manager

[RealShrimpThing]

Leicester played Sunday.

12 home defeats is acceptable yes. It's not what we should aim for but its not unacceptable for a club our size. Losing at Dagenham is very disappointing but beating the likes of Walsall, Bury, taking points from Pompey home and away, Notts county home and away... is certainly not disappointing. Look at the size of us, we have no right to be in this league taking points off teams who should be a division or two up.

You won't listen to me I know that, but if Morecambe challenging for league 1 every season is what you want, I would suggest buying FIFA.

In my book we need to keep in the division until new investment comes. Then go from there depending on what their ambitions are. Keeping Morecambe afloat until then, Jim Bentley all day long.

We need to do our bit and support the club. Nobody's going to want to buy a club and inherit you unrealistic, negative, self destructive "fans".

P.s. I didn't enjoy Saturday, but sometimes you don't enjoy football. That's why we love it.

[MfcChris]

You can't deny that if we get under the usual magic 50 point mark, which looks likely now, then this season has been even more of a failure. Any other season we'd be down and only lucky as there are 2 very bad sides (who even beat us).

[Teams like Morecambe]

Leicester played Sunday.

12 home defeats is acceptable yes. It's not what we should aim for but its not unacceptable for a club our size. Losing at Dagenham is very disappointing but beating the likes of Walsall, Bury, taking points from Pompey home and away, Notts county home and away... is certainly not disappointing. Look at the size of us, we have no right to be in this league taking points off teams who should be a division or two up.

You won't listen to me I know that, but if Morecambe challenging for league 1 every season is what you want, I would suggest buying FIFA.

In my book we need to keep in the division until new investment comes. Then go from there depending on what their ambitions are. Keeping Morecambe afloat until then, Jim Bentley all day long.

We need to do our bit and support the club. Nobody's going to want to buy a club and inherit you unrealistic, negative, self destructive "fans".

P.s. I didn't enjoy Saturday, but sometimes you don't enjoy football. That's why we love it.

It's not all about the size of a club or the amount of money they have. Our six fingered friends have proved that, as you will witness first hand on Saturday.

[marky No.1]

Look at the size of us, we have no right to be in this league taking points off teams who should be a division or two up.

P.s. I didn't enjoy Saturday, but sometimes you don't enjoy football. That's why we love it.

Is that you, Jim?

We have been in this League as long as anybody bar Accrington, I think, which could change soon, so IMO we have earned the right to be in it.
We all expect ups and downs, but this season, with what many think was a very good squad, we don't seem to have many ups. The constant changing of the team and playing them in different positions hasn't helped my viewing at all. Our recent run in form is diabolical and we all know our defending has been rubbish, even the manager apologising on numerous occasions.
He even said he has never been so down after this weekend.

If you aren't wearing rosey specs, can I please have some of whatever it is you drink on matchdays

ps, yes, Walsall was brilliant and we are amongst some big clubs at this level, however we only play up to a standard for about half a game and about a third of a season

[shrimpnsave]

If you say something for long enough,dissolution sets in like concrete/self denial is also a point to learn!!

[RealShrimpThing]

End of the day, we all have different expectations of what Morecambe should be achieving. You lot can moan all you want. I'll enjoy league football on my doorstep and while it lasts (It won't last forever).

My specs and Matchday drink you will find are something called perspective. I would recommend it to you but I think you like being this way. Otherwise you would have to spend your money on something else you seem to hate, and someone else you can slag off (which you're in no way qualified to do) without getting a fist in your eye socket.

[CityShrimp]

I agree with RealShrimpThing. At the risk of being shot down in flames, avoiding relegation is an acceptable season for us. It's not a great season and I accept there's been a lot of poor results/negative performances but too many posters on here are treating this season as a disaster worse than Chernobyl, which it isn't.

And I don't buy the constant references to Accrington and the cries of "why can't we have that success?" Too many people in this life focus on the 1% of others that are doing better than them and bemoan their misfortune, completely overlooking the 99% that are relatively worse off. Yes, Accrington are proof that it is possible to do it on a shoestring but to say that Jim should be sacked if he doesn't achieve the same is lunacy.

The only thing I don't agree with is the suggestion that we 'have no right' to be in this league - we earned that right at Wembley in 2007.

Being realistic, I don't think the club will sell in the summer and I think Jim and Ken will be in charge next season. Fair enough, if the poor results just continue with no sign of change then I expect Jim will be asked to fall on his sword part way through the campaign, having been given the time and opportunity to turn things round. But I expect he probably will and he'll prove that this is just a blip in a largely successful tenure as Morecambe manager.

[Wild Bill]

I love Jim but he's made far too many bad decisions this season. We may have a small budget and dwindling fanbase but there is some real quality in our squad for this level and we should be higher up the league.

Without a change in ownership there will probably be no new manager in the summer, so I hope Jim learns from this very poor season and has the opportunity to change his ways. Play to your strengths, don't tinker too much and build the team around 3-4 key players (if we can hang on to them). He will also need to get his hands on at least two new defenders as I personally wouldnt keep any of them based on this season.

[Gone_Shrimping]

Who thinks our season would have been better if we had retained Amond and Hughes (keeping him as skipper) instead of signing Molyneaux and Dugdale ?

We need to sign some quality defenders in the Summer. Our defence this season has been a cross between Fred Karno's Circus and The Keystone Cops.

What's happened to Beeley who seemed to be MOTM every other game last season. Last Saturday he was beaten every time by the very impressive Hartlepool winger.

[BoroRedShrimp]

I agree with RealShrimpThing. At the risk of being shot down in flames, avoiding relegation is an acceptable season for us. It's not a great season and I accept there's been a lot of poor results/negative performances but too many posters on here are treating this season as a disaster worse than Chernobyl, which it isn't.

And I don't buy the constant references to Accrington and the cries of "why can't we have that success?" Too many people in this life focus on the 1% of others that are doing better than them and bemoan their misfortune, completely overlooking the 99% that are relatively worse off. Yes, Accrington are proof that it is possible to do it on a shoestring but to say that Jim should be sacked if he doesn't achieve the same is lunacy.

The only thing I don't agree with is the suggestion that we 'have no right' to be in this league - we earned that right at Wembley in 2007.

Being realistic, I don't think the club will sell in the summer and I think Jim and Ken will be in charge next season. Fair enough, if the poor results just continue with no sign of change then I expect Jim will be asked to fall on his sword part way through the campaign, having been given the time and opportunity to turn things round. But I expect he probably will and he'll prove that this is just a blip in a largely successful tenure as Morecambe manager.

I disagree with some of this, that we are little Morecambe. Carry on like we are and we will end up like Darlington if we are not careful. Fans expectations were to finish higher than last season, which apart from the start of the season has been a disaster. Without the fair weather fans their won't be a club, unless things change on and off the pitch.

[black morse]

I agree with RealShrimpThing. At the risk of being shot down in flames, avoiding relegation is an acceptable season for us. It's not a great season and I accept there's been a lot of poor results/negative performances but too many posters on here are treating this season as a disaster worse than Chernobyl, which it isn't.

And I don't buy the constant references to Accrington and the cries of "why can't we have that success?" Too many people in this life focus on the 1% of others that are doing better than them and bemoan their misfortune, completely overlooking the 99% that are relatively worse off. Yes, Accrington are proof that it is possible to do it on a shoestring but to say that Jim should be sacked if he doesn't achieve the same is lunacy.

The only thing I don't agree with is the suggestion that we 'have no right' to be in this league - we earned that right at Wembley in 2007.

Being realistic, I don't think the club will sell in the summer and I think Jim and Ken will be in charge next season. Fair enough, if the poor results just continue with no sign of change then I expect Jim will be asked to fall on his sword part way through the campaign, having been given the time and opportunity to turn things round. But I expect he probably will and he'll prove that this is just a blip in a largely successful tenure as Morecambe manager.

I agree with all this! I know it has been a poor season and many of you have felt that match day has been appalling but we are still in League 2. We are never going to have a big fan base, never have had, as we are a small town compared with many in the league, quite a few are cities or city sized towns. Despite what Accy have achieved this year money normally plays a big part (exceptions to the rule can always be found). Maybe one day we will be one of those exceptions but not for the foreseeable future.

I have issues with the way Jim runs things but honestly admire the guy for having kept us up and can't see that we would get much better with what we can afford to pay. I think Jim deserves one more season without fans on his back all the time. There have been some good performances from what everyone says but also quite a few poor ones. Do you think Jim doesn't know that despite what he says sometimes?

Perhaps our expectations were too high? It looks as if Devit is on his way upwards but let's see how many others are going to be sought after by bigger clubs. Many of us thought Redshaw was great at one time but he's probably ended up back in league 2. I suspect that at the start of each season we raise our hopes too high. I have to admit that I was very tempted to put a bit on us for a play off place when the odds were good but something held me back, thank goodness.

[Teams like Morecambe]

The arguement that our league position reflects our budget and therefore we are doing OK is basic. Budgets dont take to the field on a Saturday afternoon, players do. Yes we dont pay transfer fees, yes our better players will inevitably leave to join bigger clubs and yes we will miss out on ttansfer targets to bigger clubs. If we had a terrible squad then these factors would be relevant. However most fans agree that we have a decent squad, possibly our best ever. In which case we are underachieving. Judge Jim on his squad and not his budget.

[Keith]

At the risk of being shot down in flames, avoiding relegation is an acceptable season for us...

...I think Jim and Ken will be in charge next season. Fair enough, if the poor results just continue with no sign of change then I expect Jim will be asked to fall on his sword part way through the campaign, having been given the time and opportunity to turn things round. But I expect he probably will and he'll prove that this is just a blip in a largely successful tenure as Morecambe manager.

I know it has been a poor season and many of you have felt that match day has been appalling but we are still in League 2...

I think Jim deserves one more season without fans on his back all the time.

Perhaps our expectations were too high? It looks as if Devit is on his way upwards but let's see how many others are going to be sought after by bigger clubs. Many of us thought Redshaw was great at one time but he's probably ended up back in league 2. I suspect that at the start of each season we raise our hopes too high. I have to admit that I was very tempted to put a bit on us for a play off place when the odds were good but something held me back, thank goodness.

I think there is truth in both of these posts. For me, the frustration is that we began so well, playing enjoyable football. I've spent the rest of the season with a feeling of "I know we can do better because I saw it, why did we change?" Games like Carlisle away, I felt we were excellent, playing sweet football and we could have won by a greater margin. If we'd started the season with a group of hard working but somewhat agricultural players, who battled for every point, with an 'all in it together, us against the world' attitude and we survived for another season of League Two, on the same points as we are now, most would have considered it a success. So for me it is the 'could have been', with what I considered our best squad ever, that feels like an under performance.

The second truism is that for too many fans, the match day experience remains poor. Somewhere along the line, we have to look at what is happening and what can realistically be put right? How do we get fans using our bar before the game? How do we return to a feeling of 'this is ours'? A suggestion made often in the past is having a painted area for 'singers' behind the goal. Even painting the whole stand red? Get Jim, Ken & the squads, first team through to youth, down painting it with volunteer fans. Something that fosters a return to 'us' rather than 'them & us'. Sort the bar/food at the back of the stand so people can buy a pie without getting soaked. If the match day experience generally improved, I don't think the incessant negativity would prevail to the same extent. There were plenty of really REALLY BAD performances, often for the whole season, when we were at Christie Park. But the match day experience (pre-match drinks, sing song on the North Stand, players in the bar post match) meant fans enjoyed the experience even when the results were poor... ...most of the time!

Never let the football spoil your weekend... how do we get back to that mentality?

[marky No.1]

Never let the football spoil your weekend... how do we get back to that mentality?

Set off to Accy at 9am full of optimism, nice breakfast, relaxing trains, wander up to the ground, usual agitation between 3.04 and 5pm, head for Preston, then back to Lancaster and home after 15 hours

That's a start

Happy Big Birthday btw

[Trevor]

Amond and Hughes for Dugdale and Moly? No. But Amond and Hughes for Miller and Barky. Yes. Hughes no big loss. Millers better than Podge, just but glad he's doing well.