[NoSkillz]

2020/21 Preseason: Roster Status



U18 Graduates

No one of note



Senior Roster

GK - Right off the bat, we're in big trouble. Morecambe legend Barry Roche just retired days before I took over management after an impressive 20 year career, including the last 12 seasons here with the Shrimps. He played 44 games last year at 37 years of age and only allowed 41 total goals, which is incredibly impressive. The only goalkeeper on our senior roster is 29 year old Mark Halstead, who played in 12 total games last year but is more of a backup player at the League One level. We need loads of help here.

D - Last year, Morecambe relied heavily on loan players on defense, with Bobby Copping (from Millwall), Ben Forrest (from Birmingham) and Canice Carroll (from Brentford) all playing major roles. That said, we do have some considerable talent here amongst Morecambe signed players, most notably central defender Sam Lavelle, a 6'2" 23 year old who started 49 games last season and seems to be one of our most talented players. Popular 28 year old right fullback Zak Mills is also solid but carries a hefty wage bill and looks to be the most marketable player to move off the squad if I'm looking to free up some money for other signings. 23 year old DC Stefan O'Connor and to a lesser extent, 19 year old DL Bailey Owen look like they can be serviceable at the very least. We will definitely need to shore up our depth here at the very least for the coming season but we have some pieces we can work with in defense.

M - Morecambe were led in midfield last year by a couple of 28 year olds in Aaron Wildig and team captain Alex Kenyon. Wildig scored one goal and added 4 assists in 46 appearances last year while Kenyon, a defensive mid, battled some injuries but still started 38 games, scoring twice and adding 6 assists. Both of these players have considerable wages and I'm definitely going to look at moving Wildig to free up some salary...I'm guessing it would be damaging to our locker room to move our captain so I'll try to avoid doing that. 21 year old Charlie Gilmour came to Morecambe on a free from Arsenal last year and was solid, scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists in 42 total appearances...we'll definitely give him a look here. Perhaps our best central midfielder is 29 year old Andrew Tutte - he's a natural box-to-box defender (a quality I like), looks to be an influential member of the squad and also contributed 6 goals in 29 games last year. Looks like a keeper, although he's getting older and likely going to start losing skill and speed soon. We need depth in central midfield and I'll need to move out some more salary to help balance things somewhat. I also don't know what do do with captain Alex Kenyon - I don't usually line up with a DM so if I keep him around, I may have to re-train him to be a holding MC.

F - The team's leading scorer from last year was target man Jason Oswell, who provided 16 goals in 37 starts, a very impressive return. That said, he's a lumbering striker, with limited speed and is making quite a bit of money. I also plan on playing in our Gengenpressing 4-2-3-1 formation with one striker and he's ill-suited to that pressing role I need. Talented 30 year old A-Jay Leitch-Smith is perhaps our highest rated player at Morecambe and offers impressive versatility as a natural attacking central midfielder who can also easily adapt to the stiker position. He brought 8 goals and 2 assists to the team last year in 38 starts. 21 year old winger Carlos Mendes Gomes is also an impressive looking player - part of the youth setup at Atletico Madrid, he was signed by Morecambe two years ago and played 40 games this past season, cracking in 7 goals and providing 7 assists as well. He looks perfect for my inside forward role at AML with his strong right leg. Exciting! 25 year old Rhys Oates was the starter at AMR last year and while talented, wasn't very productive by the looks of it, with 4 goals and 2 assists in 39 games. I'd like to look for an upgrade at striker and right wing for sure, while adding depth where possible.


So, to sum up, we are desperate for a starting option in goal, could definitely use some added quality at MC, AMR and ST while also looking for better quality depth throughout the lineup.

All with no transfer budget and less than £500 available in our wage budget.

We have work to do!!


Coaching Staff Notes

With essentially no money to waste, I decide I'm going to keep any and all staff that still have term on their contracts. Our coaching staff is, bar none, the worst in the league and while I have a couple of open spots I can fill, I'm likely going to have to wait until next summer to truly have my own coaching team in place.