by LA1Shrimp » Tue May 10, 2011 8:32 am
I find it hilarious that some of you believe Sammy left due to 'bullying' on an internet forum. Mr McIlroy has been involved in pro football for over 40 years and am sure he has had to deal with a lot worse than the some booing and name calling on a forum, not that he even reads the forum.
He is a man of the game and fully understands that everyone has a sell by date and that at times you've gone as far as you can go, from listening to him at various points this season this is quite obviously the case.
The club needs a shake up in terms of coaching and coaching techniques. Look up and down the football ladder and coaching is changing dramatically, so much more emphasis is placed on sports science and physical development rather than the old school 'ball at your feet' method. We have been sadly lacking in this department for a number of years and unfortunately this year its shown, we have been out muscled a lot more than we have been outplayed. Take for instance Macclesfield who beat us comfortably on two occasions, they are not necessarily a better footballing side than us, however what they do possess is a team full of athletes who on both occasions totally dictated the way the game was played and beat us to virtually every challenge. We need to embrace this and look at signing players like Issac Reid, Sinclair who played up front, quick athletic players who cover vast amounts of grass, not the veteran of 400 games who has been passed by the modern game. Perfect example is Ainsworth who has maintained a fantastic level of physical fitness in order to prolong his career.
There are countless managers both employed and unemployed who are well trained in the modern way of coaching, not to mention masses of coaches/assistants who are also trained in this fashion. The old school manager is being weeded out of the game on by one and being replaced by a new breed of manager, we need to embrace this and move with the times or unfortunately we will be left behind.
It was time for a change, Sammy and Mark did a fantastic job in the years they were here and I for one will be eternally grateful however Morecambe football club existed long before them and will continue to do so arguably the hard work was done well before Sammy and Mr McGuigan for that matter, the hard work and foundations were laid by Brian Griffiths, Leighton James and Jim Harvey, the board of directors and staff at the time G Hodgson, R Taylor, P Cross, N Marsdin, D Durham etc who dragged the club kicking and screaming from the Northern Prem tranfsormed them into a very good Conference team which was ready made for Sammy to step in and add that extra dimension that was needed.
So lets pack in the hystrionics and doom and gloom, this is a natural progression as it was when Jim Harvey left, everyone has a sell by date in football. The game moves on very quickly and you have to change with that. We are doing, embrace it.