Jimbo! Jimbo! JIMBO!!!

[Keith]

Give him the job today, so he's in post before the contract negotiations for players begin, so he gets to choose who he wants. We could still be seeing Stanners in a Morecambe shirt!

There'd be no journeymen-passengers in a Bentley squad!

Is Drummie planning on coaching? Bentley number one with Drummie as his assistant?

[N Saban]

Agreed get it sorted now...... he is Morecambe FC and i am sure hainning, wilson and the others would sign for him..... no limbo just straight forward planning for next season!!!!

[Seasider9601]

A (not so early) contention for the post of 2011 that Keith !

Agreed wholeheartedly mate. Bet he's got contacts at Everton too for the youngsters coming in on loan or whatever.

[Seasider9601]

And by the way, I absolutely bloody LOVE that photograph.

[Little Shrimp]

Jimbo for caretaker and if we can't find a full time manager, Jimbo as player-manager.

[George Dawes]

Jimbo all the way for me! sooner the better you can trust his best intentions are at heart

[Morecambe Jack]

Jimbo for caretaker and if we can't find a full time manager, Jimbo as player-manager.

There is no time for a caretaker, we need a permanent manager straight away.

Jim Bentley will be a fantastic manager for us, whether that should be now is down to whether he thinks it is the right time for him personally, and whether the board think it is the right time for the club. He is a top man though and the whole club would be fully behind him.

There is a huge amount riding on this summer - so many contracts up, essentially a new squad to assemble and if we don't get it right we will be in serious trouble.

[marky No.1]

And by the way, I absolutely bloody LOVE that photograph.

I think Morecambe Mick will be getting a new Mini out of it at this rate!

[HALMA 1983]

Yep it's a great photo of the great one

Heroes? Legends?......................Hell, This chap deserves the freedom of Morecambe!

Good on ya Jimbo

[Peckishparrish13]

Jimbo for the job! Would give the lads the fighting spirit to go out and win every game! WE WILL BE CHAMPIONS!

[morecambe mick]

And by the way, I absolutely bloody LOVE that photograph.

I think Morecambe Mick will be getting a new Mini out of it at this rate!

That would be nice!

[Ntini]

Is Drummie planning on coaching? Bentley number one with Drummie as his assistant?

I'd never thought of it that way but I really like the idea! It would be interesting to know who has been 'mentoring' jimbo through his coaching (my guess would be Lills) but if he felt confident enough to take the job with Drummie at his side and perhaps a more experienced coach at hand, I'm all for it!

[Optimist]

No thanks, love the man to pieces, great player and club legend. Good players dont necessarily make good managers though, this appointment is integral for the future of our club. We could gamble and opt for someone whos unexperienced (maybe Jim), or we could appoint someone who has been there and done it. Either way, I'm sure our board will make the right decision.

[shrimper]

Experience? Mmm?
The more I think about it, the more Jimbo seems a sensible choice.
Jim has experience of our club and has shown his commitment to it by spending more time here than he probably is required to.
He also has experience of what Morecambe FC means to the town and us as fans and he is just the type to do what he can to address what some fans (rightly or wrongly) see as a bit of a blip in the relationship between the club and its core support. He has always been prepared to give lots of his own time to attend events in town and represent the club locally.
He also has experience of the current squad and knows before another ball is kicked which players are worth keeping and which are wasters.
But I’m not daft – I know ‘love of the club’ isn’t enough (or we’d all put our own names forward!).
Jimbo also has a sound knowledge of our league, the league(s) below it and has decent contacts at at least a couple of clubs a lot higher than ours.
He ‘may’ need some guidance from a more experienced assistant who can help with some aspects (I don’t know, for instance, what his tactical nouse is like) but ‘experience’ isn’t always the be-all and end-all.
Our situation at the moment requires someone who can identify players who will give their all for the Morecambe shirt, and then get them doing it week in, week out.
I also have no doubt he will be prepared to put in the hours and legwork it might take to scout, target and pursue players we need to bring to the club.
We also need to start looking again at how we bring young players through our system.
I actually disagree with a lot of fans – I don’t think the academy/reserves system (once we’d established ourselves towards the top of non-league football) was a priority to get us over the line and into the League and can see why Sammy concentrated on his first team and the methods needed to get us promoted.
But now that we’ve settled in the League we do need to re-group and build a longer term strategy again. Otherwise we’re going to go from season to season chopping and changing half a dozen players each time by necessity (instead of just to add a bit of quality to an already-strong squad) and then discarding ones that turn out to be duff, which is a precarious system.
I think Jim believes that as well - and will work on our youth set-up and target young players with the right profile for what we need.
You could say all of that makes him a great ‘assistant’ to someone with more experience and there is an argument there.
But it may also be argued that he could only really bring all of the above into play IF he is given the top job and the authority that goes with it.
When you appoint a first-timer there’s no guarantee it will work out well – but then that also applies to appointing an ‘experienced’ manager.
Sam and Mark will be a really hard act to follow – whoever gets the job.
I just wonder whether drive, ambition, passion and 24/7, long-term commitment to Morecambe FC might be more what we need right now than merely ‘experience’.
I certainly don’t want us to advertise and just see who applies.
In my view, our next boss should be head-hunted because WE want him - and if we haven’t got another managerial target in our sights who the board think might just somehow have the edge over Jim, then he’ll do for me.

[parkyboy]

Excellent post well worth taking note of

[Sharpy]

If Jim was made manager i would hope it wasn't as a player manager. Never liked that idea atall. Don't think Drummy would be a good 2nd just yet. he still has a season left in him at least and player/assistant manager is just as bad an idea as player/manager.

[Keith]

You could say all of that makes him a great ‘assistant’ to someone with more experience and there is an argument there.

Jimbo as manager, Dickie Danson assistant manager with Drummie taking on the coaching of the reserves as he develops his skills with a view to taking over as assistant manager?

Or even... if Sammy & Mark don't have something else lined up, Jimbo as manager with Mark being the steady father figure as assistant?

[Keith]

And by the way, I absolutely bloody LOVE that photograph.

I think Morecambe Mick will be getting a new Mini out of it at this rate!

Glad you like it Seasider9601! I spent ages watching for Jim to run across the front of the flag so I could get it, I was delighted that he shouted at someone just at that time!

As for the advert... my wife is after a new BMW

[HALMA 1983]

Love it Glen

No one expects miracles from whoever steps in, even less so of Jimbo but the thought that if he can instil half the desire he has into every player sent onto that field then it would be worth the admission alone.

I for one would pay it!

[Sammy h]

Who say you need experience? Eddie Howe.

Jimbo is the sensible choice and also a quick one!

[George Dawes]

You could say all of that makes him a great ‘assistant’ to someone with more experience and there is an argument there.

Jimbo as manager, Dickie Danson assistant manager with Drummie taking on the coaching of the reserves as he develops his skills with a view to taking over as assistant manager?

Or even... if Sammy & Mark don't have something else lined up, Jimbo as manager with Mark being the steady father figure as assistant?

i cant see Mark Lillis wanting to come back after what as gone on this year to work under a former player it's a question of self-respect really and he may see it as betraying Sammy

[morecambe mick]

Experience? Mmm?
The more I think about it, the more Jimbo seems a sensible choice.
Jim has experience of our club and has shown his commitment to it by spending more time here than he probably is required to.
He also has experience of what Morecambe FC means to the town and us as fans and he is just the type to do what he can to address what some fans (rightly or wrongly) see as a bit of a blip in the relationship between the club and its core support. He has always been prepared to give lots of his own time to attend events in town and represent the club locally.
He also has experience of the current squad and knows before another ball is kicked which players are worth keeping and which are wasters.
But I’m not daft – I know ‘love of the club’ isn’t enough (or we’d all put our own names forward!).
Jimbo also has a sound knowledge of our league, the league(s) below it and has decent contacts at at least a couple of clubs a lot higher than ours.
He ‘may’ need some guidance from a more experienced assistant who can help with some aspects (I don’t know, for instance, what his tactical nouse is like) but ‘experience’ isn’t always the be-all and end-all.
Our situation at the moment requires someone who can identify players who will give their all for the Morecambe shirt, and then get them doing it week in, week out.
I also have no doubt he will be prepared to put in the hours and legwork it might take to scout, target and pursue players we need to bring to the club.
We also need to start looking again at how we bring young players through our system.
I actually disagree with a lot of fans – I don’t think the academy/reserves system (once we’d established ourselves towards the top of non-league football) was a priority to get us over the line and into the League and can see why Sammy concentrated on his first team and the methods needed to get us promoted.
But now that we’ve settled in the League we do need to re-group and build a longer term strategy again. Otherwise we’re going to go from season to season chopping and changing half a dozen players each time by necessity (instead of just to add a bit of quality to an already-strong squad) and then discarding ones that turn out to be duff, which is a precarious system.
I think Jim believes that as well - and will work on our youth set-up and target young players with the right profile for what we need.
You could say all of that makes him a great ‘assistant’ to someone with more experience and there is an argument there.
But it may also be argued that he could only really bring all of the above into play IF he is given the top job and the authority that goes with it.
When you appoint a first-timer there’s no guarantee it will work out well – but then that also applies to appointing an ‘experienced’ manager.
Sam and Mark will be a really hard act to follow – whoever gets the job.
I just wonder whether drive, ambition, passion and 24/7, long-term commitment to Morecambe FC might be more what we need right now than merely ‘experience’.
I certainly don’t want us to advertise and just see who applies.
In my view, our next boss should be head-hunted because WE want him - and if we haven’t got another managerial target in our sights who the board think might just somehow have the edge over Jim, then he’ll do for me.

All that, also with his time spent at the club, as well as seeing things at higher levels Man C as a youth for example, he has been able to see where we are going wrong, in his opinion.
Indies flag has a word missing from it, underneath the centre picture it should have said "Legend".
Legends don't always good managers make, but I do believe Jim has the qualities to be a very good manager, I'm pretty sure he'd snap their hands off if offered it, it's whether PMG believes Jim's the way forward. I do.

[ockers]

all that said and some good points..... if we're headhunting.... in that case
manager John Coleman
asst manager Jim Bentley
Reserve and youth team managers Dickie and Tony with input from jim and john......simples................

next question..........

[Old Man Kensey]

and there off...

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/foo ... nt-manager

5/2 fav...

[shrimper]

...but, having said all that I did about Jimbo (rather a lot - apologies), I do trust the board to make the right appointment.