• 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 Brizzle City

bigmart

bigmart
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Ian Muir
RLC, but without goals we wont be able to maintain that return of points. I can only see 2 defeats in the next 2 games meaning we could be 3 points or more from safety by the time we play Colchester.

We had lots of possession but that means very little if we don't create chances or score from them and lets face it we didn't look like scoring that often.

Ian, I don't think the goals will come by and large as we don't create enough chances, we don't have a good wideman and except Lowe who is likely to score many goals for us?
 
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RLC, but without goals we wont be able to maintain that return of points.

I am sorry, but that is completely illogical. If we remain defensively strong, of course we can pick up points at the same rate without being prolific. How else did we win the points in the first place ?

We may well lose the next two games, but that does not mean we are relegated. The five or six games after Wolves are 'easier', so there is no reason to think we can't get results in the weeks ahead.

You don't need to score bagfuls of goals to pick up points if you are defensively strong. As Ian says above, we probably won't turn teams over 3-0 but we can still win enough games to stay up. We are attempting to finish fifth bottom, not win the league. And in any case, the return of Wallace and Robinson may allow us to swich back to a 4-4-2 in time and become more creative.
 

bigmart

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Nobody said we would be relegated. We will do will to remain defensively strong against wolves & Coventry that's for certain.

Why are we attempting to finish 5th bottom and please don't use the budget excuse again as it doesn't work.

Robinson is still some way from returning to the team and if you think he will have a major impact I doubt that now as hes clearly passed it. Wallace is another matter only time will tell how he will be when he returns.
 
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I am not relying on Wallace or Robinson to return and save us, we are picking up points at a decent rate as it stands. We are attempting to finish fifth bottom because we are in a relegation battle as we have been in most of the last five seasons and staying in the division is our target.

I just don't really understand what you are suggesting. We should go 4-4-2 and start throwing men forward like we did at the start of the season, in the hope that we will win the league ? Because that would be a sure fire way to get relegated.

With the resources we have, staying in the division is our target this season as in every season and if you think otherwise you are seriously deluded I am afraid.
 

bigmart

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We should aim for at least the top half of the table and not settle for coming 5th to bottom as with that attitude sure enough we will go down.

I am suggesting at home to teams like Stevenage, Colchester, Bristol City and the like we should be more positive and commit more men forward and we might just win the game. We didn't throw that many men forward at the start of the season, we just had nobody in midfield who could tackle, we had a terrible back 4 with virtually no cover.

Haven forbid that we show a bit of ambition and set our sights higher, as for seriously deluded I don't think so. Ive been going to watch for long enough to know what we are capable of and what we are not and its really not just down to finances which is easy to use but in reality there are so many instances in recent times of bigger clubs being a lot lower down than smaller clubs.
 
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Everybody wants us to play expansive fottball and finish in the top half. However, at present with a third of the season gone we are in the bottom four and it is the manager's responsibility to get us out of it. The tactics we have adopted in the last few weeks have seen us pick up points at a ratio which will take us up the table. If we continue in a similar vein we will get out of the bottom four, not this week or next week but in the foreseeable future.

I think you are completely wrong in your assessment of the club's immediate prospects. With the budget we have, in the majority of seasons we will be in then bottom third of the table, along with the kind of clubs you mention above - Colchester, Stevenage, Oldham, Gillingham, Carlisle. Teams with limited resources and limited squads. That does not mean we should accept second best and - like last season - there will always be exceptional years where we over-achieve. But logic tells us that in the majority of seasons the poorest clubs will occupy the lower positions in the table. Three different managers with very different approaches have all had a go at leading the club since the budget was cut in 2009 and all have struggled. Until the club receives investment it is not reasonable to expect that we will challenge in the top half of the table in the majority of seasons.

I have been watching the club for thirty years and the only period in which we have had sustained success resulted from considerable investment from Peter Johnson. In the period before his arrival and in the last five years, where he has virtually withdrawn all financial support, we have struggled and that is no coincidence.
 

Ian

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Bigmart, nobody wants to settle for second place, show no ambition etc.. I think you just have to be more realistic.
 

Boz

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My take on the game was that Rovers were very poor in the first half; the worst home showing I've seen this season although missed Orient. We got back into the game with a well-worked goal, superbly finished by Liam Ridehalgh, Mooney kept us in it with a good save from their free-kick late in the half. Don't know what was said at h/t, but we came out second half completely transformed and were much the better side, but Bristol still looked dangerous on the break. I think a draw was just about fair.

Jason Koumas had a good second half, but was almost anonymous in the first and for all his good work didn't change the course of the match, whereas Mooney with a couple of key saves arguably did. Personally I would have opted for a MoM who was fairly decent over the whole match and looked at someone like Ridehalgh or McNulty, but can see why the sponsors went for Mooney.

Jake Kirby is certainly improving, significant part in setting up the goal, but a way to go in his development. Occasionally he needs to be a little more selfish and less predictable, but a willing worker and offers the full-back on his side far more protection than Baggie on the right.

Some of Ronnie's selections puzzled me a little. Hateley hasn't been playing so well recently and the visitors had a reputation as a passing side-though one or two could mix it a bit-so his non-selection was understandable. How Baggie can make the starting line-up and Cole Stockton not even be on the bench yesterday was hard to fathom. Baggie put one decent cross in, won a couple of free-kicks and that was it. He doesn't deserve a starting place. Having opted for Sodje ahead of Stockton, why didn't the manager put bring him on. With the quality balls Koumas was floating into the box second half, someone decent in the air could have had a field day.

While the trips to Coventry and Wolves will be tough, it's not beyond possibility that we'll get something from one of them. Even if we lose both, there's enough time to make amends. At present it feels like we are inching in the right direction, it just doesn't seem fast enough!
 

bigmart

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Boz, I would use Baggie as an impact sub for the last 30 minutes or so when his pace can trouble defenders, trouble is that we have little alternatives out wide on both flanks.

For the life of me I cant see how Sodje is ahead of Stockton, I have seen virtually nothing in his game that benefits the team, I would try and loan him out if there are any takers, we may as well loan out Stockton to at least get him some more experience.
 
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I would agree that Stockton should have been on the bench ahead of Sodje. Perhaps Cole picked up a knock which we were not aware of ? I would favour sending Sodje out on loan, perhaps along with James Rowe who looks unlikely to get games for us in the near future but does have potential.

Baggie has been poor in recent home games and has not really justified his place but I think Moore just wants someone to give us genuine width and pace and at the moment the alternatives are not available. Abbs seems to do better away from home when we counter-attack teams and there is more space in behind.
 

bigmart

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Would agree loan them two out and try get a wideman in on loan. Jennings not on the bench either, not sure we will sign him as seems someway short of fitness to me.
 

Boz

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It seems from Ronnie's remarks today that we're looking to loan out Stockton. While regular football could certainly help his development, if Lowe was either injured or suspended (think he's only a booking away from a 1-match ban), a choice of JLAA or Sodje leading the line on current form raises alarm. It seems someway off the busload of strikers Ronnie was trying to recruit at the start of the season.
 

bigmart

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Horwood and I presume Rowe are others we are trying to loan out so we can bring a wide man in.
 
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