Rovers 1 Plymouth 0

[DIW]

Not a vintage performance to be truthful, we clearly missed Labadie in the centre. Mendy's performance could only be described as erm 'cumbersome'. We lacked pace in there today. Enoch going off was a blow as well as Morrow doesn't really look up to it.

Great saves from Gulacsi kept us in it in the first minute and at the death, Welsh had a great battling game as well. Not convinced with Cathalina and not sure what Cresswell did to be left out. Zoum didn't look any better today.

Start of the day without a shadow of a doubt though was the young lad Dale Jennings who lit up the game with a fantastic individual goal. The sheer speed of the dribble that took him from the half way line into the area before cutting across and slotting it in was amazing (even more so seeing as he'd practise it a few minutes earlier!). The lad could be something special if he carries on like this. Raw pace and trickery are not easy to come by and we may have unearthed a gem. Let's hope so.

MOST IMPORTANTLY TODAY = 3 POINTS.

 

[Boz]

Rovers lined up in a 442, with Zoum replacing Cresswell, as SonkORLY? had predicted, was that an inspired guess or inside information? Mendy also started for the suspended Labadie and Goodi was fit.

An early scare, when Plymouth took a quick free-kick, we didn't mark up quickly on the right, a player(Broomes?) slipped, but Gulasci saved the 1 on 1 against Bradley Wright-Phillips. If that had gone in, could we have seen another home hammering? Fortunately it didn't and the rest of the half was end to end. Until Dale Jennings had a run and shot their keeper turned round the post, the most trouble he'd been under was a misplaced clearance from one of their defenders.

Second half, we started brighter. There had been a few efforts; Akins into the side-netting going closest, before the brilliant run and shot from Jennings that put us ahead. Dale had another effort that went the wrong side of the post. However we then got into defending too deep and in a frantic last 5 minutes, some great keeping from Gulasci and a goal-line clearance from Welsh got us the 3 points.

Disappointing 4.8k crowd and the win only took us one place up the table above our next opponents Notts County, with teams around us recording wins. It really is a tight league.

Quite a lot of things to think about and I agree with much of DIWs post above. We missed Cresswell's crossing/set pieces today and I'd like to know Les' reasoning for starting Zoum, who wasn't at his best. There were a few occasions when 2 defenders went for the same ball and got in each other's way. Mendy got harshly booked early on and that seemed to put him off a bit; he did pass to Jenno for the goal though. Akins didn't do much, Morrow, one great crossfield-pass apart, even less and ITM seemed to be less in the game after Enoch went off. Influential though Dale Jennings was, my contention is he's better suited to a 433 and was positioned too deep, I thought Les should have changed formation when Enoch went off. A great prospect nonetheless.

MoM: John Welsh had a good game and Jennings scored a brilliant goal. However, for his crucial saves at both ends of the match, my choice would be Peter Gulasci. With Nielsen returning to Faroes duty this coming week, the OS
suggests our Liverpool loanee won't be around much longer. We'll miss him.

 

[Rob]

Very poor game but its another 3 points in the bag so im pleased with that.

Yet more evidence that Les is absolutely clueless though, Enoch hobbling around for 10 minutes, collapsing three times before being substituted.

I am absolutely amazed at the continued selection of Mendy/Akins as well, these two are two of the worst professional footballers I have seen in a long time and surely with that standard of performance we must have better youth team players.

Impressed with Jennings/Gulasci again though, Jennings could go on to be a top player in the future but we need to hang on to him for another year at least to properly develop him as a player.

We need to do whatever we can to hold on to Gulasci for the rest of the season whilst we try and find a more appropriate long term replacement as Collister is never going to cut it at this level.

 

[bigmart]

gulacsi will be going back this month as nielsen is fit, think ur being far too harsh on les he aint clueless at all he makes errors like any manager but hes doing a decent job in difficult circumstances.

 

[The Bootle Rover]

Fighting spirit

Great to pick up the 3 points, there were times when we were under the cosh but kept trying and worked hard, which proved enough to get the rewards. On another day Plymouth could have scored 5 or 6. Interventions with outstanding tackling from Goodison together with goal line clearences and some superb shot stopping, particularly the two one on ones, by Gulasci all contributed hugely. Shame to see Enoch have to go off injured, but, dare I say it, we did play our better football on the ground afterwards.

Star quality was on display too from Jennings. His goal reminded me of a young Michael Owen. The scouts are circling, he is the most exciting prospect, and I expect our owner to accept the first decent offer he gets and put the wedge in his back pocket, which would be such a shame for the team and all the supporters. We all know how greedy and short sighted Johnson is.

 

[SonkORLY?]

The clubs continued existence is thanks to our ability bring through players like Jenno and sell them on. Expect he may leave at the end of the season, and if so, it's been a pleasure. Saw the goal, really good.

Missed the game, but glad to hear we won. Akins shouldn't be near the first team.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

I find it hard to be critical of any of the Rovers players yesterday. The vast majority of the squad are young lads with little or no experience at this level. From where I sit in the JK Stand it's like a garden shed full of old men, whining and whingeing and critisising. Especially when we're not winning, it's like the average age of the fans around me increases by 20 years.

Look at the team which finished the match on Saturday, what was the average age and how many times had they played together?

I am sure I'll be lambasted for being a Pollyanna but I think the manager and the players are doing pretty well considering the resources at our disposal. Again, from what I've seen (and I have been lucky in missing a couple of the worst games) the effort and entertainment has been pretty good. And there's a fair bit of skill there too.

Sorry to be so positive and cheerful, but, hey if you don't like it, I don't care.

PS 433 over 442 with our squad every day.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I'm with Tartan Tranmere on this one. I think the performance was better than some on here are giving credit for.

The two sides were evenly matched, with both sides having chances in the first half. After the break, however, Plymouth faded and we controlled proceedings, until the frantic last ten minutes, and were deserved winners. Not a classic, but the type of game we would have lost last season, or even six weeks ago.

We have won five out of seven now and I don't understand the negativity and level of stick aimed at Les from some quarters. We are now level on points with thirteenth place and three points clear of the drop zone and that is some achievement considering the multiple difficulties we face.

I do agree that the squad players (Mendy, Akins, Morrow) aren't good enough, but hey, that is down to the pitiful budget we have been granted. Our first eleven can give any side at this level a game, and we just have to hope the injuries to Showunmi, Broomes and Goodison are not serious.

Given that I expected us to be in Walsall's position at this stage, my glass is half full.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

MoM: John Welsh had a good game and Jennings scored a brilliant goal. However, for his crucial saves at both ends of the match, my choice would be Peter Gulasci. With Nielsen returning to Faroes duty this coming week, the OS
suggests our Liverpool loanee won't be around much longer. We'll miss him.

Welsh was outstanding yesterday, and needed to be in truth, with only two in midfield and Labadie missing. It seems a shame that we are stuck with Nielsen until January, and I am sure Les would rather have Gulasci here for the next three months. Hopefully we can get him back for the second half of the season.

The only real negative to come out of yesterday for me was the attendance, as we now seem to be persistently attracting sub 5,000 gates. It was interesting to see in the programme that 8,000 watched our last game against Plymouth in 2004 on a Tuesday night. Surely the missing 3-4,000 must still be out there somewhere ?

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Thanks mate, the fivers in the post.

The only issue I'd disagree with you on is writing off Akins/Mendy/Morrow too soon. I mean how many games have they actually played? Not for one minute saying they will go on to have sparkling careers, but I thought all three did reasonably well yesterday: Akins was poor first half, but did Ok second; Mendy is strong and powerful and competed well and Morrow had a good shot and a couple of other decent passes off to teammates. Nothing spectacular, but all contributed to a good win against a very muscular and powerful Plymouth team.

The 442 system didn't help Akins or Jennings - it leaves our wide players too isolated and doesn't allow space into which our full-back can attack. It also leaves us a man light in the middle of the midfield. This was theme of Ronnie's sides and we paid for it, especially away from home where teams were prepared to attack us. It also doesn't give the front two the space to attack down the channels, unlike with our 433, which is a bit like old-fashioned inside forwards (don't worry, I'm not that old).

La-di-da. That's my Sunday musings over with.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I agree that all three put in a decent shift yesterday, with Morrow possibly having his best game for us so far. I just think if we face a run of games with three or four of the fringe players in the first eleven, the inconsistency will creep in as it did earlier in the season. The likes of Mendy, Akins and Grandison were excellent against Peterborough, for example, and then woeful at Yeovil and Colchester.

This may just be down to age and inexperience, but the fact is we can't afford another dodgy run of six or seven matches. It's just a shame that several of our key players are the wrong side of thirty and don't have a great record regarding injuries.

 

[OneNightInGayParis]

I agree with Rockford and Tartantranmere that we put in a decent performance yesterday. Personally, I thought we played better than at Bury, even without Labadie. A decent performance, one of the best goals you'll ever see at PP, an exciting finish AND three points - how much more does anyone want?

Les's formation made sense with the players he had available. Whether Jennings is midfield or attack in a 433 or 442 hardly seems to make any difference - he gets the ball and runs at people! What a terrific goal! I was really surprised that Les let Enoch struggle on for so long; it was a brave effort by the big fella but I really hope he hasn't contributed to the damage. We really don't want to lose him for any period of time.

Gulacsi did as much as Jennings to win the game for us, especially towards the end when we sat too far back (as we did against Bury). Broomes, Goodi, Welsh and ITM all put in excellent performances with nobody having a bad game. Akins showed glimpses in the second half there might just be something there. Morrow had one decent effort but shows little positional sense or ball control - I think he is a long way from being L1 standard at the moment.

Rob, I think you are being a bit harsh on Mendy and Akins. They may never play Premier League but there are a lot worse pros out there (in fact, a couple at our club) and these are still young lads learning the game.

I just hope that the injury count is not too severe. Apart from Enoch, both Broomes and Goodison took heavy knocks. The last thing we need is to lose the spine of our team in one fell swoop. Fingers crossed!

 

[SonkORLY?]

Akins and Mendy are rubbish footballers

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfmwuq_dale-jennings-what-a-goal-tranmere-rovers_sport#from=embed

 

[Sparky]

Like Rockfords said, some of our players arent exactly world beaters but on our budget, what can we expect? At least we have the likes of Joss, Goodi, ITM etc who are decent at this level, and if they stay fit, we alwauys have a chance.

I really hope we can keep Gulasci and get rid of Nielsen. Dont know exactly what the terms of each of the loans is but am sure Les (and the players) want to keep Peter given his performances both on Saturday and against MK Dons where he made some quality saves.

As an aside, I thought Noone for Plymouth was quality. When they signed him from Southport I wondered why we hadnt spotted him. He is now their captain and looked their most dangerous player.

Also - I didnt think ITM was up to his usual standard given he has been banging the goals in recently - hopefully just an off day and his Dad hasnt come sniffing around again.

 

[Ian]

His dad may be sniffing around again, from what I've heard.
Anyway, it was a decent performance. I thought overall the game was quite scrappy.

Fantastic goal from Jennings and he's great to watch. True match winner who can make something out of nothing. The game would have ended 0-0 if it wasn't for his vision and skill.

Also, why do we always make it difficult on ourselves in the last 10 mins. Defending desperately deep allowing the opposition to push so far forward. 11 men in the penalty box, not one man forward. Just asking for trouble.

So relieved to get the 3 points in the end. We are slowly climbing up the table and results seems to be stabalising.

We will really miss Gulasci when he returns to Liverpool to rot in the reserves. Such a shame, great keeper for us.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

As an aside, I thought Noone for Plymouth was quality. When they signed him from Southport I wondered why we hadnt spotted him. He is now their captain and looked their most dangerous player.

Apparently Noone had only played one first team game for Southport before Plymouth signed him, hence we didn't spot him. According to Les we don't have a sufficient scouting network to watch reserve and youth games at non-league level, so I think it is yet another case of finances biting.

 

[Filed Under Rockford]

I felt that had Jennings been more selfish with his runs after the goal he could have easily added another one or two but he's obviously been told to look for the pass where available. Personally, I'd rather see him go for goal.

Whilst Gulacsi rightly earned the praise during the last 10 minutes I think the fact that we'd already lost Broomes and also Goodison was in bad physical shape made the difference!! Without Labadie and Enoch, Welsh had to put in a massive shift which he did!!

Let's hope they're all back for Saturday, at least Joss is anyway. Nothing against Cresswell but as stated previously I prefer Zoum at left back regardless of set pieces, Cressa hasn't done much wrong but is the less talented of the two in my opinion.

 

[NeverBeatDaveHiggins]

My player ratings out of 10 for the Plymouth game:

Gulasci 10, Bakayogo 7, Goodison 7, Broomes 8 (Grandison 5), Cathalina 2, Jennings 9, Welsh 10, Mendy 1, Akins 6, Moore 7, Showumni 7 (Morrow 5)

Goalie was immense, and it's an almost impossible decision between him and captain fantastic John Welsh for the man-of-the-match from me. Jenno scored a superb goal, and is a real pleasure to watch. Just a shame we can have three players put in such an amazing performance, and drag through two such utter showers of s***e as Mendy and Cathalina. I lost count of how many times Cathalina fell onto his backside unchallenged in open play. Was like he hadn't got any studs on his boots. Nearly cost us a number of times. Mendy was a total spectator, I think he made ONE challenge the entire game, and that was near the end when he bothered to go up for a header. I know midfielders CAN get by with hustle and bustle.. but he doesn't do any of that either as far as i can see. Useless.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Mendy was a total spectator, I think he made ONE challenge the entire game, and that was near the end when he bothered to go up for a header. I know midfielders CAN get by with hustle and bustle.. but he doesn't do any of that either as far as i can see. Useless.

He put the pass through to Jennings which started him en route to the goal.

 

[Ian]

I'm not sure we could give anyone but Jennings credit for that goal as he was near the half way line when he started his mazy run. It's not like he threaded a really clever ball to him.

Cathalina looked very shaky on Saturday. Yes, he slipped a few times but so did half a dozen other players. He just looked shaky defending.

I'd certainly agree that Mendy isn't anything special but giving him a score of 1 is a little unfair.