• 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.

Shrewsbury v Rovers

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The last time we shipped six was in the FA Cup against Swansea in January 2015 (2-6). I can't remember us losing 6-0 in a competitive game - even in a meaningless cup game, but we have suffered that fate in pre-season friendlies. I remember one painful defeat to Birmingham City in 2002 which cost Dave Watson his job before the season had started.
 
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I think Shrewsbury made seven changes to our ten, but you have to bear in mind that their squad players will be a level up from ours. In reality, this is a bastardised and potentially dangerous competition and we are better off out of it. I only went tonight because I am a completist and I am not concerned by the performance or result. On another matter, I thought Wharton looked confident and did OK overall, given the circumstances.
 
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We lost 6-0 away at Plymouth in 2003, although I was not there. The biggest defeat I had seen prior to tonight was the 6-1 at Mansfield in 2002, although I also saw us lose 7-1 to Liverpool in a friendly in 1992, in addition to the Man City and Birmingham friendlies where we shipped seven.
 

ONIGP

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Oh gosh, there's a flood of bad memories! I saw the Swansea and Mansfield matches. If I remember correctly we played Mansfield off the park in the first half and could've been 5 up. No doubt I'll have erased Shrewsbury from my memory by the end of the season as well ...
 

ONIGP

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I think I also saw us ship 7 to Man City in an FA Youth Cup game. It was in the 80s (probably mid) and I think that over half the City team made it to first team level but not sure that any of ours did.
 

Boz

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There was also the 6-1 at Hull where Whitmore ended up in goal.

Even in an irrelevant competition like this, getting hammered isn’t good for us, how could it be? We kept the scoreline more respectable against Walsall. Making allowances for a rookie keeper and Sutton and Harris coming back from injury, you still have to wonder about some performances. Ellis and Caprice have seen a fair bit of action this season, but can’t have advanced any claim for a recall here. Williams has been with us for a few weeks now, only staying until January, would have thought he’d be closer to match fitness than reported. Assume he played in central midfield? What has gone wrong with Tollitt since that promising cameo at Stevenage and why is DMH seeing any action on current form? Neither forward was taken off, even though Mullin unlikely to start on Friday, presumably means they did ok, despite no goals.

BBTC asks about keepers. Luke Pilling is loaned out at Ashton United until January, player of the month there. Don’t know about George’s situation any thoughts on the comparative strengths of him and Wharton?
 

Ian

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It's never great conceding six, but we'll be back to our best again Fri night. We can kiss goodnight to this competition and move on. Bit of a concern is how short of fitness a lot of them looked. How are these fringe/young players getting their fitness? I wouldn't look too much into this result though.
 

drwhoman

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You wonder if Liverpool are not happy with George's lack of appearances and maybe they will take him back early. This result highlights the downside from not having a reserve team where guys can get a game on a regular basis. That said, it may well be that some of the team last night have the same view of this competition as most of the folk on this blog. A waste of time and who wants to get injured? It really seems as if most were just going through the motions. I suspect that it was a game where neither the fans or players had any high expectations of a win. It will all be forgotten if we beat Macc on Friday.
 

Boz

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I’d agree all will be forgotten if we beat Macclesfield, but concerns have understandably been raised. Drwhoman’s point about the lack of reserve action is telling and those players who aren’t getting league action are very rusty. Micky doesn’t squad rotate much, fact not criticism, so those not getting time on the pitch in league games are not match fit. This may lead to complacency if there is no obvious challenge to the starting xi.

Haven’t seen enough of George to comment on his relative merit to our other reserve keepers. However in recent times, the quality of loan players from the blue side has been significantly better than from the red. I would be surprised if George gets anywhere near Liverpool’s first team.
 
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Last night was utterly meaningless. We already knew about the shortcomings of Tollitt and DMH and Williams' lack of match fitness.
 

ADD

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I suspect George has gone back. As was said Liverpool were obviously expecting him to play more. Wharton was at fault for 1 possibly 2 but when you have no defence in front of you I can forgive him that and he made some good saves also. On the plus side his distribution was good (better than Davies for sure). The defence were at sixes and sevens all game obviously but given Sutton hasn't played for a fair while we can accept that (just). The disappointment for me was Toliitt and DMH both of whom were not good. They have both been found out in that their pace is dangerous at VNL level but at L2 and L1 their pace is nothing special and they did nothing all game. DMH we should send back (if we can) as keeping playing him to avoid paying more of his wages isn't helpful. Franklyn did ok in terms of effort and is obviously fast but not sure about his technical level. Cole did ok but was greedy as at least on one occasion Franklyn was unmarked if passed to and a much better angle.
 

joe

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I actually thought that Micky from the very beginning had no interest in this competition but had to pretend that he did. I think there was pretence from the start in his teams and in what he said. I think deep down he's glad he's out of it. At least he's seen the second string in a competitive game and can now sort the wheat from the chaff. It will give him a better view of who to include in first team.
 

Ian

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I agree to an extent Joe, but I don't think after a game like that, which was so disjointed you can make fair judgments on players. Half of them didn't seem fit and there was not enough quality throughout especially in the attacking department to make that call. I felt it a bit for the strikers who weren't really given any service.

I think Boz touched on it a few posts up, but MM doesn't do squad rotation, so now I'm thinking what happens to these fringe players now? Where do they get to play games, keep up their fitness and what happens if they are needed due to injuries/suspensions? Half of them wouldn't last 90 minutes!
 
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Several of the players who played last night would be fine if they were slotted into a stronger, regular first eleven. Players like Ellis, Harris and Caprice have all shown their worth this season, unless we all now think they are useless because of a glorified training session.
 
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I’d agree all will be forgotten if we beat Macclesfield, but concerns have understandably been raised. Drwhoman’s point about the lack of reserve action is telling and those players who aren’t getting league action are very rusty. Micky doesn’t squad rotate much, fact not criticism, so those not getting time on the pitch in league games are not match fit. This may lead to complacency if there is no obvious challenge to the starting xi.

Haven’t seen enough of George to comment on his relative merit to our other reserve keepers. However in recent times, the quality of loan players from the blue side has been significantly better than from the red. I would be surprised if George gets anywhere near Liverpool’s first team.
Mellon has already rotated a fair amount this season.
 

Boz

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Mellon has already rotated a fair amount this season.
Debatable. Stockton started all but one game until his injury, McNulty and Monthe have been pretty much ever present in central defence, likewise Banks and McCulloch as the central midfield pairing. There’s nothing wrong with consistently picking the same team if they’re delivering on the pitch.

While I don’t think that last night means players who’ve done a job previously have suddenly become garbage, it is disappointing that nobody on the fringe seemed to push themselves forward in a positive way. It maybe the lack of reserve action has left them rusty as touched upon earlier in this thread.
 

ONIGP

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Interesting one. I'm not sure he has rotated much. I think he has changed players occasionally due to form/injury/suspension and made wholesale changes for cup matches but don't think that is the same as rotating. I don't have a problem with this approach at all and think that Mickey's inclination is always to play what he believes is his strongest team for league matches rather than resting players.
 

ONIGP

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In respect to Boz's point I think it was almost impossible for anybody to push themselves forward in the circumstances of last night's match. Each individual was part of a disjointed/unfamiliar team against an opposition who looked far stronger. If any one or two of them were called upon to join the first XI there would have been a lot more likelihood of them pushing themselves forward for a place. We know this is true of Ellis, Sutton, Caprice, Harris, Cole etc because they have already done it.
 

Boz

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O dear... Time to be grateful that Buxton aside, who sounded like our best player, none of the others are likely to start on Friday night.
 

Sparky

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The rustiness is inevitable I guess with no reserve games and limited behind closed doors matches.

We’ve had a good start to the season so no reason to change a settled line up. But the consequences are that we have players who may not be match fit
 
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