Morecambe takeover: Panjab Warriors ‘feel blessed’ to be owners of National League club

That will be no easy task given that Morecambe currently have a squad of five first-team players, no manager, and are due to face Altrincham at 12:30pm on Saturday.

The BBC was informed that the team’s kit will only be delivered later this week, and that players are still not insured to play or train, meaning that a postponement – just like their opening three fixtures of the season – is possible.

Earlier this summer, when Panjab Warriors first agreed to take over the club, the BBC learned that the group planned to remove manager Derek Adams from his position and replace him with 30-year-old former Notts Country, Wigan Athletic and Como coach Ashvir Singh Johal, who has never managed a senior first team side.

Singh Johal even conducted an interview with the BBC in which he thanked Panjab Warriors for hiring him. But the takeover wasn’t completed at the time, and so Adams remained in post, unpaid and with no squad to coach.

Adams has now been removed from his position, with his sacking announced while the BBC was interviewing the new owners on Monday evening. Singh Johal is expected to be his successor.

The 50-year-old Adams has become a hugely popular figure among the fanbase, having managed the club three times and led them to League One for the first time in their history.

When asked on Monday – while Adams’ sacking was being finalised by another member of the ownership group in an adjacent room – whether they still planned to let him go and install Singh Johal in his place, Panjab Warriors head of communications Gurpreet Singh said: “All we want to say is, trust us.

“There are going to be changes. We went from League One all the way down to the National League. But we are here for the betterment of the club, so trust us.”

Adams declined to speak to the BBC.