• 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 Macc (FA Trophy Semi Final 2nd leg)

Boz

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Iain Hume
It sounds like there's a reasonable crowd there. Norwood gone closest for Rovers but very tight.
 

Boz

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Rovers go behind. Sounded like it had been coming. Don't really have any obvious changes to make, like for like forward?
 

Boz

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Out of Trophy at semi-final stage. Interesting to hear the thoughts of those attending but it doesn't sound like we played well and MM replacing Mekki with Mangan when we went behind seemed to make things worse.
 
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Too gutted to write a detailed report, but to change the system in a high pressure game was a gamble and it failed today. For seventy minutes there was nothing between the teams: we played some decent football without creating much and a twenty-yarder from Norburn has won them the game.

However, we had no width in our play and there was zero service to Cook and I could not see how we were going to score. The players obviously thought this themselves, as for the last twenty minutes we hoofed long balls onto McCombe's head and there was no pattern or shape to our play. Our response to going behind was pathetic.

Four games without a win, no service to Cook and a lot of thinking for the manager to do. The failure of the players to step up to the plate in a big match is also a concern and does not bode well for the play-offs (if we get there).
 

drwhoman

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How disappointing. The loss of Tollett is really showing. Dunn is reportedly close to fitness. Let us hope he can add some spark. They seem to be as flat as a pancake at present which is not good considering what is at stake. I see FGR won again but Dagenham, like us, lost at Barrow. Surely they can win at North Ferriby?
 

Boz

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Hard to understand the manager's thinking in the last pair of games. Leaves our best player out at Torquay and uses an untried formation today.

Small consolation, by dint of Daggers losing their game today, we've actually moved up a place in the league table.
 

Ian

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Bottled it again. Deeply disappointing and like RLC says the response after going behind was pathetic.

And this is exactly what will happen in the playoffs.. another season of nothing.
 

Sparky

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Very disappointing but sadly not a total surprise to me given some performances of late. I walked past Dawson in the car park and was tempted to ask him to get his act together and now wish I had.

Like in recent games we huffed and puffed but hardly showed any quality in the final third. Mekki again showed he is limited and simply not good enough for a side who wants to win things. Regardless of his attitude Norwood was out of position and Cook had no service to rely on. Don't want to sound like a broken record but we have one of the best target men in the division but don't give him any service. As RLC says the changed set up of 4-2-3-1 was a risk although does that mean MM has given up with 5-3-2? What is alarming is that at this stage of the season MM doesn't know his best system.

Injuries have contributed massively to this but couldn't we have looked at bringing in a wide man or two? Especially if Dawson isn't being given a chance, even at a time when we're creating nothing.

Yes their goal was good but McNulty was involved again with the ball not being cleared. Macc also hit the woodwork twice so were deserved winners. Even more frustrating is they'll play York in the final. Thought Ihikwe played well and Harris did ok but no one else worth mentioning. Hard to believe we had a attacking trio starting the game who scored over 60 goals between them last season, yet we were toothless again. Brabin used to be criticised for not getting the best out of good players and I fear MM is doing the same.

A real missed opportunity for a great day out. What worries me is we've been deservedly beaten by a Macc side who are a decent side, but not at the level of FGR or Daggers.

On the one hand we are missing important players like Tollit, Maynard and Dunn. Plus Dawson for different reasons. But I can't help thinking MM is getting it wrong with what he does have available. And to be tinkering with a formation for a cup semi sounds like he doesn't know what he says doing in terms of a system.

What will Tuesday bring? Back to 5-3-2 or stick with 4-2-3-1 which didn't work today.

Questions questions questions which we shouldnt have at this stage of the season.

Feeling very negative at the moment, can MM lift the players? He sometimes comes across very dour and says nothing on the touchline..

Moan over
 
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Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
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What worries me is we've been deservedly beaten by a Macc side who are a decent side, but not at the level of FGR or Daggers.

Aside from the massive disappointment of missing out on a Wembley final, this is the concern for me. We were favourites to win the game and under real pressure today, and both manager and players fell short. There was real mental weakness in that second half performance and after we conceded the goal, panic seemed to set in. The best sides in the division will put us under far greater pressure in a play-off match.

Regarding the formation, I don't blame Mellon for switching from 442 if he does not think Mekki or Dawson are good enough. However, as Sparky says, he could bring in another wide man in the short term to at least give us the option of playing with width. Similarly, I don't think it was reasonable to expect the players to cope with another formation change in a game of such importance and the system was a bit Brabinesque, with Norwood and Mekki both out of position and Cook isolated. We probably would have been better off sticking with 532 which at least guarantees a couple of decent crosses for Cook every game.

Individually, I thought Norwood and Mekki both worked hard enough and Vaughan and Harris had decent games. However, Cook was never in the game and others like Hughes and Jennings were below par.
 

Sparky

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I'd still like to see Connor J given a run up front alongside Cook. He made some good runs at times today and is a decent finisher.

We have real problems with the midfield. Hughes looked a bit cumbersome today and we had no pace apart from Norwood. Sort it out Mickey before we drop like a stone.
 
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I'd still like to see Connor J given a run up front alongside Cook. He made some good runs at times today and is a decent finisher.

We have real problems with the midfield. Hughes looked a bit cumbersome today and we had no pace apart from Norwood. Sort it out Mickey before we drop like a stone.

It might be worth trying. We could play Norwood on the left wing where he was used by FGR (today he was in a no-man's-land between Cook and the left wing in my view) with Mekki on the other side, and Hughes and Harris in the middle.

Then again, would that just disrupt us further with the players having to adapt to yet another system ?

We badly need Dunn and Maynard back to give us more options.
 

drwhoman

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I agree re the last comment. If Dunn is not fit we need a wide man asap Surely there is one somewhere?! I suspect MM is fiddling because with the injuries he does not have the right mix of players for his preferred formation and is hoping one or more of his experiments comes off. Use the $30k Micky! We need to be out of this league. The longer we are here the harder it will be to get out!
 

Boz

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Wirral Radio suggested Cook won most stuff which went near him, but there wasn't enough and nobody close enough to benefit from any knock-downs or flick-offs. I did wonder why Stockton wasn't brought on given we seemed to go long ball at the end and Mangan appeared to have minimal impact when he was brought on.

The lack of mental toughness is a concern. MCNulty, Sutton, Mangan to an extent are the leaders in that side, but the rest don't seem to have much backbone and it sounded like McNulty had a another below par game here.

I'm unsure how much we can expect from Dunn, when he returns. Decent enough player, but hasn't shown Tollit's ability to turn a game (yet). Likewise with Maynard, who is quite inconsistent. If we're to bring in someone within the few days left before the window shuts, I'd hope that whatever their position, they can offer some pace.

While I was half-expecting we'd lose today, the way in which we capitulated was disappointing. Not sure I agree with Sparky's assessment of MM as dour, he seems far more interested in the play rather than berating officials, like his predecessor. However, he'll need to find a way to turn things round pretty quickly or the season will peter out. Current form wouldn't even give us the chance to flop in the play-offs...
 

Cowshed Kid

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Oh dear. That was a Brabin performance - huffs and puffs but no end result.
My first Wembley with SWA was Bristol Rovers.
It's orgasmic when you win there but soul destroying when you don't, a la Notts County.
Just feel my son has been cheated today of the chance to experience the twin towers.
Yes, there's still the play offs but we need to find some form. Finishing second counts for nothing if a team squeaks into play offs on a roll and continues that form. Maybe its a bit knee jerk from me but our current form is poor.
Nors was the only one who worked their keeper but generally he was totally out of sorts. Can't knock his work rate but it's just not happening for him.
Game was littered with misplaced passes and whole team was guilty.
I'm unashamedly a fan of Harris and for me he was MOM. You know what you're going to get from him and he never hides.
We've gone out to a decent club and team, good luck to them in final.
Equally, what a performance over two legs from York.
 
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I'm unsure how much we can expect from Dunn, when he returns. Decent enough player, but hasn't shown Tollit's ability to turn a game (yet). Likewise with Maynard, who is quite inconsistent.

I agree about Dunn, although we will at least have the option of going 442 when he is fit. Aside from his abilities with the ball, we missed Maynard's physical presence in midfield today. We did not work hard enough to close Macclesfield down when we were out of possession, and Harris was the only midfielder willing to make a tackle.
 
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Alan King, Barry Dyson
Today was not unexpected but that made it no less disappointing. Micky has a lot of issues to sort out. I still fancy us to reach the play-offs, because we have a cushion and other teams are faltering, but while this poor run continues, every game is a "must win".

I'm not sure why Micky hasn't bought in reinforcements. It can't be lack of money. Maybe he doesn't want to have to fit in yet more players and is waiting for the imminent return from injury of a few players.
 

frenchrover

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What a dispirited display today in front of a healthy crowd many of which were youngsters looking for their first trip to the National Stadium. The team, including the management, let them down badly. This result has been coming for a while, perhaps since the surrender at Moss Rose on New Years Day. A spirited fightback against a poor Chester side a week or two ago masked the real frailty and the lack of quality in depth of this squad. This has been self evident since the immense loss of Ben Tollitt, Lois Maynard and to a lesser extent Kirby and Dunn. Why management have failed to add width to the squad through the loan market particularly as the supporters provided in excess of £30000 for this very purpose, beggars belief. Whilst other teams in the league promotion race have been strengthening their squads through the loan market we have rather tinkered with line-ups to try to overcome the injury losses. Without any doubt this policy has failed big style.
Today, the only players, in my opinion, who showed any real desire were Ihiekwe, Harris, Connor Jennings and Cook. The rest were poor beyond belief given the potential of the match.And yet they know they will be the basis of the squad that turns up on Tuesday at North Ferriby. Anything less than a resounding win against the second to bottom of the league, thrashed at home today, must be seen as an early warning of the danger of our slipping out of the league play-off places. Notwithstanding we have games in hand on the teams around us (all winning today with the exception of Dagenham), its points that count and our current form is so desperately poor it is difficult to be confident that games in hand will be converted in to points.
 

Sparky

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I left as soon as the whistle went but some rumours that Cook had a right go at the section of the kop where that flare came from. Whatever idiot threw that should be banned and it was more annoying as we were on the attack.

Suspect there was some big personalities very angry in the changing room after the game and as has been said, MM has a job on his hands to improve morale before Tuesday.

As frenchrover suggests, if we can't score at North Ferriby then God help us!
 
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