League Two AFC Wimbledon (4) v Rovers (1)

[Sparky]

That’s two away games under Adkins and 7 goals conceded. For all his positivity and talking a good game he needs to get us organised and difficult to beat especially when on our travels.

As RLC says we’ll always pick up points at home but the away form needs turning around asap. Is Nigel the answer? I’m not sure.

 

[Am on mobile]

Not if he keeps playing the same formation this week is crucial

 

[Ian]

When Adkins said post match that we haven't won away from home since February that really hits home how pathetic that is. Terrible..

 

[Sparky]

Jeez Nigel we’ve just lost 4-1 and he must mention several times how we played well for 20-25 minutes! Who cares?! It’s a 90 minute game!

Yes blah blah we’re all in this together but he’s got to sort the defensive shambles out before Tuesday or Cookie will have a field day

 

[Boz]

I was at the Huddersfield game today so haven't really caught up on how things unravelled. Was it the right call to stick with the same line-up as previously? It didn't read like Wimbledon were as physically big a team as Accrington, so perhaps play a genuine left-back like Wood in that position. Turnbull, even in his normal position, always has a rash challenge in him, today's means that we'll be missing him for 3 games.

To pick up on a couple of observations in the thread, while I have reservations about whether Dennis is fit enough to be our goalscoring saviour yet, if Adkins were to start him in a 442, who would be the strike partner, assuming Norris won't be back? Sam Taylor seems a bit jaded, can't see a Dennis Jolley combo working, so either Saunders or Jennings for me.

Haven't heard Adkins post-match yet, though from Sparky's remarks above can imagine... Realistically, can't see Nigel sorting out the defensive shambles quickly and Cookie inevitably scores against us, so the next few games may need to be as much about maximising our scoring potential.

 

[roverstillidie]

Really does feel like the Dawes experiment has done terminal damage.

Think we need quality and experienced, centre back, centre mid and a genuine pacey winger in Jan to have a chance of rescuing this. Suspect there’s a few bad eggs that need shipping out as well as team spirit appears non existent.

Adkins looks like he can see the writing on the wall for this season post match.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The lack of team spirit is a major concern to me, and reminiscent of 2014-15. We have a number of reasonable individuals, but we are powder-puff under any kind of pressure and show no resilience in situations like today's. I think the squad is too big and flabby, with too many players that are never involved on a match day and as a result have no real investment in what is happening on the pitch.

I don't think insufficient spending is the problem, more so poor decision making over a number of years that has resulted in an unbalanced squad, inadequate coaching staff and no coherent plan on or off the pitch.

 

[Ian]

There is a definate lack of leadership on the pitch. I think it may have been Tom Davies the other week pretty much admitted there have not been any natural leaders at Tranmere since Clarke left.

 

[Am on mobile]

If we go down this season and its not a big if. We won't come back up any time soon they have no money now and when they lose the football League backing this time around we will suffer big time

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

Really does feel like the Dawes experiment has done terminal damage.

Think we need quality and experienced, centre back, centre mid and a genuine pacey winger in Jan to have a chance of rescuing this. Suspect there’s a few bad eggs that need shipping out as well as team spirit appears non existent.

Adkins looks like he can see the writing on the wall for this season post match.

Id agree with most of what you say, but I believe it goes deeper than that!
Even before the mid teens nightmare of relegation, the club still had a core of Tranmere experience and ethos, which had to go through the despair of the club needing it's heart to pull together to be a nucleus in which the club could bounce back. Instil in the new players the Tranmere ethos and what the club was all about. This paid off in the next few seasons and the momentum with Mickey at the helm, put us back in the league.
However, the resilience shown was slowly being whittled away from the loss of academy then youth.
Covid, more instability, more loss of valuable experience and having a whole new playing squad and of course, new staff. The club has lost its soul and the heart of the ethos of what Tranmere stands for.
Supporters are unable to visualise the damage done, cos, we have some good players, but the leadership, the fight, the belief in the club isn't there!
Supporters can see when the players deserve to wear whatever badge they have on our shirts. Some deserve it, quite a few don't.
We are in trouble! We will go down unless there are two worse teams.
The owners thought they could bring new life into the club, but they opted for the cheap inexperienced options since covid, the need for more investment just to stay where we are. Despite the throng of support home and away, the supporters have put their money down and not getting what they paid for!
I believe that the goal now needs to be to battle to just stay out of the bottom two, sorting the defence, the amount of conceded goals is shameful, no two ways about it, it is pitiful defending and don't seem to learn! The sooner Norris is fit, to have a target man, but the biggest miss is a leader of the lads! We have to learn to be resilient and a system on the pitch that works!

The whole attitude, is lacking confidence and the momentum is on a slippery slope downwards, similar to the relegation in 16!
It gonna take something special, but can we afford not to?

Hate this back then, hate it now! The Decisions made, are the reasons why we find ourselves in this situation.

Gonna be a bit of a long suffering season!

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

KH, I take your point. A lot of what you say was out of our control, but I agree that the club has lost a lot of its soul.

However, the owners did make two big mistakes this year - sacking Micky and appointing Dawes. Both have been costly. We are now relying on their third big call, putting Nigel in charge, to finally save the day. I so hope he turns it round, but who can say?

Although it’s tempting to draw a parallel with 2014/15, we have a much better squad now (and a better one than the one that finished mid table last season). And a bit more time to turn things round.

 

[mellow submarine]

Was at the game , Tranmere were good for the first 15-20 mins. Wimbledon were efficient in taking their chances , they looked really good up top. After the sending off we were living on hope, when the third went in there was no way back. With 11 on the pitch we stood a chance against a good side. Crazy challenges and red cards make our slim chances non existent. We clearly have problems at the back , hopefully Lee returning can add a bit of steel to the side. Not sure how rookies Taylor and Jolley can be keeping a proven goalscorer like Dennis out of the side, but then again I don't what goes on a training.

 

[Boz]

Thanks for the report MS. Only seen the goals and sending-off on the brief Sky highlights, was Adkins right to say we had a good start to the second half too? I didn't think that the Adkins post-match interview was that bad, he recognised that there were defensive issues with all of the goals conceded and that we didn't take the other chances we had, after a well-worked opener. What really matters is not what is said in the post=match presser, but whether Nigel can turn things around on the pitch.

I agree with what KH has said about the club losing it's soul and his and other posters thoughts on the lack of leaders in the current squad.

BBTC, I'm still undecided about whether the decision to sack Micky last March was in itself a mistake. He had apparently indicated that he wouldn't be staying on when his contract expired and Rovers were already as good as safe from relegation and with only a slim chance of making the play-offs then, so can see the logic of seeing if the existing squad could do better. Mistakes were made by moving the goal-posts and adopting the development model with a manager in post, whose success had been with a different approach to team-building, while if MM knew how we were going to recruit this season might have changed his views about moving on. Totally agree that appointing Dawes on a permanent basis was a major mistake.

 

[Sparky]

I’ve always said at the time it felt the right time for Micky to leave. But looking back you realise how good a job he was doing with the squad available and in hindsight the grass isn’t always greener.

It’s a better squad now and we’re very poor. Micky just wouldn’t have let us get into the situation with such a lack of leaders and being a defensive joke.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We don't know that Mellon informed Palios he was not renewing his contract. That is pure rumour, put about by those who are not sympathetic to Mellon. Palios ultimately fired him, it was not a departure by mutual consent.

In any case, Mellon probably felt he had been backed into a corner when he was handed an inadequate, inexperienced 'development' squad, but with the expectation that he was going to challenge for promotion.

Both the sacking of Mellon and appointment of Dawes were appalling decisions. The former might be defensible if Palios had a plausible replacement, but he did not.

 

[Am on mobile]

Serious questions need to be asked what's mark up to he says he has the best intentions of the club but always ties the managers arms and legs they are always messing around its crazy and to always be getting the cheapest option is gonna kill the club they stared out with the best intentions but seem to be back to where they found the club in a god dam mess

 

[bigmart]

The issues stem from the top and show no sign of being sorted out anytime soon. A decision needs to be made soon over who the new manager is whether its a new manager in or Adkins to the end of the season, the longer a decision takes the more likely they outcome will end up with relegation

 

[overthewater]

It came home to me yesterday when a radio station referred to us as "managerless Tranmere". Because we do not apparently seem to be actively looking for a new manager, I had momentarily forgotten Adkins is only actually interim. The next two games are pivotal. Fail to win them and and it'll be clear that Adkins isn't the answer either. Surely things are going on behind the scenes to bring someone else in ??

 

[Boz]

To address a couple of the points raised recently above;;

I agree with Sparky that Micky wouldn't have tolerated the defensive shambles we've become. On the question of onfield leaders, last season Hemmings was captain which says it all; nice bloke but no motivational drive. Tom Davies then and now the best we've got. You could argue that with a strong vocal keeper in McGee and Connor Jennings for on field guidance and encouragement that we're slightly better in that regard this season.

Nobody knows for sure if Micky was prepared to stay on if offered the chance. I don't know any of the ITKs who've suggested not, but didn't get the impression they were all unsympathetic to Mellon. If it's accurate, then can see why Palios, in the context of fan rumblings about the style of play and concerns about season-ticket renewals, took the decision to see if a different manager could do any better. The strongest argument against sacking Micky in that context would be one of not the way to treat a club legend. If Micky was up for staying this season, which he might have been given the dampening down of the development model, then harder to agree with Mark's decision.

Bigmart's observation about the inertia at the top is very true. I suspect Palios' preference would be for Adkins to stick around for the rest of the season, think Nigel might be amenable to that, but there are apparently family pressures against it. I'm unsure that Adkins can drag us out of the mire and as Technical Director, he presumably had some involvement in recruiting the current squad, but not sure we'll be able to bring in anyone else as experienced. Think we need a definite answer from Nigel shortly and either confirmation he's staying or a recruitment process so that the new management team are in place by the end of this month.

 

[Ian]

Looking back at the highlights this morning, the defending for their goals is pretty poor. Why is our defence letting us down now when it's usually been quite solid in the past? Change of tactics, manager, confidence low?