kind of guy but bar some fight against Shrewsbury it's been tough going so far.

[Shrimpsscene]

I can only remember Barry Roche making one block late on in second half??
Where was the threat from Grimsby?
dont get me wrong they are a tough outfit
Till looked good again but didnt threaten
they packed midfield and kept possession well especially in the first half
it needed shaking up second half and one for Negative Ned here..... a masterstroke by the manager with both his substitutes providing the assist and goal
Garry Hunters fantastic through ball for Wayne the best move of the game shame Wayne didnt get a better connection but his goal was a great goal number 72 in the all time list for Mr Curtis
Thought Garry Hunter would have been a worthy choice of motm worked hard all 90 mins
right CC says i need to walk to Lincoln so best pack my bags tonight................early start tomorrow

[Christies Child]

We really are lacking players who excite (Diarmuid and Rene could theoretically but they don't see enough of the ball to make a difference). In their absence we need to play players with passion, energy and commitment. On today's showing I'd stick to the 4-3-3 formation that played for about 20 minutes and on today's showing only Garry Hunter, Wayne Curtis, Jim Bentley, Craig Stanley, Rene Howe and Diarmuid O'Carroll would make that side. Wayne's been one of the few who've given everything to the cause this season and I thought it was incredibly harsh to drop him. He may not be the quickest or the most skilful but he's got heart and puts the effort in.

We can all talk about players but for me the manager has to take the most blame. It's getting pretty clear that the only positions on the pitch we've improved on from last season is up front. More worrying is the quality of the pre-match preparations that sees a Morecambe team look like they've just been woken up for the game (second to everything during the first half, playing statues and hoof). In fact the first hours highlights were Christie the Cat fishing and Mark, rightly, taking the piss out of the frankly embarassing Ken Parker.

I'm a glass half full kind of guy but bar some fight against Shrewsbury it's been tough going so far.

[Posh]

I can only remember Barry Roche making one block late on in second half?? Where was the threat from Grimsby?

Exactly Sean. Grimsby were poor but still outplayed us for 45 mins. They also had one cleared off the line

A masterstroke by the manager with both his substitutes providing the assist and goal

Masterstroke? Or an error in not playing them both from the start?

[steve mfc]

For the first hour we were very slow getting forward, or more to the point we just didn't get enough players up in support when we were attacking, there was usually five or six players on the half way line making no effort to get forward leaving the player with the ball isolated with nobody to pass to unless it went backwards.

Grimsby although they didn't make any clear cut chances at least made the effort, when they attacked there was three at the back with both full backs pushed forward.

Regarding the substitutions i thought both Drumond and Twiss would have gone off, the changes in personnel and formation did work though, Curtis did very well, holding the ball up and bringing other players into the game.

The introduction of Stanley was like a breath of fresh air, a midfielder who gets the ball and drives forward attacking the space making room for the forwards, i just hope he now keeps his place.

I would have settled for a point after the first hour but we almost picked up all three.

[Posh]

We can all talk about players but for me the manager has to take the most blame.

May be I should have said, 'we can talk about individual player's performances but for me Sammy has to take the blame for a poor team performance.'

How's that CC? Or were you trying to make another point?