Rovers v Monkey Hangers

[Ian]

Let's kick this one off with some pre-match shenanigans and hopeless predictions.

Tranmere v Hartlepool
19th March 2010
KO: 7.45pm

Good old Friday night football returns and I've got a good feeling about this one (how many times have i said that?).

John Welsh is a doubt with an achilles strain, but Les should have a full squad to pick from.

Head 2 head -> http://whitereview.co.uk/matchday/opponent.php?opp=21

Huge game this one and there are reduced admission prices too!
Young Persons (17-22) reduced to £5 in all stands, so get down and support the lads!

If we win this one, we go ahead of Hartlepool and widen the gap even more.

Prediction: 2-0. (two savage specials).

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Full squad - Zoom's not suspended?

 

[Ian]

Ohh, he might be

 

[Boz]

This season we've lost games to sides who don't normally beat us @PP, Walsall, Stockport + Udders. We've gone against the formbook losing to Oldham & Leeds but beating Saints. Pools are on a sequence of away losses and I can't recall them ever winning at PP. So the omens are not good...

 

[White_Magic]

Outcome

2-1 im thinking with Ian and Craig getting us goals either side of the half and Pool just sneaking one in the last minutes. With the 4-3-3 formation we should be scoring more goals than we are but a solid defensive display should see us through.

 

[Filed Under Rockford]

Second Yellow

We should hopefully be looking forward to a vital win on Friday (in theory), especially in light of the "MH's" poor recent away form. As per my previous post, I'm a great fan of both Ash and McCready, two matches and two clean sheets for the latter... the first game was even without Goodi alongside him!! And two local boys to boot!! =D>

Our strategy at Bristol clearly worked so well, I'm just wondering whether everyone feels this line-up would be equally successful at PP when the onus is often on us to attack? Hopefully, this won't be a problem either way on Friday.

Assuming Zoum is suspended and Cresswell is also unavailable, how do you think we should resolve the problem? Edds, Broomes or a partially funded "Les Aid" loanee? I guess it depends on how many games Zoum misses for a second sending-off, albeit only two yellows.

 

[bigmart]

zoom will be suspended for two games as its his second sending off for the season and apparently creswell as two more games left on his ban, i wouldnt bring in a loanee id make do with what weve got in the squad and imrpovise.

Im going for a win 2 1 they have lost their last 9 away and we will make it ten

 

[The Bootle Rover]

Happy not to concede

Another clean sheet is the answer. If we score we win. If we dont we make it harder for those below to close the gap.

Hartlepool have had loads of injuries and are slowly getting players back fit.

I would not underestimate them and am not fully confident of a win, but fingers crossed, and I do so much prefer Friday night football.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

I hope none of you ever bet on your predictions. You'd have lost nearly every time this season! You just can't forecast Rovers results this year. Whenever we are confident, we lose. Whenever we are pessimistic, we get a great result. So I'm predicting a 5-0 defeat!

 

[Boz]

Another clean sheet is the answer. If we score we win. If we dont we make it harder for those below to close the gap.


I would not underestimate them and am not fully confident of a win, but fingers crossed

Unusually, I'm in agreement with BootleRover, we mustn't lose this, or Hartlepool will become another of the teams above us to widen the gap. Wins for Brighton & Oldham tonight were not what we wanted and I'm desparately hoping Bristol come away with at least a point in the West Country derby at Exeter.
Don't think Cressa's suspension had kicked in last weekend, one's from reserves games take longer to kick in and he may even be eligible for Friday? My preference if both he and Zoum are banned would be to switch Logan to the left and play Broomes at right-back, where he did well @Norwich. More likely is Edds at left-back, but Gareth never impresses at right-back, can he hack it on the opposite side?

 

[Ian]

Our strategy at Bristol clearly worked so well, I'm just wondering whether everyone feels this line-up would be equally successful at PP when the onus is often on us to attack? Hopefully, this won't be a problem either way on Friday.

I'd imagine we would be a lot more attack minded at home. A good result away from home but we were playing for a draw. Apart from the early shot from Moore, most of the game we defended well but didn't do much in the way of getting forward.

Assuming Zoum is suspended and Cresswell is also unavailable, how do you think we should resolve the problem? Edds, Broomes or a partially funded "Les Aid" loanee? I guess it depends on how many games Zoum misses for a second sending-off, albeit only two yellows.

With Ash back in midfield I think Edds will provide the necessary cover. I don't think he'll be any better or worse than Cresswell, who's pretty ordinary to be honest. We will miss Zoum zooming down the wing however, something Edds will never be capable of.

 

[Filed Under Rockford]

I'm inclined to agree with you Ian. My only concern is this line-up appears to be ideally geared for an away performance where every point is vital. With Zoum missing as an attacking option down the left flank and Ash back in the midfield, which I believe is a massive plus, are we looking slightly too defensive for a "must win" home match?

As I mentioned previously, I don't think this will have an impact on Friday's result8-[, especially as the PP faithful are usually in good form on these occasions!

 

[Boz]

With Ash back in midfield I think Edds will provide the necessary cover. I don't think he'll be any better or worse than Cresswell, who's pretty ordinary to be honest. We will miss Zoum zooming down the wing however, something Edds will never be capable of.

Think you're being a bit harsh on Cresswell there, Ian. He's faster than Edds, a decent crosser of the ball and good at set pieces. Think he loses out to Zoum on aerial presence, but otherwise fairly evenly matched, save for a lack of confidence due to Aaron rarely getting a chance under Les.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I can't see Les changing the midfield or forward line on Friday as his approach since taking over has been 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', and he has always been reluctant to change a side which has picked up a good result. The majority of our wins at home have come playing 4-3-3 with a tight, narrow midfield, and I think this is how we will start against Hartlepool.

I'm not sure of the situation regarding the left backs but I have to agree that Bakayago is a massive loss when he doesn't play, chiefly in an attacking sense. Other than his surges forward we don't have any natural width down the left and become much more predictable for the opposition when he is missing (Cresswell is solid defensively though).

It was a bit of a downer last night with Oldham and Brighton winning, but if Bristol Rovers can do us a favour we could be six or seven points clear of the drop zone with a victory on Friday.

 

[SonkORLY?]

I'd have Cresswell left back over Edds any day. Taylor should stay in midfield given that Mcready played very well at the weekend.

 

[Ian]

It's a shame Oldham won last night, but Stockport can't buy a win at the moment so no great surprise there, and Brighton had an excellent 3-0 win at home to Brentford. Swindon also continue their impressive season with an away win against Southampton.

We win on Fri night, I can breath a sign of relief knowing we can't have done any more. I'll sit back and watch the results roll in on Saturday. Saturday always seems a little strange without Rovers playing some part in it though.

 

[bigmart]

its not the same on a saturday when weve already played as the tension is not really there so much. Just fingers crossed that bristol continue to at least hold exeter.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Exeter have gone and won with a last minute goal. Their next two fixtures are away at Wycombe and home to Wallsall. Nuff said. We just have to win on Friday, end of.

 

[Boz]

Exeter have gone and won with a last minute goal. Their next two fixtures are away at Wycombe and home to Wallsall. Nuff said. We just have to win on Friday, end of.

If we beat Hartlepool, but lose the remainder of our games, we'll be down. Conversely, if we lose to the Monkey-hangers but win the rest we'll stay up. Undoubtedly the Exeter win was bad news and heaps the pressure on, but our season won't be over should the brown stuff hit the fan Friday night. I'm not expecting Exeter to come away from Wycombe with 3 points on Saturday either.

On the playing front, it looks as though Cressa will be available on Friday, but both he and Zoum will be banned for Brighton. Collister had a hamstring problem and was subbed early in the reserves game, which may mean we'll have an (even more) inexperienced keeper on the bench

 

[Tartantranmere64]

If we beat Hartlepool, but lose the remainder of our games, we'll be down. Conversely, if we lose to the Monkey-hangers but win the rest we'll stay up. Undoubtedly the Exeter win was bad news and heaps the pressure on, but our season won't be over should the brown stuff hit the fan Friday night. I'm not expecting Exeter to come away from Wycombe with 3 points on Saturday either.

Hmm, not following your logic. I'd say we have to target certain games as 'must-win' at this stage, and this is one of them. Defeat would not only allow our opponents to pull away from us, but would be a massive drain on confidence and allow the chasing pack to smell blood.

Not massively confident about Friday, I have to say. Really would rather not be playing a team which has lost 9 in a row. Bound to win sometime...