Rovers v Pools

[Boz]

So, after last weekend's pleasing win, the return of Ronnie to PP. I'm expecting him to get a decent reception and this game to be a lot closer than Accrington. He hasn't really had a new manager bounce since being appointed, took about 7 games to record a win and Hartlepool remain rock bottom. There seem to be issues relating to the takeover of the club and unlike Micky, he's been given very little funding to bring in new players. The fact that Rovers have had a big change in personnel since Ronnie left, will limit any benefits of inside knowledge, but I guess it's a game he'd really like to get something out of.

There don't seem to be any new injuries for us. Myrie-Williams has been signed on loan from Scunthorpe, but is unlikely to be match-fit. My preference would be to stick with the same forward line and have JMW on the bench, but the manager may differ. Indeed, my only change from the line-up which played most of the last game would be replacing Koumas with Max Power and even then, the maxim why change a winning team applies.

Prediction: The visitors only took 100 tickets in advance and it's unlikely they'll bring much of a following. I'd expect the home turnout to be steady, so a crowd of around 4.7k. Expecting a close game and Rovers to edge it by the odd goal.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

You'd think we should win based on recent form but "the Ronnie factor" could play a part. At worst we mustn't get beaten, lose our momentum and give them a much needed lift.

We play eight more games before the end of February and five are against teams within three points of the drop zone. We need to stay focused and hopefully injury free.

 

[Higgy]

I think we willbatter them. Hope Ronnie gets decent reception

Attendance 4.5k

Given lack of funds at Pool and Ronnie's knowledge of low wages for our fringe/transfer listed players - he may take a couple off our hands?

 

[bigmart]

I think it will be close but we will win 2 1.

I would be made up if Ronnie took some of our fringe players but cant really see it with the possible exception of baggie

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

These may be famous last words, but I think we will win relatively comfortably. Hartlepool have improved slightly since Ronnie took over, but with limited finances they have not had the influx of experienced players we have.

Looking at the games the four or five teams above us have on Saturday, a win should give us some breathing space from the bottom two. Added to which, it would make it virtually impossible for Hartlepool to survive, even at this stage of the season.

I would expect we will start with a midfield three of Jennings, Power and Molyneux, but we do have real competition in that area now.

 

[Ian]

Hartlepool are hopeless and nothing but a win will do. This is a real good opportunity to finally start moving away from that bottom two. Want to see maximum effort and commitment similar to last week and we should win by a couple of goals.

 

[Sparky]

Hartlepool are a fairly poor side and as RLC says, their squad has not improved to a level that ours has in recent weeks.

That said, it wouldnt suprise me if Ronnie has their players well fired up about this match given his history and if Ronnie is to be in charge even if they go down, they may want to give their all for him. Plus by the sounds of it they did ok 1st half at Shrewsbury last weekend.

So I don't think will be a walkover (hope I'm wrong), but would still expect us to win.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A lacklustre performance from Rovers, and a draw was the most we deserved. Ronnie obviously had Hartlepool really hyped up for this game - the cynic in me wishes his Tranmere side last season had shown the same spirit - and they came at us from the first whistle, getting the ball forward early and attacking in numbers. Rovers needed to match their spirit and enthusiasm in the early stages and hope that their greater quality would eventually come through, but we seemed to be taken by surprise by their approach and did not have enough of an appetite for the game. Our play was laboured and lethargic and we never really got going.

In the first half Hartlepool made most of the running, while having relatively few clear opportunities other than their goal, Fonners getting his palms stung by a few long range efforts. At the other end, when we did put together some decent midfield play we cut through their back four with relative ease, with Donnelly's movement impressive. However, this happened on too few occasions. After half time Pools did not quite maintain the same tempo, but our play was equally sterile until the substitutions, Koumas in particular doing well when he came on. It was a game where seven or eight of our players were well below par, but I thought midfield was the real problem area. Molyneux was poor and Max and Jenno not much better, and as well as failing to create, the midfield three did not protect the back four as they needed to. Holmes was clear man of the match, but there were few other contenders.

For all their efforts Hartlepool had very little quality, which makes the drop in the level of our performance from last week so disappointing. A definite opportunity missed, although the point is still probably better for us than Hartlepool in the long term.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Thanks, RLC. I agree that although it may seem like a good point for Hartlepool, they needed the win more than we did. With Portsmouth and Carlisle losing, Daggers having a day off and the rest of the stragglers also drawing, we've moved up and are looking a little safer. But I hope the Whites learn the lesson that you can't underestimate anybody in League Two this year.

 

[Ian]

Deeply disappointing from Rovers today, we just didn't get going. I underestimated Hartlepool. They were really up for it and had they had any decent quality up front, could have punished us today. I'm just glad we came away with a point. We are slowly climbing the league. Importantly, we didn't lose, so let's keep the momentum going.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

If you missed the Football League Show last night, there was a feature by Mark Clemmit on Ronnie's return to PP. I didn't realise how close he was to Mark Palios. They attended the same trial and were room mates. It's available on BBC iPlayer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mfmt9

Knowing the cameras were there it's no surprise we didn't play well.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Knowing the cameras were there it's no surprise we didn't play well.

My thoughts entirely. On another issue, it was good to see Ben Gibson putting in an outstanding display for Boro at the Etihad yesterday.

 

[Boz]

Hartlepool weren't what I'd expected from a Ronnie side. Until Harewood came on, they played mostly on the deck and had one or two players like Woods who looked decent. We took the lead against the run of play, with an effort from Odejayi set up by Donnelly, which I thought their keeper was slow to react to. A suicidal pass into the danger area, I think from Taylor, was seized upon and although Fonners blocked the first effort, the rebound fell kindly for the visitors to level. Think we only had one shot the rest of the half, a free-kick that went over the bar. While things marginally improved second half, particularly after the introduction of Koumas, the visitors were always more likely to score, right up to a shot that deflected for a corner in stoppage time.

I didn't think we were complacent, just not as up for it. There was talk of the bug that had hit Max Power last week affecting some of the other players and certainly there seemed to be a lot of lethargy, especially in midfield, where Power and Molyneux were well below par. Aside from Fonners, Holmes and Donnelly, who put a shift in but got a bit disheartened by the rather inconsistent showing from the referee, Mr Eltringham, who changed from an anything goes approach in the first half to penalising for the minutest of touches later on, none of the starting line-up played well. Odejayi wasn't bad, but caught offside far too much by the flag-happy AR with the yellow flag, who was right most but not all of the time.

Good turnout from the Pools fans, who made a fair bit of noise. Ronnie's reaction was a bit OTT in my view. Hence, it was good to see that a player he initially rejected and later clearly didn't rate in Danny Holmes being head and shoulders above anyone else for MoM.

 

[Sparky]

I said this wouldnt be a walkover and so it proved. After the early goal I hoped we were on for another comfortable afternoon but I felt we were no better than average throughout and deserved no more than a point. Agree with Boz that Woods was for me the stand out player. Having seen the line up I felt it was perhaps too offensive, despite the Accrington win. Pools clearly were taking risks as they need points and I felt Jenno did not have enough support from the likes of Max & Molyneux who didnt perform any defensive duties.

Expectations were clearly high after last week but it just shows that defensively we still have some issues. But as Micky said 4 points from 2 home games given our form this season overall was positive and the league table looks a bit better.

Was nice to see Ronnie back but I'll be surprised if he keeps them up. They played well but they are cut adrift a bit. As RLC says nice to see Gibson doing well. He showed how good he was despite his young age at the time.

 

[bigmart]

Totally agree Sparky Jennings was doing the work for the other two in midfield Molenuex was poor Power even worse I also though Fenelon & Donnelly were poor as well and really we were fortunate to take a point from the game.

A big chance missed to pile more pressure on several teams but at least we managed to get a point something we would probably not of done under Edwards.