http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/ Tranmere Rovers forums en Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:08:59 GMT vBulletin 60 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/ http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19212&goto=newpost Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:07:45 GMT Apologies if this is in the wrong section of the forum but I somehow found the Live Masters Football on Sky 1 and couldn't contain myself.

Low-and-behold the mighty Tranmere, wider, shorter, and older, have romped their way like spring bunnies into final against Birmingham. Irons, Brannan and Bishop are stoking the ball around the park like Brazil, and the commentators are using antiquated phrases such as:

"You can't give the ball away to a team like Tranmere."

and

"Tranmere just let you do all the running, and wear you down."

and

"Tranmere go 5-1 up."

It's bloody brilliant.

Anyway, if anyone wants a trip back to around 1991 and a welcome dose of Tranmere in the ascendant, tune in quick, we're about to humiliate Birmingham in the final. ]]> General Chat muhalo http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19212 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19211&goto=newpost Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:39:18 GMT In a recent post I stated (and I stand by it) that I had seen very little this season to encourage me that we had any chance to stay up this year.... In a recent post I stated (and I stand by it) that I had seen very little this season to encourage me that we had any chance to stay up this year. Well today changed that. I heard Les talking to Pat Nevin on Five Live on the way up to the game and talked about getting in young players that were 'hungry' for the game, and today was the first time I saw that.

Right from the first whistle there was a hunger, commitment, togetherness and willingness to fight for the cause that was just absent from the previous two home league games.

The new players made a difference. Mendy and Grandison are obviously big strong lads with a bit of presence, Blanchard had a great attitude getting stuck in at every opportunity. Fraughan - was that his first start in the league? had a good game and looked capable of creating chances. Up front McGurk made a solid start (looks far better than Terry Gornell already), and the whole atmosphere of the match was suddenly positive, credit to some great home support as well I thought. dare I say that we did not miss Mclaren in the slightest.

Darville, bar a couple of errors had his best game to date, Cresswell played well, Goodison as usual held it together. Enoch had a decent game as well - was a bit surprised to see him as captain though, but it seemed to rally him somewhat. Peterborough are a decent side, they had a few chance and I would be the first to admit we got them on a bit of an off day, but this could be crucial for Rovers as it will have done wonders for confidence.

Not perfect of course, I'm not suggesting we are getting promotion, but that sort of display makes me think that staying up is more than possible. I still have concerns over young Collister, just doesn't look quite ready to me, he didn't do too badly in terms of his handling and shot stopping today but is very nervous coming off his line, and it is a worry that Mendy and Grandison are on one month loan deals - we could do with keeping them for longer. For now though there are the first signs that this season may not be the nightmare it was looking like being.

Only signs though and more performances are needed like that. I'm happy for now, today couldn't have gone better, but we must not get carried away.

Oh, and some weird referring decisions as well. :? ]]> Post-match DIW http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19211 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19210&goto=newpost Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:00:24 GMT A lot of people on here are clinging to the fact that we have a big injury crisis and when the injured players return all will be well. Can I ask... A lot of people on here are clinging to the fact that we have a big injury crisis and when the injured players return all will be well.

Can I ask what injuries we had against Oldham and Bournmouth? Apart from Mahon, who hasnt played since joining us. And Ash who possibly might make a difference.

Injured players are as follows:

Neilson- Played once no better or worse than Collister.

Taylor- Big loss

Cathalina- Hasnt played at all so we have no idea how good he is.Cant miss what you havent had.

Broomes- The lad got serious stick last season and not sure how much better than Darville he actually is.

Mahon- Mahon will never be the player he once was he is far to injury prone and a shadow of his former self.

Ladabie- Hasnt turned up this season.

Mclaren- Fans celebrated in the streets when he went off the other night. Should be nowhere near the team.

Welsh- Probably miss him in midfield, although never to sure what he contributes.

ITM- Is he injured or sulking?


To be honest although we do undoubtably have injury problems we still have enough players to compete. However Les still deems it necessary to play players out of position and to play tactics that are ineffective and inflexible. Teams all over the country suffer injuries to key players however tactics are adjusted and refined to get the very best out of the players at their disposal. Unfortunately with us it will be 433 with players all over the pitch playing in positions that are foriegn to them. The midfield may as well not even be on the pitch as the ball bypasses them rather than passes through them maintaining possesion. We can make all the excuses we like about injuries however other teams seem to cope and still get results, why cant we? ]]> General Chat TheBunnyBellEnd http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19210 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19209&goto=newpost Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:39:35 GMT Feeling fairly fatalistic about this one. The Posh have a decent set of forwards, Mckail-Smith, Boyd etc and an experienced manager. Coupled with the... Feeling fairly fatalistic about this one. The Posh have a decent set of forwards, Mckail-Smith, Boyd etc and an experienced manager. Coupled with the injury crisis; Blanchard and ITM may be fit but the rest of the absentees remain crocked, it all adds up to a hammering. But last season we had a couple of good, unexpected wins against Southampton and Norwich, so maybe, just maybe.....?

I'd expect a continuation of the 4-4-2 experiment, given it did produce more attempts on goal. My preferred line-up would be something like;

Collister
Darville Grandison Goodison Cresswell
McGurk Blanchard Mendy Fraughan
ITM Showumni

Head says we'll lose about 1-4, heart hopes we might scrape a draw if the strikers are firing on all cylinders. Crowd probably about the same as Bournemouth 4.8k ]]> Pre-match Boz http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19209 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19206&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:29:28 GMT Another shoot out defeat after another dire display, playing 4-4-2 with 4 strikers will never work, if that's going to be our way of playing for the rest of the season, we may as well give up now.

The positive for me was the new centre back Grandison who played very well and was my man of the match. Showoddywoddy also continued his goal scoring streak with a good strike after the Accrington defender cocked it up some what, much like Blanchard and Collister did for their goal!

The penalties were predictable I suppose, Showoddywoddy's run up was all wrong when he blazed it over the bar, how we could have done with ITM (who was running down steps) playing rather than sulking. Collister couldn't do much about their penalites as they were all very well hit.

The start to this season has so far been worse than last seasons start. I do feel Les is getting for too much slack because he's our legendary physio. Unfortunately I don't believe this is going to work out and I can see us been well adrift by Christmas. I would not be surprised if he was gone by the Brighton home match. So far this season we have had two good performances - Walsall and Huddersfield and one gutsy performance - Swansea, the rest have been appaling (The 2-2 at D&R was by all accounts a fluke). Welsh is also out for Saturday it seems so our team is getting ever younger, which Parry is trying to portray as a positive. A side with no expierence lacks backbone and nous in certain situations which is been badly exposed.

We're in serious trouble if changes are not made soon. ]]> Post-match roverstillidie http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19206 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19205&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:49:18 GMT Apparently joined on loan from Coventry........19yr old. ... Apparently joined on loan from Coventry........19yr old.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/cov...2746-27171517/


Cant help thinking that this is yet another youngster when we seem to be crying out for a bit of experience. ]]> Players TheBunnyBellEnd http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19205 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19204&goto=newpost Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:26:08 GMT Will we finally see a home win at PP or will the Rovers fugitives Barnett, Parky and perhaps Gornell (good sense would suggest as we let him go for... Will we finally see a home win at PP or will the Rovers fugitives Barnett, Parky and perhaps Gornell (good sense would suggest as we let him go for free, a clause preventing him playing is apt) stick the knife in? From the highlights of their game v Newcastle coupled with their healthy position in L2, expect a tough game.

Rovers are going to be stretched in midfield if Labadie and McLaren's injuries are as bad as they sounded, time for a debut for Max Power or Gibbs? Otherwise expecting a fairly similar line-up to that which finished the Daggers game, though Brown will probably start again.

Prediction. 1-2, with at least one old boy getting on the score-sheet. Will be interesting to see if the attendance scrapes into four figures. ]]> Pre-match Boz http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19204 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19203&goto=newpost Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:07:49 GMT Did anyone go? Sounds like a hard earned point, have seen Cressa's point saving strike on youtube, a quality goal. Other talking points in the match were a Goodison elbow and the tackle which led to Joss being stretchered off both only attracting yellow cards.

Les seemed to think we were lucky to come away with a draw. We also seem to have suffered a number of injuries, with McLaren's groin strain and Nick Wood's ankle going alongside Joss looking bad after today. As for ITM's sore knee, the timing of that suggests teddy out of pram time, or am I being too cynical? ]]> Post-match Boz http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19203 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19202&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:43:57 GMT Sky sports reporting a fee has been agreed. While the Gornell-haters will be delighted, I have my doubts. John Coleman got the best out of him on... Sky sports reporting a fee has been agreed.

While the Gornell-haters will be delighted, I have my doubts. John Coleman got the best out of him on a loan period and he's not likely to play Terry right-midfield for Stanley. If we do sell, hopefully there will be a clause preventing him playing against us in the JPT.

Morrow may be coming in from Coleraine, but comments by Les on the official site suggest he's not fully fit. ]]> Players Boz http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19202 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19201&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:41:30 GMT I won't be going to this one, despite it being another ground to cross off the list. Cost and timing are my reason, the mates I normally stay with on London trips are away. Already this game has been highlighted by some on here as a six-pointer. While Rovers need to start picking up points, it's too early to pitch it as that crucial I feel. Despite our opponents being below us in the league, they've played a game less and will be no pushovers. Expecting the same starting XI as Tuesday.

Prediction. It feels like a draw. ]]> Pre-match Boz http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19201 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19200&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:33:54 GMT God damn, that was annoying. Rovers really shot themselves in the foot last night. They played a really good 1st half. Swansea probably pinched it in... God damn, that was annoying. Rovers really shot themselves in the foot last night. They played a really good 1st half. Swansea probably pinched it in terms of possession, but Rovers did well to close them down, restricting them to just a few half chances.

'The Show' scored a great goal and everyone was fairly happy at half time.

Then came the second half. Stupidly, we sat back on a 1-0 lead, invited Swansea onto us and got punished. Two goals in a minute, that was us done. :roll:

Scoreline was harsh on the lads, but they need to take some lessons from that second half, which completely wiped out all the hard work from the first 45.

Ahh well, there's still the FA Cup and Jonhstone's Paint Trophy! #-o ]]> Post-match Ian http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19200 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19199&goto=newpost Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:06:10 GMT After Saturday's debacle, some changes are required, but Les tends to be fairly cautious. Assuming Broomes isn't fit and we're still playing 4-3-3 I'd line up as follows;

Collister

Darville Cathalina/Bakayogo Goodison Cresswell

Labadie Blanchard Fraughan

Brown Gornell ITM/McGurk

Wood's self-confidence seems so low that it'll do him more harm than good to play. Both Tim and Zoum played central defence pre-season, not ideal, but Blanchard would be more use in midfield, allowing us to ditch both Welsh and McLaren. I would pick Ian, if he's still with us up front and give Gornell a chance at the central striker's role.

Prediction. It all depends on Swansea. They're a good footballing side and if they put out a full-strength team expect a mauling. If they've decided the Carling Cup isn't a priority and field a weakened XI, we may have a chance. Not expecting more than about 3k to turn up and watch. ]]> Pre-match Boz http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19199 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19198&goto=newpost Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:32:05 GMT After reading RTID's criticisms of Parry's 4-3-3 I thought I'd take a rare moment to go into a bit of detail about how the system is supposed to work and why I think it isn't.

Quick overview. The boundries between 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 are often blurred. Oftentimes, those teams who play with two converted wingers as 'outside fowards' tend to operate towards the former end of the spectrum, wheras others who play 3 traditional strikers (two 'inside fowards' and a striker, although these roles are almost always interchangable) tend to operate in a more traditional 4-3-3. An example of the converted 4-5-1 would be Chelsea's class of 04-06 in which featured Robben and Duff as outside forwards, supporting Drogba in the attacking phase and filling in as part of a 5 man midfield when defending. An example of the 4-3-3 would be Spain in 2006, who used Villa, Raul and Torres as a front three; key to this system was the attacking presence of Ramos and Pernia providing width from fullback positions (to compensate for the narrow banks of 3 in front of the defence).

Ronnie toyed with the converted 4-5-1 system in his last season at the club, with Shuker and ITM playing either side of Savage. Some good away results were ground out but the two widemen struggled with the quick shift between defensive and attacking phases, leaving Savage (who did a brilliant job, considering) very isolated. So why did we struggle? Posession changes hands much quicker in League One games than at higher levels because teams aren't as proficient at keeping the ball, so attacks tend to start and end quickly - we couldn't move fast enough from 4-5-1 to 4-3-3 when we were going forward, and this is the reason you rarely see teams with attacking aspirations adopt the formation at this level. Moore talked extensivley about his intentions for the system to represent a 4-5-1 in the defensive phase and a 4-3-3 in the attacking phase, but his failure to achieve this was not so much a case of any specific flaw in tactics or personell (as suggested by many at the time), but rather a failure to realise that the very nature of League 1 football isn't conducive to a system which uses converted wingers. 4-4-2 is preferred for practical reasons.

Parry's 4-3-3 last season lay somewhere between the two systems because of Curran's specialist role, but it worked pretty well compared to this seasons unabalanced line-up. ITM tended to play from the left with Savage/Sordell/Gornell through the middle, while on the right the underrated Curran worked tirelessly in a deeper roll between midfield and attack. Curran was criticised for his lack of goals but, for reasons already explained, it was always going to be very difficult for him to operate effectivley as both a covering midfielder and an attacking threat. Additionally, his positional awareness ensured we always had width down the right hand-side - when Logan was, for whatever reason, unable to break forward and provide natural width, Curran would sit quite tight to the touchline, running at players and looking to deliver balls into the box. Gornell hasn't shown any of the qualities previously provided by Curran and he isn't helped by the fact that Darville hasn't shown any inclination to get forward from right back, which is one of the key elements of an effective 4-3-3 formation. Last season Logan did a good job of this, as did Broomes on the occasions he filled in there. This year, our right hand side is not only devoid of skill and ability, but Gornell and especially Darville generally lack the characteristics to operate functionally in a 4-3-3. We miss Logan and Curran big time.

Another point I'd like to make is with regards to the midfield trio. IMO it's no coincidence that succesful teams who adopt some form of 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 designate clear roles to their three central midfielders. Referring back to Mourinho-era Chelsea and the Spanish side from Euro 06 as examples, we can see that both teams had a staggered midfield 3 - with Makelele behind Essien behind Lampard, and Senna behind Xavi behind Fabregas, respectivley. In either case, it was the job of one to break up the play, one to retain posession and one to be a creative, attacking threat. There are numerous other examples where these roles are clearly designated, and it results in something of a staggered central midfield as opposed to the lateral system employed by Parry in which Labadie, Mclaren and Welsh seem to be positionally interchangable with no clear individual roles. Mclaren and Welsh in particular tend to spend a lot of the game under each others feet and I think it might help them play to the best of their ability as individuals to limit them to specific roles rather than giving them a free reign to designate their own situational roles; Welsh behind Mclaren behind Labadie, for example (if we must persist with Mclaren, that is). It's more of a psychological change than tactical in many respects, but I think it's quite important and a very easy and subtle change to make.

Unlikely solutions to our problems could lie in a change to 4-4-2 (please!), or an attempt to sign an attack-minded right back. However an easy change for Parry to make would be to play ITM high and wide on the right to compensate for the lack of width provided by Darville, while giving Cressa free-reign to attack down the left to compensate for lack of width provided by Gornell on that side. But we can't carry on as we are.

Can provide diagrams to illustrate points if anyone's interested. ]]> General Chat SonkORLY? http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19198 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19197&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:51:24 GMT Very poor performance. I retain the view that Wood is a Sunday League defender, too lightweight for this level of football and made an absolute mess... Very poor performance. I retain the view that Wood is a Sunday League defender, too lightweight for this level of football and made an absolute mess of a relativley straightforward situation for their second goal. Fullbacks did a job, Cresswell was good first half anyway. Mclaren anonymous (shock), Welsh has come back from pre-season looking very unfit and lacking in general sharpness, Labadie's good but lost his discipline today - sort of can't blame him. Enoch tried but isn't very good, captain ITM didn't get a look in before strangely being subbed by Parry. Stormed down the tunnel and suspect that may be the last we see of him - can't blame him for leaving 'cause we really are ****, aren't we. Did Terry Gornell touch the ball? Think I vaugley remember him running into brick walls a few times but I'm not too sure 'cause I spent most of the game with my head in my hands. If my hair was long enough to be ripped out, I would be bald.

Second half substitutes played well but I had no idea where anybody was meant to be playing and the shape of the team was an absolute embarassing mess.

1 point from 3 games, two at home, both winnable on paper. Not looking good. ]]> Post-match SonkORLY? http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19197 http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19196&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:25:14 GMT An interesting article from the Daily Post - but not yet on the club website.... An interesting article from the Daily Post - but not yet on the club website.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/...2534-27092274/
We have a new coach on board, the latest arrival in a summer of ins and outs. I am surprised but delighted that we now have TWO coaches for the first team.

Where is all the money coming from? :smile: ]]> General Chat bring back the cowshed! http://whitereview.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19196