Walsall 2 - 1 Rovers

[Ian]

Why do we have to make things difficult for ourselves? Every time, whenever it counts, we always seem to lose it..

That game was winnable, very winnable. From the minute it kicked off, you could see Walsall were all over the show. Tranmere had the edge. Possession and passing was good, everything was going so well.

Myrie-Williams even getting on the end of a cross to put the Rovers 1-0 ahead. My only slight complaint is that we never fed the two forwards enough. Moore saw more of the ball than Greenacre on the left, but we should have been 2-0 up in the first 45. We wouldn't have got a better chance than that first 45.

But no.. we gave away a penalty just before the break and it all went downhill from there. At the time, I thought Chorley was an idiot. I could see his hands on Betsy and thought it was a stone-wall penalty. Looking back and after seeing it on TV, it seems more that Chorley was just naive. He didn't actually tug him down or pull him at all, it's just that he had his hand on his shirt. A silly thing to do in the penalty area. I don't blame the referee for giving it, but hopefully, he'll look at it and Chorley will have his suspension cut. Besides, that cheat Betsy spent more time on the floor than on his feet! Sadly the ref fell for it every time..

Great penalty save from Coyne, but the loss of a man proved to be too much. Now although we played well and it's one of the better performances I've seen away from home, I still believe they lost the game right after the break.

Instead of trying to play football, they sat back and allowed Walsall to attack them. You can't play like that for 45 minutes, well, we can't anyway. And it was proved. It only took Walsall 14 minutes to score and then it was panic. Terrible defending allowed them in. Same old Tranmere I'm afraid.

Why oh why did we allow them to come at us. It was clear to everyone at the ground that Walsall were no great shakes. We could have got something out of that game, even with 10 men! This I blame Ronnie for. Terrible attitude to start the second half with. But I think this is because Ronnie has no plan B.

When things go wrong during a game, he doesn't know how to react. We should never have lost that game really, and such was the importance of it, I'm starting to think we haven't got what it takes to make it into the top six.

Lastly, I was disgusted by a minority of Tranmere supporters who caused trouble during the game. One who ran onto the pitch (takes a big man to do that! ](*,)) and there were other scuffles in the away end, which ended up with one child crying his eyes out, not sure if he got caught up in it).. Embarrassing and pathetic behaviour. Go to watch the game, or don't go at all..

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Great summary of the day's events, thanks for that. I thought I was the only one in the away end who thought it was a penalty, but I see there's at least one other agreeing with me. Betsy is a cheat - he dived all over the place - so as soon as Chorley tried to get is arms round him he flopped. I thought it was a clear foul and although I feel sorry for Chorley, he had to go as the last man.

The penalty save should have given us a huge lift but instead we went into our shell. Look at Hartlepool at PP last month when they had a man sent off and were down to 10 - they bossed the game and could have won it. Why? Attitude. As I said on Saturday during the game it's 10 v 11 not 7 v 11!

The subs made a difference in the second half and we could have got an equaliser in the last 25 minutes.

Still the old problems persist. Playing 2 wide men means we are short in the middle, especially when they hardly touch the ball out wide. Greenacre and Moore together doesn't work - they are too similar and for it to work one of them must play as a poacher.

I find it hard to blame the defence - they are under siege a lot of the time because we simply don't score enough goals to take the pressure off.

Another whole season beckons where we haven't managed more than THREE GOALS IN ONE GAME!

We might still make the play-offs, but let's be honest - do we really deserve to?

 

[Boz]

Good to read the reports from the two of you who were there. This was a mustn't lose game and we did just that. I'm hoping that Rovers can prolong their chances of the play-offs until at least Huddersfield, which is the next game I can get to. However because of the way results went at the weekend, we need to beat Forest to keep in the race.

Interesting and depressing what Ian says about trouble at the game. Walsall in the past has seen some heavy-handed treatment of away fans, but it sounds like WMPolice have shifted too far in the other direction.

 

[roverstillidie]

This I blame Ronnie for. Terrible attitude to start the second half with. But I think this is because Ronnie has no plan B.

Ronnie Moore doesnt have a plan A!!!](*,)

I think this result means our season is probably over, the chances of us winning all 4 games (2 of which are away) are slim.

Why has Kay been dropped? It seems just a little bit stupid to break up one of the best defensive partnerships we've had in years (Goodison and Kay), and replace him with that useless lump in Chorley. He is not only no where near as good as Kay, he also has an adverse effect on the performances of the players around him. Goodison cleary lacks confidence and belief in his defensive partner and spends all his time looking over his shoulder checking on Chorley.

I think that might be one of the key factors that will stop us getting in the play offs.

 

[Ian]

I do think Ronnie has a set plan before the game. I mean, he must have some kind of plan before the game, how he wants his team to play, maybe taking advantage of their weak areas etc.. But it just seems like when things go wrong, unpredicted events during a game, the team doesn't seem to know how to cope.

I'm very frustrated with that result simple because it was winnable. Seriously, we looked the much better team before the sending off, and we outplayed Walsall. Walsall were all over the place..

There's been quite a few rumblings over the last few games with Chorley making his way back into the side, ahead of Kay. Don't understand it much myself. With a goalscoring defender sitting on the bench, and with us struggling at times for goals, it does make you wonder. Although I've thought Chorley's performances over the last few games have been pretty solid (erm, if we ignore the sending off on sat of course)..

I'd much rather see Kay in that position though.

 

[Boz]

I do think Ronnie has a set plan before the game. I mean, he must have some kind of plan before the game, how he wants his team to play, maybe taking advantage of their weak areas etc.. But it just seems like when things go wrong, unpredicted events during a game, the team doesn't seem to know how to cope.


There's been quite a few rumblings over the last few games with Chorley making his way back into the side, ahead of Kay. Don't understand it much myself. With a goalscoring defender sitting on the bench, and with us struggling at times for goals, it does make you wonder. Although I've thought Chorley's performances over the last few games have been pretty solid (erm, if we ignore the sending off on sat of course)..

I'd much rather see Kay in that position though.

Agree with you Ian that Ronnie doesn't seem capable of adapting his game plan when things go wrong, even if the tactics eg playing 1 up front at Southend can be innovative.

Have said previously that Kay's recent defensive form hasn't been good, responsible for the goal v Doncaster and giving away the (missed) penalty v Hartlepool, so while I think he's a better defender than Chorley, can follow the reasoning from Ronnie there. His goals are a bonus imo.

One thing that puzzled me on Saturday was the substitution of Jennings, but I wasn't there, so he may have been playing badly or picked up an injury? In the circumstances Rovers were in, surely it would have been better to remove McLaren, who is ponderous at the best of times, rather than Jennings who has a lot of stamina; important when you're chasing the game with a man down.

 

[Ian]

Jennings had a decent game, but he did play for most of it. Faded a bit in the second but I think that was more tactical. Think Ronnie just wanted fresh legs on, although Shuker was about as useful as a one-legged man at an arse kicking contest.