Current Squad (updated squad list for 22/23)

[redrobo]

Delighted to have Cooney back in the fold.

Was getting worried (silly me ) about not having an out and out right back but should have known better than not to trust DA to bring in a proven player who knows the club and more importantly the way that DA works.

Just feel we need a wee bit more up front and hey presto....it's sorted....

[RapidShrimp]

Delighted to have Cooney back in the fold.

Was getting worried (silly me ) about not having an out and out right back but should have known better than not to trust DA to bring in a proven player who knows the club and more importantly the way that DA works.

Just feel we need a wee bit more up front and hey presto....it's sorted....

I feel like we need a midfielder, maybe who we’ve had before, maybe on loan from Burnley, maybe with the surname Phillips... I don’t know why I get that in-cling though...?

[Freez]

. Hold that thought.....

[HALMA 1983]

With Cooney back this is some squad Derek's assembling, can't help but get excited.
Morecambe are going to be firmly put on the map at long last

[Gone_Shrimping]

Looking a really good squad. Nice balance and options throughout.

[jbc.shrimp]

Thought I'd seen somewhere that Adam Phillips is returning.

[Little Shrimp]

GK: Turner, Halstead
RB: Cooney
LB: Hendrie, Conlan
CB: Lavelle, Davis, Knight-Percival, Bakare
DM: Diagouraga, Kenyon
CM: Phillips, Wildig
AM/W: Pringle, Mendes-Gomes, O'Sullivan, McAlinden, Slew, Price
CF: Stockton, Leitch Smith

Looking a good squad now! Not sure if DA will want Pringle out wide or in midfield, so we'll have to see with that. Might well be dependent on formation.

In terms of depth, maybe a back up right back and a back up target man? Although I suppose Slew can do a job there and perhaps McAlinden down the middle may be on DA's mind?

Overall though, feeling very happy with this squad!

[redrobo]

Discounting Price and Bakare for a regular first team place, I reckon there is one final piece of DA's jigsaw before the squad is complete in terms of DA's requirement for a squad of 20.

One of the earlier pics from the training field saw an unknown running alongside Slew...could he be our final signing and potentially the most significant to date...

[RapidShrimp]

Discounting Price and Bakare for a regular first team place, I reckon there is one final piece of DA's jigsaw before the squad is complete in terms of DA's requirement for a squad of 20.

One of the earlier pics from the training field saw an unknown running alongside Slew...could he be our final signing and potentially the most significant to date...

If we’re thinking of the same lad (I’m pretty sure we are) then I hear he’s signed a contract and ready to be announced

[Freez]

Great use of the loan system getting Turner in goal and persuading Burnley to let us look after Cooney and Phillips. Having decided to run with a smaller squad, it’s imperative we keep everyone fit, AJ in particular needs nursing, which would mean all the squad being involved at some point in the season.
I also feel that the current market has returned the power back to the clubs, as players are willing to accept a decent wage and not demand a daft one.
Heard positive things re Hendrie and Davis, Pringle was an annoying quality when at Rotherham so hopefully they will all work out as decent signings.
I have concerns re Knight-Percival, apparently good in the air but easily turned according to Carlisle and Bradford, and a contact at Exeter hasn’t a good word to say about McAlinden, but hey ho, he may well have matured now and hopefully we can use him.
Logically, selling Jordan C, that does point to one more signing? Does it? Would be nice, given AJ’s fitness issues, another forward??
Well done DA, it’s certainly got us looking higher up the table!!

[marky No.1]

Yes, having done a good building job from the back i feel we cant just rely on Cole and AJ, need another

[Little Shrimp]

Now with Mellor:

GK: Turner, Halstead
RB: Cooney, Mellor
LB: Hendrie, Conlan
CB: Lavelle, Davis, Knight-Percival, Bakare
DM: Diagouraga, Kenyon
CM: Phillips, Wildig
AM/W: Pringle, Mendes-Gomes, O'Sullivan, McAlinden, Slew, Price
CF: Stockton, Leitch Smith

22 players now, two players for each position if we assume DA fancies a 4-2-3-1 (which he did at Plymouth apparently). Also room for some players to cover other positions too which is handy and opens the way for a few different formations. Maybe another forward wouldn't go amiss but overall I think that's probably the squad pretty much sorted.

[Freez]

Agree Marky, but with Mellor looks like we are complete so might have to rely on McAlinden, who is a forward, very left footed apparently but primarily a centre forward not a wide man but has been used wide left in the past.All will be revealed.

[BerlinWaller]

A fit Ajay is vital. Hopefully DA will find a way to manage him without his legs falling off every 3 games. If he does stay fit, he gets double figures.

[HALMA 1983]

Could this be the strongest squad ever assembled for a new campaign?

[BerlinWaller]

And how many Scousers are left?

[HALMA 1983]

And how many Scousers are left?

Haven't got a clue? Think they're all playing at a higher level

Talking of converts, got your ticket yet? No use to Derek without one!

[BerlinWaller]

And how many Scousers are left?

Haven't got a clue? Think they're all playing at a higher level

Talking of converts, got your ticket yet? No use to Derek without one!

Which ones are playing at a higher level?

Don't worry about my support. I will be there for my 36th consecutive season as a Morecambe fan.

[HALMA 1983]

And how many Scousers are left?

Haven't got a clue? Think they're all playing at a higher level

Talking of converts, got your ticket yet? No use to Derek without one!

Which ones are playing at a higher level?

Don't worry about my support. I will be there for my 36th consecutive season as a Morecambe fan.

Mainly Accrington and the Premier league champions I guess

I salute you for supporting your home town team through thick and thin, now channel all your energies towards what could be one of fhe best ever.

[redrobo]

Delighted about the signings in general BUT wish we could sign a proven goalscorer and have we concentrated more on experience at the expense of younger more hungry players with ambitions to play at a higher level....who could use our club under DA as a stepping stone to a successful career in the Championship or higher

[black morse]

Delighted about the signings in general BUT wish we could sign a proven goalscorer and have we concentrated more on experience at the expense of younger more hungry players with ambitions to play at a higher level....who could use our club under DA as a stepping stone to a successful career in the Championship or higher

Let's not forget that we were again close to relegation and need experienced players get get us climbing up the league and our of trouble for once. I am sure that no 'experienced' players will be allowed to have an easy time under DA. Whilst we would all like a proven goalscorer they are not plentiful and would still command a transfer fee above our means. Your oft quoted idea RR that there are plenty of these in the lower leagues waiting to be found is pie in the sky.

[CityShrimp]

A strong and quick striker who can score would be the icing on the cake but I suspect the squad is complete now.

Hopefully Cole, AJ and McAlinden can find the goals we need, with others chipping in.

[Andy D]

Let's not forget that we were again close to relegation and need experienced players get get us climbing up the league and our of trouble for once. I am sure that no 'experienced' players will be allowed to have an easy time under DA. Whilst we would all like a proven goalscorer they are not plentiful and would still command a transfer fee above our means. Your oft quoted idea RR that there are plenty of these in the lower leagues waiting to be found is pie in the sky.

under DA we were comfortably away from relegation in the "Form Table" under his regime.

[Little Shrimp]

Let's finally dispel this 15-20 goal a season/proven goalscorer nonsense once and for all please.

These kind of players (at our level especially) don't really exist, and when they do they very rarely arrive as such. Since we've been in L2, I'd say the only play like that we've ever had was Phil Jevons.

And even then, a lot of it is about how you play them. Yes Jevons was proven, but a large part of why he did so well with us was due to the excellent partnership Paul Mullin struck up with him. Eoin Doyle last season scored hatfuls, but it's always been maintained by Richie Wellens that he wouldn't have scored as many had it not been for how the team play which suited Doyle. And take Shaun Miller for us - one good season where he got above 10 goals in 10/11 for Crewe but all his other returns were single figure. Struck up an amazing partnership with Jamie Devitt and stuck in 15 for us, yet we still finished low in the table.

Having a good striker with a proven goal record at the level doesn't spell success - look at Mansfield last season with Danny Rose and Nicky Maynard!

Promotion winning teams don't always need someone scoring hatfuls. Look at West Brom in the Championship this season! Their top scorers were Charlie Austin and Hal Robson Kanu with 11 and 10 respectively. Their trick is having a large number of players who have chipped in with a good few goals.

Then you have Ollie Watkins at Brentford with 26 goals and they missed out in the playoffs. But even then, Watkins didn't come to the Bees as a proven striker at the level. He was a punt on a player who had scored a few two divisions below - almost a bit like us and Jason Oswell! The difference being that Watkins/Brentford was a good marriage, and Oswell needed good crosses to thrive on (check his goal compilations with Stockport) and we didn't have anybody who could hit a decent cross.

DA is not going to find a magical proven goalscorer for us. Like most managers in the division, he will look to get the best out of the players he has. Whether that means Stockton, CMG or Phillips scoring hatfuls for us, or if they end up with an even spread between them. As long as the goals go in more times than the opposition, then it doesn't matter who is scoring them.

[Phoenix Shrimp 2017]

Totally agree with the last post by Little Shrimp.The mythical 15-20 goal a season strikers at our level who can do that consistently are usually snapped up by teams in a higher Division. The likes of Doyle who are capable of maybe 20 goals are ageing journey men who regularly move around to the highest payer and that is unlikely to be us anytime soon. The other way to get one is maybe grow your own. Very impressed with the young Crewe strikers last season who came through their youth set up and were very lively!

This season I think our midfield maybe more productive than the strikers. The likes of Wildig, Phillips and CMG can all chip in with a few. Good weapons to have and I used to love Drummy doing this as he was always good for a few every season.

Up top I think AJ will be more effective coming off the bench in short bursts, he did this to good effect last season. We need to nurse him along to keep him fit. Stockton will be a work horse, holding the ball up etc', but not likely to be prolific. No idea about McAlinden.

UTS. In DA we trust.