On the anniversary of the death of his father Brian, the Burton Albion boss watched his relegation strugglers crash to their seventh successive Conference defeat against Morecambe.
A sparkling first-half display by Danny Carlton exposed Burton's fragile defence and confidence.
Carlton opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he superbly volleyed home Kieron Walmsley's cross from 12 yards.
Burton could have been level three minutes later but Danny Bacon's close-range shot hit a post after good work by Keith Gilroy.
Carlton set up Morecambe's second goal in the 40th minute when he held off Darren Tinson and squared the ball for Wayne Curtis to score from close range.
But Burton showed some fight at the start of the second half and Bacon had a shot blocked on the line.
But it was all over for the home team after an hour when Sean O'Connor, who had replaced the injured Carlton, fired home from six yards in a goalmouth scramble.
Walmsley was the provider again in the 74th minute, this time for Michael Twiss to crash home a right-foot shot from the edge of the area.
A dismal night for Burton was completed when Jon Shaw's shot bounced the wrong side of the line after hitting the underside of the crossbar.