Plastic Really is a Menace – Not for the First Time…
We start yet again with more controversy generated off the field this week.
Some of it happened the best part of 400 miles away to the north when our former Manager caused a rumpus after his new club – Ross County – had lost in injury time to Dundee last Saturday. He told the BBC that Morecambe are `a hundred times better’ than the club he has returned to for the third time. He then asserted that the general standard of Scottish Premiership football `is rubbish. It really is!’
I couldn’t resist writing a piece about this as part of my blog:
Pie & Bovril – the Ross County fans’ forum – got wind of this and my blog subsequently got loads of hits from it. The posting on there which I liked the best – for obvious reasons – came from `on the bonny bonny banks’, who provided a link to what I had written:
“Here – have a good chuckle, the light hearted approach to football. Just brilliant”
Predictably, not everybody who took up this offer actually did have a good chuckle – or thought it was brilliant either. But the same person who wrote the above added this to another posting which suggested that my article was both humourless and misinformed:
“Oh dear. Get over yourself, cheer up, I know the football’s shite, Derek said so but it is nearly Christmas.”
Among the personal abuse, atrocious spelling, faulty grammar and really bad language exchanged between contributors which ensued – which seems to be Par for the Course on Social Media generally – there were a few nuggets which I thought were worth repeating here. I’d like to share four of them which stuck-out like tiny diamonds from the vast ocean of general dross:
“To get back on point Scottish football fans generally have taken (Derek’s) comments as an insult in my opinion, but the fans who have had him as their manager (Morecambe and Ross County) aren’t bothered by it. That tells its own story.”
“If I were a Morecambe fan I might think Scottish fans were arrogant in the same way Scottish fans feel the English are arrogant and look down at our game. “
Personally, I thought that the following was the most incisive posting, referring to the BBC Sportscene reaction to what Derek said last Saturday:
“I think Morecambe & their fans don’t have the slightest interest in how they would fare in Scottish football anymore than they’d be interested in how they’d fare in Puerto Rican football . And they certainly wouldn’t pay attention to the semi-literate ravings of the idiot (James) McFadden who I doubt many would have heard of in any case.”
Amen to that.
But are we getting too carried away and actually po-faced about this subject?
Probably.
So I take my hat off to whichever genius chose to make a link between a European Super League which might actually happen after a European Court ruling this week and the controversy started by King Derek. Whoever wrote this suggested that a post on Ross County’s official website has announced that they would be turning-down an invitation to join the new Super League.
Why?
“Because we are a hundred percent better than all the other teams involved.”
As the Storm in a Teacup continued in Scotland, harsh reality intervened last Monday to interrupt the distraction about how we might fare as a club in the Scottish Premiership and brought us all crashing back down to earth again. Whatever King Derek might be up to North of the Border, the very clear reality he saw coming down the track which it is blindingly obvious persuaded him to return to a club – however hopeless – instead of seeing it through with us has raised its very ugly head yet again.
On Monday, 18th December 2023, the likelihood of our club succeeding in any league anywhere in the future – England; Scotland; Puerto Rica or wherever – was again called into serious doubt. The following very troubling statement was made on that day by the English Football League:
Morecambe Football Club and owner Mr Jason Whittingham have been charged under EFL Regulations for failing to adhere to the terms of an Agreed Decision, which required a financial deposit equating to 125% of the Club’s forecast monthly wage bill to be placed in a separate club account to facilitate the ongoing payment of Club wages.
In August, funds were deposited in line with the agreement for a previous failure to pay the Club’s wage bill, however on September 4, those funds were used and Whittingham failed to re-deposit the amount, despite requests from the League.
Mr Whittingham’s failure to re-deposit the funds has led to personal charges, while the Club has also been charged for failing to meet deposit account requirements.
The charges will now be considered by an independent Disciplinary Commission with the outcome to be communicated by the EFL once a decision is reached.
The club has responded to this announcement thus:
“The Board remains focused on the priority of ensuring that Morecambe Football Club meets all its obligations, which means working with Bond Group to prevent cashflow issues and doing everything within its powers to expedite the process of finding new ownership as quickly as possible.”
The EFL threatened a three-point deduction to be imposed in the future if the `Agreed Decision’ was not respected when the original agreement was reached between them and the club. That deduction seems to be now inevitable – the only question is how many more points the EFL might decide to add to it – and if it is going to happen again. Given Whittingham’s behaviour throughout the ownership crisis, this seems to be virtually inevitable…
Today, the club which was sold the identity of Wimbledon by the same self-styled arbiter of ethical standards which we have just referred to – the EFL (which doesn’t see these as important, apparently, when huge bundles of money are concerned) – visited north Lancashire.
MK so-called `Dons’ currently find themselves lying lower in the EFL framework than the club who they pretended to be for several years. But that club – AFC Wimbledon – which (like every other one in the EFL, including ourselves – with the sole exception of the MK Cuckoos – has had to battle from the lowest part of the football pyramid to their current position) are seventh in League Two.
MK Plastics are eleventh.
Tee hee…
Morecambe found themselves a single place behind the genuine Dons at the start of today’s match, with a game in hand over them. But the Shrimps have an exceptionally poor record against the Wimbledon impersonators: just a single win in nine previous meetings and a whopping seven losses.
The MK Frauds were relegated from League One last season in a lower position than that occupied by Morecambe. Having initially looked as if they were going to storm straight back into the higher division, the fake Wombles struggled for a while and slipped right off the pace. This led to the sacking of Manager Graham Alexander last October. In recent times, though, their form has picked-up once more under new boss Mike Williamson. The interlopers thus arrived this afternoon on the back of four wins and two draws in their last six League Two matches. Morecambe, by contrast, have lost four of their last six league games and won only one.
The latest Don of the Dons said after his team’s latest win against struggling Forest Green Rovers about the position of his club in the league: “It’s irrelevant to me.”
Really?
Isn’t that a bit complacent – or even blasé?
He explained:
“Well – of course it’s irrelevant – we can always buy a more favourable position in the EFL structure again, can’t we? We’ve done it in the past – why can’t we do it again in the future?”
Sorry – I made the last bit up – but Mike Williamson did say his team’s position in the table is irrelevant to him. Excellent. That’s all we need to know…
What’s that?… “Balance and impartiality?” When’s that ever mattered to anybody?… “No pay-cheque otherwise?”
Oh all right then – if I must…
Prior to today’s meeting, Mr Williamson was asked if he expected Morecambe’s latest off-field problems to adversely affect their players or management in any way. He answered:
“I don’t know. Whenever I’ve been involved in a club where there’s been politics or external kind of noise, it just brings the group together. It kind of creates that unity inside the changing room because that is the most important thing: for the guys to stick together. That’s none of my business. I think it’s going to be difficult for us to go and play the way we want to play. But I will enjoy that: they’re going to step on us at certain times and go man for man. They’ve got the understanding of dropping into a medium block. It will be a really good test for us, 100% yeah. They control areas and territory out of possession. And when they get a chance, they put it away. They’re in good form.”
For the hosts, boss Ged Brannan said this:
“We will go into the game; prepare properly. We will play the game the way we want to play it. Obviously, they are a really good football playing team. So are we. It should be a great game to watch. We know it will be a tough game but I’m looking forward to it. We know we’ve got a tough game – we will have to be right at it.”
Leading scorer Michael Mellon wasn’t included in the line-up today. He has been in bed with an illness for the last three days and wasn’t well enough to play this afternoon. Jordan Slew took his place up front.
As soon as the match kicked-off, the pattern of the game was soon established. The plastic people looked sharp and incisive and immediately, they moved up the field, keeping the ball low and clearly searching for chinks in the Shrimps’ armour right from the start. Joseph Tomlinson caught the eye on the left wing and Conor Grant looked as if was going to be a threat from the very first moment. But Morecambe played themselves into the match and I thought they were the better team for most of the first twenty-five minutes. They used the ball well back-to-front and Craig MacGillivray in the away goal was by far the busier of the two goalkeepers. There were few clear chances but the game was being played mostly in the away half. The visitors drew first blood with just over half an hour played, though. When the goal came, it was a classic counter-attack: Alex Gilbey looked-up, saw Grant about to run into the centre from an on-side position and played the ball into space ahead of him. His pass took a slight deflection from a Morecambe defender but found the striker who finished the move with a confident shot which gave Adam Smith in the home goal no chance at all.
The way the whole of the team in the dark blue strip celebrated in front of the home supporters after this was unnecessary, provocative and disrespectful. Weak referee Lewis Smith should have put a stop to it. But he didn’t. He was far too quick to award free kicks to MK or stop the game when players such as Grant, Tomlinson and – in the second half – MacGillivray feigned injury. The Plastics were winning when the goalkeeper decided to go down off the ball way outside his own area. Minutes later – surprise, surprise – he was absolutely fine. It was just very obvious time-wasting. The referee booked James Connolly for an innocuous challenge on Max Dean after 27 minutes. Dean didn’t cover himself with glory with his reaction to this and the way he refused to accept James’ apology made him look really petty and quite pathetic as a player – and as a man. Captain Dean Lewington – playing his six thousandth game or whatever it was for the Frauds today – also led by example – as he has done every three thousand and fifty-seven times I have seen him previously. His game is niggly and petulant: typical of the style of football they indulge in. His reaction to a clear free-kick which he conceded near the end of the first half said it all. A stronger official in the middle would have booked him but the officious Mr Smith didn’t even have a word with him. Watching them today, there was something unwholesome about the Plastics which put me in mind of Bolton Wanderers. They have some very good players and they play some excellent football. They don’t need to cheat and play-act all the time. So why do they?
They were the better team heading back to the changing rooms for the break and probably deserved their slender lead. But after just three minutes of the re-start, Morecambe were level. They were attacking effectively down their left flank before the ball fell to Adam Mayor, who took on the Plastic defence and drove towards the MK goal-line, I thought he had pushed the ball just too far ahead of him but – at full stretch– he propelled a peach of a cross into the middle. JJ McKiernan was quickest to react at the near post and headed the goal home before MacGillivray had even a chance to set himself. We all hoped that the momentum this goal should have produced would encourage the men in the red shirts to get on top and take the lead. But nothing happened. The visitors played all the constructive football from then on. Morecambe kept giving the ball away – Mayor was guilty of two absolutely appalling passes which set up the Plastic People for swift counter attacks which fortunately came to nothing. But another goal seemed inevitable and it duly arrived with 68 minutes on the clock. Jack Payne picked-out Tomlinson on the edge of the Morecambe D and he coolly found the bottom corner of the net with a powerful strike. In truth, the Shrimps never looked like equalising after this. Adam Smith came up for a corner in the dying moments and was penalised for a foul. And then – to rub salt in the wounds, the Frauds scored another one with almost the last kick of the match in the ninety-sixth minute when Dean latched onto a loose ball and walloped it home.
So the win saw the Plastic People leap-frog Morecambe in the League Two table tonight: they went up to ninth as the Shrimps fell from eight to twelfth.
This is what Ged Brannan made of it all after the game:
“To be honest, it’s very disappointing. We knew exactly how they were going to play today. We had a plan to play against it but – first half- we never done it. They never done what they were told. We never pressed; we stayed off men; we never went with runners. They popped it all over the pitch. Second half, we come out and we pressured them. We got the ball back numerous times. Then we sort of dropped-off them again which is a bit disappointing. You have to go and press them and obviously we never done it today – that’s the disappointing thing. We just stopped playing again – that’s not like us at all.”
Morecambe: 21 Adam Smith; 3 David Tutonda (23 Max Melbourne 85’); 4 Jacob Bedeau (C); 6 Yann Songo’o (18 Jake Taylor 75’); 7 Tom Bloxham (20 Charlie Brown 76’); 8 Eli King; 10 JJ McKiernan (Y) (17 Cammy Smith 75’); 11 Adam Mayor; 12 Joel Senior; 14 Jordan Slew (Y); 22 James Connolly (Y).
Substitutes not used: 26 George Pedley; 5 Chris Stokes; 16 Jacob Davenport.
Milton Keynes Plastics: 1 Craig MacGillivray; 2 Cameron Norman; 3 Dean Lewington; 5 Warren O’Hora; 6 MJ Williams (Y); 8 Alex Gilbey; 11 Jack Payne; 14 Joseph Tomlinson; 16 Conor Grant; 17 Ethan Robson; 18 Max Dean (7 Jonathan Leko 76’).
Substitutes not used: 9 Ellis Harrison; 10 Mohamed Eisa; 15 Tommy Smith; 28 Dawson Devoy; 32 Michael Kelly; 34 Callum Tripp.
Ref: Lewis Smith.
Att: 4,551 (almost 200 from Milton Keynes.)
