[NoSkillz]

2021/22 Preseason: Roster Status



U18 Graduates

DC - Owen Mitchell 1.0/1.5
AML - Frank Boyle 1.5/2.5
AML - Liam Brook 0.5/1.0
AMC - Lyall Reynolds 1.5/3.0
AMR - Greg Pearson 1.0/1.5

In League One, we're required to have at least one locally-trained player in our match squad if we're to maintain a full compliment of substitutes. So it's good to keep a couple of the U18 grads around for that purpose. Frank Boyle and Lyall Reynolds have decent ratings but Boyle is way too tiny (5'2"!!!) and Reynolds is mainly an AMC, which I don't intend to use much this year after successfully switching to a 4-3-3 (technically a 4-1-2-2-1) last year. Last year, we used left fullback Cole Edwards as our primary home-grown player but he has literally no talent and only got in two bench appearances as a result despite featuring in almost every match squad throughout the season.



Senior Roster

GK - Returning to Morecambe this year was last January's prize pickup Rory Watson. He was excellent in backstopping us to the best record in League One in the second half of the season and he will be our primary starter for 2021/22. Another January signing, Conor Mitchell is earmarked for the backup role but we also have two youngsters we signed from Manchester City's youth setup that will push for that backup role in Lewis Thomas and Louie Moulden. We're in good shape here.

D - We're in pretty decent shape at defense on the surface but the black cloud hanging over our heads is still the transfer request handed in by talented central defender Sam Lavelle. I'm on excellent terms with him but he simply desires a new challenge. I'm sticking to my guns on this one point though: I want £200,000 for him, which would set a Morecambe transfer record and is fair value for a 24 year old workhorse DC. I've already spotted a potential replacement for him, a pacy and very tall DC who is transfer-listed by request with Gillingham. As far as current central defenders, we're in good shape with Stefan O'Connor, Gabriel Osho and youngster Samuel Nsumbu, even if none of them is quite "star material". At fullback, we were led last year by Liverpool loanee Corey Whelan, who isn't available for this coming season. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, as we picked up the excellent Jordan Gabriel last January and I expect him to lead the way on the right side. On the left side, we have the very underrated Bailey Owen - he's a natural inverted fullback, which suits our formation and system to a "T" and will be our top choice on most game days. We could use some depth on both flanks and I'll likely utilize the loan market for that.

M - We were pretty strong in the central midfield last season and utilized a 3 man unit all year, with an AMC for about half a season and then a DM for the second half of the season. One major change will see captain Alex Kenyon leaving without a new contract - he's got great intangibles but didn't produce much at all when in the lineup at DM. We will need to find someone either on the transfer or loan market to take his spot. A possible replacement is January signing Matt Dolan, who was superb when called upon due to his great dead-ball prowess and fine leadership abilities. Andrew Tutte will be the main man in our box-to-box role - he's getting up in age (he's in his age-31 season) but consistently produced last year. Our main creative force last year was Manchester United loanee DJ Buffonge. Unfortunately, United chose not to resign him and he's currently available on the transfer market. I'd love to bring him to Morecambe full-time but I think he's looking for a bigger stage than League One. We still have the talented Thierno Ballo on our roster - he's a natural attacking central mid but perhaps we can train him to play as a Mezzala more in the middle of the park. Regardless, we utilized loanees to a great extent last year and we'll need to up our talent level in addition to bringing in plenty of depth for all three key positions.

F - We have two key players returning on the wings in Carlos Mendes Gomes and Harvey Neville. Both are young and very talented and will be our main starters up front on the left and right side respectively. That said, the vultures are starting to circle Morecambe in the case of Neville - I've been rejecting transfer offers throughout June from Championship sides and while he has told me he'd prefer to stay with us, I can't guarantee that will continue to be the case. At striker, we will be losing our top goal scorer from last year in West Ham loanee Jahmal Hector-Ingram. Like DJ Buffonge, Hector-Ingram wasn't resigned by his parent club and heads into the free agent market looking to sign with a team in a bigger league. We only have Harvey Knibbs as a current option on the roster and we will definitely need to supplement this position in the loan or transfer market.


Summing up, we have a number of key things to address:

-- We need to find a home for top DC Sam Lavelle and hope to find a capable, talented replacement.
-- We need depth at both fullback positions
-- We need starting level talent at both MC (preferably a Mezzala) and DM (preferably a Deep Lying Playmaker) and depth at all central midfield positions
-- We need depth at both wing positions (likely the loan market)
-- We need a top level striker and depth as well

Ugh. That's quite a lot we need to take care of!