• 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.

CREWE V TRANMERE

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aldo
Also its Eric Nixon ,s last as goal keeping coach. Its on his twitter page . Are we suprised . Has the keepers improved while he has been at the club . Loved him as a player . Not sure of coaching . Good luck big man in whatever you do
 

Boz

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Think Mullin can feel a little hard done to, he only got a half last week and looked no worse than Norwood. Smith was fairly anonymous when he came on, drop-kick attempt aside. Gilmour strengthens the midweek, Zoum gives us more pace on the left
 
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I think the decision to drop mullin is tactical. Smith gives us a natural balance and pace on that side.
 

Ian

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Looking OK here, playing quite well, knocking it about nicely using the width. We should really go on to win this as Crewe don’t look much at all. Big difference having McCullough back in the side.
 

Boz

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1-1 h/t. Looked like an error from Scotty for the Crewe opener, well taken leveller from Nors.

Crewe have looked quite dangerous going forward, which is the end I’m sat at first half. Rovers good in patches.
 

Ian

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Crewe riding this one after their second goal. We need more of a cutting edge and Norwood I think too isolated.
 

Ian

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Ohh dear.. game over I think. 3-1. Poor defending again. No one marking the guy on the far post.
 

Ian

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3-2. Much more direct since Mullin came on. Can we do it ?
 

Sparky

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Disappointing result against a side who had been on a losing streak.
 

ADD

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This is starting to get serious... play like that and we will lose Tuesday as well. which we can't afford financially!
Ifollow commentators got it right (when you could hear them) - too many players (Banks and Gilmour especially) thinking they are gracing the Bernabeu - flick ons look very clever but if you haven't got a clue if there is anyone there then surprise surprise we give the ball away. Defence getting found out in last 2 games - too slow and seem to think marking men is optional. Midfield not pressing enough. MM has for the first time this season a difficult task now to stabilise matters - too many players are out of form. Not good enough!
 

Boz

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Disappointing. There wasn’t the gulf between the sides that the tables at the start of the day might suggest. There were one or two players today who showed a distinct lack of backbone. I’m not sure Micky got the tactics or line-up right initially or made the right adjustments. More when I get home.
 
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A very poor performance and the scoreline flattered us. We have to work much harder without the ball and chase and press the opposition. Our success this season has been founded on our workrate, and that has disappeared in the last two matches. The back four is not the issue: there is absolutely no protection for the defence because we are not working as a unit when we are out of possession. For the second goal today, Crewe passed the ball from the back four to their forwards without a Rovers player getting within ten yards of the player in possession. If that continues, we will plummet like a stone. The margins at this level are fine, and our squad is not so much better than Crewe's or anybody else's, that we can simply coast through games like we did today's.

We were not great in possession today either, but if you concede three goals per game you have no platform to get a result. On a number of occasions this season we have put in average performances away from home - Northampton, MK Dons - but picked up a result because we stayed tight defensively. There was no chance of that today.

I still think the tactics we started with made sense, albeit Norwood was isolated again which Mellon responded to by putting Jennings alongside him after half an hour. However, the players who came in did not perform: Gilmour was completely anonymous, and Smith looked low on confidence and was poor. Mullin did liven things up when he came on, so perhaps we should go back to basics at Oxford in a 442 with two strikers ? There are certainly some big decisions for Mellon to make, but I maintain that the fundamental problem in the last two games has been what we have failed to do without the ball as a team, rather than individual displays.
 

Ian

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I thought they did OK in the first half looking quite comfortable on the ball. Second half we were poor and we needed more from certain players. There was not enough grit in midfield and we needed more from the wide players. Norwood was far too isolated upfront and I’m not sure that’s the answer moving forward.

The goals we conceded were poor. We need to tighten up and start working harder as a team.
 

Boz

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Just seen the brief highlights and if Banks' early effort hadn't been cleared off the line this thread might have taken a very different direction.

I agreed with Micky's decision to bring back Zoum at left-back, though he didn't have his finest hour up against the tricky Ainley, while McCulloch's recall was a no-brainer. Less sure about the others. I didn't think Gilmour was that bad, though not at his best. He was one of those who at least battled. Smith was fairly anonymous and made some selfish choices from what I could see in the second half, when he was closer to the away fans. If Cole was the right choice to bring on, it should have been for Smith as neither have much inclination to tackle. Don't think Cole had a touch from the time he came on until Crewe's 3rd goal. Things did pick up when Mullin came on and he pulled a goal back after good thinking by Banks, though was perhaps lucky to be still on after a wild challenge, which saw just yellow.

The first Crewe goal was against the balance of play at that point. Less sure that Davies was at fault, given a significant deflection. Certainly would agree with Ian that the other goals conceded were poor from Rovers, The second for the reasons highlighted by RLC, though ought Scotty be beaten by a shot across him? The third, as Micky highlighted in his post match was a failure to pick up the scorer, who was allowed to convert from close range. Definitely poor defending there.

I'm unsure how we will approach the Oxford replay, but anyone expecting a cakewalk is seriously deluded imo.
 
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The first Crewe goal was against the balance of play at that point. Less sure that Davies was at fault, given a significant deflection.
I thought the first goal was also very poor defensively. Ainley was able to find space twenty five yards out and had ample time to get his shot away. Another example of a lack of protection for the back four, although funnily enough I thought McCulloch was one of our better players.

We did play some decent football in the first half and deserved to go in level at half time. However, the performance as a whole smacked of complacency, similar to the Oxford game.
 

drwhoman

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Oxford won 1-0 away so Rovers will really need to step up if we are not to be embarrassed and thus miss a home game against NL North opposition. Surely a huge chance for a decent earner against a higher level side.
 
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Surely this was easily our most disappointing performance and result so far this season. To be positive, it shows bow well we've played this far, but on the other hand there appears to be a dangerous loss of confidence which could cost us our much needed cup tun.
 
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Surely this was easily our most disappointing performance and result so far this season.
Definitely. The other defeats came in games against really good teams (Newport and FGR) and a match where we were hampered by being down to ten men for seventy minutes (Swindon). Today we were not good enough against a bottom-half team, despite having a virtually full-strength squad to select from.
 

Charlton1975

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McCulloch was the best player on the pitch in a white shirt today, and he was average to decent at best A very lack lustre display, but we had one off the line and hit the post, so it could have been very different.

what i didnt like was the fact that we let them play, no pressing, which is how they scored their goals.

We need to up the effort on Tuesday, as they will work their socks off!
 
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