Dark Day for the Shrimps at Wrexham
Well, they say that a week is a long time in politics. It must be even longer in football and so much has happened since Morecambe last played that it’s difficult to know where to start. Actually – no it isn’t – although what I am about to say didn’t even merit a mention of Granada Reports sport section on the day it happened. Clearly, the scores of all other regional clubs last weekend are far more important to the Manc-centric clowns who are in charge of this poorly-researched drivel than do the fortunes of our `little’ club. But what’s new?…
This week began with Monday’s bombshell that legendary Manager Derek Adams had left the club for the second time. On this occasion, he eschewed God’s Own Country (to which he disappeared last time) for the one of his birth – and went back to struggling Ross County. Time will tell if he can use his considerable skills to keep them in a Scottish Premiership in which they are currently in an absolutely dire predicament: second bottom. Will he take some of our better performers – such as long-term acolytes Yann Songo’o and Jordan Slew – with him again? Could he persuade our many loanees to jump ship and join him in the Highlands for the unique coaching their parent clubs know King Derek will provide them with? That remains to be seen. I would suggest, though, that whatever happens, the odds are very good and that our considerable loss will turn out to be very much the Staggies’ gain in the long – and probably the short – term.
So the Rumour Mill has been grinding away with speculation about a new man in the Mazuma hotseat. Joey Barton. Neil Warnock. John Coleman. Micky Mellon. Mickey Mouse… It could be any of them – but I personally don’t want either one of the first three. There won’t be a quick appointment on this occasion – the stars aligned last time when Stephen Robinson suddenly deserted a sinking ship and Derek was equally suddenly available having just been sacked by Bratfud. So we’ll all have to wait and see who the Morecambe Board choose to replace the most successful Manager the club has ever had. In the meantime, Ged Brannan and John McMahon are in temporary charge and they led the team today against high-flying Wrexham.
Morecambe didn’t play last Saturday due to international call-ups yet again. Although Jacob Bedeau was without a game, Michael Mellon was an unused substitute as Scotland Under-21s won by two goals to nil away in Belgium last Friday night. He warmed the bench again for ninety minutes in Budapest last Tuesday evening as the Scots came away with a goal-less draw against Hungary. Eli King came off the bench for Wales Under-21s against Iceland last Thursday night and played thirteen minutes in a match which ended 1-0 to the hosts, who finished the game with only ten men on the field. He then played the full first half against Denmark at Rodney Parade last Monday. This time, the Welsh youngsters lost by two goals to one. At the same time, JJ McKiernan played seventy minutes at Goodison Park as Northern Ireland were easily beaten by England Under-21s by three goals to nil.
Today, however, they were all back in the squad which travelled to North Wales to experience how the Other Half live. Wrexham’s Hollywood superstars’ backing has seen them go from the top of the National League to the upper reaches of League Two in less than twelve months. They have the biggest budget in the Division; indeed, their resources must be the envy of many clubs much higher in the football pyramid than the place where the Red Dragons currently find themselves. In contrast, Morecambe have been living off scraps for years as far as finances are concerned. We don’t have the cash to cherry-pick a proven EFL Manager such as Phil Parkinson or such key players as ex-Shrimp Paul Mullin; Ben Tozer or Ollie Palmer – to name just three – from clubs placed higher in the EFL framework. But what has the end result of this inequality of opportunity been so far? According to the League Two table, virtually nothing.
Wrexham started today’s match in fourth position with a Goal Difference of plus five. Morecambe, on the other hand, started the game in ninth position, six points behind their hosts but with two games in hand. They also have a Goal Difference of plus five. If the Shrimps were to win their two spare games, they would actually be above their far wealthier rivals because they would have improved their GD with two extra victories.
In previous encounters, the two clubs have only ever met in the league twice before. In their first ever away game in the EFL, the Shrimps lost 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground sixteen long years ago. The reverse game ended 2-2. (Morecambe had also lost in the old LDV Vans Trophy 4-1 in Wales twenty years ago.) I was at the league game in Wrexham all that time ago and I must say that my abiding memory of it is how aggressive and ready for a scrap so many of the north Wales’ fans seemed to be – it reminded me of the 1970s. Last Saturday, as Phil Parkinson’s side lost 2-0 at Accrington, there was again trouble at the away end. Wrexham are thus facing an investigation from the EFL and a possible fine for the feral behaviour of a minority of their supporters, who pelted Stanley goalkeeper Jon McCracken with missiles during the second half of a match they were losing. Would they behave any better today- or are they aiming to be League Two’s latest incarnation of Bolton Wanderers?
Anyway, stand-in Morecambe Manager Ged Brannan started his assessment of this week with a tribute to his former boss:
“Derek’s one of them – he keeps everything close to his chest. He’ll be missed here; it’s a bit sad to be honest. He’s well-loved by the fans; all the people round the club: the staff; the players. He’s a top Manager; he’s a top coach. So he’ll do really well. On Sunday, I had an inkling what was going to happen. I had a chat with Derek; he said he weren’t a hundred percent certain what was going to happen. I told the lads; had a chat with them. They’ve all been on board with us. You could see on some of their faces that some of them were disappointed and shocked. I’ve had little meetings with individual players; they’re all behind me so I’m looking forward to the big game (on) Saturday.”
As far as this fixture is concerned, he added:
“We haven’t talked about the Hollywood thing. I haven’t even thought about it to be honest – there’s that much going on this week, all we done is getting the players ready. I’ve applied for the job. The Board have promised me an interview. Derek’s left us in a good place – hopefully we can kick-on and push for the Play-Offs. I’ve had so little time with the players. I love a high press so whether we go in for that – we’ll see Saturday.”
Wrexham Manager Phil Parkinson dismissed the sudden disappearance of Derek Adams from the opposition’s ranks as insignificant. Instead, he said that he had concentrated on the Shrimps’ last League Two outing when he said:
“I don’t expect it to be too different because it’s happened quite quickly and I’d imagine Morecambe will play with the same personnel that they have for most of this season. They aren’t a team that has a lot of possession as they have one of the lowest possession stats in the league but they are a decent counter-attacking side. We have looked at how teams have created opportunities against them and how they took them like Grimsby did. They are a good side with some good energy and I think it will be a good game with us both going head to head.”
It was a beautiful sunny day in north Wales today. There were over ten thousand people in the curiously only three-sided Racecourse Ground this afternoon; over a tenth of them visitors. It’s sixteen years since I last visited this ground. The crumbling roof over decaying terracing to the right as viewed from the iconic Main Stand has finally gone: but is the intention to become the Welsh Oxford United with a permanently three-sided ground? I digress…
In the away dressing room, I at least imagined the team being really up for it today. This is a team with promotion ambitions. As we have said, King Derek left them in a really good place. Ged Brannan had shaken things up a bit|: there was no place for David Tutonda in his first squad but new signing Oscar Threlkeld was named on the bench. Surely, they would want to prove themselves against one of the best teams in League Two. I thought it would go without saying that they would be even further revved-up by the need to put on a good display if only to show their support for their temporary Manager on this occasion. Whether he told them or not, they would have all surely realised that this was a critical part of his audition for the top job on a permanent basis. Today could prove to be the practical part of the test to show if he has it in him to step into Derek Adams abandoned shoes. It should mean a lot to all of them.
So what happened?
Right from the off and man for man across both teams, Morecambe were second; third – even tenth – best at times throughout the afternoon.
Wrexham were sharper; seemingly fitter and certainly better motivated than the lacklustre Shrimps who looked – in all honesty – to be light years away from the men in the red strip in terms of class; application – and actually just about every other aspect of football you can think of.
It only took just under seven whole minutes for the game to be effectively lost by the visitors.
Firstly, the Red Dragons were attacking down their left flank in the fifth minute. A long cross was struck hopefully towards the far post more or less vaguely towards an inrushing Andrew Cannon. Morecambe goalkeeper Adam Smith might have come off his line quicker to catch or punch the ball away. But he didn’t’. So the cross was allowed to cause total panic in the away defence as nobody dealt properly with it.
What was the result? Almost in slow motion, Joel Senior headed it past his own goalkeeper in a desperate attempt to clear it.
The Usual Suspects in the away crowd had been taunting Paul Mullin as a `Morecambe Reject’ every time the opportunity had arisen so far. This is the football equivalent of poking a grizzly bear with a sharp stick. Mindless raving against former heroes like this isn’t `banter’ – it is stupid and often self-defeating. Winding-up former players is disrespectful – and it can backfire – as we about to see…
So when Cannon cut-in from the Wrexham right with just over six minutes on the clock and played a low ball towards the verbally abused Mullin, wily old Paul had already got the wrong side of Farrend Rawson in the centre of the away penalty area. His instant shot went under Smith’s body as the goalkeeper was far too slow to react – and that was the first goal of a Mullin hat-trick this afternoon with precisely six minutes and forty-four seconds played.
His opposite number Michael Mellon is about the same age as Paul was when he played for us all those years ago. Michael battled away today as he always does but the contrast between an older, stronger central striker who knows all the tricks of the trade and a young lad still learning it was painfully obvious all afternoon.
So there we were – less than seven minutes played and already loads of mistakes presented on a seasonal platter to a team who clearly needed no help in the first place. Already, it was simply a matter of how many goals Wrexham were going to score this afternoon.
What was going to stop them? In the Red Corner, home Skipper Ben Tozer took every opportunity to launch his howitzer of throw-ins right into the mix in the danger area. The home team were quicker to almost every loose ball. They had a plan of attack – and they stuck to it.
In the White corner, the Shrimps had no answer to any of this other than a flag of the same colour. Too often, they tried – and usually failed – to clear their lines by simply booting the ball aimlessly away from their own goal. The only offensive plan I could discern all afternoon was to play the ball to Tom Bloxham on the left and hope he could get the ball over to Mellon and JJ McKiernan in the middle. But Tom had two and often three defenders around him: Phil Parkinson had clearly looked at the tapes and anticipated this. So the tactic simply didn’t work. So where was Plan B? Little came down the Morecambe right – and when it did, Jordan Slew invariably either failed to control the ball or – on the rare occasions he was able to – gave it away more often than not.
Jordan has been one of the Shrimps’ better players this season – but today, he was absolutely hopeless. He was not alone, though. I thought the usually brilliant Adam Mayor was weak today all the way though the match. Jacob Bedeau wasn’t much better but he was injured and finally had to go off. Eli King – who I thought was our best player today – never gave up and battled away manfully in midfield. But, as I’ve already written, the game was gone almost as soon as it started.
The Red Dragons added another goal after thirty-five minutes. Cannon was again instrumental before tricky winger Jacob Mendy beat Adam Smith all ends up with an uncontested shot into the top corner of the net.
In the second half, Morecambe had a spell of possession at the beginning of proceedings. But the hosts stirred themselves and that man Mullin scored their next goal. This time, he initiated the move on the Wrexham left; passed the ball to Elliot Lee in the away penalty area; made rapid progress across the box and was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a deflection off a Morecambe defender. Again, he hit the ball first time. And again, I thought that Smith should have kept his effort out as it went past him to his right. But he didn’t.
The Morecambe Reject scored for a final time in the seventy-sixth minute to earn himself the match ball. The Shrimps were opened-up yet again on the left as Thomas O’Connor took the luxury of no pressure whatsoever to choose a forward pass towards the Welsh danger man in the centre. Wrexham’s Number Ten skipped round two defenders as if they weren’t there and buried the ball with a sublime shot to the left of a helpless Smith into the corner of his net.
Had the home crowd behaved themselves so far? Yes, they certainly had. They had the wit to turn a chant by some of our number accusing them of collectively indulging in unnatural activities involving sheep to their own advantage at the end. They suggested that despite this perceived flaw in their own ethical code, they were still winning five –nil.
And five finally became six. With the last kick of the game and deep into added time, James Jones underlined Wrexham’s undoubted superiority by walloping another goal home in the ninety-sixth minute. Ouch!
Today’s humiliation saw Morecambe slip to twelfth in the League Two table. Wrexham moved-up to second. But so they should – with the disparity in resources and support between the two clubs, the only thing that is really amazing is how long the north Wales club have spent in the non-league wilderness. (They were relegated at the end of Morecambe’s first ever season in the EFL as the Shrimps have not only held their own against all odds in it but actually progressed to the Division above). So let’s not be too down-hearted. On the way to the game today, my pals and I took a break in Chester. It’s a big city with lots of really expensive shops – probably in its own way on a par with Manchester and even Leeds. But where is their football club currently in the greater scheme of things? York is an obvious Roman- Minster- Boat Trips On the River parallel to Chester. Their football team – once giants to old gits like me who can remember a Closed Shop Football League where they could never lose and we could never win – would give anything to possess the lofty EFL spot we currently possess. Are we disappointed by today’s capitulation? Of course we are. Are we all fearing a return to the wildernesses where the ghosts of York City and Chester City can now be found? I don’t think so.
However, for stand-in Manager Ged Brannan, this must have been the stuff of nightmares today. He was booked during the second half and looked shell-shocked after the mauling by Mullin. But he was totally honest about what had gone so badly wrong in his assessment of the game after the match:
“We had a game plan all week. It was to quieten the crowd; start playing; stay in the game. Obviously, we give two goals away within six minutes – game over. Game over. I’m not going to defend us today. We never tracked runners; we never marked in the box; we never won our headers; never won our first contacts; we never done anything right today. I feel physically sick. Obviously, I’ve applied for the job – that’s not going to help me at all. We go on about we’ve got a young team and all that but I’m not having that. They’re not experienced players but they’re good players. They know they’ve got a man to mark; they know they’ve got a runner to run with; they’ve got a header to win; a tackle to make. We just never done that. It doesn’t matter if you’re sixteen or you’re thirty-five: you know you’ve got to do the basics in football. There’s no excuse for us today; there’s just none. I just apologise to the fans: they come down in their numbers today. They were brilliant – absolutely brilliant. They kept on singing to the very end. They weren’t happy. But half of them stayed until the very end: I’m made up for them – thanks for that. I’m absolutely devastated to be honest. I’d say (in) my whole career as a footballer – I’ve never felt this bad. But I will be ready for Tuesday.”
I’ve got so used to giving Derek Adams the last word in the match reports over the years that it seems odd not to finish with his final thoughts now. However, in Scotland, the abdicated King of the Shrimps saw Ross County drew 0-0 against Kilmarnock but had two efforts blocked on the line and put in a solid performance overall. The result was enough to move County out of the relegation zone in the Scottish Premiership. Derek’s now been the boss of the Staggies three times. Could he make it three at Morecambe as well in the future? Yes – we all need to be careful what we wish for – but stranger – and worse – things have certainly happened…
Wrexham: 33 Arthur Okonkwo; 4 Ben Tozer (C); 5 Aaron Hayden; 9 Ollie Palmer (18 Sam Dalby 80’); 10 Paul Mullin; 12 George Evans; 14 Anthony Forde (19 Jacob Mendy 27’); 20 Andrew Cannon (Y) (30 James Jones 72’); 22 Thomas O’Connor (25 William Boyle 80’); 23 James McClean; 38 Elliot Lee (7 Jordan Davies 80’).
Substitutes not used: 21 Mark Howard; 25 William Boyle; 27 Jake Bickerstaff.
Morecambe: 21 Adam Smith; 4 Jacob Bedeau (15 Chris Stokes 80’); 5 Farrend Rawson (C); 7 Tom Bloxham; 8 Eli King; 9 Michael Mellon; 10 JJ McKiernan; 11 Adam Mayor 12 Joel Senior (28 Oscar Threlkeld 72’); 14 Jordan Slew (19 Ethan Walker 72’); 22 James Connolly.
Substitutes not used: 26 George Pedley; 6 Yann Songo’o; 16 Jacob Davenport; 17 Cammy Smith; 20 Charlie Brown; 23 Max Melbourne.
Ref: Ben Atkinson.
Att: 10,224 (1,128 from Morecambe.)
