Morecambe's players will put in the hard yards

Adams is renowned for arduous pre-season programmes, building up his squad’s fitness for the campaign to come.

That stamina was credited as one of the principal reasons for the Shrimps’ 17 goals in the last quarter-hour of league matches during their promotion-winning season of 2020/21.

With the first of their pre-season matches coming at Kendal Town on Saturday, Adams reiterated his belief that football can be over-complicated.

He said: “Jose Mourinho said the other day, talking about (Carlo) Ancelotti; the game hasn’t changed – it’s experienced managers knowing how to build football teams.

“Jurgen Klopp takes his football team to the running track and they run. What do you have to do? You have to run.

“I take my players to the running track and I have done for many years. Other teams don’t do it but it is a simple game complicated by coaches.

“Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and many, many more have the game time they have because they simplify the game to the players and they understand it.

“Jose was right. Dealing with the social media complex at this moment in time is fans who want to play in a certain way but the game hasn’t changed dramatically over the years.”

Something else which wouldn’t surprise Morecambe fans to hear is Adams’ aversion to having possession for possession’s sake.

While he’s happy for other teams to have the larger share of the ball, Adams’ focus is on having better quality possession and building from there.

He said: “It’s not complicated. You have to get crosses in the box, you have to create goalscoring opportunities, you have to get the ball in the final third.

“I’ve always said if you want to watch a team playing 20 passes, 30 passes, in their own 18-yard box, you’re not going to see that from my team because I’m not going to watch that as a football manager.”

However, Adams’ plans won’t include JJ McKiernan after Lincoln City announced they had signed the midfielder on a four-year deal.

The 22-year-old scored seven times in 33 matches last season, though Lincoln say a compensation figure is still to be agreed between the clubs.