Owls 4 Rovers 0

[Rockford's Love Child]

A dreadful performance considering the importance of the game and Wednesday's recent form. We actually started the game quite brightly and positively tonight, and looked like we were actually playing for the win, but the defending in the first half was truly diabolical, particularly for the second and third goals (Cresswell losing possession 40 yards from goal and gifting the ball to Madine; stupid challenge by Kay to give away the penalty).

In the second half we improved a bit and probably deserved a goal back, but we really are looking like relegation fodder now: can't create much or score at all, and now starting to concede as well (we need Goodison back).

The only positive to come from the night was McGurk's performance, and surely at home to Daggers and Notts Les must at least consider giving Enoch some help up front ? He may actually have no choice now, as Jennings went off in the first half and is clearly nowhere near fit.

With our most creative players out injured, and a team lacking confidence which looks dodgy at both ends of the pitch, I am really concerned. Virtually every season one team slides form half way into the trap door, and after 1 win from 11, at the moment we are that team.

 

[Sparky]

Thanks for the report RLC.

A defeat wasnt a surprise but 0-4 is hard to take. Although Daggers & Notts lost, it is the poor run we are on that is worrying and obvious lack of confidence.

Les clearly has to change things but we all know his hands are tied. We need Robbo back as I still think we cant rely on Dale to save us, plus we need Goodi who will be back.

McGurk, especially at home, needs a run in the side as we clearly arent scoring enough.

Not time to panic yet (a la Notts C and Bristol Rvrs sacking their managers recently) but worrying times ahead.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

A hugely disappointing defeat but now and then you get these scorelines on the road, especially if you are struggling. Supporters have been calling for Les to adopt a more positive approach to games and in the last couple he's switched to a 4-4-1-1 and we've lost 0-2 and 0-4.

We just have to man-up about our situation. Ultimately it's the manager who carries the can, but I think the players need to show a lot more. Sure, confidence is low, but we have to start scrapping, battling and closing down more. I called for this exactly one year ago and got a right slagging in this forum. But it worked and we stayed up. I didn't think we'd need to do it 12 months later, but we do. We don't want to get relegated. No, we really don't. We're not going to sack the manager now so it's up to the players and the fans to get stuck in and save us from the drop. When the season's over, then the recriminations can start. It's no good running around like a bunch of big girls' blouses - it's time to roll the sleeves up and get stuck in.

I actually think Saturday represents a good opportunity for a surprise result as Bournemouth are in freefall as much as we are.

Then come the big ones, the games which may well decide our fate.

 

[Rob]

The players need to take responsibility for what was by all accounts another atrocious performance.

Ladabie/Welsh need to take some responsibility and learn to play a game without picking up needless bookings. These ridiculous bookings the two of them are picking up are going to leave us at this rate with no centre midfield which will just lead to us getting thumped even more in the coming games.

Finally Parry just needs to do us all a favour and get out. He contributes less to the team than any of the players.

 

[Sparky]

I dont think Les is doing a particularly great job but dont see how bringing someone else in now would help.

Welsh now misses the next 2 games - that means him and Joss have got about 22 bookings between them this season - this is ridiculous and Les needs to reign them in. Goodi has 10 so at this rate, the club will get fined by the league

We seem to be hitting our worst run of form at the worst possible time, and the fans are turning:

With the Wirral visitors trailing 3-0, teenager Jennings was withdrawn in the 38th minute and replaced by Adam McGurk – a purely tactical switch which drew chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ from the travelling Tranmere supporters. The 18-year-old angrily stormed down the tunnel.
But Parry insisted the decision was in the best interests of the highly-rated Jennings.
Parry said: “Dale’s was a tactical change. We brought Dale back three games ago and he hasn’t really produced anything for us, but we’ve stuck with him.
“Today he was struggling again. The ball wasn’t sticking.

 

[roverstillidie]

If this run of results had being under Barnes their would be riot, Parry needs to go - the team lacks any kind of organisation or belief. The first goal typified the problem with having as someone as clueless as Parry as your manager - why send almost the entire team up for a set piece in the first 10 minutes? When Sheffield Wednesday then hit Rovers on the break, Creswell (who was absolutely appaling last night) didn't push the winger wide to give the team chance to get back and they scored.

The 2nd goal was Creswell refusing to use his right foot, any professional footballer should be capable of at least hoofing it clear on his wrong foot. The third goal was a dive by Mellor, but the fact we were sitting so deep allowed them the chance of the penalty in the first place. As for the fourth goal, I thnk Warner's frustration just got the better of him.

The back four clearly missed Goodison yesterday, anyone who thinks we can do without Goodison these days needs to watch that "performance" yesterday. I lost count of the number of times players left it for each other or both went for the same ball. McCrystal and Taylor seemed particularly vulnerable to straight balls in between them - there was no communication or leadership. On the subject of Taylor, he was dire yesterday, incapable of making the most basic challange or holding his position - what must Blanchard do to get a game?

The only positive to come out of the game yesterday was McGurk, who almost scored and gave their centre back a hard time, he also seems to be capable of trapping the ball under pressure - perhaps that why he's not in the team?

I think if we don't get rid of Parry we're going down, we've got a decent set of players but Parry can't organise them. The "style" of football is also the worst I've ever seen, we'd be lucky to get even half the number of season ticket sales if we carry on playing like this - the style of play is a result of Parry - not a low budget or any of the other cliche excuses that keep being put out to defend Mr Spongeman.

If we beat Notts County and D&R it's going to be curtains I'm afraid. We need at least 9 points out a possbile 18, having gained 6 points from a possible 33, something needs to change and fast.

 

[OneNightInGayParis]

I was (un)lucky enough to make the game last night, although the vantage point provided was pretty poor (only the lower part of the West Stand was opened) meaning it was difficult to see much more than the final third of the pitch. The stewards were complete jobsworths trying to keep everybody sardined together to make their lives easier – seeing children being threatened with ejection for leaning back on their seats was just too much! Pity since Hillsborough is such a fantastic old stadium.

Anyway, onto the more positive stuff – oh, there wasn’t any …

We were completely blown away by Wednesday in the first half; they did everything we should be doing but don’t. They played simple passes at a reasonable pace that meant the recipient had a yard or two of space, they looked like they wanted it, they were confident and they were well-structured. We had a great start; all pressure for the first few minutes until Wednesday scored a classy breakaway goal, after that it was all downhill. Our distribution was poor and too slow; the major culprits were the full backs and Kay, in particular had a poor game. The central defenders looked slow and nervous – even without Goodison coming back, Ash Taylor does not warrant a starting berth he seems so short of confidence and half the player he was last season. Another daft yellow for Labadie leaves him one short of a 3 match ban, while Welsh is now out for 2 games at a really critical time. Weir had a very poor game.

McGurk put himself into some useful positions; his instincts are good but the finish isn’t there. Enoch gave his all, as always, but wasn’t given any space at all to make an impact. Likewise, Zoum found little room due to poor movement and ponderous passing. The spark of an on-form Jennings, a Robinson or a Lateef is desperately missing – at present we have no individual skill in the team to worry the opposition. How long before Alan Mahon (or Ryan Fraughan) is given a game, at least he plays proper football? Perhaps he is just being kept on the bench for morale purposes?

If we don’t take 4 points from the Dagenham and Notts County games I think we will be odds-on to go down. The worst thing is that if we play with the team put out last night and the same attitude we won’t win either of them.

 

[roverstillidie]

“Today he was struggling again. The ball wasn’t sticking.

How's the ball meant to stick when you're playing it to him 50 yards up in the air? Get real Parry. We could have Pele, Maradona and Best upfront for Rovers and they still wouldn't score due to the way we "pass" the ball.

 

[OneNightInGayParis]

Had to smile last night when somebody made a comment of Enoch along the lines of "he's crap in the air why can't he jump". Apart from the fact he did try to throw himself up in the air a few times, the answer is that he wouldn't be playing for us - he would be in the Premier League!

as a target man (and he's more than that) Enoch's strength is in the size of his body not his ability in the air. if we're going to throw balls at him at least do it torso down where he can use his long limbs to control it, not the top of his head where even if he wins it he will be flicking it into no-man's land.

 

[Sparky]

I think we have to stick with Les as who else is there ? Ronnie ? Ince ?

Lets hope he changes his ways.

I keep wondering whether we are overeacting to one bad game but its the culmination of the performances aganist the likes of Yeovil & Bristol Rovers that make things worse.

Like someone has said, God knows what season tickets sales will be like.

 

[bigmart]

1 win in 11 with some dire performances says we are not overeacting to one bad game.

I personally wouldnt mind somebody like Jimmy Harvey taking over, at least we may get the ball down on the floor and pass it around.

 

[SonkORLY?]

With the Wirral visitors trailing 3-0, teenager Jennings was withdrawn in the 38th minute and replaced by Adam McGurk – a purely tactical switch which drew chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ from the travelling Tranmere supporters. The 18-year-old angrily stormed down the tunnel.
But Parry insisted the decision was in the best interests of the highly-rated Jennings.
Parry said: “Dale’s was a tactical change. We brought Dale back three games ago and he hasn’t really produced anything for us, but we’ve stuck with him.
“Today he was struggling again. The ball wasn’t sticking.

This isn't neccesserily true. Les said Jenno needed a rest, his withdrawal was probably an admission that he shouldn't have started in the first place. You're definitely dramatising it.

I've said all along that I'll mainly judge Parry on his record. He came in and kept us up last season, and as things stand we're clear of the bottom four.

We all called for the 4-3-3 to be scrapped for something more positive and he changed it. We've lost two games that we were favourites to lose anyway. Blah blah Jimmy Harvey. Idolising past players gets you nowhere. Yeah he led semi-professional Forst Green to 8th in the Conference a few years ago. Amazing.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I would like a change to be made in the summer, regardless of how the next 8 games pan out, but I would agree that sacking Les now would be counter-productive. Getting rid of him at this late stage would probably just cause even greater panic at the club and seal our fate. I think we have to stick together for the next month and try and crawl over the finishing line.

As has been commented, if we do go down the damage was done with our failure to beat Brentford / Hartlepool / Orient / Walsall / Yeovil / Bristol at home, not by losing to Huddersfield, or even last night. You can't keep failing to pick up victories against bottom half sides and hope for miracle performances against Huddersfield and Wednesday away to keep you up.

Regarding the Jennings substitution, I think the change was sensible as we had to put two strikers on to try and salvage something from the game, and he clearly was struggling, whether due to lack of fitness or confidence or both. Labadie's booking was infuriating and typical; tripping the Wednesday player as he walked away from the tackle.

 

[Boz]

Jennings clearly isn't fully fit, so it didn't seem wise to start him. Taking him off in the 36th minute when there wasn't an obvious injury doesn't seem like the best man-management, why not leave it until half-time?

RTID, Goodison isn't the icon he was, though still our best defender. I'd have preferred Max, even Nick Wood alongside McChrystal in his absence.

Given our current appalling form and Les not showing any ability to turn our fortunes around, my inclination is that replacing Les may just kickstart the side. A new manager often starts with a good game or two, as players try to impress and a couple of wins would probably see us safe. However, I can't think of any obvious candidates.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Given our current appalling form and Les not showing any ability to turn our fortunes around, my inclination is that replacing Les may just kickstart the side.

One option would be to stick an experienced player in charge for the remaining games as Bristol Rovers have done, to get the reaction you describe, but that would be a major gamble. It is obvious given how long it took to replace Barnes that we could not get a decent, long term repacement in situ before the end of the season.

 

[Boz]

Yes, the problem with the Bristol Rovers model is we don't really have a player with the leadership credentials to try it. Mahon or Goodison at a push. No experienced manager was willing to come when Barnes got the chop, suspect that was a funding issue. Yet if we carry on as we are, relegation is a certainty, as teams around us play each other and some are bound to get points

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

If and when Les goes (and I still believe it is a big if, as Johnson will be loathe to make a change), the next appointment has to be the right man and shouldn't be rushed. There are a number of unemployed managers with decent credentials at our level out there, but whether Johnson could entice any of them remains to be seen, and there is always a danger of ending up with someone of the Barnes / Mark Wright calibre.

 

[Tartantranmere64]

Yes, the problem with the Bristol Rovers model is we don't really have a player with the leadership credentials to try it. Mahon or Goodison at a push.

Have you ever met Ian Goodison? He never speaks. Not a word. He's like a trappist monk! I'd love to hear his team, er.. talk!!!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

This isn't neccesserily true. Les said Jenno needed a rest, his withdrawal was probably an admission that he shouldn't have started in the first place. You're definitely dramatising it.

In defence of Sparky, I think the quote was taken from the Echo report of the game, rather than being his own creation.

 

[SonkORLY?]

Jennings clearly isn't fully fit, so it didn't seem wise to start him. Taking him off in the 36th minute when there wasn't an obvious injury doesn't seem like the best man-management, why not leave it until half-time?

Why wait? If a change needs to be made, at 3-0 down, you can't write-off 9 minutes.

RTID, Goodison isn't the icon he was, though still our best defender. I'd have preferred Max, even Nick Wood alongside McChrystal in his absence.

Taylor is a far better center-half than either of those and played very well against Huddersfield, as did the whole back 4. Makes un-enforced changes would have been a bizarre move.

Anyway we're obsessing over individuals but the team as a whole played appallingly and they need to take the blame for that.

I'm not a huge Parry fan (who is?) but if he keeps us up this season then fair play to him for doing so on a shoestring budget. Sacking him would be harsh. If we stay up, and continue with the 4-4-2 at PP, I'd be happy for him to stay. Sacking him now wouldn't be good as we'd rush into making a replacement. IMO Those suggesting he should be sacked should suggest a realistic alternative to seeing out the end of the season with him at the helm.

Not convinced by Jim Harvey - average semi-pro manager. Even less convinced by giving the job to Mahon or Goodison.