Thought I Would Share This.....

[Mark S]

I don’t have blog space or the commitment to write on a regular basis but I wanted to put my thoughts out there as a fan, and see what others were thinking. Not designed as an argument, but just my (what I think is) rational thought after the recent events. The words are my own and equally from the heart as from the mind.

To say it has been a very interesting few weeks for Shrimps fans would be an understatement!

The rapid departure of Stephen Robinson and the equally rapid coronation of Derek Adams was just another scene in the Morecambe FC blockbuster film that will surely follow at some point.

I never had the opportunity to have a conversation with “Robbo”. I was fortunate enough to see him at close quarters during the home matches and as often as possible I would watch his post match interviews to try and get a sense of the man behind the job title. I saw a man who was full of energy, but it seemed to be nervous energy. I saw a man who was very good at talking and I felt was genuinely puzzled why we were not winning more matches. I also saw a man who didn't really have time to talk to the fans and seemed to be intent on getting off after a match for whatever reason. I am not convinced he liked living here for whatever reason.

I think I was as surprised as anyone to see the stat that we had only won 3 league games in 24 leading up to Robbo ditching us for a better offer (sorry, at the end of the day, that is what he did). I think the euphoria of League 1 and the exciting matches we had seen, coupled with our trip to Spurs had possibly blinded us from the reality that we were in the relegation zone and in trouble. I think we all shared the same puzzled feeling that we were not higher up the league. I think we all thought we would ‘be alright’ and it was going to come good. Robbo had a plan and we trusted him.

Speaking of that, never in my time as a Shrimps fan has any manager received such unwavering and vocal support, while delivering so little. Despite what he would have anyone believe, 99.9% of fans were behind him and supporting him. They would sing his song and mean it. I saw first hand one fan having a real over the top go at him and he didn't like it, but that was one fan. I haven't read (up until his defection) negativity about him and I truly believe even if he had taken us down we would have given him the opportunity to put it right. We knew he had put the squad together at the last minute and on a tight budget. We believed in his philosophy and we backed him vocally. We even kept quiet when the much respected John McMahon was quietly dispensed with.

Clearly, he was not committed to us and it was a job to him. I won't criticise anyone who leaves a job to get more security for their family, that is life. However it is totally at odds at where we are as fans and our commitment. We are emotionally invested in our club and can't understand why anyone would leave us voluntarily when there is an option to stay. But gone he has.

That brings me on to Derek Adams.

Whichever way we dress it up, he left us too when we wanted him to stay. The difference I see is that I believe he went for footballing reasons and not just for a pay rise. Bradford City are a bigger club than us. Fact. They have a stadium that is made for Championship level and a fanbase to match. They saw in Derek a man that could get them promoted out of the bottom tier of the FL that they have been languishing in for many years now. They identified him and I hear they approached him half way through last season to make the leap across the Pennines. They courted him and sold him the opportunity, no doubt backed with promises. Derek has integrity. It would have been easy for Derek to ‘do a Robbo’ and walk out on us mid season leaving the admin and recompense for others to sort out, but he opted to stay and see the job through. And that he did! We were only a point off going up automatically. While we all enjoyed the thrill of the playoffs and the ecstasy of winning at Wembley, imagine what that extra few weeks could have done for us recruitment wise.

While we were all disappointed that Derek left us, we felt we owed him a massive debt of gratitude and we moved on very quickly. No-one was thinking about Derek at Ipswich away, Blackburn away, or when we beat Sheffield Weds at home. That is football. We move on. The atmosphere has been amazing at the Mazuma, there has been a real buzz around the place and the fans have been loudly and proudly singing about our current players and Stephen Robinson, looking forwards, not backwards. Then Robbo ditched us. Leaving us in the relegation zone, Without a backwards glance telling his new club (with a straight face) that he had left us in a better place than when he started. Seriously.

The club is in a better place, but that is not down to him. That is down to the Directors and the new structure they have put in place at the club. The new General Manager Ben is superb! He has a vision and a purpose and he has surrounded himself with like minded people who are working hard to deliver a better experience for every fan. The fan communication has massively improved under Ben. The social media output has massively improved under Ryan Daly. The catering outlets have improved. The ticketing has improved. The club shop is currently undergoing a transformation. The hospitality is full and buzzing before every match and Martin Thomas is able to focus on commercial matters more than before. Even Happy Hour is now straight after the match in JBs! The whole infrastructure has improved. That is down to us being more stable, and while elements are down to the catalyst of being in League 1, a lot of it would have happened if we had stayed in League 2. We have got our act together and none of that is down to Stephen Robinson.

Back to Derek. The way I see it, we have now got the management duo that we all wanted at the beginning of the season. Derek Adams and John McMahon. I am sure that Derek will be richer in experience than before and I also would bet that he has a greater appreciation for our amazing club. We have 11 matches in which to turn it around and secure our status. If they do it, it will be an amazing feat, but I would back them all the way. Saturday was disappointing for sure but I think I see it slightly differently to one or two others that are making snap judgements based on two matches. Yesterday our team was decimated with a sickness bug. Not enough players to postpone, but enough so Derek could not choose from his full squad and the affected players being some key ones. One or two others were possibly affected (Cole being one, hence the withdrawal). We created enough chances yesterday to get at least a draw, if not the win. I still say their second was offside too and 1-0 at HT is a different story. I saw enough to remain positive and hopeful. We convert our chances and we will win. There has been talk over ‘Derek’s style of play’, with the inference that it is negative, but that is not really the whole story. We scored lots of goals last season and conceded fewer than ever before. That is what it is all about. It got us promoted. I think it is being confused with not getting sucked in and letting them have possession in their half. The gung ho football this season hasn't really paid us dividends no matter how exciting it has been. I will take cautiously won points over unlucky losses over the next two months for sure.

We have some tough opponents coming up. We need to give Derek our full and vocal backing between now and the end of the season and then take a considered view of the season as a whole whatever happens. No knee jerk reactions, just support for a team desperate to stay up and a Manager giving his best to help. Let them get on with their bit and let us get on with our bit. We are Morecambe FC and we will give it our best! Let’s do it together starting at Bolton on Tuesday!

[redrobo]

One word sums up the above.....SUPERB ....

[Born again Bill]

Excellent read mark

[Westgate Wanderer]

Well said that man! I think the support has been truly amazing this season, the fans stayed with SR right up to him legging it back to Scotland! I think we have the best man for the job NOW. Would be wonderful to get 3 points at Bolton tomorrow and once again get under Evatts skin! COYS

[thedoc]

Nice read, well written and clearly expressed. Only thing I disagree with is that Bradford is a bigger club than ours is. They were a bigger club than Morecambe - but they aren't now. Let's not forget that - we are not `little old Morecambe' anymore. Bradford, on the other hand, is a Fourth Division club with a Premiership mentality among far too many of their fans. To echo Derek's words when he parted company with them - if he couldn't turn their fortunes round, who can? (Mark Hughes, apparently. We will see...)

[Keith]

Nice read, well written and clearly expressed. Only thing I disagree with is that Bradford is a bigger club than ours is. They were a bigger club than Morecambe - but they aren't now. Let's not forget that - we are not `little old Morecambe' anymore. Bradford, on the other hand, is a Fourth Division club with a Premiership mentality among far too many of their fans. To echo Derek's words when he parted company with them - if he couldn't turn their fortunes round, who can? (Mark Hughes, apparently. We will see...)

N’ah!
Bradford as a city, has a population that is almost the same as Manchester (both over 500,000). Valley Parade is a 25,000 ground. It is a bigger club, they are simply failing.

Spot on Mark. For whatever reasons, Robinson talked the talk, but never delivered. Derek has delivered once, let’s hope he can do it again.

[Bristol Shrimp]

Yeah Bradford are still a bigger club - we are bigger than we were a couple of years ago but still Bradford are a far bigger club, bigger than a lot of league one teams and maybe a couple of championship teams too.

[Phoenix Shrimp 2017]

Depends how you define 'bigger club'.

Bradford have the superb Valley Parade. But they don't own it, therefore it is a Millstone around their necks costing them half a million pounds a season and on a long contract. (Incidentally this money goes to a previous benefactor of the club and is allegedly used for the Pension Fund of Flamingo Land retirees). They are also responsible for the upkeep of the stadium and lets face it, it's not in its first flush of youth so must cost a bob or two. We however own our relatively new stadium (or most of it). This gives us a massive advantage over them.

They train at a local school which gets a slating from some of their fans as being inadequate for an EFL club. OK our facilities aren't perfect but must be better than what they have.

Their fanbase is much larger than ours granted, but this season the gap has closed and we are currently a league above them........just. The expectations of their large fan base can also be a Millstone around their necks. They had their seasons where they massively overachieved and now many of their fans can't handle being in league two. Pressure, pressure, pressure, hence poor performances and a massive turnover in managers and all the problems that brings. Players seem to feel it too because many seem to underperform at Bradford as compared to when they are at other clubs.

So historically they have undoubtedly been a 'bigger' club but currently I'm not so sure.