National League Managerial Change: Steve Morison
Steve Morison departed Sutton United earlier this week. Some thoughts on his departure and how it came about.
Sometimes, you hear the interview and know the game is up.
Sutton United have just lost 3-2 against Tamworth, all five goals being scored in the first half and the three conceded completely avoidable from a Sutton point of view.
The first question is the standard one: what did you make of the game?
*Puff of the cheeks*
Erm. That’s a really tough question to answer ‘cause
*deep inhale*
*Air exhaled from nose*
Yeah
*Loud exhale from mouth*
Just.... shoot yourself in the foot
*Brief stare*
Just so difficult to come back from, erm, we did, then we shot ourselves in the foot again.
So, erm... yeah, I I’m
I’m lost f-for words at times because...we knew exactly what was gonna happen, we worked on it all week... erm... and... yeah...
At this point, Morison finds the words. It was like the Alamo second half. Yeah, Tamworth countered a couple of times because Sutton were chasing the game.
*deep breath*
Yeah, it was erm, it was laughable watching us try and put the ball in the back of the net and er, look that’s an individual thing, that’s a that’s a that’s a player thing I can... erm, yeah, they’ve got to take some more pride in their finishing and believe they’re gonna score a goal and er, erm, yeah, it’s another loss and it’s erm, yeah it’s tough.
The hits keep coming.
The second question is about the initial response to going behind and Morison says his team forgot the fundamentals of football which you learn when you are 4 years old or 5 years old at Little Kickers.
Question number three is about what is said at half-time.
Man up. Fundamentals of football. Got to do the fundamentals of football right. You’ve got to be a man.
The fourth question sees the interviewer put a positive spin on things, discussing the team putting on pressure in the second half. Has to be positives to take, right? Before the question is finished, Morison begins.
No no there’s not no because what’s the point in creating chances if you’re not gonna put them in the back of the net?
*Brief pause*
I mean you might as well have not bothered
*frustrated laugh*
You might as well have not bothered
I know it sounds really flippant but, erm, yeah, we can’t, there can’t be that many opportunities flashed across the box and moments like that we don’t capitalise on and er... erm... yeah i-i-it... they have to be better, we have to be better
He spoke positively about the fans before the fifth and final question arrives, looking ahead to Tuesday against Brighton and Hove Albion U21’s in the National League Cup. A chance to start afresh?
Yeah we’re gonna have to gonna have to give everyone a game and get them some minutes. I’m also gonna have to play players that have played a hell of a lot of football and yeah they’ll just have to have a look at it in detail but yeah it’s erm... yeah it’s been erm... it’s another tough afternoon
My thought process with Sutton United was a little up-and-down this summer.
As they began announcing their latest set of new recruits, I was reminded of the previous summer and how they overhauled their relegated squad in favour of young talent. My pre-season expectations were a mid-table finish because I had absolutely no idea what to make of them, which wound up being true.
To this summer and out went eight of their 13 most used players, including six of the few over 25’s left in the building and while Harry Phipps, Aaron Jones and Ashley Nadesan helped fill the experience vacuum, they added at least nine more players under the age of 25, six of whom were playing National League South football the previous campaign. Logic would dictate we were going to get a similar campaign.
And then I wound up popping them in 5th in my 1-24's for 2025-26. Truth be told, it was a gut feeling. I was having difficulty placing most of the division and wound up having a decent feeling about what Sutton United might do. Clearly my gut was wrong.
However, logic hasn’t exactly proven right either.
Sutton are currently 22nd in the National League table having collected five points from their opening nine league outings while also losing both National League Cup fixtures.
Are there mitigating factors? Perhaps.
For starters, Sutton have played eight of the current top 11 at this early stage of the season and their away games have come at York City, Forest Green Rovers, Rochdale and Altrincham.
They may also point to injuries too. Aaron Jones, Alex Kirk, Will Tizzard, Liam Vincent, Eduino Vaz, Alex Woodyard, Sidu Odelusi and Dillon De Silva have already missed game time and that, coupled with the schedule, has seen the U’s make 28 changes to their starting XI.
However, there is little denying that a number of the issues they have faced have been somewhat self-inflicted.
The underlying numbers aren’t great. They sit in the bottom six for both xG and xGA and they are giving up just shy of 1xG more than they are creating. They aren’t ranking high for possession, sit top for interceptions per 90 and have given up the third most touches inside of their area. Hard working and committed but lacking quality and control.
I was able to understand why they are enduring such defensive problems having watched their game at Altrincham. They started bright, showed good energy and tenacity and took the lead but the lack of control in their game and poor out-of-possession shape saw them give up far too much space defensively, fail to do the basics and lose the game. It’s not the only time this season that space behind the wing-backs has been exploited on a consistent basis and left their centre-backs exposed.
This somewhat comes back to the chosen recruitment strategy. I’ve got no issue with clubs looking to blood young, up-and-coming talent and applaud Sutton for their bravery but this unquestionably comes with short-term side effects. (as found elsewhere at FC Halifax Town, the only team to field a younger XI on average). There are a number of players learning on the job, both with regards to age and the number of players finding their feet in full-time football. There is a general lack of reliability and experience within the squad and the fine margins have an impact when you’re playing good teams that will punish you.
But when any side struggles, you also look to the manager.
I’d become quite fond of Morison. He didn’t speak like most managers – he spoke less like a coach and more like the average guy – and it made him quite refreshing to listen to. He wasn’t a man of many words – something he admits himself – but was honest, cared, wanted to promote players, didn’t look to score points or make excuses. He offered respect and expected as much back.
He didn’t lose those qualities upon returning this season but there was a change in his demeanour, his voice and his words.
He admitted to being emotional after the loss against Forest Green Rovers then commented:
The brutality of this game is, is, is there for everyone to see. Erm. Do you know what I mean? Spend 90 minutes standing there getting abused by people behind ya which is apparently perfectly acceptable which is something I have to take on the chin then I swore once because I didn’t think something was a foul and got booked.
Following Rochdale, a 1-0 loss on Bank Holiday Monday, we got:
Hugely disappointed. Highly emotional. Tired. Erm. And yeah. It’s not good enough at the minute... from myself. I feel sorry for the rest of the staff. I feel sorry for people like Jon Meeney, Kyri, Sean, Cat, Luke, Graham, who work their absolute socks off every day, Tatts too. Everyone and we’re just not giving them enough at the minute.
Fans come down, clap the lads off because they can see how much effort they’re putting in. Great credit to them to travel all the way up here on Bank Holiday weekend as well and watch us get defeated but they saw we put everything on the line. And to be fair that’s all I can ask because you start questioning yourself and lots of things. Are they running? Are they doing what you’re asking them? They are and we can’t question that. Just not being good enough at the minute. I need to have a real long hard look at myself... like I am all the time. But yeah, I need to do some soul searching because it’s the toughest period I’ve ever had as a coach or manager. It’s hard.
And after Altrincham:
I can't have a go at the players. They’re giving me everything. We’ve got what we’ve got as a group. That’s every player we’ve got. They’re trying their hearts out for the football club and I hope everyone can see that. Yeah, it hurts at the minute.
I said to the staff ‘cause everyone is looking at themselves, everyone is really frustrated, everyone is upset, everyone is down “yeah, you can put your head on your pillow tonight because we can’t do anymore, yeah. ‘Cause we’re working so so hard, we’re giving them everything yeah. When you do work like that, when you do give everything, as the players do, you know they’re frustrated they’ve got the hump at the end of the game. Everyone is upset, disappointed, they’re down.
And then we get the interview after Tamworth.
The start of the new season has been tough. Sutton United haven’t performed well for various reasons, some of it unfortunate, some of it luck, some of it self-inflicted.
Whatever the reasons, it’s evident that Steve Morison took a lot of their struggles personally and it manifested into the kind of interview that left you knowing it was the end.
What happens next for Sutton United?
It’s a difficult one to predict. They aren’t doing things the conventional way and I quite enjoy the mystery as an onlooker. I wouldn’t be surprised if they appointed Jon Meeney if he performs well as interim, or a coach from an academy, or somebody performing well locally at a club lower down the ladder.
For my money, I think the raw ingredients are there. Perhaps a new voice and a little more structure, both in their defensive shape and attacking play, is needed. I don’t think additional support for Ashley Nadesan, who is taking on a bigger load in attack, would go amiss either. If they can tidy up the key components, they’ve got more than a chance of matching pre-season logic and working their way back up the table.
And for Morison?
I think he should follow his own words at the end of his post-match interview against Altrincham.
I said to them before the game you play this sport when you’re a kid because you love it. You enjoy playing it. And remember to keep enjoying it because if you do have a career in the game it doesn’t last forever. And you don’t want to do what I did as a player and that’s not enjoy it as much as you should have because I was far too caught up in it.
Management isn’t the same as playing but I think the idea still applies. Morison was carrying a lot of emotion in the role and not enjoying it the way he had done and it manifested in the kind of interview that saw him use – as Mike Holden may refer to it as - “demon behaviour”.
He can take some time out, refresh and hopefully he’ll be back in a dugout somewhere in the future.