League Two Rovers v Crawley

[mellow submarine]

Tranmere improved slightly after the final whistle

 

[Boz]

I said at the start of this thread that Crawley had some decent players, so if they clicked anything was possible. They showed that last night, but it felt like we made things too easy for them, defending too deep and allowing them too much time on the ball. Even after the break, we were patchy and only Walker of the subs made a significant impact. I’m at the opposite end of the age spectrum to Goody’s son, but having to attend many games like this one would drive me away too. The occasional scruffy underserved win is good when you’re generally playing well or desperate for the points, but in the sea of mediocrity we currently find ourselves in, it doesn’t do much for keeping the fan base on board. We may get lucky once in a while, but expecting a play-off push on a string of underserved wins is being very optimistic. Must play better v Pools.

A word about the absentees. Morris is an enormous loss, it was evident how big the gap was when he went off at Bradford, he’s especially missed for the defensive side of his game and work-rate. As last night showed again, Chalmers doesn’t have a defensive bone in his body, with some dire sliced clearances too. Turner-Cooke has a more rounded game and Merrie can do the defensive stuff, but doesn’t offer much going forward. Maybe switching him and Hawkes worth a try.
Hemmings seems to have gone up in estimation purely by being sat in the stands. Hopefully he returns revitalised rather than the listless figure we’ve had playing the last couple of months. Current striking options including Hemmings are poor.

 

[bigmart]

The big issue was we didn't get on the front foot early on which allowed them to settle into the game and become more comfortable, if we had been more posative they would have struggled a lot more but we were far too negative.

 

[Ian]

I thought we just looked a bit leggy and lethergic, especially in the first half and that gave Crawley some confidence growing into the game. A few days off and the lads should be raring to go again on Saturday! I hope Jordan is in goalscoring mood again

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Hemmings seems to have gone up in estimation purely by being sat in the stands. Hopefully he returns revitalised rather than the listless figure we’ve had playing the last couple of months. Current striking options including Hemmings are poor.

Hemmings retains possession better than the other striking options and is at least capable of an occasion goal.

Successful seasons, including our recent promotions, are littered with scrappy victories like last night's and they are to be welcomed. We have played far better and drawn or lost many times this season. At this stage, it is the result that counts.

I doubt there were many floating voters attending Crawley at home on a Tuesday night who were 'turned away' by the performance. You would think some people had never seen League Two football before........

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think this is a good point. We may not have been at the races but I didn't think Crawley were all that bad considering their league position. They kept Joe busy at times and they let themselves down with poor finishing. I think it was a tougher game than most of us expected.

As Micky implied in his interview, Telford and Nadesan are better than the strikers we had on the pitch last night.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Crawley had a very fluid set up from the off, which prevented the full backs getting forward. There was still confusion in the ranks in the second half, especially after the changes, Bristow backed off an advancing player even though he was the only one able to challenge as he searched for his dedicated man further advanced.

I keep reading about Mellon's dull style and yet I haven't seen a single style this season comparatively better. Tier 4 is about effort and attrition. The key problem in the second victory is a team that creates few clear cut chances now looks completely unable to take them. What might become a chance gets Saunders first touch and ceases to exist. Burton at times looks at a loss as what to do, Saunders has no doubts but little ability. In an age when fans convince themselves about players via Stats without even watching them, possibly some focus on the Lewis hattrick last year- this is misplaced he is a water carrier of few skills.

Hemmings is desperately needed and Saunders is too Nevitt like to work well with him. Mumbungo and Saunders would have been a better bet last night. T-C did the Morris role very well on Saturday his complete absence last night was baffling, Judith is in a different country most of the time.

You could play Merrie, O'Connor, Walker and Hendry across the midfield let the full backs drive with abandon. Hawkes could come on later. Last night the worries about up front confused the middle set up and it could have been fatal.

Bottom line, 6 points great, derived from a surging one-two by Turnbull and a drive into the box by O'Connor file under non-viable long term.

 

[tyke]

Isn't one big unknown whether Jolley can strike up some kind of partnership with Hemmings? I am just hoping he can get half a dozen games under his belt in April/May so that the position is clearer going into the close season. Not the whole answer of course.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The attendance was 5,104, including 53 Crawley fans.

Don't tell the doommongers, but that is a good crowd in the circumstances.

 

[Ian]

It never helps the atmosphere when there are only 50 away supporters . At least it picked up a bit after the goal .

 

[ONIGP]

Isn't one big unknown whether Jolley can strike up some kind of partnership with Hemmings? I am just hoping he can get half a dozen games under his belt in April/May so that the position is clearer going into the close season. Not the whole answer of course.

It is very easy to forget about Jolley completely!

 

[ONIGP]

The attendance was 5,104, including 53 Crawley fans.

Don't tell the doommongers, but that is a good crowd in the circumstances.

Bugger! 6 must have been in the loos or buying a pie when I counted...

 

[ONIGP]

It never helps the atmosphere when there are only 50 away supporters . At least it picked up a bit after the goal .

It doesn't but I'll take that over 1,500 away fans in celebratory mood!

 

[bigmart]

Isn't one big unknown whether Jolley can strike up some kind of partnership with Hemmings? I am just hoping he can get half a dozen games under his belt in April/May so that the position is clearer going into the close season. Not the whole answer of course.

The unknown is whether Jolley is any good or not as he's only had a few games so can't judge his ability just yet

 

[bigmart]

The attendance was 5,104, including 53 Crawley fans.

Don't tell the doommongers, but that is a good crowd in the circumstances.

That includes season ticket holders a number of which were not in attendance

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

That includes season ticket holders a number of which were not in attendance

It does not. It is the number of people actually in the ground.

 

[bigmart]

It does not. It is the number of people actually in the ground.

Attendance always includes season ticket holders and has done for a number of years, the starting point for the figures are the season ticket holders

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Attendance always includes season ticket holders and has done for a number of years, the starting point for the figures are the season ticket holders

That is incorrect and there are a couple of methods of proving it.

How are long distance season ticket holders treated ? They are only entitled to attend two thirds of matches, so do we include two thirds of a person in the attendance figure to represent those people ? We clearly don't.

In addition, at the end of the 2017-18 season we played a dead rubber against Solihull. The ticket sales figure released by the Trust an hour before kick off was higher than the actual recorded attendance, precisely because a number of season ticket holders did not turn up.

 

[Sparky]

The unknown is whether Jolley is any good or not as he's only had a few games so can't judge his ability just yet

Yes we can’t pin hopes on Jolley. I don’t think he’ll play much part this season and whilst he has potential, apart from a few games I don’t recall him ever shining too much?
Maybe I’m being unfair plus after such a bad injury the road to getting match fit can be difficult as we saw with the likes of tollit and others down the years.
The club extending his deal was good but I doubt he’s on much money anyway so low risk.
Hopefully he can get and stay fit and give us another option (we’re still not scoring enough goals)

 

[bigmart]

Yes we can’t pin hopes on Jolley. I don’t think he’ll play much part this season and whilst he has potential, apart from a few games I don’t recall him ever shining too much?
Maybe I’m being unfair plus after such a bad injury the road to getting match fit can be difficult as we saw with the likes of tollit and others down the years.
The club extending his deal was good but I doubt he’s on much money anyway so low risk.
Hopefully he can get and stay fit and give us another option (we’re still not scoring enough goals)

Agree with this over Jolley.

I don't think we will be prolific scorers under Micky as we have never been whilst back in the league.