• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

Rovers v Dagenham and Redbridge

Boz

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I'm working this Saturday, so will miss this one. Can we bring our 3 game losing run to an end and possibly even beat one of our relegation rivals?

Dagenham have been on a decent run recently. Veteran Jamie Cureton leads the line for them, while Shamir Fenelon is on a month's loan there. Having spent time with Rovers earlier, he'll have an idea of our weaknesses at the back and it wouldn't be a surprise if he's on the scoresheet. They're also more savvy about what it takes to get out of a L2 relegation battle than Rovers. It will be tough.

Injury absentees JMW, Taylor and Rory Donnelly are in with a chance of making the game, if all are available it will give the manager a selection dilemna. I would bring Rory back if fit and probably Taylor. However, there is a need for stability, so too many changes would not be good. Dugdale does not merit a start, after being consistently poor on his return and it is hard to fathom why he repeatedly gets the nod over the steadier Thompson. If everybody's fit at least Adams won't have to put Koumas on the bench...

Prediction: Poor away following and home turnout will be depressed, so about 4.5k. Rovers are capable of winning this one, but a draw the most likely outcome.
 
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As Boz comments above, Dagenham have plenty of experience of League Two relegation battles and it is noticeable that their form has picked up just as the going has got tough. They are just the kind of team we have struggled against in recent months - direct and uncompromising - so something has to give if we are to pick up a vital three points.

My preference would be to start JMW, Donnelly and Taylor, but as has been commented that might be too disruptive. Whatever changes are made, surely Donnelly can't be stuck out on the left wing again ? After one solid performance at Exeter, Dugdale has been poor, but in fairness to Adams I think Thompson was simply bneing protected because of his head injury on Tuesday night. I would like to see Ihiekwe and Josh as the centre back pairing.

I would still maintain that if we lose this game, we will find it very difficult to survive. One of the most important matches in our recent history (as are the eleven that follow).
 

frenchrover

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As has been said above, this is going to be a tough game and a real must win. I think I'd go 4-4-2 with the back four being Holmes, Thompson, Ihiekwe and Taylor, with the Donnelly and Hugill upfront for some pace. However, for me the key to this game will be the midfield where we really must make it difficult for Dagenham, and whilst it's not easy deciding which 4 I'd go for, I think I'd go at Dagenham from the start with Laird, Jennings, Koumas and Myre-Williams. But I've no doubt Micky will include Power again. On my bench Ramsbottom, Dugdale, Ridhalgh, Molyneux, Power, Odejayi, Hume.
And I'd settle for a ........2-1 win for Rovers.
 

Sparky

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Who knows what team Micky will pick but in my view Donnelly must be played up top alongside Odejayi or Hugill. The crowd must stick with rovers if things don't start well.

I would start with all the injured players if available. It could disrupt things but we need quality out there as well as fighting spirit.

Its going to be a nervy 90 minutes I suspect. I'm going for a 1-0 win for us.
 

Ian

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Who knows what team Micky will pick but in my view Donnelly must be played up top alongside Odejayi or Hugill. The crowd must stick with rovers if things don't start well.

I would start with all the injured players if available. It could disrupt things but we need quality out there as well as fighting spirit.
I agree. I'd go with Donnelly up front with Odejayi and put the missing players back in. We need that extra spark which was missing on Tues.

Like RLC says, massive game this one and although difficult at times if were being served dross, we must stick behind the lads and get them going. We're all going to suffer if we don't! Another tough game as they all are now, but we need to be positive and get at them. 100% work rate, nothing else will do. Not thinking about anything other than a win. 2-0.
 
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This is a difficult one to call. My heart says one result but my head says another. You'd think by now that Micky would know his best formation and team, but I'm not sure he does yet. I know we've had lots of new players and injuries, but he's got to get a settled team soon. There are too many strangers and half fit players at the moment. It should get better over the next few matches, assuming morale holds up.
 

Sparky

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Well that was awful wasn't it. Don't know where to start really.

Didn't agree with the team or tactics. 1st goal was just a basic punt over the top. 3rd goal came from a gifted pass from our defence. Rovers who played well for about 20 mins overall deserved to lose IMO. Too little too late in the end.

I have lost all faith in micky. He is picking the wrong side and system.

How can we stop the rot?? Sack micky? Who else would come in?

I'm at a loss and will say no more until I've calmed down.
 
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Another unacceptable performance. Defensively we were shambolic and the almost comical goals we gave away left us with little chance of taking anything from the game. After a reasonable first half performance, we capitulated after Dagenham scored their second, with the team displaying the lack of character and professionalism that has been all too evident in recent weeks. Obviously, the injury to Thompson did not help us, but once again there were some bizarre selections from Adams which did not help matters. Holmes should not have been dropped, Ihiekwe should have started ahead of Dugdale, and when Thompson went off injured he should have been replaced by Iheikwe, instaed of which a right back (Donacien) was shunted to centre half alongside Dugdale. The pair of them have never played together before and it was no wonder we are all at sea for the majority of the second period.

In the first half we had played some decent football and Koumas had been the best player on the pitch. However, even prior to half time there was a lack of spirit and urgency among the players given the importance of the game. We only really started to commit bodies forward at 3-1. with the game effectively lost. There are too many bottlers in that team that don't care about the clubs future, and they are not being helped by the lack of direction from the manager.

Due to other results largely going our way we are not dead yet, but we are playing without spirit and conceding shedloads of goals, and it is difficult to see where we go from here, other than down.
 

Ian

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Agree with the above. At this rate we are going down. Something needs to change and fast. Another pretty spineless performance considering the situation and i wish Micky would stop messing around with the team. Why drop Danny Holmes one of our most consistent performers?

We've pretty much exhausted the loan options and what we've got now we are stuck with. They are going to have to get us out of this mess but do they have the fight in them. Sadly i think not.
 

Boz

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Glad I was working. It's looking grim. Couldn't understand why Holmes and Laird were dropped, two of the better players in the Wycombe game, whereas Dugdale picked again. Adams doesn't seem to have a clue and I can't see us getting more than a point from our next three; trips to Northampton and Cambridge and home to Burton. It doesn't matter how badly our fellow strugglers perform if we don't pick up points.
 

bigmart

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We are an absolute shambles, yet another loan signing in making it 6 in total, more changes to the team.

First goal long ball over the top our centre halves outpaced by 39 year old striker, 2nd goal was a corker the 3rd poor defending and awful clearance from Donnelly.

We are destined for relegation with Adams in charge he really is clueless and has to go
 

frenchrover

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Well it's difficult to know where to start, defensively we were shocking. Their first goal was totally incredible..a long punt upfield between our 2 static central defenders leaving Cureton with a fairly simple lob over Fon Williams. Until then we hadn't really been troubled and Koumas was spraying some great long balls to both wings and we looked more likely to open the scoring but once Koumas left the field, with what looked like a hamstring problem, we looked totally at sea. Gardner's equaliser (almost immediately after coming on for the injured Koumas) was a very well taken goal and he remained the only player to come out of the game with any credibilty. At 1-1 I thought we would come out and press them and force a gritty win. How wrong could I be? An immediate change after the break saw Thompson being replaced by Holmes. I do not think Thompson was injured but rather was unfairly blamed by Micky for the Cureton goal - for me the blamed rested equally between him and Dugdale . As a result Donacien moved from right back to central defence with Holmes slotting back into his normal position. Clearly Micky was worried about how easily Cureton had outstripped our central defenders for his goal and was looking to add some pace in the defensive middle by moving Donacien there but if a change needed to be made to the central defence I believe it should have been Dugdale who was replaced. Regretably, their second goal came as a result of Holmes, who has been one of our more reliable players, being turned by their winger who then slotted home a really good goal. As Bigmart says above, their third was a result of shambolic defending. Dugdale, who was indescribly poor throughout, scuffed an attempted clearance which failed to clear our goal area and this caused total panic in our defence resulting in the ball finding it's way into our net.
3-1 down, and after gifting Cureton another simple chance to make it 4-1 which he failed to take, we decided to press them and despite some valiant efforts from Holmes and Gardner who caused their defence some problems we were only able to snatch a late, far too late, goal from the otherwise lack lustre Power.
It's difficult to know where we go from here to save our season. Of our remaing 11 games, 6 are against teams playing for play-off places.
Too many changes to personnel and reliance on loan players, who will return to the parent clubs at the end of the season and who have no real affinity with Tranmere, have cost us dear. A settled side might have allowed for some team spirit to develop but the constant chopping and changing has left everyone totally uncertain of their roles in the side and has resulted in some of the shambolic displays we have been subject to of late.
 
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I do not think Thompson was injured but rather was unfairly blamed by Micky for the Cureton goal - for me the blamed rested equally between him and Dugdale .

I actually thought Dugdale was chiefly responsible for the first goal, as he was closest to the through ball but failed to deal with it. He was woeful again today, and I find the decision to replace Thompson incredible given that he has been the lynchpin of the back four in recent weeks.
 

Boz

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While Ihiekwe wasn't even on the bench today, not injured either. But then he was brought to the club by the useless Rob Edwards rather than the fire-fighting wonder that is Micky Adams.
 
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There is a lot of talk on other Rovers sites of whether we should get rid of Adams in a last ditch attempt stay up. While any such move carries huge risk, I honestly can't see us surviving as things stand. If nothing else, a caretaker manager might get eleven of these players fighting for the cause, which they are certainly not doing at the moment.
 

Ian

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I really don't remember Dugdale being this bad. I was really pleased when we signed him. For all the chopping and changing Micky has been doing it's still up to the XI on the pitch to come up with the goods. Every week we here the same speech: 'The lads have been working hard on the training ground' , 'game is in the past, we're looking to put it right for the next game'.

11 games to go. The last 11 games have yielded 11 points. We need to be averaging 2pts per game.

Say hello to the Vanarama.
 

Boz

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I would get rid of Adams. He did a passable job with the allegedly poor squad he inherited, but since he was allowed to deal in the transfer window, he's been like a kid in a sweet-shop, with no stability and only the worst players; Dugdale, a below par Max Power getting a starting place every week. The only thing that might be against this, is who would replace him, given the lack of games left?
 

Ian

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There is a lot of talk on other Rovers sites of whether we should get rid of Adams in a last ditch attempt stay up. While any such move carries huge risk, I honestly can't see us surviving as things stand. If nothing else, a caretaker manager might get eleven of these players fighting for the cause, which they are certainly not doing at the moment.
It really couldn't get any worse so what have we got to lose? We have to do whatever it takes to avoid the drop.
 
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I would get rid of Adams. He did a passable job with the allegedly poor squad he inherited, but since he was allowed to deal in the transfer window, he's been like a kid in a sweet-shop, with no stability and only the worst players; Dugdale, a below par Max Power getting a starting place every week. The only thing that might be against this, is who would replace him, given the lack of games left?

Ray Mathias, in an emergency role ?

I doubt it will happen, as the Paolises have backed Adams to the hilt and it would not reflect well on them if they got rid of him at this stage. But I honestly can't see us staying up as things stand.

Incidentally, when I saw the half time entertainment today, I thought for a second we had made four more loan signings. :p
 
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