Derek Adams is the best thing to happen to this club

[vanillaturtle]

Title. Anyone that says otherwise is completely, completely delusional. He made the absolute most out of one of the lowest budgets in both League Two and League One, achieving promotion to League 1 for us after being a bottom feeder flounder in League Two for decades. I can't believe the fans here have the audacity to talk trash about him with comments like "boring football" and "7 defenders is so boring"

What do you want him to do? It's amazing he's been able to do what he does which just goes to show his football IQ, resourcefulness and knack for succeeding in tough situations. You can't win playing with the same strategy as another team that has 5x your budget. You have to adapt and that's what he's done. One of the best managers in the football league with complete sincerity, has made absolutely insane accomplishments. He pays minimum wage for players trying to compete at a level where our finances just are unrealistic and competes, nearly avoided relegation this year. Look at what Stephen Robinson did, a manager that played "entertaining" football. Dog shit. Jim Bentley years of bottom feeding league two without sniffing what adams did in 2 years.

If Morecambe loses him all will be lost. No other manager available right now is better for this team. I trust his recruitment. If he stays with the same budget he can do the same thing and get us promoted again. He's analytical and can identify value players which is the only way to win. Stephen Robinson/ other managers will go ahead and recruit an Obika and flood our roster with useless players like Duffus Wooton Mensah wasting money. It's pathetic how a couple of bad games can turn the typical low-IQ english meathead football fan against someone who saved the club and gave the best years in the club's history. Ooga booga score more goals. How the hell do you do that with 10 dollars of budget?

[Andy D]

hope we can keep Derek, sit behind him in C Section, and totally on board in what he’s trying to do.

[black morse]

I too hope we keep him but unless the ownership is sorted out before his contract expires I think he will, understandably, move on. It may be difficult getting a new manager if the ownership has not been resolved.

When does his contract expire?

[fulwoodshrimp]

If DA goes it will be a disaster for our club. We are already in the mire, if he leaves we are sunk.

[CityShrimp]

Alright Derek

Truth be told, I get the feeling that he’s pretty fed up and I can see him choosing to leave us if he gets a better offer elsewhere. Also, I bet we only offer him a one year contract on a reduced salary due to the budgetary issues.

[Wild Bill]

I have to agree. Its been obvious since the summer that the budget wasn't there, even compared to the modest one Robbo got. Most managers would have jumped ship but he stuck around. With a bit more luck he might just have kept us up. Robbo took advantage of our promotion bounce and Cole's form but I doubt he would have kept us up if he had stuck around. I only hope we get things sorted by the end of the month as these clubs sacking managers would surely consider taking Derek

[Hodgie1978]

Also imagine what would have happened in Stephen Robinson had started the season. He would have jumped ship by December and revealed all the goings on behind the scenes.
Derek amazingly kept the squad tight and we nearly pulled off a footballing miracle.
Derek is without doubt the biggest asset at the football club.

[BerlinWaller]

The job that Derek has done at this club is amazing and the way he has gone about it speaks volumes. His leaving for Bradford was probably the start of our L1 problems as Robinson had ideas well above our station and his dealings caused us problems this season. Robinson would have got us relegated last season, Derek came in and performed his second miracle. To get us within 30mins of survival this season can be classed as miracle three!

If he stays then we will have a chance, whatever the budget. I think he gets the club and it's working class roots. Long live the King.

[red shrimp]

What I find baffling is that a lot of the fans wanting Derek out are the same fans that were happy enough to watch none existent tactics and terrible football under JB for so many years.

The abuse Derek gets from some of our fans is disgraceful, keyboard warriors who know nothing. There is definitely an agenda against him from some fans because he left for Bradford, they just can't seem to get over it, it's pathetic.

DA is levels apart from any of our previous managers , a proper football manager with great knowledge who's taken this club to it's highest ever league position and on a shoestring budget. He for me is our greatest ever manager and we are lucky to have him, and need to do all we can to keep him. There aren't any managers in the lower leagues that I would rather have guide us back into L2.

For me , it will be a sad day when he leaves this club, and I will be forever grateful for what he's given this club and it's fans.

Some people need to be careful what they wish for.

[Gone_Shrimping]

Agree with Vanillaturtle.

I can't think of a better manager to steer us in the EFL 2 and keep us safe if not challenging for the top.

He did an amazing job to get us to the last day with a chance of survival. I think we took about 30 points after Boxing Day.

[jbc.shrimp]

I volunteer in a position where I see a lot of our fans go through the doors who have said they will not be renewing their season tickets if D.A. is in charge next season, and a few who were interested in getting a season ticket but not bothering. They said they would come to selected games but that's all. Just mentioning. Before anybody asks, I'm on a lifetime S/T.

[Gone_Shrimping]

I volunteer in a position where I see a lot of our fans go through the doors who have said they will not be renewing their season tickets if D.A. is in charge next season, and a few who were interested in getting a season ticket but not bothering. They said they would come to selected games but that's all. Just mentioning. Before anybody asks, I'm on a lifetime S/T.

They sound like the usual Grumblers who expect Morecambe with a less than shoe string budget to be playing an expansive game like Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Most of the intelligent Morecambe fans realise the crap Derek has had to out up with and despite that he put out a team that competed with teams paying players £10,000/£15,000 per week.

As soon as this nightmare is over and Del and Rodders are banished I will renew my season ticket and give the club a donation.

[Keith]

What I find baffling is that a lot of the fans wanting Derek out are the same fans that were happy enough to watch none existent tactics and terrible football under JB for so many years.

I doubt if they are. You'll probably find in most cases, they were the same ones who wanted Jim gone sooner too. And if the club appointed Alex Ferguson, on a shoestring budget, they'd be calling for him to go if we weren't in the Championship next season!

I have been critical of Derek's approach to our 'must win games', where we were far, far too cautious, including, for example Milton Keynes in the League Cup, where we didn't manage a shot on goal until almost the ninetieth minute, and even that was a weak one. In fact, every time we played Milton Keynes, we made them look like Brazil. Cambridge away, we were dreadful. Port Vale away was one of the worst games of football I've seen in years.

But, [contrary to popular belief] I was frequently critical of Jim too, when I thought he'd got it wrong.

That's football, and being a football fan, with opinions [and frustrations!]

With a half decent budget, and also, not trying to get the best out of a good player, with a crap attitude, who really couldn't be arsed for most of the season, until he finally realised, if he didn't pull his finger out, he'd be playing in the National League next season, we'd have stayed up.

Despite his clear frustrations, Derek has remained professional throughout. I really hope he remains with us next season and we can have some stability and backing for him. Finish mid-table, and then Derek can build for the future.

[Wild Bill]

The abuse Derek gets from some of our fans is disgraceful, keyboard warriors who know nothing. There is definitely an agenda against him from some fans because he left for Bradford, they just can't seem to get over it, it's pathetic.

Possibly. I wasn't happy either when he left and you could argue that all the issues with Robbo's leftovers were Derek's making.

That said, the rumour is the deal with Bradford was done months before he left. At the time we weren't serious promotion candidates, but he committed to seeing the job through and got us into L1.

I also think one of the reasons fans don't warm to him is there are no false pleasantries with Derek. I'd say he's probably on the spectrum, which makes him not very media savvy. However, his footballing knowledge and principles cannot be questioned.

[BerlinWaller]

My word, you really do read some stuff on this forum. On the spectrum because he doesn't stand on the penalty spot beating his chest in front of the Bartercard?

The fact he left really did leave us up shit creek long term but he did give his reasons and saw the job through. Robinson gets an easy ride from our fans because he played crazy, unsustainable football. His transfer dealings are one of the main factors for us being relegated. He made lots of very average footballers wealthy with the contracts dished out. He also jumped ship as soon as he could, he is the real shit house.

Once it becomes public knowledge about the behind the scenes trouble this season, some people should hang their heads.

[Catte]

I may have mentioned I am a massive fan of Derek.

But first let say how saddened I was that you have fallen from the league this time, I am sure that once you get the bonkers pair out of your club you can start to repair the damage they have done. I wish you well for next season.

I think Derek will have a number of offers in the close season, and I suspect he will look at them his situation is difficult as he is running the risk of being pigeon holed as a man who can do it on a shoestring budget and once this happens that is all you get offered. He is a better manager than that and should he get a budget at Morecambe that allows him to challenge I think you will see that.
If he does not think that will happen and he gets the opportunity to test himself with money and good owners he may move on.
The problem with the move to Bradford is the fans there believe they should be in the top flight and expected miracles, he needed time and the fans and owners at Bradford are deluded which is why he was released last time.
good luck next season I will watch from afar.

[redrobo]

Sometimes in life one has to admit that ones opinions are wrong.

Whilst I'm no fan of DA's style of football he has, is and will be the only manager who will be able to get a competitive team together despite the lack of funds. I can't think of any other manager best suited for our current predicament and I hope that the ownership problem can be resolved ASAP to enable DA to do what he is good at and that is putting a team together from players out of favour elsewhere and on peanuts.

I have to accept that he has hos own style and will not change BUT nobody else could and will do what is required to see us back in a promotion push...hopefully next season.

[Little Shrimp]

I think Derek and Robbo are both very good managers. Different methods although funnily enough a relatively similar end product - lower possession, hitting teams on the counter/in transition, Stockton as the focal point.

Robbo had a tricky job over summer, and there were certainly a few big misses in his recruitment. That said, he was unfortunate too with injuries to Ayunga and Obika. I think Obika would have turned out well if Robbo had stayed, he'd looked sharp off the bench already. Just Derek didn't fancy him. End of the day, the reason why Stockton has done well with us because he's had managers here who all love him - it's massive for a player.

We weren't playing free-flowing attacking football under Robbo, and we weren't particularly car-crash in our overall defensive set-up (numbers back this up). We just had basically the most on form striker in the country at the time, and arguably the worst performing goalkeepers in the EFL (as well as ropey CB partners for AOC). Bedeau and Carson came in, and our overall defensive/attacking output sky-rocketed. I still maintain that the football we played between their arrivals and Robbo's departure is the best I've witnessed at the club. The way we hammered Wycombe and Bolton at the Mazuma was extraordinary.

I think with Derek coming in, he didn't manage the transition particularly well and that 3-5-2 he stuck with for a couple of months was one of the most god-awful things I've witnessed, truly back to latter Jim Bentley days. Then he tore that up, went 4-3-3 vs Burton, back to basically the same set-up he got us promoted with, and it worked a treat!

Over summer, he's ended up having a tougher time than Robbo did. Not technically a smaller budget, but very little wriggle room with the two year contracts and uplifts etc. I think he started the season looking to play very tight defensive football, but with the emergence of Weir/Shaw his aim was to go a bit more attacking.

The assertions about him going into certain fixtures with particularly negative outlooks are false. Particularly going into the second half of the season, we've been trying to possess the ball a bit more but have just struggled to create in the final third. We've not failed to create chances because we've been set up super negatively, we've failed to create chances because we've not had the balance right in the team to give our players the freedom to create chances in the final third.

Take the MK game away. We had way more of the ball than expected, moved it relatively nicely, in many aspects of the game bettered MK, but just couldn't break them down while MK seared past us on the break and created far better chances ultimately. That's not due to lacking attacking intent. That's more about not quite having the set-up right, which is ultimately down to Derek not quite having the freedom to bring in the personnel he needs for his set-up.

Robbo got the chance in January to make his L1 Shrimps side how he wanted it, and it was really good! Derek sadly never got that chance. Never got that proper DM in (although Gibbo's done a great job) and when he did find that formula with Gibbo and Shaw/Austerfield sitting, injuries to our other LBs got in the way. Also, injuries to Hunter and Taylor, his two marquee attacking signings, have been an absolute killer. I don't think we ever really saw what an ideal Derek side would look like during this season.

[BHmfc]

I had a short conversation with Derek when he first came to the club and he came across as a decent, honest bloke. I have always wanted him to stay and still do, however my fear is that a bigger league two club, with a larger budget and bigger fan base will come knocking. He has an excellent record , both in Scotland and England, the only blip being at Bradford where, in my opinion, he wasn't given enough time. I think they were tenth when they released him after only six months in charge, what is a manager supposed to do in six months ? If Derek goes I think we will be in a battle to stay in the football league, and if we do get relegated, we will never return. There are bigger clubs than ourselves playing in the National leagues, scary times ahead !

[CityShrimp]

For the record I am a Derek fan but I do think there have been games this season where he wasn’t positive enough.

It’s the time wasting in games where we have been more than matching the opposition but we seemed happy to settle for a draw…. Ripley faffing about, taking 30 seconds to take a goal kick when the game was there for the taking. After the game, we get told ‘XXX are a bigger team than us so this is a good point’ but if we only aim to draw against teams that are bigger than us then we will never win a game.

[BerlinWaller]

For the record I am a Derek fan but I do think there have been games this season where he wasn’t positive enough.

It’s the time wasting in games where we have been more than matching the opposition but we seemed happy to settle for a draw…. Ripley faffing about, taking 30 seconds to take a goal kick when the game was there for the taking. After the game, we get told ‘XXX are a bigger team than us so this is a good point’ but if we only aim to draw against teams that are bigger than us then we will never win a game.

I get your point and it drove me mad when Jim Bentley used to manage expectations with that kind of stuff in League 2 but I do think in League 1 the gulf was huge. You are mixing it with clubs getting 30k at home and clubs like Ipswich with massive investment. It wasn't a fair fight at times and getting a point from some games was an overachievement.

[KenH]

Derek has always played the "long game" over several games rather than knee jerk reactions on a game by game basis. It's a deliberate tactic especially needed when you need to develop under-performing and younger players. Time and time again, he's played the same players and kept them on the pitch even though things weren't working during the game itself, just to get them working together, developing themselves, etc., and that's led to some "gems" coming good, and better individual performances in later matches. He's also not going to substitute players just for the sake of using subs if he doesn't believe they can do better and change the game. Overall, he is a manager who works on brain/logic/intelligence rather than emotion. That's why he comes across badly to some fans as he's more of a thoughtful manager than a "buy you a pint" type of social manager. He's "head" rather than "heart".

A lot of what some fans have whinged as being stupid substitutions or when he's not made enough (or any) substitutions, changes of formation, leaving senior/experienced players on the bench, etc., have actually been done for a reason if you look at the bigger picture. You also have to factor in our awful injury record, with some long term injuries plus a few injury-prone players who've been constantly in and out of the squad. It's not unreasonable at all to "rest" a very injury prone player coming back from their latest injury if you're playing against an aggressive/rough opposition when you are desperate to keep them fit for other subsequent games - i.e. better to sacrifice one game in the hope one of your more talented players will be fit to play several other winnable games!

At the end of the day, Derek was forced to use a lot of young players, L2 players and some National league standard players, and most of our squad hadn't faced League 1 opposition in regular league games, so to a large extent, they needed a hell of a lot of training, nurturing, mentoring, etc.

The travesty is that Derek will have to start all over again in Summer to build yet another new squad of mostly second rate L2 players or national league players, again, scratting around for older L2 players coming to the end of their playing careers, hoping to spot some young talent released from higher league academies, maybe a few national league gems looking for their first League breakthrough, all topped up by young loanees again. If Derek stays and rises to the challenge, he deserves a medal!

[skeletor]

Wow people criticising JB! Waiting for the 'round up gang' to get involved.

[Andy D]

not reading all the above, people on here writing self important “essays” no wonder people use facebook, just keep it short and sweet.

[BerlinWaller]

not reading all the above, people on here writing self important “essays” no wonder people use facebook, just keep it short and sweet.

That's a shame, there are some very good views from some people that know their stuff. Worth a read IMO.