ENTERPRISE NATIONAL LEAGUE, SATURDAY, 24th JANUARY 2026.

As Morecambe lose yet again.

Solihull Moors visited the Mazuma Mobile stadium for the second time today for their first ever league fixture against Morecambe in north Lancashire. During the Covid pandemic, they lost by four goals to two in an FA Cup tie in front of completely empty stands. Today was the clubs’ third meeting; the teams having drawn 4-4 in the West Midlands last year in a game the Shrimps should have won. The Moors arrived in tenth place in the National League table on the back of three wins and two losses in their last six league games. One of these defeats happened last Wednesday night at home, when they were beaten by high-flying Rochdale, who scored the only goal of the game.

By any objective measure, Morecambe put on a pathetic display on the same evening when they were beaten by the same score at Halifax. They showed no commitment; no will to win and they didn’t have a single decent shot on goal.

But what am I saying? According to Morecambe Manager Ashvir Singh Johal,

“The overall performance was good. We had the chances to win the game. We missed three clear-cut chances, chances that we should have scored. But at the end of the day, we lost the game and we need to work-out how.”

He’s had over four months to puzzle-out why his team keep on losing. Could today be the occasion on which he has finally have worked-out this conundrum? I think it was American President Bill Clinton who once said “It’s the economy, stupid!” Would it be too uncharitable to replace the word `economy’ with `tactics’ as far as Ash is concerned? His don’t work – and never have. But Mr Johal has no Plan B. He seems to be convinced that if he persists with his infamous `process’ which has brought Morecambe to the next but bottom place in the National League, everything will suddenly turn around and the club will go spiralling up the league.

No sign of it so far, Ash old chap…

However, what his players did on the pitch this afternoon would be all the proof anybody would need to see if he actually has solved the enigma of his men’s consistently poor performances.

One of the questions all Shrimps fans have to ask themselves is: which combination Ashvir will choose for his central defence today? This time, it was Tommy Fogarty and Harlee Dean again – just as it was on Wednesday at the Shay. Strategic thinking? Or the toss of a coin? Maybe they drew lots…

Tommy played well and Harlee’s performance was much improved. Ash also chose official Man of the Match Chris Popov to start – and he really was our best player by far this afternoon. I’ve not watched the replay, but I thought he was fouled right at the death and should have won a penalty. But Referee Andrew Miller – who I thought had a good game today – didn’t agree and booked him for diving. Whatever, it was reassuring to see Yann Songo’o named on the bench this afternoon too – nobody can question his commitment to the cause – and, perhaps more importantly – the club. I personally wish he was in charge: there is no way he could do any worse than the current incumbent in the Manager’s chair.

As for the visitors, Solihull’s former Halifax Manager Chris Millington was not in charge when the two teams drew 4-4 in September. He was appointed after the sacking of Matt Taylor in October. He’s been successful in the past and – unlike our own boss – takes a pragmatic view of a game he has both managed and played in: he was once a member of Manchester City’s youth team. This is what he had to say about the task facing his men today:

“It will be a tough game. They’re a good side – if they’re allowed to play. They’ve got some really good technical players so we’ve got to make sure that we stop that. We don’t want them getting too much control of the possession and the territory so that’s got to be the first thing that we’ve got to commit our attention and our efforts towards. But also we know that they’re in a tough area in the division. We will look to try and exploit (that). We know with our quality – both in controlled possession and counter-attack – we can cause them some problems. I’m hoping it’s not four-all but hopefully plenty of goals in our favour: that would be nice.”

It has been grey, occasionally wet and constantly windy in north Lancashire for the last few days. But today brightened-up as time moved on and the game began under cloud-streaked blue skies – and it remained dry throughout. The match started on a heavy pitch as a veritable gale laden with icy teeth tore across the ground from the adjacent, freezing sea.

Things started brightly. For the visitors. Solihull’s is a relatively small, nimble side – unusual for the National League. From the off, they took the game to Morecambe – passing accurately; moving fluently; playing the ball into space and constantly pressing the home team back into their own half. After eight minutes, home stopper Jamal Blackman had made three saves; visiting ex-Shrimps veteran goalkeeper Laurie Walker had made none: I think he had a single cross to palm away after about two minutes. I think this said it all.

Jacob Wakeling drew a really good save from the home stopper in the very first minute of the game with an instant volley from the Moors’ left as he ran onto the ball about thirty yards from goal. Two minutes later, Raheem Conte headed the ball wildly up into the air on the Morecambe left and towards his own goal from a long clearance from the Solihull half but was too slow to recover as Ben Worman got in behind him and almost managed to send a looping header over Jamal, who again denied the visitors at full stretch. Wakeling then got on the end of another cross as the visitors had been pinging the ball around at will with seven minutes played and drew a slightly easier save from Blackman, who pushed the ball over the bar.

The visitors had been stamping their authority on the match throughout and the only question was: how long would it be before they scored?

When the inevitable goal arrived after seventeen minutes, it was all too simple yet again. The Moors completed a move of possibly more than twenty passes as the men in the red strip just watched in awe before another former Shrimps man – Moor’s Skipper Alex Whitmore – played a ball over the top for both Conor Wilkinson and Wakeling to run onto it from clearly on-side positions. Wilkinson got there first and scored with ease.

Morecambe had a fair bit of possession at times but wasted nearly all of it. Ben Tollitt was anonymous today and was replaced at half time. Captain Gwion Edwards always gives one hundred percent but he looked slow and played poorly by his high standards until he was replaced in the second half.  I suspect he’s actually not really fit. Jack Nolan was ineffective as well and the admittedly recently much improved Paul Lewis had a poor game too. Without Chris Popov in the team, we would have offered virtually nothing going forward and that was what happened in the first half: Walker might as well have been sitting in the stands with the Solihull supporters for all the trouble he was caused by his former club.

Morecambe at least attacked a few times in the second half and Walker was forced into action a couple of times against his former employers. But Solihull sealed their win with a second goal after seventy-seven minutes as Darius Lipsiuc netted far too easily with the home rearguard all over the place.

This prompted the home fans to chant three things in response:

“We want Ashvir out!”; “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” and “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

In my view, only two of these statements were true but I leave it up to you to decide which of them is the odd one out.

The brutal truth is that a two-nil defeat could have been a lot more more: Blackman earned his corn with a few more really good saves; two outstanding ones in injury time at the end of the game alone.

Today, our men were outplayed, out-thought and actually out-classed by a team with a plan and a determination to win. I’ve run out of words to describe how utterly hopeless Morecambe have become in recent times. Yet we have some really good players. Imagine for one moment if Derek Adams had these men in his squad last season. We would have been in the running for promotion back to League One. But Derek knew what he was doing – and Ashvir Singh Johal doesn’t.

We remain anchored to the next to bottom spot in the National League table only because a team who walloped us five-nil last year – Truro – also lost today by two goals to nil. Rock bottom Gateshead didn’t play.

Their well-deserved win today means that Solihull remain tenth.

Two guys I haven’t seen before were sitting next to me this afternoon. In injury time, one said to the other as small birds appeared over the roof of the home stand and headed towards the east:

”There go five Egrets!”

“How can you tell that from this distance?” I asked him.

“Because they are small hen-like creatures and they always trail their legs when they are in flight” he explained. I thanked him for explaining the most memorable thing that happened this afternoon from my point of view – and I meant it.

So I learnt something – and I hope you have too. I have also learnt that subjecting myself to the drivel our Manager would inevitably come out with after the latest catastrophe of his own making is not good for my blood pressure. I’m sure we’re all heartily sick of hearing his deluded and evasive responses to tame questions which never ask anything relevant – such as: why do your team keep on losing?

So – for a change – shall we listen to a football Manager who actually knows what he’s doing instead? I think we should. This is what Chris Millington said after the Moors’ first ever win against the utterly woeful Shrimps:

“I think the hosts were really excellent today. They are tactically very astute and we had to be at our very best to counter their Manager’s extraordinarily progressive and modern leadership of the team. I think it’s really clever of him to play the same way, week-in-week-out and attempt to lull opponents such as ourselves into a totally false sense of security. They are not in the league position they currently find themselves in for no reason. Sorry? – what was that? – would I like to play them every week? Well – what do you think?”

I must apologise wholeheartedly to Mr Millington. I seem to have got my lines crossed somewhere and mixed the above quote up with something else entirely. Please forgive me Chris.

Morecambe: 40 Jamal Blackman; 2 Lewis Payne; 3 Raheem Conte; 5 Harlee Dean; 7 Gwion Edwards (C) (21 Joe Nuttall 67’); 8 Miguel Azeez (Y); 17 Paul Lewis; 18 Ben Tollitt (32 George Thomas 45’); 28 Tommy Fogarty (Y); 36 Jack Nolan; 42 Chris Popov (Y).

Subs not used: 41 Myles Boney; 24 Yann Songo’o; 29 Ashton McWilliams; 33 Timothy Akindileni; 19 Ma’Kel Bogle-Campbell.

Solihull Moors: 1 Laurie Walker; 2 James Clarke (22 Joe Sbarra 76’); 3 Cameron Oliver Green; 5 Alex Whitmore(C); 10 Conor Wilkinson (29 Bradley Stevenson 59’); 11 Ben Worman (19 Emmanuel Sonupe 78’); 16 Oliver Tipton 76’); 12 Darius Lipsiuc; 15 Scott High; 18 Jacob Wakeling (21 Oscar Thor Rutherford (6 Will Sutton 60’); 26 Tyler French (Y);

Subs not used: 33 Aaron Flahavan; 7 Callum McFarlane,

Ref: Andrew Miller.

Att: 2,400+ (124 from Solihull.)