• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

Bradford City 2-0 Tranmere Rovers

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30 Sep 2005
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Morrisey
what is going on? 2 points from a possible 9. Not very good. I think this is the start of a slide. I am praying we will be in the play-offs come the end of the season. Wasn't at the game so would like to know how poor we were.
 

nomur

Still The Irish Rover
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Power!
A decent first half followed by an apalling second byt the sounds of it.

Who was there? Was it as bad as it sounded? We seemed to have one clear cut chance after the break which is terrible.

But what do I know, I ONLY LISTEN TO THE RADIO!!!!
 

Joe_TRFC

'Midfield General'
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Nevin
Not much to say about that really apart from very disappointing. Maybe if Greenacres chance which hits the post goes in it may have been different. Just have to hope we get a win from the Swansea game... if we lose we could drop down to 8th or so. Just going to forget about this one. My cousin was at the game and I spoke to him at the end and he said even first half but once they got the goal and especially the 2nd it was all them. I could have said what he said from the commentary and I think you can tell a lot from listening to the game especially if its commentated on properly. Derek Jones is a decent commentator who gives you a good view of the game and is not one sided. So when I listen to Tranmere I can tell whats happening and who's doing well. Obviously you can't beat going to the game but you get a good view by listening.
 
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Morrisey
I am starting to worry a bit. With hard games coming up this month and then a couple of months later it is the Christmas period and I dont think that we have the depth to cope. We need to re-group now and surely change the team around. Players stay in for good performances and should be out for bad.
 
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Morrisey
Lets hope he can put these words into practice. I hope he trains them until they cough up blood.
 

NeverBeatDaveHiggins

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An away game against one of the best teams in the league who also happen to be a total bogey side for us. I wasn't expecting us to win, so I'm not too disappointed really, in fact I'm pleased we made a game of it by all accounts until the second half.

Baffled a bit by the selections of an unfit Zola and a recovering McAteer, especially as Jenno did nothing wrong against Huddersfield and because I thought Davies was to be given a chance for this one.

Delighted that despite it being a tough away game Ronnie hasn't mentioned that, as of course it would have been the first excuse of cr*p managers, instead he comes out and says how he feels and how he wants it to be. To lose to one of the better teams in an away game is fairly acceptable really, but to Ronnie it's totally unacceptable. That's awesome.

Plus you KNOW that any players who underperformed in the second will have had a proper rollocking and will be made to work to keep or perhaps regain their starting place. Which is good and sends the message for the rest of the season.

I hope he trains them until they cough up blood.
Don't be daft. We want them able to play the next game, not have their feet up in Arrowe Park.
 
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Morrisey
Dont you want that to happen NBDH? I think if we want to win this league they need to be taught a lesson.
 

Ian

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Sorry guys, the performance was lacklustre and unacceptable. Ronnie is completely spot-on. Not one of them today performed well. Very poor performance, the worst I've seen this season.

And what's all this rubbish about Bradford being one of the best sides we've played. Absolute rubbish. We made them look good today. I may sound harsh but I paid £20 to watch that, and I'm annoyed and disappointed.

I don't even think we had a good first half. On paper, it was better, we didn't concede a goal and Greenacre hit a post, but as a team it was still poor. Passes were astray, there's was no movement and the long ball was evident.

I didn't feel as confident in the defence either. We are missing McCready. Goodison and Sherriff dont look as solid and although Tremarco put in some decent tackles today he's not as good as Sherriff at left back.

I thought the midfield was non-existant today. McAteer was a yard behind everyone else and Mullin couldn't assert himself on the game. Ellison was poor again just as he was against Huddersfield and Shuker tried but couldnt cope with the physicality of the game. He's too lightweight. Got brushed off the ball too easily.

Greenacre tried as he always does. But was hunting for scraps. Didn't get any service. Zola tried also but was just poor. His touch was lacking and most of the time, Wetherall coped easily getting the tackles in.

I think what disappointed me most was that they really didn't look arsed today. There was no urgency in their play and they lacked ideas. Very frustrating to watch as we all know they are capable of far more.

I was happy when Jermaine Johnson had to hobble off. He looked dangerous in the first 15 and really thought that we would capatalise, but we didnt. I remember having maybe one or two shots on goal in the second half.

I think I've said enough..
 

Boz

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Iain Hume
I think that it's right there should be some concern about our current form. While accepting that Ronnie is a better manager for Rovers than Brian Little ever was, if you pick a side with players who are not fully fit(Zola & McAteer) when there are other fitter options available, then it seems to be evading the issue to blame the players you've selected. For all of his faults, Little did hold up his hand on occasion and say he'd made an error in selection/substitution. It strikes me that Ronnie got it wrong in this game and I'd have hoped he'd have the balls to admit it.
 
Y

YosserTRFC

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1st Post

Hi everyone this is my first post on this forum. I agree with what most of the above comments, I was also at the match yesterday as I have with all the other games this season ( except Cheltenham ) we have been a very good team to watch upto the second half in the Huddersfield game when for some reason we sat back and let the terriers back into the game. Yesterday there was a lack of confidence once we went a goal down. Their number 28 ripped us apart and Carl couldnt cope with his turn of speed. Ronnie must hate going to Yorkshire because they all seem to hate him. Lets hope Ronnie can turn things around before Friday we cant afford to loose another game or our heads will drop as will the attendences. Cant go to Swansea but will be flying over the ground at 1pm on Friday en route to Tenerife.
 

Boz

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Iain Hume
Welcome Yosser, good to read your comments.

I note what you say about Carl Tremarco being skinned by their winger and also that Ian thinks Sherriff is better than him playing at left-back. Two points arise;

Firstly undoubtedly Carl is faster than Shane, so would the latter have done any better in controlling their winger? Pace isn't everything, it is possible that by shepherding the guy away from the danger-zones a slower defender can be as effective.

Secondly, if Chris McCready remains unfit and Shane were to be moved to the left-back slot, who would fill in the centre? I've not seen Ollie James play there, or seen Michael Johnston play at all and am not sure would want to try it in a tough away tie. Can Robbie Stockdale play there? Another option would be to swap Shane and Carl around. Have seen Tremarco play central defence for the reserves reasonably, but lack of height may tell against him, especially with some of the big lads in the Swansea side.

The woes of having a small squad :-k
 

Joe_TRFC

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Nevin
Unfortuantly unless McCready is fit for the Swansea game I think defensively we will have to stay the same and just hope they put in a better performance. Ronnie sounds like he is going to give the players a tough week... all well and good but like NBDH says we need them to be fit and fresh for Friday night. We have enough injuries at the moment. Maybe it may be worth struggling for a few weeks though if he can get the team fitter in the long run. In my opinion though they should be fit enough now! Why aren't they? Hopefully the return of Paul McLaren will aid the midfield on friday and also hopefully McCready will be ready to return too!
 
B

Bull the burglar

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A Stags fan here, living in Bradford. First half was reasonably entertaining but passing by both sides was quite poor. Second half I thought City played very well and Rovers looked resigned to defeat after the first goal. I was looking forward to seeing Chrissie G for the first time since he left the Stags, but was quite disappointed. He never did have much pace but he seems to have put on a bit of weight in the last three years which has slowed him down further. There were a few loose balls he should have been favourite to win but the defender beat him to it each time. A fitter, sharper Greenacre might have scored three yesterday - one hit post, one header over the bar (he couldn't jump high enough) and one in the box taken off his toes. Good luck for the season, though. I'm sure you can perform better than you did yesterday.
 
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Johnny Morrissey
First opportunity to post my thoughts, probably best as I was fuming Saturday night. We were dreadful, no 2 ways around it. 1st half was better but we were still poor, passing going astray, long balls aimlessly up field and although we hit the post when Chrissy should have scored we were pretty poor.

2nd half was just a turn back the clock to last season I'm afraid. We simply cannot defend crosses and Shane and Goodi had seemingly no communication between themselves and don't look a partnership as good as when McCready has played.

All credit to Bradford who were so much better 2nd half it was embarassing. Their 28 was very good, they simply gave him the ball and away he went flying past Tremarco and causing havoc with our defence. The small consolation of the afternoon was that Windass didnt score, that really would have put salt in the deep deep wounds.

All in all, I could have spent my £20 a little wiser. Nemmind
 

Ally

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Aldo
I was also at the game and had an absolutely rubbish time. Ellison and McAteer were pretty poor, Shuker was non-effective - got easily muscled off the ball, Zola looked like a donkey and kept getting fouled and the ref never gave anything, Greenacre was definitely out of sorts and really should have scored in the first half.

All in all, we never looked like winning. Bradford aren't amazing but kept the ball much better than us. I'm sick of going to away games in Yorkshire and losing every fooking time.

Our attacking play on Saturday consisted of Shuker getting the ball, going to the byline, realising he wasn't going to get past their LB & CB and passing the ball back to Stockdale who would chip it into the box for a defender to head away or keeper to catch. Alternatively, when we went down the left side, Ellsion would make a poor pass or kick it out for a goal kick. We looked very very mediocre and if we'd have kept playing til midnight we still wouldn't have found the net.
 
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Morrisey
How many times has Greenacre hit the woodwork now? It is quite a few times this season and athough they are obviously close to goals they aren't goals. He really needs to start converting these chances he gets. I am not questioning his work ethic and the effort he puts in and his influence on the team, but I just think that he is hitting the woodwork too much.
 

Ally

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Aldo
Yes, I agree with you there. Hitting the woodwork is definitely not counted as a goal.
 

Ian

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LOL.
Ronnie's got them doing kickboxing this week! Hmm, whatever works I suppose. I heard a lot of people blaming the referee on Saturday at the game. They never once criticised the teams performance. Yes, the referee was poor but you only notice referees when things aren't quite going to plan.

If we'd have played a good game, we wouldn't have noticed him at all.

Good to hear Ronnie talking about getting a defender in on loan. I really don't think Sherriff and Goodison at the back is going to work very well.

Christ, we have Swansea away next! :shock:

One last thing. Colin Todd's comments annoyed me as well.
"No disrespect to Tranmere but we dominated the game. All we had to do was step it up and we did that in the second half."

and
"That was the easiest 2-0 we've had for along time"
never did like that Bolton prick!
 
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Morrisey
Well I think he needs to be reminded that we all play the same teams and he might be able to beat us, but at the end of the season I believe we will be higher than them and at the end of the day they could beat us 13-0 but If we finish higher than them then we are a better team.
 
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