Rovers v Wrexham

[Sparky]

RLC - I dream of having Dawson on one wing, Tollit on the other, with Cook and some sort of 6 yard box striker up front lol! Ronnie prowling the touchline barking his orders out giving them a rollicking when needed!

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Micky did get sacked, Ronnie took over till the end of the season, unless Adkins was available.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Micky did get sacked, Ronnie took over till the end of the season, .

I would probably settle for that.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Interesting that the Palioli stayed behind in the stand long after the final whistle today pondering events. The same happened at the Lincoln home game last season - a week later, Brabin was gone.

Will another manager bite the dust on a 3G pitch in South London ?

As a further thought, Wrexham had a shocking season last year with a squad which had far less quality than we have currently. In October 2016 Gary Mills was sacked. However, at this stage last season they actually had sixteen points, compared to our thirteen.

Wrexham have been pretty mediocre at this level but I am not sure they have ever been as low as eighteenth.

 

[JKS]

First half, we were much the better team and looked more comfortable going forward in this system. Defensively we are poor, very slow and too relaxed. Norburn flatters to deceive and reminds me of Paul McLaren. Does a lot of running along side a player, without ever actually causing any damage or throwing a tackle in when needed. I thought Alabi had his best game for us today, but he shouldn't be picked ahead of Cook. His confidence looks rock bottom, a goal today may well have helped to lift that.

I can't for the life of me understand the fans knocking Norwood. He's been played on the wing & out of position for 90% of his time under Mellon and works his nuts off for 90 minutes, and is one of the only players who genuinely seems pleased to be playing for Tranmere.

Mellon won't be sacked, he'll get more time. And I do genuinely hope he turns it around, I don't think I can keep explaining to my son why we didn't win & why we didn't score again!

Onwards & upwards - hopefully.

 

[Boz]

I've now seen the post-match interview. While the question wasn't phrased well, think it was querying our midfield not moving up to increase the pressure. JKS makes a valid point about the defence. While they are good at keeping the goals conceded down, the lack of any pace is an impediment to building from the back.

It worries me that MM implicitly seems to be staking so much on the return of Ben Tollitt. He won't return at the same level, could take a long time to get back to that and its asking a lot of a kid, however talented, to transform this team.

Don't think that Ronnie is any kind of answer to our current problems, except as a short-term appointment to stop us dropping further.

It would be ironic if Micky's stint at Rovers was ended next weekend by a team featuring the other Adam (Mekki) who worked harder and got more goals and assists for us than Dawson ever did.

 

[Ian]

The defence just isn’t a problem. The problem which was clearly evidence yesterday was as soon as we cross the half way line we run out of ideas playing it sideways and backwards and then sideways again with no one taking responsibility.

The amount of possession we had in their half was ridiculous and each time it ended in nothing not even a save by their keeper. The shooting was abysmal.

I think MM is clinging to the Tollitt return. I feel sorry for the lad. Huge expectation on his shoulders.

Can we please stop with the Ronnie back comments. He’s tried numerous times and failed.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I agree with most of Ian's comments, but how has Ronnie failed exactly ? He has never been relegated, saved us in 2011-12 when he took over from Parry and had us out of the relegation zone prior to his sacking in 2014 for off the field issues. Added to which, he kept Hartlepool up from an absolutely desperate position in 2015.

Is he the long term solution ? Of course not. But we are in an absolutely parlous state at the moment and we might need someone to come in and stabilise things, simply to keep us in the division. There are very few options available to us.

The defence is an issue for the reasons that Boz cites above, ie. we can't press high enough up the pitch due to the fear of McNulty's pace being exposed.

However, even with the current personnel we should be creating more, and scoring more than we are. The squad is not as well balanced as last season, but it should be far higher than 18th in the table, and the ultimate responsibility for that rests with the manager. As I said yesterday, half of our starting eleven would walk into the Wrexham team.

 

[Ian]

We were camped in their half for long periods. Not sure how much further forward we need to get.

There’s enough time for a manager to come in and turn it around but agreed our options are limited.

With all the shenanigans going on with our team I forgot to mention Wrexham’s disgraceful time wasting and lack of sportsmanship. They were falling over at the faintest of touches and it was awful to watch. They should be embarrassed as grown men acting like that.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Yes, I agree that it is the lack of imagination and movement up front that is the major issue. However, the positioning of the defence has been a problem in other games, such as Ebbsfleet last week where we were way too deep as a team and the gap between midfield and the strikers was too big. However, in the context of yesterday's game, it was a daft question by Matt Jones.

I still believe things can get even worse under Mellon and change will be needed. Unless the club acknowledges we are in a relegation battle, we could end up like Stockport and York.

 

[Ian]

I still believe things can get even worse under Mellon and change will be needed. Unless the club acknowledges we are in a relegation battle, we could end up like Stockport and York.

Yes. I’d love to know what MP is currently thinking. The worry for me is that there’s been absolutely no improvement. Nothing to cling on too. The negativity around the club is horrible but there’s very little to be positive about.

 

[bigmart]

At times we played quite well in the first half but didn't create enough chances, the decision making is very poor and we moved the ball around too slowly.

The second half was dire, conor should have buried the free header straight after half time but after that we started to lose our way and the shape we had and just got more and more desperate hoofing the ball up front only to lose nearly every header.

Alabi a couple of times linked up play quite well and brought a good save out of their keeper in the first half but in no way should he start ahead of Cook, the longer the game went on the more the ball deflected off him, he looks well out of his depth but was far from the only one.

MM time should be up if we can afford to sack him that is, look how Shrewsbury have improved since he went there

 

[JKS]

The defence is slow in general. Pace, ability to move with the ball, distribution. We never replaced the pace of Ihekwe which allowed for us to cover for McNulty last season. Instead we signed a slower, poorer version of McNulty in McEverley, in my opinion.

There is no imagination, or ideas going forward. The ball goes to either Hughes or Noburn who simply try to spread the play. Norburn trying Worldies when a simple pass will do is tiring. We have missed Maynard this season, whilst he never set the world a light, he did a good job of pressuring the opposition without needing the glory or praise go going about his job. Mekki would’ve been a great option currently, at least he tried to beat a man. Unlike Dunn, who clearly thinks he’s better than he is & shouldn’t be at this level.

I can’t see MM being sacked, he’ll cling onto the fact we’ve not got going and are still only 9 points off the top. Unfortunately we’re also only 2 points off the bottom four. I do wish he’d pull rank on Nixon and stop him belting instructions out to players at half time or during the match. The mans always been an ego, and needs controlling.

 

[aldoes mustache]

Nixon is a legend . An if the manager cant manage . Mey be someone like nico can kick a few arses . Because someone needs to . Micky .an jackson dont seem able . An if you look on the shrewsbury fc forum . They say the same . Abt the tactics an attacking play or lack of it .

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I disagree about Maynard, as norburn is a better player and more creative, but like the others is not being used effectively. Agree about Nixon who I think is a malign influence.

 

[JKS]

Nixon is a legend as a goalkeeper, doesn’t make him a good influence or motivator as a coach. My point is he is not the manager and needs reigning in on match days.

Norburn is a better player as a play maker, but offers less in terms of the nitty gritty needed at this level for me.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Nixon is a legend as a goalkeeper, doesn’t make him a good influence or motivator as a coach. My point is he is not the manager and needs reigning in on match days.

Norburn is a better player as a play maker, but offers less in terms of the nitty gritty needed at this level for me.

I think Harris gives us enough of that. I don't think we have been outbattled in midfield, we just have not made enough use of our considerable possession.

 

[Boz]

Norburn and Maynard are quite different types of midfielder, it's like comparing apples and oranges. We do miss some elements of Maynard's game though, in particular his aerial presence and running with the ball. Norburn seems to want to get rid of it too quickly and his distribution and lack of imagination disappointed in this game. Given one of our best chances came from Alabi running at them,it's surprising this wasn't tried more often.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I did not think Maynard was good enough for us. The first touch of an elephant, no goal threat and very little creativity. What he did give us was physical presence, but I honestly don't think that has been an issue for us in midfield this season. Just because Mellon has made bad mistakes this season, it does not mean he gets every decision wrong.

By contrast, I was happy to see Mekki go in the summer on the assumption that we would bring in a decent winger. Unfortunately, Rokka is untried, Dawson was a bad signing and Dunn (contrary to what I thought when we signed him) is not an out and out winger and does not give us genuine width. So we could actually do with Mekki in the squad.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

For what it is worth, I think Norbun is an excellent player and will do well under a different manager. His passing range is very good for this level and he has more of an eye for goal than any of our other midfielders.

 

[Boz]

I don't think Maynard was that bad tbh,although didn't lose any sleep when he left.

Norburn the jury's still out on for me. If he could stamp his authority on a game more it would help, he seemed to drift in this game.

Unusually we're in agreement with Mekki. For all of his fitness failings he worked hard on the pitch and I was expecting him to be replaced with someone better. Instead, aside from BT,we don't really have any natural width in the side now.