Morecambe building project appealed to new management team
Morecambe’s new boss relishes having the time to put his plans into place.
Morecambe manager Adam Lakeland admitted the chance to rebuild the club was one of the main selling points in his move to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.
Lakeland took over as the Shrimps’ boss at the end of April, having left FC Halifax Town along with his assistant, Sam Walker, after agreeing a three-year contract.
The pair face the job of turning around a Morecambe team which was relegated to National League North this season, having left a Halifax squad that finished eighth.
Asked at last week’s fans’ forum what the attraction was of joining Morecambe, Lakeland said: “It was probably a mixture of a few things really. First of all, the size of the club, the history of the club, the heritage of the club.
“Having been here a handful of times, it just feels like a Football League club. Having been here as the opposition manager and sat and watched a couple of games, the crowd has always got behind the team even when things have been tough and that’s something that’s always nice to see because I think it’s too easy for football fans to get on the backs of teams when they’re struggling.
“Good supporters back the team in moments of struggle. I think the three-year plan really appealed to us, the project, the opportunity to effectively come in, push reset and build it up how we believe it should be built up - and being given that time and that support and the backing to make probably better football decisions.”
Having previously outlined his determination to win promotion at the first time of asking, Lakeland reiterated his desire to bring success back to club and fans.
Morecambe will be considered one of the favourites to lift the NLN title next season and the new manager is determined to put some silverware on the table.
He added: “I’ve said this to a few of the players I’ve been meeting, we want to win. Success in football can be measured in so many different ways.
“If you look at our last few years, getting Halifax to finish eighth is success, bringing players out from the league below and developing them and bigger clubs coming in, enquiring about them, that’s success.
“Going to King’s Lynn, taking over a team second-bottom and then the year after, getting them to the play-offs, that’s success.
“Ultimately, it’s about putting trophies above your head and having medals swinging around your neck, and I’ve not had that since 2019 when I won the league at Farsley (Celtic).
“I want to feel it again because when you win it’s like a drug, you want to win, so I feel like we have an opportunity to do that here.
“I know how hard that is because football clubs up and down the land want to win something every season and the reality is only a handful can.
“I feel like if we do things properly here, that there’s a chance for us to win and ultimately that’s what we want to do.
“That project and vision of the three-year plan was one that really enticed us and we felt, let’s back ourselves to drop down, have an immediate return to the National League and then we’ll try and tackle that one as well.”