• 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.

Rovers v Barrow

Sparky

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Well at least we didn't lose but how many points are we going to drop this season by missing chances. Sounds like cook had another quiet game but did he get any service?

It all seems unbalanced at the movement. Yes the injuries to bucko and Davies plus banks going back are not MIckys fault, but the strikers have no competition.

This is a poor result with an even tougher game next week
 

Sparky

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Early reports bucko could be out for the season :-(
 

Ian

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Yes this was a poor result if we are looking to be competing at the top. The away form in general needs to improve and the news on Buxton doesn’t sound good.
 
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Mediocre second half but we should have won with the chances we created overall. Barrow are awful and this is a poor result. We missed banks and Harris was underwhelming. Cole did ok however. Away form is not good enough. Bucko injury looked terrible.
 

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Losing banks could prove very costly as our own midfielders are nowhere near his quality. How did Taylor get on in goal?
 

Boz

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It sounded from the radio commentary as though we had ample opportunity to win the game, so despite McNulty conceding a soft penalty early on, arguably should have done better.

New keeper Rhys Taylor didn't have that much to do, so hard to judge either way. The radio said he appeared to be lacking in a bit of mobility, but they weren't sure if it was due to him being ring-rusty (not played for a couple of months) or carrying a bit of excess weight. While it sounds as though Ridehalgh did ok on the right, the lack of belief Mellon has shown in the youngsters, dropping Pilling and putting Ridehalgh on out of position instead of introducing Gumbs infuriates me. Clarke being recalled was something, I suppose.

It sounded that Cole was better this game, but still didn't seem to deliver much from wide right. Kirby, who seemed to have a fairly quiet game when he came on, nonetheless put in the ball for the equaliser. However MM needs to look at bringing someone in the DMH role to play there.
 

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Desperately looking for some crumbs of comfort to smile again after Monday's debacle.
I suppose at least we didn't fold like a pack of cards after conceding so early, albeit against such a lowly team.
If we'd drawn away at Sutton, Fylde and today then I would likely have said that was ok form - win at home, draw away etc.
We've actually got a point more from those three games.
Straw clutching? I think I probably am!
Such a shame for Bucko. We'll miss him.
Wonder if Ollie Banks was thinking of us while he was splinter picking. Might see him back yet?
DMH nowhere near Barsnleys squad.
 

Boz

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DMH was injured. The Banks recall was surprising, given their relative glut of midfielders, but his tweet didn’t suggest any prospect of a return.
 
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We got off to the worst possible start. A ball into the box was poorly defended and was not cleared, resulting in a tussle between McNulty and Holt and the award of a harsh penalty. It was an incident typical of our sloppiness away from home this season and immediately put us under pressure on a crap, bobbly pitch against a team that simply wanted to stop us playing football. In fairness, the players responded well and we dominated possession for the remainder of the half, creating several good chances: two one-on-ones for Norwood which he predictably missed and another for Cole, which he surprisingly ballooned over. While we were the better side, we did not play with the same conviction and confidence as in the recent home matches.

In the second half, the performance went downhill. We seemed to lose confidence, our play became scrappy and disjointed and possession was far more even. We had not seriously tested their keeper prior to the equaliser, but the draw was deserved and, on chances created, we should have won the game.

Individually, I thought Cole was very good, lively and creative, albeit always drifting inside rather than staying out wide. I would offer him a deal to the end of the season as he has something about him and will be a useful squad player. Clarke was excellent again at left back, and Norwood worked really hard, but everybody else was below par. McNulty had his hands full with Holt, Harris looked rusty and was poor and Cook had one of those games where he did not look interested at all and barely contributed. Man of the match was Eddie Clarke by a mile; he again showed a maturity beyond his years.

We missed DMH and Banks today, particularly the latter. In the second half I think he would have got a grip of things in midfield and shown the composure that was lacking. However, even without those two, with more conviction we would have won the game against such poor opposition.

After seeing the league table I still feel quite positive, but an improvement and three points are essential at Woking next week.
 
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Forgot to mention that Taylor hardly had anything to do but was ok mopping up around the eighteen yard box. However, he was very reluctant to come for crosses which could have cost us. Whether that is a weakness in his game or because he is not used to the back four, I don't know.
 

Boz

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Individually, I thought Cole was very good, lively and creative, albeit always drifting inside rather than staying out wide. I would offer him a deal to the end of the season as he has something about him and will be a useful squad player.

If we don't get a natural wide-right player in, do you think Cole should carry on there or try someone else? It sounded like he stuck to the script more today, but there are still doubts about how effective he is in that position. I agree he'd be worth keeping, but the perception was his original deal was a chance to put himself in the shop window and if correct, would he want to stick around?
 
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I think we need to sign a right winger or right wing back. Thinking about yesterday's game, I think the lack of width on the right is the biggest issue for us now. The team just is not balanced. As good as banks was, he was always a bit of a luxury for us. A midfield of Jennings, Hughes and Harris got 95 points last season, plus we now have norburn. So I think our current midfield should be good enough provided the shape of the team is right. I don't think the winger needs to be as good as dmh but he needs to be a natural in that position. Finances permitting, I would like to keep hold of Cole purely because he is a talented player.
 

Sparky

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Having seen the highlights we need a new striker!! Nors finishing was awful - definately 2 points dropped given the great chances we had.

Every time he misses such easy chances I can't help wondering if mangan would have put them away...
 

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Haunting us again the missed chances. I thought Mangan was back with us?
 
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I don't see Mangan as a solution to anything to be honest. Norwood's conversion ratio in one-on-ones has always been poor but you just have to take the rough with the smooth with him. He contributes massively in other ways and is our joint top scorer.

Our two strikers are probably the best partnership in the division. It is other areas that need addressing in my view.
 
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Boz

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Haven't seen the highlights yet. On balance, Norwood is worth his place in the side for the other things he brings to the team, but he appears to be one of Micky's sacred cows, his poor finishing has probably cost us more than Cook's supposed lack of fitness.

Mangan is frustrating. Think he should have been given a little longer in the team, but he's done nothing during his loan spell at Fylde and he probably wouldn't get in position to miss most of the chances Norwood does.
 
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Norwood creates most of his chances himself, through his pace and willing running. Cook is the better finisher, but Norwood has by far the better workrate.

Watching the highlights, we should have won the game comfortably with the number of chances we created. However, it was not only Norwood who was to blame for misses, and if the general performance level had been the same as the recent home matches we would have won regardless.
 

Sparky

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I agree Norwood is an important player and would get into any team in this league. I still think though the front men need some competition and not having a recognised striker on the bench who can push them isn't ideal. Kirby can play there but he's still coming back from a long lay off. I'm a massive fan of Cook but he's had a few quiet games. I accept though having cook, Nors and CJ we must be the envy of many teams.

As RLC says though there are other areas of the squad to be fixed to solve our lack of pace and width/genuine wingers
 

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Norwood would be playing at a much higher level if his conversion ratio was higher. You have to remember we we are National League and as RLC says, take the rough with the smooth as frustrating as it is.

Our next home game couldn’t come any sooner to get us back on track. Currently these away games are slowing us down and aren’t proving great all round.
 

Boz

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Have finally caught up with the highlights from this one.

Another needless penalty conceded by McNulty. A lot of chances to win the game weren't taken, with Cole failing to test the keeper from a good position probably the worst miss. If the two named were young players, they'd probably be dropped...
 
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