Morecambe 3 [Stockton x2 McLoughlin] Wimbledon 4 LIVE Thread

[P/T Indie]

What quality CB do you think we could get for £200k.

Maybe we spend the carlos money on buying Sam back

[fulwoodshrimp]

We could have run down Sam's contract and at the end of the season he would move on a free. As it is we received a relatively small amount of money for him and in return we are considerably weaker in the centre of defence.

[P/T Indie]

Indeed also sam could have walked away in the summer and had more offers been a free agent could have got a nice big signing on fee and even a club higher up.

[Ispyshrimp]

Fair Play to the manager, doesn't hold back when being interviewed about todays performance, no excuses made for the defending. in fact he states that they knew the threats from set pieces and practised all week. a good honest interview and overview of the game. i agree with his words that players were bullied today, especially the defence.

He looks fuming on the interview and looks like he takes loses hard.

[P/T Indie]

He looked really agitated didn't he like he hadn't calmed down and was still hoping mad quite literally.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I realise any mistakes by a goalkeeper are often unforgiving and lead to a goal but I think we have to manage our loanee goalkeeper sensitively. It might be the right moment to take him out of the firing line and work on some technical issues. He seems to flap at shots to his left hand like the first goal today and the Rotherham goal a few weeks ago. I thought today he never recovered from his mistake and spent the rest of the game rooted on the goal line unwilling to come for any crosses. Work also needs to be done on his poor distribution if he is to develop into a top class keeper. I know he is young but think now is the time to sort things out.

[Keith]

Before we hang Andresson, just remember two things.

1. He's only turned twenty last month.

2. He was MotM v Sheffield Wednesday, commanding his box superbly. A few Wednesday fans commented that they hadn't realised he was so young.

Yes, he had a poor game today, but he wasn't the only one in the defence. **It happens. He'll learn and get better. I'm sure SR will handle him correctly and positively. Don't know if dropping him now for a game is a good or bad thing, considering it is an U21 Everton game coming up?

He's a good, young keeper, don't panic!

[Little Shrimp]

The big encouraging thing from today was the performance of our wingers, and the extra bit of presence Wildig brings in the box. Gnahoua was brilliant in the second half - combining great dribbling with effective final product. The final pass didn't quite come off for McDonald but his dribbling was menacing and caused a bit of trouble. Really encouraging to see as he's not had the best start to the season.

Just shocking from set pieces today unfortunately. Keith makes a good point about Andresson and the Wednesday game - he was so imperious then but looked scared to come off his line today. I have a feeling that the early goal he conceded gave him a bit of a rattle that he never properly recovered from. Looks like he was a bit indecisive and was unsighted by Stockton jumping. In hindsight, he probably should have given a big shout to Stockton to leave it. Second goal was less about organisation for me and more about several players being far too easily beaten. Third goal Andresson and Delaney are indecisive - Andresson gets caught in between coming and staying while Delaney just doesn't put in a proper challenge at all. Fourth we don't clear properly, Gnahoua puts in a weak challenge and Andresson is caught in the middle of nowhere (not really sure how - should have had plenty of time to get back towards his line) which lets the shot go over him. Disappointing how many quite feeble challenges were made. All that said, some cracking strikes from Wimbledon for their goals.

Somewhat get the feeling in hindsight now that us losing our captain/most physically dominant defender and then facing the division's set piece specialists was always going to be a recipe for disaster. It's a relief to see a few more players contributing to the attack though, which had me concerned prior to the international break (ironically, the improvement has come in the same game Stockton scored his must stunning effort yet).

It's just one game and we're recovering from losing Lavelle. Plenty of games yet to go this season and this one wasn't all doom and gloom - there were a lot of attacking positives. Tuesday night in the Papa John's will give Wootton and Letheren a chance to stake a claim to get into the starting XI. It's a squad game so they now have the chance to step up and show what they can do after a below par defensive performance this weekend.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I agree with Little Shrimp that there were encouraging signs in the second half and Gnahoua has a good game. I also agree we have to understand the keeper is only young and has a lot to learn. What worried me most about yesterday's performance was the complete lack of any pace at the centre of our defence and the inability of the central defenders to mark their men properly. The third Wimbledon goal was a case in point. The big number 9 went to the far post for the free kick and was completely unopposed when the kick came over and was free to pick his spot with his header. Very worrying and I hope we will not regret selling Sam. I am sure he would have picked up the number 9 and not allowed him the time and space he had.

[Keith]

I visited the Wimbledon 'forum' to see what their thoughts about the game were. It isn't a 'forum', just a weird stream of consciousness! Basically, it is a 'guest book', so just one 'thread' with multiple conversations all going on at the same time. I read the first page & a bit of page two before giving up. I thought Facebook conversations were difficult to keep up with, but this was a bizarre experience and two minutes of my life wasted.

[Caged Lion]

Re Wimbledon’s first goal

I thought it was practically an og. We were directly in line and one of of our players seemed to nudge the ball up and over our keeper, ever so slightly, but just enough to mess with the judgement of Andresson

Yes we were poor in defence, yes O’Conner didn’t seem to exert much control, yes Wimbledon took their chances blah blah … on another day the magnificent header by Shane and the lob from Cole would have been more than enough to secure a victory

But it wasn’t, and another 90+4 goal stripped us of points

Let’s not get too discouraged. I have enjoyed so much more excitement from our lads this year than any other since we were promoted to Div 2

This squad is very good, our Stephen is no mug … we will no doubt have many more highs and delightful goals to cheer throughout the season

So I am not going to castigate our defenders, or bemoan the loss of Sam and Carlos. Im going to look forward to the next game and sing my tits off, shout and encourage the lads who pull on a Shrimps shirt because they want a win as much as we do

It’s a team sport, and moan or praise, fans are part of that team

[Westgate Wanderer]

Was very entertaing on saturday just a shame we didn't get at least a deserved point! I thought first half we were poor all round and their gameplan to pressure us worked well. Second half SR made a change and we got after them and looked a much better side going forward. Im sure we will learn from this result, but i'm not going to start digging out players after such matches. Blimey we're in League One what are we expecting? Another promotion push?? I for one am going to enjoy the ride with the other 3,000 plus (2,000 more than previous seasons) supporters cheering the team on! COYS

[Redalert1970]

Instead of people having a go at our defence let's not forget how good AFC Wimbledon were and have been this season

Our defence maybe had an off day but they are human and make mistakes

[Keith]

Re Wimbledon’s first goal...

...fans are part of that team

Agree with this and all the bits in between!

What an amazing season already? One of the best goals scored by a Morecambe player in decades, drew with Ipswich at Portman Road, beat Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, beat Sheffield Wednesday in the league. A packed Mazuma Stadium makes a great atmosphere!

What a fantastic time to be a Morecambe fan! Yes, naturally be disappointed when we lose, but come on, focus on the positives, there a so many of them. And if you ever doubt it, bear in mind, when I was at Morecambe High School, Lancaster City were the bigger club in the area!