Big changes needed

[Kendalshrimp]

Jim needs to change these tactics and do it quick ! 4-2-3-1 at home isn't working and hasn't been for a long time ! There's big problems in the side that need fixing players with no confidence who looked like different players last season. How wrong was we all in the summer after signing all the players we did coming off the back of a good finish last season that we'd be in this position as we are now ? I'm trying my best to stay positive but if things don't get any better by the new year and I hope they do as I like Jim but he should walk away if not as he's took us as far as he can !

[Jettyson]

Agree.
See opening of of my post on other thread (Player thread v Cambridge at the Globe.)

[mrpotatohead]

I think that we need to be brutally honest here about our squad and say, due to budget, year in ,year out, we have a fair few players that would not get into any other league 2 team, of course the manager has to say he's happy with them, but come on, we have around 7 or 8 quality players, and even if they are all on the pitch, firing on all cylinders, they are carrying 3 or 4 passengers, we actually do know jim is a decent manager because against all the odds, he keeps us in league 2, but he must be gutted the fans seem to be turning on him, he obviously harks back to the same excuses because he cannot say anything else, he can't say, ''we lost because half my team are not good enough'', so he just has to trot out the party line, the chairman too, cannot be blamed for not chucking away cash at it, hoping somebody will eventually be daft enough to buy the club off him, its a failing business, without enough customers and its being badly run.

[Kendalshrimp]

I think that we need to be brutally honest here about our squad and say, due to budget, year in ,year out, we have a fair few players that would not get into any other league 2 team, of course the manager has to say he's happy with them, but come on, we have around 7 or 8 quality players, and even if they are all on the pitch, firing on all cylinders, they are carrying 3 or 4 passengers, we actually do know jim is a decent manager because against all the odds, he keeps us in league 2, but he must be gutted the fans seem to be turning on him, he obviously harks back to the same excuses because he cannot say anything else, he can't say, ''we lost because half my team are not good enough'', so he just has to trot out the party line, the chairman too, cannot be blamed for not chucking away cash at it, hoping somebody will eventually be daft enough to buy the club off him, its a failing business, without enough customers and its being badly run.

Could say we're a victim of our own success with the high finish last season we maybe over achieved. Now the leagues got stronger financially and we haven't it's starting to show ? But the fight in the team and players isn't upto scratch. Think we only conceded 3 goals about 3 times last season it's becoming a regular thing at home now !

[George Dawes]

do the same excuses above apply to Accrington Stanley and their home form?

how many Stanley players at the start of the season, would have got into other L2 teams? are they up to Scratch?

[marky No.1]

Not being funny and I can understand why , sort of, but here's another one..
Me and her both have season tickets, for which we were promised a free beer and a programme.

'She' couldn't attend so I thought yippee doo 2 free beers for marky having paid "£52" for our seats and me pay extra for hospitality.
Unfortunately No, the person has to attend - well ok if those are the rules, even though the world and his wife is coming through for £3

When I get the follow up for hospitality next week - stuff it - more money in the Hurley Flyers till

Benefits of being a season ticket holder (and a loyal fan) diminishing quickly. No FA Cup 3rd round for how long now?

[Phil Anderer]

Not being funny and I can understand why , sort of, but here's another one..
Me and her both have season tickets, for which we were promised a free beer and a programme.

'She' couldn't attend so I thought yippee doo 2 free beers for marky having paid "£52" for our seats and me pay extra for hospitality.
Unfortunately No, the person has to attend - well ok if those are the rules, even though the world and his wife is coming through for £3

When I get the follow up for hospitality next week - stuff it - more money in the Hurley Flyers till

Benefits of being a season ticket holder (and a loyal fan) diminishing quickly. No FA Cup 3rd round for how long now?

Got to agree Mark,

Never bother with a programme anyway, and even if we did, we'd only get one between the two. Mrs A can't drink beer due to a wheat allergy, and I was driving last night. (Actually had forgotten about the free beer ayway). The point being, the club gets our money at the start of the season to help them with their financial planning, but when offers like this come up we get scant consideration. To that injury, you can add the insult of last night's performance. It's now becoming a vicious circle - we've no money to spend to improve the team, so the performances drop, so the attendances drop, so the budget drops etc.

Said to Mrs A last night if something substantial doesn't happen before the end of the season, we might have an argument over the season tickets next year.

[black morse]

Does anyone else think that the time has come for Ken to sit down and for Jim to be up on his feet urging the team on. Do any of the top manger/coaches leave it to their number 2? Ken over does it anyway. A team goes out with instructions (right or wrong) and shouldn't need them thrust down their throat throughout the game. If things change during the game that is the time for new instructions to be given not a constant rant for 90 minutes (plus injury time )

[ezz]

Morecambe are a tiny club with a crap budget and even worse support. It was always going to be like this in the football league.
Yeah get rid of Jimbo, then what? We'd have even less of a budget and exactly the same squad.
Another manager wouldn't necessarily change our results we know Jim is a good manager, he's delivered season after season. We've just got a crap support (and £3 entry couldn't even get me through the gate last night) who think we should be pushing for promotion.

Pretty ludicrous to be honest.

[Pandashrimp]

Morecambe are a tiny club with a crap budget and even worse support. It was always going to be like this in the football league.
Yeah get rid of Jimbo, then what? We'd have even less of a budget and exactly the same squad.
Another manager wouldn't necessarily change our results we know Jim is a good manager, he's delivered season after season. We've just got a crap support (and £3 entry couldn't even get me through the gate last night) who think we should be pushing for promotion.

Pretty ludicrous to be honest.

What he said...

I honestly think Jim is one of the best managers in the football league! Given the budget we have, the size of teams around us and the finishes he has produced. I don't think we could find many better. He knows the club inside out and his passion is unquestionable. We have signed so many players who state the reason behind them coming to us was Jimbo selling it to them. Morecambe cannot be a very attractive proposition for many but his passion for the club clearly shines through.

Do not get me wrong nobody likes losing games of football weather you have to pay for it or not. But i think there are a lot of 'fans' in need of a serious reality check. If we finish where we are that's another great achievement this season. Yes we can aim for more, we all know we are capable of it and have the players with ability to produce it but this league is so competitive there are bound to be inconsistent runs and frustrations that come. Also let's not forget that Cambridge are playing under a new manager and the usual increase in performance, work rate etc that that brings. They were clearly desperate to get Derry his first win.

The main issue for me at this club is not the players, it's definitely not the manager..it's the fans and the attitudes of them. We were the top scorers in the country and we were scraping 1,100 for a home game. The club delivers numerous offers to get the fans in and they don't show then too many of the ones that do moan and groan about not wanting to come again.

People on here joke they can't have negative opinions. Not at all. I come away from games thinking "That was shite"..but get some perspective, move on and get behind the team next week

[Morecambe Jack]

But the perspective you need to see, Pandashrimp, is one that isn't of a fan who goes week in week out like most of us on here.

The analogy I used last night was if you went to a restaurant, had a shit meal, then they said come back buy a drink and you can have that shit meal again, would you? The answer is probably not, especially if you had a nice pizza in the freezer.

People will come and watch us if the product is good - that is the football, the atmosphere, the facilities - the whole package. We have had bigger attendances at full cost than last night at £3.

As for Jim, I certainly don't want to see us get rid of him but it is wrong to believe that he is free from any criticism. On the whole, him and the players get an easy ride in comparison to if they were at other clubs. This team should be doing better than what it is doing - it doesn't matter what the budgets are. It is a stupid excuse and a defeatist attitude that we shouldn't be doing any better because we are a small club. We will just wave Accy off as they go up on an even smaller budget but with a better attitude.

[Shrimpy]

The main issue for me at this club is not the players, it's definitely not the manager..it's the fans and the attitudes of them. We were the top scorers in the country and we were scraping 1,100 for a home game. The club delivers numerous offers to get the fans in and they don't show then too many of the ones that do moan and groan about not wanting to come again.

6 home defeats out of the last 7 games is the answer to that one. People don't want to pay to watch defeats.

I agree with your assessment, we are lucky to have Jim and I'd give him a 10 year contract tomorrow if I could.

It's just incredibly frustrating that we can't transfer our away form to the Globe.

If you swapped our home and away results around this season there wouldn't be anywhere near the same amount of moaning as there is now despite the fact we would be in exactly the same position in the league (6 points off the playoffs).

[Freez]

Thing is Panda, the recurring and sarcastic insistence that you cannot post on here unless you are positive is a facile statement which we all know to be untrue.
If you're looking at the past week or so, there has been nothing but negativity with very little repost from anyone. That's hardly surprising given the past two home games, however it still remains that many members have stopped posting as they got personal abuse for being positive.
They decided to stop posting which is there prerogative, they are all grown ups after all.

In my humble opinion balance and fairness dictates that discussion and reasoned argument from both sides should take place, hence Solent Shrimp and others entering into political sparring off topic weekly.
Peter has a brain and uses it cleverly, and it provokes discussion, mostly O/T to be fair, but its both sides of a point of view and all in between.
Shouldn't it be the same for the football?
It would be nice if some of the more positive types returned but as its stands there are still plenty of people out there who do have perspective and voice it, just not on here anymore.
This place is a not a Vox Pop of everyone, just a few who share their views, but the general fan doesn't necessarily post on here anymore unfortunately.

We all want us to do well, personally I just think we need to be careful what we wish for. Ambition is all well and good but there are countless teams in the Bananarama League who get a great deal more fans through the turnstiles and have better budgets than we have who would kill to be where we are! This could be the best we ever are or will be, who knows?

My question is, What does the future hold for Peter McGuigan and MFC?
He appears to have lost interest, the older board members have apparently got fed up at contributing yet have no say in the running of the club and gone. Rod hangs on but is rarely seen.
Bolton are 167million in debt and the owners will walk away for peanuts and write the debt off if someone can come in and take the club forward.This is unlikely to happen short term for us, but we are stagnating off the field and currently struggling on it in my opinion.
Peter McG has done a great job, but at what cost to him and the club we all love?

We will survive this season, perhaps a Spring rally will enable us to get amongst the play-offs? The JPT is still on the cards too, who knows how we will do in that, but that's just my rose tinted specs seeing things!

And Shrimpy I agree completely with the reverse the results home and away and there wouldn't be as much frustration from all of us.
Jack I'm not keen on pizza, but the point again is a fair one, we cannot keep churning out performances like that and expect the crowds to keep attending.
Keep the Faith

Can somebody please win the lottery quick??

[marky No.1]

When Rod retired the CEO, PMG took over and said he was going to be about the place more on a daily type basis. This was at the time when the Shanghai announcement was going to be made.
What's happened

[Seasider9601]

To which bit?

PMG being around more, or the Shanghai announcement?

Or, both??!!!

[mrpotatohead]

Some fans on here are privy to a bit of inside info, but choose not to impart it , as it may be quite bleak, the problem with absolute power in any business is that it only works if the owner is dedicated to it, a loss of interest can be fatal.

[marky No.1]

Both, although the Shanghai thing was described as being ongoing and not a cash investment. Just expected a bit of an update every now and again.
Maybe PMG is on a junk somewhere touting

[ChrisC]

Interesting which of Jim's cliches we aren't hearing this year.

No "running through walls' or " great spirit". Telling?

[mrpotatohead]

The ones that were able to run through walls were unfortunately not fitted with a reverse gear, so they have run off!

[Seasider9601]

Both, although the Shanghai thing was described as being ongoing and not a cash investment. Just expected a bit of an update every now and again.
Maybe PMG is on a junk somewhere touting

Just seems such a damp squib and a let down now after so much of it was made by the club at the time, what, 18 months ago now??

It was discussed at length on Radio Lancashire and (correct me if I'm wrong) BBC North West Tonight and was described as "exciting times for the club"

[mrpotatohead]

The VISITOR AUGUST 19 2014 '''MORECAMBE FC 'S HISTORIC CHINA DEAL'' , was tucked way on the front page, MFC sign histerical link up, oops, historical, to become a major ''football brand'' in Shanghai!


haha.

[Wild Bill]

Correct me if I am wrong, but have the Chinese signs now gone from the Globe? Did anyone know what they actually said?

Financially we are stuck in limbo, with a chairman who wants rid but isn't prepared to walk away without recouping his investment.

[ezz]

How are we supposed to attract new fans? Anyone old enough to go on their own has known about MFC for years. We're tiny local side with absolutely no dream of going anywhere. Back in the conference the dream was always football league and we were always there or thereabouts so it attracted interest.
Now we're in the league with a budget that can't get us promoted and no long term funds to sustain a promotion anyway.

We've reached our limit, the only people that will watch are the hardcore and the odds floaters for big games.
We absolutely fucked our one chance of any excitement and bar Goodall for Kenyon I blame the players for completely assuming they'd won after 7mins.

[Sammy h]

do the same excuses above apply to Accrington Stanley and their home form?

how many Stanley players at the start of the season, would have got into other L2 teams? are they up to Scratch?

Hit the nail on the head there George. Two very similar football teams with totally different attitudes.

[Pandashrimp]

But the perspective you need to see, Pandashrimp, is one that isn't of a fan who goes week in week out like most of us on here.

The analogy I used last night was if you went to a restaurant, had a shit meal, then they said come back buy a drink and you can have that shit meal again, would you? The answer is probably not, especially if you had a nice pizza in the freezer.

People will come and watch us if the product is good - that is the football, the atmosphere, the facilities - the whole package. We have had bigger attendances at full cost than last night at £3.

As for Jim, I certainly don't want to see us get rid of him but it is wrong to believe that he is free from any criticism. On the whole, him and the players get an easy ride in comparison to if they were at other clubs. This team should be doing better than what it is doing - it doesn't matter what the budgets are. It is a stupid excuse and a defeatist attitude that we shouldn't be doing any better because we are a small club. We will just wave Accy off as they go up on an even smaller budget but with a better attitude.

Fair points. The overall experience is definitely a struggle but sometimes I feel like the battle is lost before people are through the turnstiles. The Stanley comparison is valid also. I just feel that when we go on runs similar to that of theirs currently things are rosey but when we hit drops in form the negative reactions are ridiculous. Especially those calling for the manager's head. That's why I was using words like perspective. I think the term has been used on here before..sometimes I reckon we become victims of our own success.

I guess the general poor atmosphere , experience and horrendous form at home does however magnify and increase the negativity and over reactions. Bring back 'Football league, and aving a laugh'