Tranmere 1-4 Swindle

[SonkORLY?]

EDIT: Ian, fancy editing the thread title?


Poor.

Thought we started fairly well, putting Swindon under a bit of pressure with a couple of good chances each falling to Mclaren, Ricketts, Edds and Curran. I felt we were often using Ricketts as an excuse to play too direct, but there was glimpses of some good football and we were doing ok.

Swindon put an end to that by scoring 2 goals out of pretty much nowhere, the first inparticular was appaulingly defended after a mixup between loanee keeper Martin (why is he still playing anyway?) and the ever-unassured Goodison. Going into the second half Swindon picked up a bit, keeping the ball well at times and counter-attacking with gusto when the oppertunity arose - we lost our shape completely and only ever looked like scoring when Shuker came onto the pitch (I was as surprised as anyone, especially after reports of lazy and inept performances for the reserves). I don't like the 4-3-3.

I'd like to add that, although Goodison and Broomes deserve a special mention for being a consistently awful partnership, the general defending from the corner that lead to their 4th goal was literally the sort of basic marking that you'd expect from an Under 8s team. Unbelievably poor.

The officials were very soft today - Curran and Thomas-Moore were both punished for aggressive (but fair) challenges, whilst the subsequently "injured" Swindon players were allowed to receive treatment on the pitch for god-knows how long before springing to their feet and sprinting round like nutters. Their physio must have given them pills or something. Greer was fantastic at the back for Swindon, and their back 4 looked very assured throughout (apart from when they were rolling round on the floor crying about seemingly non-existant ankle injuries). Paynter was also good.

We need a new manager before Saturday. The mass exodus of people leaving the stadium with 5-10 minutes to go was a pretty telling sight - not seen anything like that before at PP, half of the Kop was on its way out before injury time was even announced, the other half were shouting and booing lol.

 

[DIW]

Utterly woeful and depressing. The afternoon started badly when we found a couple of chavs sitting in our seats, these dicks then proceeded to miss the last 5 minutes of the first half to get a burger and then did one completely with 15 minutes left. Football fans my arse.
We did start okay, and they looked all at sea at the back, unable to defend corners etc. After about 30 minutes, I thought to myself that the game was there to be won if we really wanted. 10 minutes later we had managed to screw it up completely with the sort of defending you wouldn't expect on a park. Pathetic. I would sum the problems in the team as the following.

No pace
No organisation
No height or strength in midfield
No creativity in midfield
No leadership
No fight

Special mentions for cluelessness go to

John Welsh - managed to spend the entire game pumping aimless balls to nobody
Paul McLaren - was he on the pitch?
The entire back four for looking like they had just met yesterday.

Positives? Clutching at straws now, but Shuker did okay when he came on, and that surprised me as much as anything.

We are so going down this season.

 

[Ian]

Gotta agree guys. Utterly useless.

4-1 at home to an average side. Ohh dear..
2-0 at half time, that would have meant three goals in the second half to win. The game was over.

Credit to Swindon's counter attack and pace though. They really caught us on the back foot so many times. A team that can't defend and can't score is a team destined for division two.

Good luck to the new manager, he's going to need it!!

 

[Higgy's right foot]

The players are not good enough!!
The new Manager will have to rebuild the whole team over the next few years, and hopefully get us promoted back into this div along the way!!
Hope the Fans and chairman are going to be patient the next manager needs to be hear for the long hall.

 

[Boz]

I can't remember feeling so depressed after attending a match for ages, maybe the 6-1 at Hull, but at least we had the excuse of playing the whole of the second half with Theo in goal then.

Pivotal for me was conceding the second goal so soon after the first. We'd been the better side for the first 25 minutes or so and if Rovers had only gone in 0-1 down, we could have gone hell for leather coming out for the second half. Instead heads drooped and Swindon were all over us second half.

Ratings;

Martin. Nowhere near as commanding in organising the defence as he was v Brighton, distribution poor and some blame for one of the goals 5

Bakayogo. His mistake led to their crucial 2nd goal, little of the positive attacking play shown previously. Bring back Cresswell? 4

Broomes. Good headers including the one off the line, but organising and passing poor 4

Goodison. Pulled out of position far too much for my liking, seemed to be wandering all over the pitch 5

Logan. Lack of height a problem, lots of balls lobbed over him. One good tackle to put their striker off when he was bearing down on Martin. Seemed to be getting a lot of flak from the crowd, think down to his casual attitude 4

Welsh. Didn't think he was as bad as DIW says, put in a few decent tackles, though distribution not great 5

McLaren. Aside from a decent free-kick, did nothing of note. 3

Edds. Fairly low-key performance 4

ITM. Must be the worst shift he has ever put in wearing a Rovers shirt 4

Ricketts. Did some good work laying off balls and played one excellent ball in the box early on, but I felt he could have made of a target, the only header in a threatening position was from Curran's cross at the end of the half. 5

Curran. Good first half and was one of the few who kept going in the second. 6

Subs;

Shuker. Agreed that he was surprisingly good, even a headed goal. Starter next week?

Gornell. Missed his work-rate up front.

Les and Shaun. The motivational skills deserted them today and I don't think anyone's been under the impression either's a tactical maestro. McLaren should have been subbed earlier, would like to have seen Ash Taylor introduced given Swindon's physical nature.

 

[DIW]

Pretty good ratings in general Boz. Agreed with virtually all of them. However ITM is one that vexes me. True he didn't have the best game, but I personally felt that he put the effort in and was struggling from the quite frankly, appalling service.

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

First up, the parade of the old players was good. It built a good bit of atmosphere pre-match although I think it was a bit of a farce that we didn't make more of the Masters WINNING team and the trophy, and thought they would gather in the centre circle and take the applause. And some of the true legends of the club were missing. Ian Muir - was no effort made to make him attend? Greatest goalscorer, fair enough if he couldn't attend but would have been good if he and Mogsy, Nevin, et al could have attended. And of course THE great Johnny King.

Rant over...

Only for another to begin...

We began the game really well and for spells pinned Swindon in their penalty box. We just cannot put the ball in the net often enough. The golden rule is score when you're on top, and we dominated large spells in the first half and had nothing to show for it. McLaren, Moore, Curran, Goodison, Edds all had efforts and chances to give us the lead but none took it.

Then 2 mistakes led to their two first half goals. First one Martin and Goodison proved no communication is a killer as both seemed to leave it for the other to let Paynter tap hom. Second Bakayogo could have let the ball go out for a throw but tried a difficult pass with a player down his neck, then Paynter scores again, and we're completely on back foot.

Second half to forget. Dreadful display. The defence is a shambles and was all over the place. The clouds saw more of the ball than the grass and we hoofed it high and long. Goodison and Broomes - as much as i like Goodi, are just far too slow. Logan is good going forward but a liability at the back. Likewise Bakayogo imo.

In midfield, Welsh and McLaren show very little. Two poor signings. Says a lot for Alan Mahon that he can't get in the team cos he's been arguably even worse.

Curran worked hard but he's very raw and needs a really good coach to get him improving cos since he burst onto the scene (ok he's had injuries) but he's stood still and not improved too much. Ricketts shows some good touches but he's overweight and i could feel the ground shudder ever time he moved! ITM was running head down most of the time, then fell to the floor after being fairly tackled moaning at his team mates or referee for a foul. He's the captain, not great team spirit shown there.

So very little positive at the end of the game. Shuker did ok, but as always he does great runs with little or no end product. His final ball is atrocious, although we must thank him for scoring a goal! A header too for the little fella!

If there is a manager out there who can work miracles, get him in quick! The team needs seriously overhauling, organising, tightening up at the back, and some serious shooting practise. In reality, we're going down, and maybe now is the time to get someone in long term, and build from the bottom (League Two) and try and get some momentum by winning games and maybe pushing for promotion back to this division which may give us a more solid base.

Otherwise, it's looking grim. 125 year celebrations, tainted somewhat.

 

[SonkORLY?]

In reality, we're going down, and maybe now is the time to get someone in long term, and build from the bottom (League Two) and try and get some momentum by winning games and maybe pushing for promotion back to this division which may give us a more solid base.

This attitude will see us relegated for sure. We're 4 points from safety, Jesus Christ, it's not as if we're stranded at the bottom needing to win our last 5 games or anything.

I think Curran has done well since coming into the side and has proved quite effective playing the wide role in the 4-3-3. Everyone else looks a bit lost in that formation though. I disagree with those criticising Bakayogo and Logan, I quite like both players. And I agree with DIW that ITM worked hard yesterday and I wouldn't have singled him out for criticism. Also thought Eddsy did ok. Mahon should be in the team every week ahead of Mclaren.

Ricketts is good with the ball - came close to scoring, and had a big role to play in Curran's chance - but his work-rate infuriates me. I'm not sure who I'd rather see start out of him and Gornell.

 

[bigmart]

yes we are only 4 points from safety but we have the worst defensive record in the league and we cant score we are a very poor team who are were we deserve to be at the moment.
We need the new manager in quickly as its pointless continuing with the way things are, i fear a total hammering by norwich & think it will be a struggle against orient.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

For once there seems to be complete agreement and harmony on this message board. We all saw the game the same way, so I won't add any unnecessary verbiage.

However, a couple of observations. Yes, we need a new manager, and quick. Our problem is that that man will have to work with the current squad at least until January, when some wheeling-and-dealing could take place (although we won't have a penny to spend). But we're not sunk yet. The one (small) positive I could take from yesterday is that we are capable of playing well enough to stay up - the first 30 minutes were as good as anything this season. Yes we didn't score, yes we got punished for it, but I still believe, with the right organisation and tactics, we should finish above any four from Orient, Stockport, Wycombe, Gillingham and Exeter.

I think there were some players out there yesterday that were cheating the club, the staff and the fans. The lack of effort and commitment once we went behind was astonishing - totally unprofessional.

Last observation: why are our fans not more bloody angry with the players? I supported the team fully through 90 minutes, right to the end, no sneaking away. Then I booed them off the park. There were people around me apllauding. Applauding? When the team I followed for many years in Scotland played like that, there were fans surrounding the tunnel looking for blood. I'm a bit more mellow now, so don't go in for anything more than some booing and mild abuse after the final whistle. But I'd never applaud a team off after that!

There - I've had my say.

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

This attitude will see us relegated for sure. We're 4 points from safety, Jesus Christ, it's not as if we're stranded at the bottom needing to win our last 5 games or anything.

Have you seen us play this season? Our defence is a joke and our attack is impotent. WE have a -21 goal difference. The only reason why we're not further from safety is that this league is RUBBISH. There are the odd decent team who are at a consistent level. The rest are not good or just incredibly inconsistent. We're in the not good category.

I'd love to see us stay up, but I just cannot see it. We've got no money to hire a top manager or get any better players in so it's not looking rosey really.

 

[Boz]

SCoops, I understand Kingy is in poor health. It would be great to see him and some other legends who couldn't make the game yesterday introduced over the course of the rest of the season.

I think that there are enough poor sides in L1 at present to give us a chance(and I put it no higher than that) of avoiding the drop. However it will depend on being able to loan/recruit a couple more players, defenders being a priority and getting the best out of those already here. Heads dropped far too quickly yesterday and I singled out ITM. As captain he isn't very vocal but normally leads by example, but his chin seemed to hit the deck quicker than most.

It's easy to say with hindsight, but 4-3-3 was a mistake yesterday. Swindon had decent wide players, who could attack our full-backs and expose their weaknesses. It also restricted their forward movement reducing the number of quality balls into the box. 4-4-2 might have countered those problems. I agree with SonkORLY? that McLaren should be dropped, but I'd replace him with Ash Taylor initially, he looked the part against Brighton and adds some height to the midfield. Up front, I'm a bit less worried. We tested their keeper on a number of occasions in the first half and brought out some decent saves. Seems Curran likes the 4-3-3, ITM does not. Ricketts on current fitness levels should start on the bench, but he's a good option if either we're chasing the game or an outlet in a backs against the wall job.

TartanTranmere64, while paying customers have the right to boo, I'm not sure it achieves anything save being theraputic for the hecklers. Out of interest, who did you follow in Scotland?

 

[SonkORLY?]

Have you seen us play this season? Our defence is a joke and our attack is impotent. WE have a -21 goal difference. The only reason why we're not further from safety is that this league is RUBBISH. There are the odd decent team who are at a consistent level. The rest are not good or just incredibly inconsistent. We're in the not good category.

I'd love to see us stay up, but I just cannot see it. We've got no money to hire a top manager or get any better players in so it's not looking rosey really.

Yes, the league is rubbish. This point is the antithesis to your own argument. Despite our failings, vast though they have been, we're only 4 points adrift from safety with 31 games left to play. Come on, we're hardly resigned to relegation yet are we? Football fans are so OTT sometimes...



Boz, strongly agree that going 4-4-2 and doubling up on Mcnamee/McGovern could have made things easier for our natrually attacking full-backs. Disagree that Ash Taylor should start - whenever he has done this season he has been a liability IMO. Not that Mclaren isn't, just that Mahon would be my preference to replace him. I could, however, live with Taylor starting ahead of Broomes. Neither fill me with confidence but at least Ash is "one of our own" and the basic errors he makes can be justified by way of inexperience. I can't afford Broomes any excuses. Taylor is a leader too, we're lacking communication on the pitch I feel.

 

[Boz]

SonkORLY?, my argument for Taylor starting in midfield is two-fold. Mainly because he's mostly played there as a reserve and while on loan. I think all of his starts this season were as a defender and he struggled in makeshift partnerships. Personally think its a tad harsh to say he's been a liability. I agree with what you say about Broomes though. The other reason for starting him is a midfield of Welsh-Mahon-Edds is one of the vertically-challenged and easier for opponents to by-pass.

 

[Ian]

The team is very frail at the moment. As has been mentioned, we started well and for the first 20 mins we played some decent football on the deck. Then is went pear shaped very quickly.

Defence is shockingly weak at times hence the reason why Swindon scored 4 goals. Going forward we are a mess. Yes, sometimes there are neat little passes and moves but it gets us nowhere. Just look at our goal record, it's quite pathetic.

Our only hope the season rests with the new manager. I only hope he is up to the job, and I'm under no illusions, he's got a tough job ahead of him. I'm going to give him my full backing cause he's goign to need it.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

TartanTranmere64, while paying customers have the right to boo, I'm not sure it achieves anything save being theraputic for the hecklers. Out of interest, who did you follow in Scotland?

It is therapeutic and does serve a purpose - it lets the team and the people running the club know that the fans are unhappy. Sloping off with 10 minutes to go is the other option - not my choice.

I hope Rovers don't go the way of my team in Scotland - the victims of franchising before MK Scums were even a twinkle in Pete Winkleman's eyes...

 

[Ian]

I sloped off after the 4th went in..
I guess everyone reacts differently..

 

[roverstillidie]

Oh dear I've just managed to finally get round to commenting on the match, if you can call it that.

To start of with this silly 4-3-3 has got to go, the full backs are completely exposed which Swindon took advantage of time and time again. We need to go back to 4-4-2 and play simple, solid football. Unfortunately the team has problems from back to front with few, if any, exceptions.

In goals we have two young keepers who both have bags of ability however playing behind this "defence" may require are more expierenced keeper to handle the pressure as Daniels has turned into a nervous wreck and Martin was showing signs of going a similar way on Saturday. I would also like a goalkeeper who is here permanently so there is some sort of base to build the team around.

At the back we're woefully inadequate. Actually no, we're not woefully inadequate we just don't have a pacy, reliable centre back to partner Goodison. Instead we have Broomes who offers as much presence as a garden gnome. I disagree with people who say the Goodison's lack of pace is an issue, he's never had a great a deal of pace. Goodison's great ability is his anticipation and reading of the game, at the moment however he spends his entire time looking over his shoulder checking that Broomes is awake and level with him (Broomes is often 10 yards further back playing everyone onside) At the moment I would play Ash Taylor ahead of Broomes however he hasn't impressed me greatly in performances so far but i'm willing to give him a chance. He lacks a bit of composure at times but hopefully that will come with expierence.

At full back the team is actually ok, Logan has been my player of the season so far despite his disappareance in the second half on Saturday, whilst at left back Bayakogo and Creswell are both good players. However by playing 4-3-3 we're leaving inexperinced full backs at the mercy of opposition wingers, which consequently, leads to Goodison and Broomes (if he's awake) been dragged out of position leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch for the oppositon to exploit, which they regulary do with crosses and cut backs to the edge of the box as the midfield fails to pick any late runners up.

In midfield Barnes managed to assemble a collection of players who all do the same thing - hoof the ball to nobody and can't tackle (with the exception of Edds). The midfield current three are useless at closing the oppositon down - Edds is too slow, Welsh is useless (He spends all his time doing hoofs to the corner flag and resembles a rugby league player) and McLaren seems to have the invisbility cloak from Harry Potter. This has meant that whenever the opposition gets the ball, the back four are frequently faced with six or more attackers charging at them. The other options in central midfield - Mahon, Barnett and Ash Taylor also have their problems. Mahon has not looked fit all season and resembles a beer barrel, Barnett is a very pheprial player - Scunny away last season I forgot he was on the pitch until he came off - he's also an arrogant prat and thinks he's as good as Steven Gerrard (There only similarty is their ability to whinge and fall over) and I don't think Ash Taylor is a central midfielder as he looks a little lost there to me. The decision to let Allot go has left a gaping hole in midfield we're a play who can tackle needs to be.

Out wide the side is again very poor and lacks proven options, Shuker despite his impressive cameo against Swindon seems to get a nose bleed whenever a defender comes near him and hasn't been the same player since his injury against Carlisle, I've got no idea were Seb Carole is, for all I know he's been kidknapped by Somali pirates but he actually looks like a decent player. On the other side Fraughan is the only natural left winger in the squad who should be given a chance, but can't be relied upon for the rest of the season due to his age. I've excluded Mahon from the wingers as he looks lost on the left wing.

Up front we're toothless, ITM seems to play in spits and spurts whilst Curran runs round like a headless chicken for 90 minutes. Rickett's isn't fit enough to play more then 45 minutes and Gornell is showing glimpses of his ability but to me looks a little lightweight at times. As for Bain, he's looked lively when I've seen him play but I suspect he's not been played on fitness grounds as he looks a little portly round the waist having seen him in person. Hopefully Bas Savage will be back sooner rather then later as he at least gives the opposition defenders, if not his own manager, a headache.

The three main problems in the team are these:

• Goodison needs a competent, pacy centre back to partner him so that he can concentrate on his own job. Perhaps Bayakogo could be a short term solution :-k
• In midfield we don't have a Steve Jennings type player who will get stuck in and break up the oppositions play.
• Upfront we don't have a composed striker (i.e. one that hits the back of the goal rather then the Villa Venezia when presented with a chance) who will get even 15+ goals in a season.

The next manager needs to be capable of building team spirit and motivating the players more then anything else whilst been able to work on limited resources (remind you of anyone in particular?!). I would go for John Coleman at Accrington as he's done a good job there on no resources and seems to be able to get a team playing decent football. No or little compensation would be required as he's on a rolling contract.

I think the sides first choice line up at the moment is this:

Martin

Logan Taylor (Pacy centre back needed here) Goodison Creswell

Carole Edds Mahon (A tackling midfielder needed i.e. Allot) Bayakogo

Bain Thomas-Moore

Subs: Daniels, Broomes, Welsh, Curran, Ricketts, Shuker, McLaren

Chins up let's get to the 2nd round of the cup on Saturday!

 

[Boz]

I hope Rovers don't go the way of my team in Scotland - the victims of franchising before MK Scums were even a twinkle in Pete Winkleman's eyes...

Clydebank?

 

[evo_trfc]

Was at the game saturday and have to admit that was the worst i've seen us paly in a long time, It was embarassing in the second half - Could have been 6 or 7 -1.

4-3-3 does not work,

I cant see how people thought curran did well saturday, We are all entitled to our opinions but i just don't rate him or gornell - They are league 2 at best in my eyes

I thought broomes mclaren and moore were awful goodison did two good things all game he looks good going forward but other than that i thought he was *****! Shows how underrated chorley was!

The opposition fans were impressesd with Ricketts, Logan and Shuker ( I really rate shukes and yes he's had a couple of bad games this season but he was our best player saturday) Says something when he was only on for 20 minutes! - Ricketts did play well but his fitness was shocking, match fit this bloke should play every week he does what bas did last season he held the ball up perfectly played moore and curran in a few times,

But in all honesty our sqaud is lower mid table relagation battling squad,

I can't blame Martin for any of the goals and to me he looks solid!

With the team we have my XI would be

Martin

Bakaygo Goodison Taylor Logan

Carole Mahon Welsh(edds) Shuker

Ricketts Moore

Ideally i would have 2 new centre backs a ball winnig midfielder and a new striker think that would make us competitive!