McIlroy backs Bentley to shine

Ex-Morecambe boss Sammy McIlroy has backed his successor Jim Bentley to become a great manager.

Ex-boss feels his successor has right attributes to be a hit

Former Morecambe boss Sammy McIlroy has backed his successor Jim Bentley to become a great manager in his own right. The former Northern Ireland international boss stepped down after five-and-a-half years at the Morecambe helm earlier this month, with Bentley swiftly replacing him at the Globe Arena. The 34-year-old played a crucial role for McIlroy as he steered the Shrimps both into the Football League four years ago and into the League Two play-offs last year. McIlroy believes that Bentley has all the right attributes to emulate him at Morecambe in the coming seasons.

Personality

"I put him in charge of the reserves last season because I felt that he had good managerial credentials and the right personality for it," Bentley told skysports.com. "Jim Bentley did brilliantly for me as a player over the five-and-a-half years that I was there. "It is a big step up for Jim, but we've had a good chat about it and he knows where I am if he needs any help or guidance. "I've expressed to him the importance of a good pre-season because ultimately that is what cost us last season. "We couldn't go into the new stadium to train until late March/early April, which is terrible and we had to cancel pre-season games with Manchester City, Bolton and Blackburn because the stadium wasn't ready. "I'm not using that as an excuse, but I've told the big man that preparation has got to be right this time and to be fair to the chairman he has promised Jim that it will be."