Tranmere 0-1 Wolves

[Ian]

Good FA Cup tie. The lads worked hard and put in the effort. Shame the result didn't match the performance. Poor finishing let us down today, which is a shame as a draw would have been a fair result.

Two great chances in the game, one for each side and two massive howlers. Thought we nicked the first half and Wolves the second. Great through ball from the Serb caught us out and a neat finish ended any hopes of FA Cup glory.

But I'm not too disappointed. The performance was hard-working if lacking the finishing touch.

Seemed like more than 7446 in the crowd! I was expecting to be in the 9-10k mark..

 

[SonkORLY?]

Yeah. Good performance. Again, too much hoofing sometimes. But off the ball we're very good and the defence looks really solid. Goodi and Broomes were fantastic. John Welsh also...

I didn't go to the game, but coverage on the FA site was really good - quite enjoyed the commentary for once, possibly because it was a little bit Rovers biased

Wolves were disappointing but Milijas was good, have rated him for a while...superb assist...

 

[bigmart]

i think that was ash taylor u refer to rather than broomes who was unused sub.

A very good performance and we really should have won the game with the chances we had especially the one for gornell, what is it with our strikers missing open goals. We really need to start converting more of our chances as we should be able to get out of the relegation places if we do.

The most disappointing thing was being beaten by a team who played poorly for large parts and who looked second best to us

 

[merseyside bossman]

I think we played really well., and give them a scare.

Taylor was superb.
Goodi was good.

Wasnt happy with Daniels kicking, in the 2nd half there fans had him in bits.

How fat was there no.9 ebanks-blake... gave him so much stick :cold: in festive manner.:whistle:

I have started to notice on many games now, that a lot of the opposition teams are playing at Shay Logan. I reckon they see him as the weakest link. He fell asleep a few times last night. dont reckon Mancini will rate him for Man City.

Ricketts needs to go. (free loading Wage sponge) Came on with 10 mins to go and looked shattered after 5 min. Never won a header, or got near any of the 3 corners we had when he was on. I bet the Chief would give more effort.

McClaren- Isnt half the player he was 2 years ago, gave the ball away so many times, I lost count.

But the core of the team put in a good shift.

 

[TheBunnyBellEnd]

All I can say is compare last nights effort and performance to that which we witnessed under Barnes. The lads can ALL be proud of themselves last night, none are premiership quality (at the moment) or they would be playing at a much higher level. They ALL put in a shift and made a current premiership team look very uncomfortable and ordinary. On fthe first half a neutral would have found it difficult to say who came from a higher division.
If we can turn out performances like this for the rest of the season then we will stay up comfortably. I was proud to be a Tranmere fan last night.

 

[OneNightInGayParis]

An excellent performance by Rovers, although Wolves didn't look at all like a Premier League team. I thought Goodison was immense and really showed his class - he missed one header all night and seemed to have the Wolves attack in his pocket.

Actually, I thought Logan had a fine game - in the second half as much of our attacking threat came from him as from anybody. Agree that Daniels desperately needs some kicking practice - it is only a matter of time before something REALLY embarrassing happens!

Midfield and attack worked hard as usual but the cutting edge is missing. Agree with Ian's puzzlement with the attendance stats - if Carlisle was 6.3 surely there must have been more than 7.4? Overall a good perfermance and perhaps no bad thing that all focus can be on retaining our league status.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

[SonkORLY?]

i think that was ash taylor u refer to rather than broomes who was unused sub.

Yeah, no idea why I said Broomes. Hate the **** :lol:
Would add that I think criticism of Logan is unjustified.

Attendence figures could be skewed for tax reasons or something.

 

[evo_trfc]

Thought the lads did themselves proud last night, How Gornell missed that chance is beyond me, Was really impressed with our effort and commitment just hope we can relay this type of performance in the league! A moment of class undid us!

Its funny how people view players differently - Logan imo was superb, Fa TV commentators thought he was our best player and i agree with them on that performance - Was impressed with all the players last night, Yes some made a few mistakes, But hey there wasnt one player who didnt deserve a 7 out of 10 last night!

How good was daniels save from that header!

 

[Ian]

Glad to see we all enjoyed the game, even though we lost! Just shows that a team that gives their all and puts in the effort has the backing of the supporters, win, lose or draw!

Poor player for me was McLaren. Too wasteful with his passing and far too slow. Edds wasn't much better, but I'm picking at straws now..

 

[TheBunnyBellEnd]

Your a harsh task master Ian! I honestly could not fault anyone last night.........except Ricketts (or thick Mik as one fan called him) He is a disgrace, how overweight and lazy can one man actually look. He came on jogged into position on the far side of the pitch and looked knackered when he eventually got there! The man is a shining example to all up and coming professionals, thats what happens to you when you think you have made it.

Logan, Taylor, Goodison, Curran, were in my opinion the most influential players on the pitch last night.

Can I ask as well how bad was the ref and the linesman in the first half, gave everything to them.

Play like that against the Gills and Yeovil and there is no reason why we cant walk away with 6 points. \\/

 

[DixieDean]

McLaren was embarrasing in my opinion. Other than that everyone else pretty much looked the part (blatant misses excepted!) and played far better than I was expecting.

The attendance figure looked right to me. I was watching the game at home via the playstation and said to the wife that the crowd looked less than 8,000 (taking into account I couldn't see the John King Stand where the cameras were located!)

It does always amaze me when people say they think the crowd was bigger than the figure suggests - if they're in the ground they can only (clearly) see the supporters in 3 stands. The 3 big stands all had large areas of empty seats but it can also be deceiving when you see a large congregation of supporters, like in the middle of a stand, as often there is a blank seat for every 3 or 4 supporters and I think this was the case on Sunday.

Anyhow, the figures aren't fudged. Having worked at the club I know how the electronic system works - and also the auditors would soon suss them out and report them. I really can't see any benefit for a club declaring a lower crowd than actually turned up.

 

[TRFC_Ian]

I watched the game on the net - though we played well again and I can't believe they are almost all the same players that played earlier in the season - Les, Chief and Shaun seem to be getting the best out of the limited skill most of them have (even McLaren who i thought tried hard but just doesnt have the legs for it any more).

Am I the only person who isnt too dissapointed that we are out? If we had drawn one of the big teams in the next round before kick off then maybe I would think differently - but with our tiny squad I'm happy to not have the extra games so we can concentrate on trying to stay up.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Anyhow, the figures aren't fudged. Having worked at the club I know how the electronic system works - and also the auditors would soon suss them out and report them. I really can't see any benefit for a club declaring a lower crowd than actually turned up.

If you don't mind me asking, in what capacity have you previously worked for the club? That's pretty interesting. Were you a fan before you worked there or afterwards?

 

[NeverBeatDaveHiggins]

Fantastic performance. Great atmosphere amongst the Rovers fans. Felt like days long past.

Funniest chant of the night has to be "You're just a bus stop in Walsall".

My support for Les has always been total and I think that support has been vindicated with the performance against Wolves. If the best a Premier League team can do is a quick smash and grab, then I think Les can rightly feel very proud of what he has achieved in a very short time.

I felt Welsh was very nervy in the opening half hour but came more and more into the game as time wore on. His confidence visibily increased with that flowing move with the onrushing Goodison, of all people!

Edds and Welsh did well, but for much of the second half we lost the midfield battle, largely because McLaren was the invisible man when Wolves were in posession... and whenever we got the ball our supposed midfield anchor repeatedly sprayed around accurate passes to the opposition!! I agree with earlier comments that his performance in the game was an embarrassment. Not sure how fair it is to blame him for the goal, but their midfielder having time and space centre of the field and playing a fairly straight ball to split the two centre backs, that was exactly the kind of thing the holding midfield role is supposed to prevent. Shame we don't have two Ash Taylors!

Minor criticism really for Curran who didn't quite rise to the occasion, his workrate is usually his strongest contribution but for whatever reason didn't quite find the get up and go. I was surprised that he wasn't taken off. I suppose he has the ability to sometimes pop up with a 20 yarder and that will have been the reasoning behind keeping him on... but it certainly wasn't his night.

We had our chances and I'm proud of Logan, Bakayoko, Taylor and Goodison, Welsh, Edds and of course young Terry Gornell. Tezza (as I will now call him) showed yet again why Les promoted him to the first team, and was outstanding. Yes he missed one of our best chances, but it was his to miss. Credit to the lad for another great performance. Moore worked hard and as with Curran, sadly it just wasn't his night.

Almost equalling Mclaren in shame is Ricketts. Was only on the pitch 10 minutes or so, yet never moved. I've seen more movement in a graveyard! What a waste of money.

 

[SCooperSomersaults]

Thought Tranmere played really well. The lads should be proud of their efforts. As manay of you have already said, if we could finish, the game would have been ours, because bar a big miss and a great save by Daniels, Wolves didn't create all that much.

Gornell's miss was shocking, as bad as Thomas-Moore's the week before. Should have scored, but we could possibly have scored on other occasions. Hennessey in the Wolves goal made some good saves, but when Terry missed that, you just knew we wouldn't win.

Les has done wonders with Barnes' team. We work harder, run harder, are more determined, fitter, stronger, more organised, and you wouldn't know it's the same group of player that Dumb and Dumber moaned about.

Well done Les, carry on the good work!

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Gornell's 'open goal' miss was bad, but so was his free header from 12 yards. A bit more awareness and he could have chested it down.... and put it past the post.

As regards the crowd, if it's the same system as the Scottish Cup, clubs are entitled to dish out a large number of complimentary tickets. This compensates them for the fact that the gates are split 50-50, and also compensates for the fact that season tickets aren't eligible for cup ties. It means the away club gets a 'net' rather than 'gross' amount. Just a thought.