LEAGUE TWO. SATURDAY, 10th FEBRUARY 2024.

Sad Sutton Don’t Like It `App Norf’…

Once again, we must start this week with developments off the field. The bad news is that Assistant Manager John McMahon – who was on sabbatical as he recovered from surgery – has been charged by the Football Association with `misconduct’ earlier in the week. According to the BBC Sport website last Wednesday,

“It is alleged that McMahon breached FA Rule E1(b) by betting on football matches a total of 251 times. The FA added that the bets were said to have been placed between 30 November 2019 and 14 October 2023. McMahon, who stayed as assistant to Ged Brennan (sic.) after Derek Adams’ exit in November, has until Thursday to reply.

Talk about kicking a man when he’s down…

John has subsequently resigned his position at Morecambe, which is a shame for everyone concerned. The club’s Co-Chairman, Rod Taylor said this on behalf of the Board:

“John has played a great part in our history. We will never forget the highs of that day at Wembley and the experiences of competing in League One, which John has been an integral part of. He has also played his part in bringing through young players to the first team environment, such as Carlos Mendes Gomes and Adam Mayor, and has been a consistent support to the Manager and staff alike. We wish John the very best, he’s a top individual and we thank him for all he has done at the club.”

I’ve nothing further to add other than to personally wish John all the best both as far as this matter is concerned and his general recovery after his recent operation.

It would be remiss, too, not to mention events which have unfolded this week hundreds of miles away to the north. After just 79 days in charge, our former Manager Derek Adams has resigned as the boss of Ross County. In his third stint in charge, the best manager our club has ever had achieved quite a lot in his very short tenure; nearly all of it negative from his point of view. In no time at all, Derek managed to alienate almost everybody in his home country by describing Premiership Scottish Football in general as `rubbish’. He didn’t endear himself any better to the wider Scottish fanbase or the administrators who are in charge of the game North of the Border by stating:

“I’ve left a team down in League Two that’s miles better than this team. MILES. That’s saying something. We had the bottom budget in League Two and we’re a hundred times better than this – A HUNDRED TIMES.”

He has said subsequently that his own squad are not good enough and has banged-on repeatedly about the `lack of quality’ which characterises his own team. Unsurprisingly, this has not motivated his players and they have responded by losing seven and only being victorious twice in his eleven games in charge. During this time, they were dumped out of the Scottish FA Cup by Partick Thistle – a division below them – before being mauled 5-0 at struggling Motherwell last Tuesday with no less than seven of Derek’s recent personal signings in the team. With a further humiliation almost guaranteed against mighty Rangers scheduled in County’s next game on Wednesday, it seems that Derek saw the writing on the wall and jumped before he was pushed.

Whatever else anyone may think about him, there’s no disputing that King Derek is a very smart guy. There’s always an ulterior motive behind statements like the ones we’ve just quoted which many Scottish papers and the media up there in general dismissed as an `outburst’ or a `rant’. He noticeably never criticised his players when he was in charge at Morecambe and I don’t believe he did it at Plymouth previously either. I suspect the King was trying to generate a reaction from his own squad by taking the extreme measure of criticising them in public. For once, this was a ploy which backfired on him. But I could be mistaken: only he could tell you why he said the things he did. However, smart cookies like Mr Adams always live and learn and the one certain thing is that – although he may not be welcome in Scottish football at this moment at time – Derek will be in huge demand elsewhere in the world.

There has been a certain amount of schadenfreude – as they say in Jamaica (taking pleasure in other people’s misfortunes) – on the mouthpiece for loudmouths and the generally intellectually stunted otherwise known as social media since Derek stepped-down. Some of our own number have piled-in and both sneered at our most successful manager ever and clearly taken inordinate pleasure in his current dip in fortunes. All I can say is that these individuals either have very short memories – or they have never appreciated the true situation at our club which finally caused him to jump ship earlier this season. Ged Brannan is doing a remarkable job in Derek’s absence and one of many ironies is that it seems to me at least that he has built a stronger squad in the absence of the loanees who Derek attracted to the club (and who all left in the wake of his departure) than the one bequeathed to him just over 80 short days ago. Long may it last. But who knows what the future may hold? For me at least, Derek Adams remains the King at Morecambe simply because of his unparalleled achievements at our club and if a situation was to arise where there was a vacancy in future times, I would personally welcome his return with open arms. Good luck to him in whatever happens in the meantime.

Now let’s return to reality and today’s match…

Morecambe welcomed Sutton United to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium for the first time ever this afternoon. Sutton had an almost legendary status as a non-league club: memorably dumping such worthies as FA Cup winners Coventry City and Leeds United out of the competition in the past. But life in the Football League has proved to be less than a bed of roses for the club from Surrey. Iconic Manager Matt Gray – who guided the Amber Army into the EFL three years ago – parted company with United earlier this season with the club stuck in the relegation positions in League Two. Things have barely improved since: they have not won any sort of football match for ages and their league form is an astonishing five draws and one defeat in their last six games. But for Forest Green Rovers – just two points behind them in the table but with a game in hand – Sutton would be rock bottom of the entire Football League. So if they were to lose this afternoon’s game and FGR were to overcome Mansfield in Gloucestershire (not very likely in all truth); United could have the unwelcome distinction of propping-up the entire EFL Pyramid this evening.

Morecambe started the game in twelfth place in League Two with two games won and two lost in their last six league outings. The two clubs have only met once previously in the EFL: the reverse fixture at Gander Green Lane in August, when Derek Adams’ side came away with a bruising win by the odd goal in five. As far as their latest meeting is concerned, Our Ged told the media earlier in the week:

“They’ll be fighting for their lives. There’s going to be no easy games. I’ve told the players: don’t go into Saturday’s game thinking it’s going to be an easy game – because it’s not. They are a big, solid team; really dangerous on set-pieces and especially on long throw-ins.  We need to be on our game to get a result on Saturday; it’s going to be a really, really tough game. We need to set a really high tempo right from the first whistle and take the game to them – which we will (on) Saturday.”

Opposition Manager Steve Morison has been in charge of the U’s for just over a month, during which time Sutton have failed to win a single game of football in any competition. Along with his obvious expertise concerning soccer, Professor Morison – perhaps surprisingly – also clearly prides himself on being a bit of an amateur meteorologist as well.  Donning this specialist hat, he took the trouble to express an interesting view of the atmospheric conditions `app norf’ which he threw-in for good measure during his assessment of the task facing his men today. We will return to this tremendously enlightening Southern-centric outlook on the `wevver’ – sorry; weather – and no doubt all other things North of Watford – in due course:

“They are a very good team. I think they are the highest over-achieving team in the EFL in terms of data and numbers. They’re a threat; they’re good at what they’re good at – we need to try and disrupt that. It’s a long journey for us and the start of a big week: one that the lads are buzzing for; I’m buzzing for – apart from the weather: I presume it gets worse when you get to Morecambe” (general laugher in the interview room at this extraordinarily insightful quip). “It’s the next test. I can’t wait for it. Hopefully, Morecambe have seen our games and they’re sitting there going `they’re a different proposition to what they were previously’ and are worried about us.”

From Mr Morison’s M25 bulwark mindset, the groundstaff set the tone for the weather in north Lancashire this afternoon. Smothered in Woad as usual and dressed in animal furs, they used Woolly Mammoths as beasts of burden whilst they smashed through the ice with large flints to make today’s surface playable. (All this, of course, after scaring the local Polar Bears away by performing the usual Neolithic Haka-like dance and loudly grunting at them – “Ug!”)

For the rest of us, the day dawned sunny and bright and by kick-off was actually quite mild for the time of year with a gentle breeze drifting over the ground from the sea nearby.

The visitors – playing in their home Amber strip – kicked-off and started the game quite brightly. But with just four minutes played – and with Morecambe’s first attack of the match – they were behind. Charlie Brown – playing right at the back – got the better of Nino Adom-Malaki by pinching the ball off him in the home penalty area. Next thing, Joel Senior was progressing with it down the right wing. He exchanged passes with Charlie – who had run on ahead of him; pressed on into the Sutton penalty area and slid in a perfect low pass which Ged Garner swept home from the centre of the goal for his third strike in the last two games.

But United kept on playing away and their style soon became apparent. They have some very big lads in the team and – if their Manager is to be believed – two exceptional talents in the small frames of the aforementioned Nino Adom-Malaki and Stephen Duke-McKenna. The latter put a shot from a free-kick in a really promising position for the visitors way over the bar with ten minutes played. His reaction to this – basically a hissy-fit on the field – was not an isolated incident. This is because he did not get things all his own way this afternoon: Senior and – at times – Brown basically played him out of the game – and he clearly didn’t take kindly to it. Big, rough Sam Hart also threw a bit of a wobbly (as well as the ball) early in the game when he was obliged to give a throw-in he wanted to take to a team-mate instead. He slammed the ball into the ground towards this colleague and things like this made you wonder what sort of discipline – or togetherness – this team actually possess. The answer is: not a lot. The way they wanted to mix-it with Morecambe on several occasions when they had conceded free-kicks said a lot about the basically Neanderthal way they play. And as for the other nascent superstar – Adom-Malaki – his contribution to proceedings was so ineffectual (a booking for a sneaky nudge in the back of young Charlie was probably the highlight of his day) that he was taken off at half time. 

Before this, Brown had forced a save from Dean Bouzanis in the away goal after a quarter of an hour – from an acute angle on the Morecambe right, Charlie basically walloped the ball straight at the away goalkeeper. At the other end, though, Archie Mair had precisely no saves to make – and precious little to do otherwise either.

Steve Morison shook things up with three changes at half time. There’s little doubt, too, that he told his men to play at a faster pace and they dominated the play for the first eight minutes or so of the re-start. Having said that, they never troubled the Shrimps’ goal during this time but the possibility that they might clearly prompted Our Ged to change things himself  Off came largely ineffectual debutant Julian Larsson along with Charlie – who had played well throughout. Their replacements transformed the game. Jordan Slew was a constant worry for the Amber rearguard and Gwion Edwards provided a much-needed pivot in midfield which allowed the men in the red shirts to get a stronger grip on the game from then on. Jordan showed his intent when his superb cross from the Morecambe left was only just too high for an onrushing Edwards to head home after 56 minutes. Just five minutes after the changes, Morecambe had the ball in the net but the linesman’s flag stopped the celebrations in their tracks. It was a very close decision and I personally think the man with the flag got it wrong. But it doesn’t matter what I think: Referee Peter Wright disallowed the effort. The dangerous-looking Garner then had a shot deflected for a corner with an hour on the clock. A minute later, Edwards forced a full-length save to his right from the away stopper with a tremendous shot from the Shrimps’ left. Slew then turned full-back Ryan Jackson inside-out just beyond the right edge of his own penalty area from the defender’s point of view after 72 minutes . As Jordan got beyond him and had a clear run at goal in his sights, Jackson pulled him over. Mr Wright should have sent him off. But the Referee should have already sent off Duke-McKenna for a crude and out-of-control lunge earlier in the half – but he didn’t even book the Sutton man. Chris Stokes was then just a whisper away from another dangerous cross from the left by Slew in the sixty-eighth minute. A clearly cream-crackered Garner then could – and should – have scored a second when a superb pass by Edwards set him up one-on-one with the visiting goalkeeper with eighty-six minutes played. But he held onto the ball too long and Bouzanis was able to pull-off a brave but crucial save.

And what did the visitors offer in the meantime? Skipper Craig Eastmond blasted a wild shot way over the bar after seventy minutes. Charlie Lakin forced a routine save from the home keeper about ten minutes later.  I think Archie had one more save to make around the same time but I do know that that was the sum total of his work this afternoon: he will rarely have an easier time of it. The brutal fact is that Sutton play like a National League team: physical and unsophisticated. They have no cutting edge and their passing – accurate enough a lot of the time – never looked as if it had any killer intent in it. Sadly for their fans – who made themselves heard from their lonely position in the main stand early in the match – Sutton will almost certainly be playing as an authentic National League team next season. This latest failure by Steve Morison and his merry men meant that they found themselves seven points adrift of safety this evening in League Two. FGR predictably lost badly – 0-4 at home to Mansfield today – and both clubs look increasingly doomed this season.

As for Morecambe, today’s was a comfortable win and the margin could – and should – have been bigger. There were some really sound performances on the pitch today with Joe Adams deservedly picking-up the official Man of the Match award. But a win is a win and the latest three points in the bag not only kept the Shrimps in touch with the Play-Off pack in twelfth position, it also handed Our Ged his first home league win on a plate. This is what he made of it all:

“It’s great to get the win obviously in front of our own fans. I always keep saying “I’m Buzzing” – My Missis always says `don’t say “Buzzing”’ – I’m really, really happy to be honest.  I’m made-up the way the lads played today; the way we created so many chances in the game: we could have went on to score four or five, easy. We’ve scored a goal again – same as last week. I don’t know how the linesman can get it wrong: I’ve had a look at it: he’s a yard or two on-side. It’s not good enough.”

Morecambe:  30 Archie Mair; 3 David Tutonda; 4 Jacob Bedeau (C); 8 Joe Adams; 9 Ged Garner (Y) (23 Max Melbourne 87’); 11 Julian Larsson (14 Jordan Slew 52’); 12 Joel Senior (Y); 15 Chris Stokes (Y); 18 Jake Taylor; 20 Charlie Brown (19 Gwion Edwards (Y) 52’); 38 Nelson Khumbeni (6 Yann Songo’o 78‘).

Substitutes not used:  21 Adam Smith; 17 Cammy Smith; 22 Kayden Harrack.

Sutton United: 21 Dean Bouzanis; 3 Nino Adom-Malaki (Y) (11 Omari Patrick 45’); 5 Ben Goodliffe; 15 Craig Eastmond (C); 22 Joe Kizzi; 23 Ryan Jackson (Y); 31 Charlie Lakin; 33 Lee Angol (Y) (9 Harry Smith 45’); 38 Oliver Sanderson (10 Harry Beautyman 45’); 42 Sam Hart (Y); 50 Stephen Duke-McKenna (27 Deon Moore 91’).

Substitutes not used: 25 Steve Arnold; 4 Omar Sowunmi; 6 Louis John.

Ref: Peter Wright.

Att: 4,045 (175 from Sutton.)