Bury 0 Rovers 1

[SCooperSomersaults]

A short trip for me to Gigg Lane. Freezing cold, but a Tranmere win warms the heart. Glad to halt the losing run, and it was much deserved although it was not a great game.

Ian Thomas-Moore fired a great goal from superb cross by Enoch and worked incredibly hard in a radical 4-4-2 formation.

We had a couple of other chances and Gulacsi made a couple of saves but a win is a win. Nothing spectacular but we worked hard and deserved the win in my opinion.

The ref was woeful for both sides, made some incredible decisions or didnt when they were blatantly obvious to us in the stands, not just in Rovers' favour.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Poor game in truth. Labadie and Welsh worked hard, ITM showed glimpses of promise, Broomes solid at the back. Both sides ultimately lacking in quality. Freezing ****ing cold. Ref was **** and didn't give us a thing all night. £3 for a pie, £1 for crisps.

Les surprisingly opted to play 4-4-2 with Cressa and Akins out wide. Both were fairly quiet and couldn't really get into the game given the direct (hoof!) manner in which we 'passed' the ball. Cressa tucked in well though and provided good cover for Yogo, made one good run to the byline before being taken out - somehow, no free kick given. On the other side, Akins contributed nothing of note. I still think Zoum/Cressa down the left side in a 4-4-2 could work, but at the moment the 4-3-3 seems to accommodate Jenno in arguably his most effective role as an outside left forward, so expect those two to scrap over the left-back spot for the time being.

Labadie picked up his 5th booking of the season and thus is banned for the next game, whoever that's against. I can never keep track.

 

[OneNightInGayParis]

Fairly dismal game all round. The referee was absolutely clueless - the average monkey would have made more correct decisions. Rovers showed more class than their opponents in the first half but things seemed to even up in the second half; partly due to Bury stepping up to the pace of the game and partly due to Rovers seeming to be happy to sit back.

Broomes put in a very good performance and marshalled the defence pretty well in Goodison's absence. Grandison was pretty woeful, though, looking at sea a lot of the time and his distribution was awful. Although it was good to see Zoom and Cressa both on the pitch, I agree with Sonko that 4-3-3 might have been the better option. Jennings would have destroyed the Shakers' defence but fair enough to give him a night off after a knock. Welsh, Labadie, Showunmi and ITM all put in decent shifts but as the midfield two tired Bury looked more threatening. I was disappointed with Akins performance; he doesn't seem to be adjusting to this level at the rate one would hope.

Bearing in mind Bury had one suspended and were resting four, we really should have done better than we did. However, a win's a win ... and only 2 rounds away from Wembley!

 

[TRFC_Ian]

Ive been away with work a lot this season, including for most of the past month, so have not been to nearly as many games as I would have liked (none in the past month). So on my return it comes as a pleasant surprise to see the optimism from many on this site - really refreshing! Im now actually looking forward to getting to a few matches rather than going with little expectation.

And the other thing that sticks out of this thread is that 2 out of the three posters are suggesting that 433 might be the way to go forward! How times have changed indeed!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Not a great game last night, but I thought we thoroughly deserved to win. Grinding out a 1-0 in the manner we did was more satisfying than the Walsall and MK games in some respects.

Welsh and Labadie got a grip of the midfield about twenty minutes in and didn't relinquish it, while ITM and Enoch looked menacing throughout, without having many clear efforts on goal.

Marlon was excellent at the back again, and while Akins performance was in and out as usual, I still struggle to see why we signed Morrow. I am not sure whether Sam is lacking confidence or just doesn't have anything to offer.

Great that we might be only three games from Wembley. Looking at the other teams going through I think a home draw is essential in the semis.

The moral of recent games to me seems to be that the formation is probably less important to our chances of success than keeping ITM, Enoch and Jennings free of injury (and at the club) for the remainder of the season.

 

[Sparky]

Am sure Morrow would argue that he he hasnt been given a run in the team to show what he can do - plus he has been injured. But from what I have seen, plus his career history, he doesnt have what it takes to be successful at this level. I would love him to prove me wrong though.

On the subject of 4-3-3, it was interesting that Les changed to 4-4-2 for the Bury game.

Personally I think 4-3-3 can work if we have our strongest eleven out. It is when the likes of ITM, Joss etc are missing, that the squad players come in and arent good enough to play in that system. That said, we need to have a plan B of changing to 4-4-2 if things clearly arent working.

 

[Boz]

Interesting reading. While I'm grateful for the win ONIGPs point about Bury being a weakened side, a league below us, so perhaps we should have done better? Certainly 442 is not, on this evidence, a cure for all ills.

On players, Morrow seems to offer little, not suited to playing wide in a 433 formation. Adam McGurk seems a better option in that respect, but doesn't get a look-in from Les, wonder why? What's happened to Mackreth, the only youngster worthy of a pro-contract at the end of last season, but last heard of shipped out on loan to Burscough?

 

[SonkORLY?]

Interesting reading. While I'm grateful for the win ONIGPs point about Bury being a weakened side, a league below us, so perhaps we should have done better? Certainly 442 is not, on this evidence, a cure for all ills.

We were without Jenno, Goody and Blanchard, and experimented with a "new" formation and two out of position wingers. Bury are a good side. I think we did well to win the game.

 

[bigmart]

boz mcgurk is constantly injured

 

[Boz]

boz mcgurk is constantly injured

Yeah, he was meant to get a game against Preston reserves midweek, but didn't make it. A shame as on the strength of the 60 minutes he played against Peterborough, looked a better bet than Morrow or Akins.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Yeah, he was meant to get a game against Preston reserves midweek, but didn't make it. A shame as on the strength of the 60 minutes he played against Peterborough, looked a better bet than Morrow or Akins.

would ****ing hope so