Rovers v Exiles

[Rockford's Love Child]

After Saturday's encouraging display I think we should start with the same team against Newport. We have not produced good performances for two successive games all season, but a win tomorrow would give us a great opportunity to fire ourselves up the table.

From reports, Newport are a direct side who will pump the ball into our box, so the defence will have to stand strong as at the weekend. Newport are certainly in decent form, unbeaten in four matches, all of which were against teams in or around the play off positions, so they will be no pushovers. With Newport unlikely to bring many fans and Rovers paying two home games in a week, I would imagine we might see a sub-4,000 gate for this one.

The last time I saw Rovers play Newport was in 1987 and we won 4-0: I would settle for 1-0 tomorrow night.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Tonight's performance was basically a carbon copy of Saturday. We were much the better side and should have won the game, but our inability to finish cost us. Both individually and collectively I thought it was the best we have played at Prenton Park this season and it is just frustrating that we did not get the win some of our football deserved. It is strange that in the last couple of games we have created more chances than in many previous matches and yet failed to score.

Like the majority of teams in this division, Newport were direct and physical and in the early part of the game they did cause us some problems from set plays and balls lumped into the box. The injury to Matt Hill - which sadly looked very serious - disrupted us for a time, but I thought the back four actually dealt with the physical stuff better once Holness came on and Holmes and Donacien both did well playing out of position.

In the first half we had the better chances, but for twenty five minutes after the break we really battered them and I felt sure a goal was inevitable. Unfortunately we did not get it, but there were many positives to take from the performance: some of the football was great at times and we worked incredibly hard without the ball all evening. In the second half we were so much on top that Newport's attacking threat was negligible.

Individually, all of the makeshift back four did well and Marc Laird had his best game for us. Cole struggled up against their massive centre halves, but Richards was lively and Baggie was a livewire once again, and probably man of the match.

There are definitely signs of improvement in our performances but we now desperately need a victory on Saturday.

 

[Ian]

Slightly disappointing tonight. We played well enough but just couldn't beat their keeper. First half was especially notable as we could have been a few goals to the good. Second half contained more huffing and puffing but we struggling to get behind Newport's 10-man defence. Booing at FT was ludicrous really. Now we seem to have sorted the defence out with Gill providing protection, we really need to start putting our chances away.

On the plus side, Bell-Baggie was once again a menace, Gill had another good game as did Laird. Fon-Williams still baffles me with his reluctance to come off his line (luckily he wasn't need much in this game) and I'm still unconvinced that Stockton and Richards can play together. I think we need more pace and agility up front.

Newport were happy to take a point at half time. We must work on penetrating the back line as they aren't the first and certainly won't be the last team to stick 10-men in defence. It's frustrating that now we seem to have shut up shop in defence we've also done the same up front. As the game went on, I would have liked to have seen more bodies up front. That game was there to win and failed to do so. Need to win on Saturday, we are already 11 points behind the leaders.

I do believe it's coming together but it's taking a lot longer than a lot of supporters had imagined. Playing 451 at home people are complaining it's too negative, but we had chances tonight and there was plenty of good football played. The goals will come..

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

As the game went on, I would have liked to have seen more bodies up front. That game was there to win and failed to do so.

Rather than making like for like substitutions I thought we could have put Donnelly or Odejayi alongside Stockton for the last twenty minutes. A number of times we put balls into the box but just did not have sufficient numbers in there. I think Cole and Richards can be effective together, but Cole had a poor game tonight and struggled against their huge centre halves.

I agree about Fonners: there was one moment in the first half where he looked like he was coming out of the box for the ball, hesitated, Donacien was forced to tidy up, and he then gave the youngster a bo*****ing for effectively dealing with his own error.

 

[Boz]

I felt we played very well in the first half and it would have been a very different game had Baggie converted either of the early chances. However, we seemed to lose our way a bit in the second half and neither keeper was really tested after half-time.

Defensively, we seemed less assured when Hill was stretchered off. Holmes did ok at left-back, Donacien was rather more adventurous on the right than Danny usually is, but didn't always pick the right option. I thought Gill played quite well, but not as convinced about Laird, who did less box-to-box running than usual and a few too many aimless flick-ons. Given how much grief Baggie was giving their defence, I might have been tempted to introduce Fanimo, so that we'd be running at them from both sides. Neither Koumas or Donnelly made much impact as subs and I can see attractions in the argument for putting a second player in the box.

The crowd, although sub 4k, could have been worse, with only around 50 from S Wales. That said, I wonder if the club made any effort to get the game moved to Wednesday, which would have probably added a few hundred to the gate, with nothing over the water.

MoM would have to be the Newport keeper who made ~4 crucial saves to keep them level. Can't see beyond Baggie for Rovers.

 

[Sparky]

I agree with most of the above in that apart from a lack of cutting edge in the box, it was by and large an encouraging display. Listening to the phone in on the way home on Radio Merseyside someone had a real rant about the 4-5-1 at home being negative - however particularly in the first half we created a few good chances and a few half chances. If we still had Lowe we would have won easily.

I felt the defence coped well given the disruption but against a fairly basic Newport attack. Midfield worked hard and I thought Gill was excellent. Cole worked hard but as a youngster he had an off night. I felt for Richards who deserved a goal for his efforts.

The booing at full time surprised me and was over the top. As RE said post match, new players, new manager etc it will take time - what do people expect in mid September? I could understand if the 4-5-1 meant we created very little but that was not the case.

However like others I was still scratching my heads at the changes RE made. Against Morcambe Odejayi and Stockton were a real handful and big Kayode got the whole crowd going with the sending off etc. He should have been on and we should have gone 4-4-2 when we lost our way in the 2nd half. We have signed this winger from West Ham - why not bring him on with 20mins to go. Him on the left and Baggie on the right supplying Cole & Odejayi would surely have reaped a reward. Donnelly still early days but worked hard but nothing too exciting.

Some of the boos were over the top but were more frustration than anything. But RE is puzzling many with his tactics and personnel changes. You wonder where Koumas fits into this team.

I just hope Saturday is a similar display and surely some chances will go in. Otherwise...

 

[Ian]

I would use Odejayi a lot more as he's been a handful when he comes on and wins a lot of the ball. Regarding Fanimo, I don't understand why you would get someone in on loan and not use him. He's only here for a month. Even if it's just fresh legs on with 10/15 mins to go.

 

[GroundsmansFork]

Like I said before, Rovers do it every time. Get some promising youngster in on loan and then leave them on the bench or bring them on with 10 mins to go. What's the point?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Regarding Fanimo, it was an experimental loan in a sense as he has no first team experience and Edwards obviously feels Baggie and Richards will offer more than him at the moment. I personally would not have brought him on as both Elliott and Abdulai had good games, but I agree that we should have gone to 4-4-2 in the closing stages.

I shared Sparky's bemusement when listening to the radio on the way home. Some of our supporters, including a number on other internet sites, are only capable of processing results, not performances. Some of the football last night was the best I have seen from a Tranmere side in years, and we are the most attractive League Two side to watch of those I have seen so far. I am actually really pleased that we are trying to develop a passing style, rather than just lumping it about as a lot of sides do at this level.

 

[Boz]

I don't see the point of having Fanimo on the bench and never using. The only way to find out if he's any good is to give him some game time, in a game where the situation suggests he may have some impact. I'd have pushed Richards closer to Stockton/Donnelly and had him wide left for at least the last 10 minutes...what had we got to lose?

Our football in the first half was very good and it is a sign of the manager making some impact after the dismal fare we dished up on the opening day. However, when Newport switched from 5 at the back to a 442 in the second half, Rob didn't respond tactically to that and we were much less incisive. There was no grounds for booing in my book, frustrating though or opponents had proved.

 

[Ian]

It's going to be very frustrating at times because sides will simply close up shop. We were much the better side on Tuesday and like RLC says some of our passing play was excellent. Newport decided at half time to play for the draw. We must somehow find a way of breaking down a 10-man defence.

We are improving though and I do think results will follow if we keep up these performances.

 

[Gray]

Performances aside, 2 wins from 9 is not good enough from us at this level, we need to start winning... soon! I want us to give RE a chance and I'm not panicking yet, let's see where we are at Christmas.

My biggest worry is that we draw games where we're much the better side, and lose the close games, this is a worrying trend and you can't see where the next win is going to come from. We need to learn how to win again, our confidence has taken a real battering with those cruel results against Cheltenham and Accrington. I wonder if we'd have won the last two games if Ryan Lowe had stayed?

 

[Boz]

Performances aside, 2 wins from 9 is not good enough from us at this level, we need to start winning... soon! I want us to give RE a chance and I'm not panicking yet, let's see where we are at Christmas.

My biggest worry is that we draw games where we're much the better side, and lose the close games, this is a worrying trend and you can't see where the next win is going to come from. We need to learn how to win again, our confidence has taken a real battering with those cruel results against Cheltenham and Accrington. I wonder if we'd have won the last two games if Ryan Lowe had stayed?

You could also wonder if we'd have got something out of the Cheltenham and Accrington games if Steve Jennings had stayed. Whereas Lowe departing was outside Rob's control, it was very much his choice to settle for just one defensive midfielder in Gill seemingly incapable of playing every game.
As for Lowe, I'm not sure he'd have been on the end of the chances created in the Newport game, but may have eked out opportunities elsewhere on the pitch as a quality forward would.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I don't share the anxiety of some of the posters above. Anybody who has seen our last two matches can see that confidence is not low and that we are progressing.

This season was always likely to be one of consolidation and development rather than a promotion challenge, as stated by Mark Palios himself. The inconsistency in results is due to having a young, relatively inexperienced side which is yet to fully gel. Either the club decides to blood young players and play passing football with a view to long term success, or it goes back to the old failed methods of bringing in journeyman players and playing hoofball, perhaps bringing short term results but failing to develop the club in the longer term. We have played eight games: with the massive change at the club in the last few months, success was never going to come immediately.

I would agree with Boz that the absence of a holding player cost us in a couple of games, but we don't actually know that Gill is incapable of playing regularly. Either way, that is an individual tactical point which is not really related to the manager's overall philosophy.

As for Lowe, we kept the players we could afford to keep and I am not sorry he has gone. This will probably be his last season and his absence is allowing players like Stockton and Richards to develop; Bury might win promotion this season, but will they actually be better off than us longer term, as they have apparently spent money they don't really have ?