Morecambe 2 (Thommo, Lang) Chesterfield 2 iFollow Thread

[Freez]

Jesus, one of the best games of the season, with us missing three sitters in the final ten minutes and them missing another and it's all negative?

Yes we were 2-0 up, yes they got back into it, deservedly, as they played well, but I watched a great game where both sides created chances and went for it.
I agree the Nizic timewasting was ridiculous, but he was the only one, the lads put a shift in for me and a point was hard earned.

We didn't win, but we didn't lose, and it was bloody good game and we are still 8 points clear of them.
If you want doom and gloom, worry about the boardroom!

[John L]

Jim's assessment:
https://audioboom.com/posts/6791988-

[Morecambe Jack]

Definitely two points dropped tonight - we looked reasonably comfortable until half time and then threw it away. Goals change games and it was always coming after their first.

The time wasting from Nizic was highly embarrassing and extremely negative. We did have chances to win it though - Vadaine had 2 headers where he should have netted if he didn't have a 50p head and another from Wylde who didn't even hit the target.

Wouldn't go as far as Freez and say it was one of the best games of the season - there was as much poor football as their was good.

Overall we are very much still in the fight and I don't think we will hit 50 points now - but straight on to Saturday.

[OmegaTerraceRoar]

That might the folk who were chanting " the shrimps are staying up " something to think about,
don't be chanting songs like that until we are stopping up, that's just tempting fate

Without intending to be patronising or condescending, I try my very best to prevent the singing of "We are staying up" or "Bring me Sunshine" until after the final whistle to prevent the inevitable kiss of death.

Some may know me, some may not but as a relatively new Morecambe fan, I was proud to be one of you tonight. Encourage and guide your passionate and youthful fans rather than criticise the few who are becoming increasingly more frustrated by the lack of support from their fellow fans.

[Westgate Wanderer]

Jesus, one of the best games of the season, with us missing three sitters in the final ten minutes and them missing another and it's all negative?

Yes we were 2-0 up, yes they got back into it, deservedly, as they played well, but I watched a great game where both sides created chances and went for it.
I agree the Nizic timewasting was ridiculous, but he was the only one, the lads put a shift in for me and a point was hard earned.

We didn't win, but we didn't lose, and it was bloody good game and we are still 8 points clear of them.
If you want doom and gloom, worry about the boardroom!

yes fantastic we just held on to a point after being 2 nil up against the worst team in the league {table} and the thing is they outplayed us! They reacted at half time we receded. 1046 how many from Chesterfield? Crowds getting smaller. But hey everything is rosy under our leader!!! No doubt on Saturday it will be a changed side as they will be tired {bless} probably our biggest crowd of the season with two thirds of it the opposition. Think of the money and be happy.

[fulwoodshrimp]

Some things very clear after last night's game. 1. Nizic is not the answer in goal when Baz retires. 2. Vadaine Oliver will never make a footballer- he can't finish and he might win lots of headers but he doesn't seem able to control them. How many goals has he scored this season as our number 9? 3. We become too negative when we have a lead and invite pressure even against a team bottom of the league.

[mrpotatohead]

I think things off the pitch are far more of a worry than things on it, Jim has had virtually no playing budget for several years and grinding out results is obviously not pleasant to watch at times, but there's a reason these players play in the 4th tier , they are not that good.

Would you go to the burger Bar to the golf club and order fillet steak with 3 quid in your pocket and expect to get It?

We actually make do with the players no one else want , and have to set up stall accordingly, apart from a few hard working minor shareholding directors and a dedicated bunch of staff there is bigger all else left of JBs legacy , who's fault? .....thats debatable.

[CityShrimp]

2 points dropped.
Chesterfield are bottom of the table and they looked it, yet we couldn’t beat them at home. We often complain that we’ve had no luck this season but on the basis of last night, a relegation battle is exactly where we deserve to be.

The Nizic timewasting was embarrassing and confirms that we played for a point (yes, at home against the worst team in the division). If we can’t beat Chesterfield at home then what game will we win?

Not a total disaster but all the more frustrating because you could just see us throwing the 2-0 lead away and somehow, we managed it.

[Keith]

I agree the Nizic timewasting was ridiculous, but he was the only one...

He wasn't! There were at least two occasions in the first half where the ball went out of play, a Morecambe player went towards it, then stopped and jogged back on to the pitch to leave the ball for a Chesterfield player to fetch. At 2-2, Chesterfield players were racing after the ball when it went out of play, because they felt they could win the game. We were leaving the ball in the hope of drawing. How many shots on target did we have in the second half? When we scored the second, I thought we were well on top and thought we were going to hammer a poor Chesterfield side. Instead, the second half we let them dictate play until it was 2-2 and we then began to equal them (not better!) A draw was a fair result, but that is because we sat back against the team who are bottom of League Two when we should have gone for six.

I said during the game:

We're going to pieces They could have had three in five minutes. Can't decide if we were trying to keep it tight or if they've upped their game in the second half. Either way, we need to re-gain control pretty quickly.

Thinking about it, I doubt if the team bottom of the league and looking low in confidence are capable of such a turn around, if they were, they wouldn't be bottom of the league, so I think we let them in, not them forcing it. We need to adopt a mentality of scoring five rather than defending 'nil' sometimes. Yesterday, before half time was one of those games in my opinion.

[Gone_Shrimping]

I never felt confident even at 2 nil up. John Motson once said that 2-nil was the most dangerous lead to have.

We need Barry back between the sticks as soon as possible. The defenders have no confidence in Dan and he nearly gifted them a winner with his missed punch !

[John L]

I think things off the pitch are far more of a worry than things on it, Jim has had virtually no playing budget for several years and grinding out results is obviously not pleasant to watch at times, but there's a reason these players play in the 4th tier , they are not that good.

Would you go to the burger Bar to the golf club and order fillet steak with 3 quid in your pocket and expect to get It?

The frustrating thing for me is that I've had that 3 quid fillet steak a few times but more and more often I end up getting served a poor quality burger that leaves a bad taste. We've seen what these lads are capable of but there just isn't the consistency in their performances. For whatever reason, I don't know, but it's how I see it. Maybe it's just the way things have to be for the foreseeable future and that's fair enough!

[John L]

1046 how many from Chesterfield?

206, according to their Twitter feed.

[Christies Child]

I can't for the life of me see how some can think last night was a good game...

Maybe they could explain why yet another team to visit The Globe is able to control a game by playing it on the ground whilst we resort to panic hoof ball to anywhere...surely last night one can't trail out that often used excuse that the pitch is unplayable...

I don't understand why other teams seem to be able to do it but we can't, unless it's a directive from our management team that insists on playing that way...

At 2-0 my colleagues sat next to me, said that they would get back into the game in the second 45 because of our inability to play controlled football and to retain possession and sure enough their assessment was correct.

I've a lot of time and respect for those media guys who sit behind me, but have our standards dropped so low that we find games like last night...good (?)....or is it that over the past few seasons that games like that have become the norm....

[Phil Anderer]

I couldn't describe last night as good. Mrs A, who couldn't make the game, texted me at half-time to say 'sounds like a reasonably good match', to which my response was 'it might sound good, but...', and that's when we were 2-0 up. First half we were the better side in a poor game. Second half they wanted it and we didn't, almost as if the fact that they're in a relegation battle is foremost in their minds, whilst our lads don't seem to realise it. As for the time-wasting, Keith's absolutely spot on: it was far from just Nizic, and it started way too early. We need to get out of this habit, especially starting so early in the game. 10 minutes to play and a 2 goal lead, OK, I can see it, but first half? Utterly ridiculous. I appreciate we have limited funds and can only get a certain quality of player, but this is tactical. It's Jim Bentley saying 'alright lads, we don't need to score too many, just keep it tight, try and keep a clean sheet, and if we can nick a win we're quids in'. This was a home game against bottom of the league and we had a 2 goal lead at half time. I won't say it's unforgivable, but the attitude and approach in the second half was, to me, fundamentally wrong.

[Freez]

I apologise, it was a crap game, no entertainment, we are bankrupt off the field and shit on it, why do we even bother?

Nothing is rosy in any garden connected with MFC at the moment.

In my obviously completely wrong opinion OTHER teams can affect games as well as us. The Spireites essentially went from from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4 in the second half brought O'Grady on and played with two wingers with him and Dennis up front. It caused us problems as we they essentially went gung ho as they have nothing to lose. We did , we were 2-0 up and had a bloody awful "give the ball away in a panic 25 minutes".
Architects of our own downfall, probably.
Yes I would rather win playing crap but the last 20 minutes last night we had five presentable chances which Keith, as you say, didn't hit the target. However they were all decent chances we missed. They only had two shots on target the whole game, and they went in!! As did two of our three.

If we had come back from 0-2 down maybe we would be thinking differently, but as a spectacle the game wasn't for the purists but it was always competitive and the second half was like an FA cup tie with an ebb and flow little seen in league Two.
We had a good go, as did they, honours even at the end. One point isn't great but its again better then none.
I'm sorry if me enjoying it purely for what it was and saying so upsets anyone, but in my opinion, if more games were like that, despite the result, gates would improve, as everyone on that pitch gave everything. Can we stop expecting Barcelona style for crying out loud, we don't have the players, Neil you were complaining at half time when 2-0 up, and now you love it that you were right and it went wrong. Enjoy it for what it is, not what it isn't.
Chesterfield, who again looked a better side than their position suggests have fuck all to lose now and they gave their all as well. OH and while we are on it, we can only dream of having a target man like O'Grady in our starting line up, never mind the bench, money wise he is well out of our league, yet somehow we are still above them??

I await the backlash.....

[Shrimpy]

Maybe they could explain why yet another team to visit The Globe is able to control a game by playing it on the ground whilst we resort to panic hoof ball to anywhere...surely last night one can't trail out that often used excuse that the pitch is unplayable...

Chesterfield played it on the deck in the first half last night and they were abysmal. They stuck a big man up front in the second half and started playing long ball and turned the game around.

I think you see what you want to see some times to play into your narrative that every team we play against is a League 2 version of Barcelona whilst we just spend 90 minutes hoofing aimless long balls down field.

[CityShrimp]

It was our negativity that bothered me most, I think.

I’ve a lot of sympathy for Jim and disagree with those who seem to think that when we play hoofball, it’s because Jim has told them to do that. I’m afraid it’s because our players aren’t that good!

However, the timewasting must have been an instruction from the management - or else someone from our technical area would have been shouting at Nizic to bloody get on with it. The fact that we don’t have the ambition to beat the worst team at home disappoints me.

[Shrimpy]

However, the timewasting must have been an instruction from the management - or else someone from our technical area would have been shouting at Nizic to bloody get on with it. The fact that we don’t have the ambition to beat the worst team at home disappoints me.

I completely agree.

I will defend Jim to the hilt, I think he performs miracles and as Freez has alluded to above there are far bigger problems to get worked up about.

However, the completely negative outlook we had in the second half last night and Nizic time wasting in particular was embarrassing. There are times when I wish Jim would just have a bit more confidence in our players and their ability. If we had continued pushing last night from the very off in the second half and gone for a third goal there is no way Chesterfield would have mounted any kind of comeback.

[Christies Child]

Freez, no backlash from me as I respect both your opinion and the work you do for our club as well as the unenviable occasions when you have to ask questions of Jim which must be difficult knowing that he could refuse to participate.

You will recall me asking the question as to how we managed to be 2-0 up at H/T and you rightly answered that we played very well in the first 45 on Saturday but with no credit in the bank but that last night we found ourselves 2-0 but not having played that well. That's the game that we all love and what we have come to expect from OUR team.

My recurring problem is our style of play that I suggest has driven some fans away feeling that we are too negative and not an entertaining team to watch. Full credit to all those who will stay loyal despite the off field financial problems that to some extent dictate the type of player Jim is able to attract. However I still feel that we are more than capable of matching teams if we refrain from the the panic distribution that seems to have become the norm.

Maybe if and when the off field ownership is finally resolved ( I'm still confident that when our EFL status is assured that all will be sorted ) that Jim is possibly for the first time in his managerial career to date given the finances to build a team that is able to follow in the footsteps (as in previous seasons) of Accy and progress to the next level.

Whether Accy survive in EFL 1 is open to debate... but better to try and fail than not to try at all.

Respect as always Freez and co.

[Phil Anderer]

Freez, I assume that diatribe was in part aimed at me. I would simply point out, as I have on previous occasions, that it's interesting how people see the game differently. Opinions, as the saying goes, are like a***holes, we've all got one. Naturally some think others are, but that's not what I'm saying (or accusing) in this instance.

In a comparison that I think you'll understand, Wyatt loves Motley Crue, whilst I think Vince Neil's one of the worst vocalists ever to be successful.

As for your comments, there's little I disagree with, other than how good the game was, but it doesn't upset me what you said. In terms of the hoofball, I won't even try to search for the number of times I've defended Jim and said I don't think that's tactical but rather the players, although I do wonder if something could be done in training to try to iron that out to some degree, if the willpower was there to do it.

[Freez]

Phil, not aimed at you at all, I was writing that before you replied on the thread.

Neil, I didn't say we had played well at half time, I agreed we were playing long ball, but that it worked, with a quality free kick off the training ground which not one person has mentioned as a positive ( including myself) and Langs persistence. Sprireites played neat football with no end product, we didn't but scored, so even then I said just enjoy it for what it is.
It flattered us at half time for me.
As has been said already, they went 4-2-4 long ball in the second half and we took 25 minutes to work out how to stop it.
I get frustrated with many people forgetting that there are 22 players on the pitch and only 11 of them are ours, and that's the 11 most watch. I don't I watch all 22.

Interesting snippet, Lang was voted our MOM, Andy Kellet voted their MOM, he scored their equalizer, both on loan from Wigan Athletic, looks as if Cooky is keen on getting his youngsters manned up!!

[Freez]

And Phil, Saw Motley Crue twice, first time they worked the crowd and really were good, second time they had made it big they were average at best, drugs probably? Agree about Vince Neil.

[Christies Child]

re Lang and Kellet....will be interesting to see if both or even one of them is retained by Wigan if they gain their much deserved promotion.

I suspect that both could find themselves looking for pastures new.

Personally I'd welcome Callum back as a vital member of our Season 2018/19 season in the EFL (Note my positive comment) PLUS Old and Lavelle for certain....if at all possiible.

This seasons retained list will be interesting with some favourites and established players probably seeking contracts elsewhere.

Not sure who we've got signed up for next season but time for that much needed clear out...as long as we can hold onto Old and Lavelle but suspect that the scouts are already in attendance in growing numbers at The Globe...certainly an increased number last night.

[Keith]

...with a quality free kick off the training ground which not one person has mentioned as a positive ( including myself)

Talk about only seeing what you want to see!!!

Get In!!!

What a well worked free-kick! Winnard knocked the ball in to the area, Rose took a couple of touches, then crossed for Thommo to head in.

[Alan]

but suspect that the scouts are already in attendance in growing numbers at The Globe...certainly an increased number last night.

If we have such poor quality players why are the scouts arriving in increasing numbers?

Unless they were from Wigan Warriors or St. Helens, watching Chesterfield no 20 who had Lang by the wrists, arm, shirt or anything else he could grab, for most of the 2nd half.

Man of the match for me was the ball fagger, who must have spent most of the first half on the 3G pitches.