More Please | Morecambe 1-1 Stags

Sky Bet League Two – Tuesday 20th October 2020, Mazuma Stadium [Behind Closed Doors]

Three minutes into last night’s fixture when Morecambe took the lead, I was most certainly in the “here we go again camp” – and yet, despite Harry Charsley’s back heeled leveller and a point away from home – I still feel like Oliver Twist asking for more.

The results adds to our woeful start to the season and I can’t hide my disappointment that we didn’t seize the initiative last night and play for the win late on – the game was there for the taking.

In terms of performance I felt we did OK, we moved the ball better, we got our creative players more involved, we had a number of opportunities – but still lacked intensity, hunger and desire to go and kill a team off – and after seven games, that’s not good enough.

OK the players may have been nervy, when you’re in a poor vein of forms there’s always a hesitance with players afraid to make errors – and that’s fine so long as you protect what you start with, a point.

Where things change however is with the management – you look to them to rally the troops, to make proactive changes to win games and to inspire – I can’t say I’m feeling that at the moment from Coughlan, highlighted by replacing Cook with Bowery after 73 minutes, when really all the game needed was one player to push up with him with a freshness such as Maynard or Reid – both natural goalscorers who like to play on the front foot.

The manager claimed to have played a 4-3-3 which suggests that Cook did have support from Gordon and McLaughlin, realistically it was a 4-5-1 with them out wide – meaning Cook had to drop deeper to try and make things happen for himself, that’s just playing into the opponents hands there!

I’m not saying that there wasn’t improvement, because there was – and when you add in Ollie Clarke (injured, not sure how long for), George Lapslie (Suspended, back on Saturday) and Mal Benning (left out due to well-being concerns – hope he’s OK) you’ve got a little more natural balance and attacking threat, which should turn a point into three.

Cheltenham have made a cracking start and will be tough on Saturday but we can NOT go backwards and lose the game, but then with Barrow in midweek at home struggling to adapt to league life, you have the opposite – anything less than four points minimum from the next two games will be deemed a failure in my opinion.

A few may question why I’ve not referenced chances for Sweeney and Rawson – simply because that excuse of “oh things didn’t drop” has ran its course, we have to get on with it and focus on what we can have an effect on – and that’s the next game, and getting a long, overdue win – before we need to start looking at other ways to turn this nightmare season around.

Click HERE to read the clubs official match report.

STAGS: Marek Stech | Rollin Menayese, Farrend Rawson, Ryan Sweeney ©, Corey O’Keeffe| Kellan Gordon, James Perch, George Maris, Harry Charsley, Stephen McLaughlin (Tyrese Sinclair 70) | Andy Cook (Jordan Bowery 73)
Unused Subs: Aidan Stone, Aaron O’Driscoll, Jamie Reid, Nicky Maynard, Alistair Smith