3 Months Into the Season Lets Sum It Up

[marky No.1]

Well having posted the thread and being one of the more positive posters on here, watched the game unfold in front of me today, listened to almost deafening silence around the Stadium, watched the management quite honestly lose dignity today I have to agree with the above comments, which are not moans but realistic conclusions to what is going on at the moment

[Sammy h]

Well having posted the thread and being one of the more positive posters on here, watched the game unfold in front of me today, listened to almost deafening silence around the Stadium, watched the management quite honestly lose dignity today I have to agree with the above comments, which are not moans but realistic conclusions to what is going on at the moment

Agreed, I love it when the management turn to the fans and declare the bench is too young and not good enough.

[Keith]

Is the reason we have no youth policy down to sammy

Yes, we knew that even before he arrived. It was never his way of working.

I know some don't like chopping and changing managers but then, some didn't like removing a stale manager after 11 years in the job so...

I think the issue is simply that I don't believe that bringing someone new in automatically guarantees success and that the clubs that stick with a manager tend to do better. I will never accept that the manner of Harvey's sacking was acceptable. What I do think is that the board should set down targets for the manager before the season starts. That way, if they fail, they know they have failed. They then explain why they failed and hope the board accept the rationale or they are sacked/contract not renewed and it is no surprise. I don't think the fans should be privy to this information. In that scenario, if Peter McGuigan had set a target of challenging for the top spot, then yes, Sammy McIllroy would go in January if that is already beyond us. If the target was safety, then no, he shouldn't go in January because he/we could/should still achieve that target.

What really annoys me about Sammy Mac is his patronising treatment of fans and I think that could come back to bite him. He is our most successful manager ever, so he should have a massive reservoir of good will to call upon. He really could do with improving his PR skills and remember that "fans" is a different word for "customers".

[marky]

Thing is, Keith, how else would the club have sacked Harvey? It's a badly kept secret that he was possibly one match away from being given the chop before he had his heart attack. If anything, that kept him on the payroll several months longer than might otherwise have been the case. I'm pretty sure there are laws preventing you from sacking someone if they have a contract and are on the sick, so they had to wait until he returned. As for Sammy McIlroy, you are right in that he often forgets who the majority of the club's customers are. They may only see his players once a fortnight but they see them the only time it actually matters, during a competitive match. They can train as well as they like, it counts for nothing if you're crap in a match.

None of us are privy to what the board's targets were for Sammy McIlroy at the start of the season. However, all the media interviews given since that date have been about "matching last year" with "the best squad we've had" and that "we're a much better side than Aldershot", etc. From those interviews I do believe we can begin to make educated and possibly accurate guesses about those targets and my belief is that his team (for which he has ultimate responsibility) is falling well short of those. Every time it looks like we might be starting to get somewhere, we take a giant step backwards.

Wild Bill, history counts for nothing. We are stronger club both on and off the pitch than Lincoln City in 2010. That is all that matters. The manager himself is guilty more than anyone else of what you accuse some of the fans of. I've just listended to his Bay interview. In it, he said that, despite the absentees, we put out a side yesterday that should have been good enough to beat Lincoln. He's consistently said similar things all season. Now either he's deluded about the quality of his squad or he's simply failing to get them performing. Either way, the club cannot afford for us to still be only 1 or 2 points above the relegation places by Christmas. The board could have a very simple choice. Do they give Sammy the benefit of the doubt and the benefit of a transfer window to sort it out or do they bite the bullet and take the risk that someone else may be able to succeed where Sammy is currently failing? It worked last time. After all, it may have been mostly Jim Harvey's team that won promotion, but it was Sammy McIlroy who, with additions like Stanley, Adams and Blinkhorn, got them playing to their ultimate potential. Only time will tell.

[Heysham_Shrimp]

Is the reason we have no youth policy down to sammy

Yes, we knew that even before he arrived. It was never his way of working.

I know some don't like chopping and changing managers but then, some didn't like removing a stale manager after 11 years in the job so...

I think the issue is simply that I don't believe that bringing someone new in automatically guarantees success and that the clubs that stick with a manager tend to do better. I will never accept that the manner of Harvey's sacking was acceptable. What I do think is that the board should set down targets for the manager before the season starts. That way, if they fail, they know they have failed. They then explain why they failed and hope the board accept the rationale or they are sacked/contract not renewed and it is no surprise. I don't think the fans should be privy to this information. In that scenario, if Peter McGuigan had set a target of challenging for the top spot, then yes, Sammy McIllroy would go in January if that is already beyond us. If the target was safety, then no, he shouldn't go in January because he/we could/should still achieve that target.

What really annoys me about Sammy Mac is his patronising treatment of fans and I think that could come back to bite him. He is our most successful manager ever, so he should have a massive reservoir of good will to call upon. He really could do with improving his PR skills and remember that "fans" is a different word for "customers".

Keith , I have been in management and I dont think there is a nice way to sack anyone.

[MfcChris]

Who wants to finish 17th-22nd and in that area all season - BORING!!!

[marky No.1]

Who wants to finish 17th-22nd and in that area all season - BORING!!!

"Dedicated Morecambe fan:
Life-time season ticket holder! | MFC Tattoos | Private number plate (Y8.MFC) "

[MfcChris]

Sorry marky No1 positive fan.

[marky No.1]

Sorry marky No1 positive fan.

No need to apologise. Havn't spoken to anyone that is "happy" being in the bottom half. I follow Morecambe as to me it is the opposite of watching boring football as you just never know what you are going to get and that is what League 2 standard is about. If these players were constantly consistent they would be playing higher up. Yes it is nice to watch a good performance and a winning team but I personally would find going to watch a team that wins/or is expected to win every week "boring".

I can assure you come April if we are still in 17th to 22nd place it will be far from boring whereas being safe in 12th without a prospect of achieving 7th would be boring!

Is that boring enough for you?

[mrpotatohead]

borilliant, yes borilliant

[trojan]

I think that we all must admit that the management has hit the proverbial brick wall but a change of leadership at the moment is not the answer. What with transfer windows not opening till January and departures before arrivals a lot of work needs to be done to refresh this jaded squad to attempt at least to define a nucleus of players that can kick on again for the second half of the season with hopefully a couple of additions.
It could be a lot worse, look at that clown at doomdale .

[heysham_mfc]

Just opened up MW is started typing sorry for going a bit O/T in some parts but here it is:
http://www.morecambe.vitalfootball.co.u ... p?a=221551

[Posh]

Marky just for the record Craig Stanley was a Jim Harvey recommendation.

[bigreddog]

difficult to know where to start with this thread. Football is a results based business, and when the results aren't going our way people are always going to question the manager, the players, and everyone including the tea lady. In my experience the average morecambe fan is a bit more patient than that, I think some are looking at the manner in which some of the results are going, especially against Lincoln who were in my opinion a very very poor side, and the questions mount up about performance as well as results. we forget the results against the likes of stockport, bradford and southend all too quickly.

Marky asked about the first three months, so here's my overall impression.

we started the season on the backfoot on and off the the pitch( but mainly off) and we haven't really recovered. Maybe Sammy does look at fans and forgets we're also customers as keith mentioned, but to be fair off the pitch I think we have some who look at us as customers and forget we're fans first. fans by the way not cheerleaders, so any criticism should be put in context and not held up as some sign of disloyalty as some often do.

we have a ground that will be good when it's finished, love the new scoreboard by the way, we have a squad that hasn't produced what we'd hoped, but they are honest professionals who will do everything to get the better results we all want. don't forget though that it isn't just about us, there are other teams in our division you may have noticed and they are all fighting hard too. we'll end up mid table or maybe a bit better, sorry if that's boring for some, but you know what would be a complete disaster? sacking a manager because it turns out we're not real madrid and then getting somebody in who promptly takes us back where we came from. if ever sammy does leave, he'll do when it suits to board and himself and he'll go with my thanks and best wishes, anyone that knows me will be fully aware of who I'd like to see in the hot seat next.

[Sammy h]

If we get John Coleman that is what I call a backwards step.

[bigreddog]

agreed, I'm not one of the Coleman brigade.

[marky No.1]

agreed, I'm not one of the Coleman brigade.

Or the milkman I hope