Yeovil 1-0 Tranmere

[Ian]

Sounded like a scrappy game. Thought we had a few chances first half especially late on but the second half sounded like a non-event.

Lads really need to push on otherwise we'll be pushed out of the top six.

Still 30pts to play for.

 

[bigmart]

Sadly we will not make the play offs, too many injuries have taken their toll.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Ronnie "It was a scrappy game. We didn't have the fighting spirit we've had all season. We've got to get it back."

That's a really disappointment statement. 11 games to go, the players should be fighting like hungry hyenas.

Sounded like when Big Mama went, so did our chances.

We need to turn it around again quickly or the season is going to fizzle out.

 

[DIW]

Sadly we will not make the play offs, too many injuries have taken their toll.

I think that's being very pessimistic. I think there's not chance of automatic promotion but it is all still very tight and we have a good chance of playoffs. Other teams are dropping points too.

 

[Ian]

They are desperate for quality in there. Big Mama was clearly not right, but they took a chance.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A very tight game which we should have taken a point from. In open play there was very little between the sides, both teams having only a couple of clear chances, but frustratingly a goal conceded from a set play has cost us yet again. Given the position the free kick was scored from I think either a) the wall was not set up properly or b) Fonners positioning was wrong, or both; but perhaps I am being harsh and the rplay will show it was a quality finish. Either way, if we can't defend set plays we must stop giving away stupid free kicks on the edge of our own fr***ing box.

We were not remotely outplayed today, but the big disappointment was our reaction to conceding the goal, or rather our failure to react. TT64 is spot on with his comment above. After going behind we huffed and puffed for 30 minutes without showing any spark and creating next to nothing; I think this was largely down to the absence of Sidibe and because the two wide men were creating very little (ABB had a really poor game), but heads seemed to go down which is a worry. I don't think Yeovil did enough to deserve three points (although they actually looked the more dangerous side in the closing stages, hitting the crossbar), but we had plenty of time to salvage something from the game yet never looked like equalising.

Men of the match were Ash, Goody and Max, who was outstanding again. Corry improved as the game went on, but the pace of our play was too slow in the second half, Stockton made little impression, we did not threaten out wide.....

It looks like its play offs or bust now, which takes some getting used to after the season we have had. Mart's assertion that we will inevitably finish outside the top six is way over the top though.

 

[Ian]

We need to start winning games at home if we have any chance of staying in the top six. Current form is dreadful. We've only picked up 12 points since Jan, out of a possible 33. With 30pts still to play for, Sat game against Oldham has to be won.

Sad that we are know 5 points adrift from Donny.
I'm getting bad vibes.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Sad that we are know 5 points adrift from Donny.
I'm getting bad vibes.

That will be 8 points if they win their game in hand on Tuesday. Sheff Utd have a game in hand, Brentford are also above us with two games in hand..... Our automatic promotion chances seem to have vanished in the blink of an eye.

Play offs would still be a great achievement, it just does not feel like it at the moment.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Sadly we will not make the play offs, too many injuries have taken their toll.

Yeah. We're 6th in the league. Good time to categorically point out that we won't make the playoffs. Were you even there today?

 

[bigmart]

Sonkorly, i didnt go to the game but ive been to every home game this season. We havent kept a clean sheet in ages and by and large are not scoring enough goals. IMO we will not make the play offs its not being pessimistic its been realistic with the players we have now

 

[Tartantranmere64]

If we carry on in the final 10 games the way we have in the last 10, statistics tell you we won't make the play-offs.

We've accrued 10 points from the last 10 games. Same again will give us 70 points by the end of the season.

The average points tally for teams finishing sixth in League One since its inception in 2004-5 is 74.1 points with a lowest of 71 (three times) and a highest of 80 points.

So, unless we can show an improvement in form, we will probably miss out.

I didn't bother checking the stats for automatic promotion because I think we're out of the running for that now.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Reflecting on yesterday's game and a lot of recent matches, in spite of the much publicised injury and suspension problems, I think we have not helped ourselves with our team selections. Individually, the team we had out yesterday was strong enough to take something from the game. However, I think our biggest problem in recent weeks has been a lack of continuity, with a constantly changing line up.

In this regard, I think Ronnie made a mistake in dropping Holmes for three games and I think Palmer should have started yesterday. We should be aiming to field a side as close as possible to the successful one from the start of the season, not reacting to short-term fluctuations in form when we have so many enforced changes elsewhere.

Palmer is exactly the kind of Steady Eddie player we needed in a scrappy game like yesterday's. Corry did better than in recent matches, but not well enough, and given the importance of the game I think we needed solidity in midfield, not another kid learning on the job (the pitch was atrocious and completely unsuited to his passing game anyway).

 

[bigmart]

RLC, Holmes was not dropped he was injured during the Shrewsbury game and missed the next game because i think of concussion. I would agree Palmer should have started yesterday.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

RLC, Holmes was not dropped he was injured during the Shrewsbury game and missed the next game because i think of concussion.

He was available for both the Colchester and Notts County games but was left out by RM.

 

[Boz]

There is nothing certain in football, but our recent form, coupled with the rise of sides like Yeovil along with the likes of Walsall, Notts County who are currently below us raises legitimate doubts as to whether we'll make the play-offs. The stats TT64 publishes show that we'll certainly need to up our game to do so.

The point that RLC makes about team selection is an interesting one, but continuity is not always a good thing when a side is in difficulties and can lead to complacency, if a player perceives that regardless of how badly they play, a starting berth is more or less a given. Where Ronnie is open to criticism is the choices which he has or hasn't made.

On Holmes v Kay, the latter did ok when replacing the concussed Danny and did nothing wrong in the Notts County game, so I can't see anything wrong with him remaining in the starting line-up. I presumed his absence yesterday was down to injury/illness as he wasn't on the bench?* Given DH gave away the free-kick that led to the Yeovil winner; it can't have been seen as a triumphant return for the lad from the Woody.

Corry by contrast looked out of his depth v Notts, so in a game where Rovers were inevitably going to be under the cosh for significant periods, I was very surprised at the decision not to start with Palmer, given what he's done in the midfield battling role.

Other areas where I would say continuity has worked against us is RM persisting with Daniels for far too long and the reluctance to give Thompson a go out wide from the bench, preferring Amoo who hasn't delivered in any position so far.

*I read on another site that Kay was neither injured/ill. If so, that makes Ronnie's decision puzzling.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think we are agreeing that Ronnie's decision making has not been as good in the second half of the season as it was in the first ?

Another example might be the failure to bring ABB (who played a key role in our unbeaten start to the season) back into the side sooner, with RM generally preferring Amoo out wide. As a result of injuries Baggie is now back in the team, but appears to be lacking confidence, probably not helped by seemingly having more pressure placed on him to perform than more mediocre players like O'Halloran, Amoo etc.

 

[SonkORLY?]

His decision making at the start of the season was very easy.

We performed well for some time without Wallace, Gibson and JLAA, even when Cassidy stopped scoring. Our current form has been poor but the players we currently have at our disposal can do a lot better and we shouldn't excuse that by endlessly going on about injuries and the like.

Holmes is infinitely better than Kay and should play whenever available. Palmer should play whenever available. I agree that ABB should always play over O'Halla or Amoo but nobody was really kicking up much of a fuss at the time. Then again, both have made some vital contributions and ABB's form has been patchy on return. It's easy to criticise team selections with hindsight because there's a tendency to over-exaggerate the extent to which things might have been different. Ultimately Ronnie sees everyone in training every day and knows how fit, healthy, hard-working and on-form they are so you just have to trust his judgement based on the fact he's got us into this position in the first place.

 

[Boz]

Holmes is infinitely better than Kay and should play whenever available.

Really? On what I've seen of the pair this season, there isn't a vast gulf between them. Danny marginally edges it on effort imo.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think Holmes is by far the better player. His distribution is better, he generally has more of an understanding with the winger playing ahead of him and he is more willing to overlap. Better defensively as well, although Kay has done ok in this regard in the games he has played.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Really? On what I've seen of the pair this season, there isn't a vast gulf between them. Danny marginally edges it on effort imo.

Kay has only played at PP twice this season, so unless you've followed us away on cup ties last year, or away league games very recently, I dunno if you can really justify comparing the two in those terms.

I'm mostly basing my judgement on the fact that he looked like the standout weak link in our defence during his initial loan spell, in a team which featured a great number of players worse than those who are currently at our disposal.