Despite recent hard times on and off the pitch, Morecambe started the season with 2 narrow defeats against strong opposition. It was 0-1 in both, away at Walsall and at home to Gillingham.
Both are unbeaten and could well be our rivals as the season progresses. Neither match was one-sided, yet Morecambe’s unsung battlers, doubtless well-managed by the experiencedf Derek Adams, almost contained both of them.
Even when League 2 gets bedded down it seems unpredictable, so the assumption that the teams they’ve lost to are relatively good may not be true, but it could well be so, considering that both are unbeaten in the league and managed to score 4 goals in their other game. Morecambe have only conceded the 2 goals in the league as well, just half as many as Rovers.
So while there could be grounds for expecting something less than a convincing win for us on Saturday, such an outcome will not sit comfortably with our expectations. If we really are the force we have been led to believe we are, (and indeed the bookies believe or believed) we were, this should be a home banker.
Maxwell is long-term injured and will be a loss and the much-hyped midfielders have been a little slow to demonstrate their genius with the lad on loan from Spurs, Kelly contending to replace one of them.
I am puzzled by McCann’s eagerness to sign Nixon (who looks good to me) when he routinely leaves him out of the first team in favour of Sterry who doesn’t seem as reliable.
With Sharp always expecting either a start or a sizeable stint from the bench, and Ironside otherwise a permanent and reliable front man too, McCann has got himself in a situation which strikes me as delicate to say the least. He could find himself with 2 strikers who he sees as mutually exclusive who are unsettled and not getting the best out of either of them.
So, despite a plethora of supposed potential talent, he has yet to show how it can all combine to equal the force he had at his disposal at the back end of last season.
I hope they can win reasonably convincingly because if they can’t I really don’t see how McCann can be disassociated from responsibility. So many fans saw him as not far short of the perfect manager last April, yet minus Craig, Adelukan and Lo Tutala, his replacements are looking rather less than adequate.
Some may say that we should give it/him time, but he built his squad early, had that momentum from the Play-offs and there should be more to show for it all.
I’m getting a bit cynical, but I’ll say 2-1 and expect much better. Ironside/Sharp.
DPL v Morecambe
posted on 23/8/24
A well reasoned preview Donaldo and reflects my thoughts, especially the Sharp/ Ironside situation. He'll be without Richard Wood so there will be changes in defence. Though McGrath looked OK. It just feels as though it isn't a settled side just yet . Biggins is being missed and as you say the midfield hasn't really gelled yet. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a draw. 1-1, Molyneux.
posted on 23/8/24
I'm worried this game could be a "banana skin" against a team that has yet to score. However I'll stick with Grant and his ability to motivate, add in a dollop of optimism, and say we will win 3-1.
I'll stick with Ironside as the first scorer; if he doesn't start, Molyneux.
posted on 23/8/24
It will indeed be a true test of his ability to turn around the Newport mediocrity. Instead of banana skins we want fresh fruit, zesty lemons, crunchy carrots and plenty of fibre.
posted on 24/8/24
With that diet you usually get a lot of 💩
posted on 24/8/24
Still being bitten by the Highland midges 😲 the local medicine helps though 😊
Rovers to chew Morecambe 2-0
Sharp to score ⚽
posted on 24/8/24
I have the same forecast as Mooli - 2-0 to Rovers. Sharp with the first.
posted on 24/8/24
First of all, I'm not impressed with the Sky coverage compared with iFollow. Sometimes they replayed events 2 or 3 times and the game was back underway before they returned to the live game. With the game at Doncaster, why did we have to have the somewhat biased Morecambe supporters as commentators? Did our "totally unbiased🤭" guys not turn up?
I was at a neighbour's dinner party last night that went on late - I overslept and missed the first half. So I did not see the incident where the commentators said was a slam-dunk red card for "denial of a goal scoring opportunity". Grant said the other way around he would have been screaming for a red, but having watched the incident again, he said Olowu could have intervened. I wonder what they will show on the highlights.
I was not very impressed with the Rovers, although we kept a clean sheet. Too many sloppy passes and poor final passes spoiling goal scoring opportunities, and few shots taken were on target (3 out of 14 according to BBC stats). For a tall goalkeeper, S-L seemed to have problems with corners coming just below the bar, otherwise he was OK with the little he had to do.
I do not think there will be live video coverage on Tuesday, even for we ex-pats.
posted on 25/8/24
Thanks Micky. I'm away for the weekend and only heard the first half (Morecambe) commentary and we seemed to be edging it at the half way point. But the preseason hype is starting to seem rather optimistic.
posted on 26/8/24
The skylights showed us to be totally dominant and missing several good chances. We're a better team than we were this time last season but way off the team that ended last season.
posted on 26/8/24
I think the highlights might be slightly misleading. We got a lucky goal in a game which was poor. I've watched all of it and we were lucky to keep 11 on the pitch after the denial of Morecombe's obvious goal scoring opportunity. 3 shots on target to their 2.