Morecambe Season Preview: Lavelle impresses

With the 2018-19 League Two season coming up, The Football Lab spoke to Morecambe fan Jack Steer (@morecambejack) from the Shrimps Trust (@shrimpstrust)…

Within the uncertainty that off-field problems naturally bring, it feels like Morecambe have created a ‘Dunkirk Spirit’ over the last few seasons. Does that show the importance of having big characters like Jim Bentley and Kevin Ellison?

The whole club has had to dig deep over the last few seasons to ensure that we have a Club to support, never mind a Football League one. Jim in particular has been instrumental in creating a positive atmosphere to keep us in the league, and obviously within the squad Kevin Ellison is a leading part of doing the same. With new owners coming in at the end of the season, it appears that things will settle now and we can look forward to a more prosperous future.

You conceded just 56 goals last year, four fewer than promoted Wycombe. Did young centre-back Sam Lavelle benefit from learning alongside the more experienced Steven Old?

Sam had a great season and got my vote as Player of the Year, but Oldy wasn’t far behind him. I think everyone was delighted that we have been able to tie them both down on two-year deals giving us a solid foundation to build on for the coming year. They made for a great pairing and our defensive record was great despite our league position.

Your defensive record appeared to suffer when Barry Roche was unavailable through injury. How important an influence is he, both between the sticks and in the dressing room?

This is Baz’s 11th season with the Shrimps and his testimonial year, and as a Shrimps Trust Trustee I was delighted that we recognised Barry on our ‘Legends Wall’ at the back of the home terrace. Not only is Baz arguably one of, if not the, best goalkeepers in the division but he invests a lot of time in the Club and local community. He is one of a number of leaders on the pitch and is both literally and metaphorically the first name on the team sheet.

You stayed up on the final day after drawing 12 of your final 21 games. In order to attract new fans and progress, are you hoping the team will start to show more tactical ambition?

I don’t necessarily think it was a tactical problem that led to us scoring so few goals last year. We simply didn’t have enough creative players or players that could put the ball in the back of the net. We heavily relied on Kevin Ellison and loanee Callum Lang who were the only two players to get double figures, and contributions from other team members were few and far between. We have managed to retain most of our defence from last year, therefore the acquisitions this year have mainly been in the forward department.

There’s a few fans who feel the passing ability of Michael Rose, now released, suffered due to the long ball tactics that Bentley and Ken McKenna employed. Are you hopeful that new signing Andrew Tutte will be given some freedom?

I think those fans can’t have been watching the games last year! Rosey had a poor season by his own standards last year and that included some poor passing play and at times poor set pieces. Andrew Tutte is a little bit younger and will hopefully offer a bit more creativity, contributing more goals to the team.

New signing James Sinclair once played in the UEFA Cup with Bolton while Zak Mills showed a bit of early promise at Grimsby. Do those arrivals soften the blow of losing right-back Aaron McGowan?

Losing Aaron to a Scottish side and therefore not receiving a penny for him was very disappointing after all the effort the Club but in to him over the last few years. He had certainly had a good season, picked up a few awards, and deserves his chance to progress. Sinclair and Mills come highly recommended and I look forward to seeing them play in a competitive fixture.

You don’t seem to have many classic wingers in the squad and the left-back signed to replace Luke Conlan, Jordan Cranston, is attack-minded. Do you expect to use wing-backs again this season?

I think that will certainly be an option that Jim will use, but he is very open to changing the formation both between and within games. Most of the signings we have made are versatile players which means that they can move into different players and formations to suit our game against different opposition.

Jason Oswell scored for fun in non-league, Rhys Oates is an aerial specialist while Bill Prendergaast (from the Development Centre at Manchester College) has “never seen anything like Carlos Mendes”. Fair to say Vadaine Oliver will have some competition up top?

While Oliver is a big target man and played well at times last season, his goal contribution was very poor which ultimately contributed to our final position in the league. Hopefully the increased competition will give us more options to put the ball in the net, and in turn Oliver will need to up his game for his own progression as well as the Club’s. He still has the making of a good player and did have some individually great games for us last season.

Like Mendes, midfielder Lamin Jagne has signed after a successful trial with the reserves. Given that Alex Kenyon and Andrew Fleming are quite defensive midfielders, is Jagne someone who could freshen things up?

Both players come highly rated but will be considered to be youth players within the first team. I expect that they will get some game time but will need to prove themselves to get a regular place in the side. They appear to have a very positive attitude so it will be interesting to see how the progress and what they contribute to the side.

Shrimps aside, what are your thoughts ahead of the League Two season as a whole? Any potential dark horses for you?

Notts County appear to have spent well and acquired some good players so I expect that they will be up there. Tranmere would be a Dark Horse as they obviously have a good set up and will ride the wave of promotion from non-league.

Where will you finish?

I suspect most people will have us down as favourites for relegation, but that has been the case every season for the last 10 years but I am optimistic we will prove them wrong yet again.

Thanks to Jack for his answers. The Football Lab’s verdict on Morecambe can be found on We Love Betting from late July.