• 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.

League Two Rovers v Stevenage

Sparky

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Just watched the goal again. Manny mistimed the first header and the McDonald did the same
 

Ian

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Mistakes are going to happen but they shouldn't have put themselves in the position where one mistake is going to cost you the match. They had 66% possession and did nothing with it all game so they are all to blame ultimately. It was a poor show last night, conditions or not. Hopefully we'll see a bounce back on Saturday (if its on!)
 

Boz

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I think it would probably work in our favour if the Grimsby match gets postponed. Jaded players can get more of a rest and the manager can make more measured judgements on our failure to make good use of possession, highlighted by Ian rather than blaming it all on a defensive lapse, which would be less critical had we used the ball better.
 
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I think it would probably work in our favour if the Grimsby match gets postponed. Jaded players can get more of a rest and the manager can make more measured judgements on our failure to make good use of possession, highlighted by Ian rather than blaming it all on a defensive lapse, which would be less critical had we used the ball better.
I’m not sure I agree, Boz. We don’t want to risk a fixture pile-up like Carlisle. While we are in form, let’s keep playing. The tired ones in the first team can have a break next Tuesday while the semifinal is played against Oxford.

I am mindful that there is no guarantee that the season will be completed. If so, we need to make sure that unlike last season, we benefit from PPG.
 
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I agree with BBTC on this one. We are likely to lose at Oxford next week and we could find ourselves in a mini slump, whereas the Grimsby game is very winnable and is an opportunity to get back on the horse quickly.
 

Boz

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I’m not sure I agree, Boz. We don’t want to risk a fixture pile-up like Carlisle. While we are in form, let’s keep playing. The tired ones in the first team can have a break next Tuesday while the semifinal is played against Oxford.

I am mindful that there is no guarantee that the season will be completed. If so, we need to make sure that unlike last season, we benefit from PPG.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, BBTC, while life wouldn't be the same if I wasn't disagreeing with RLC about something. We weren't in form last night both on the playing and management sides, but part of the problem was that the same players have played so many continuous games that they are getting jaded. Throw into the mix that we seem to struggle against opponents who play the Stevenage way, last night's response was to copy their style, rather poorly. Alternative approaches to deal with this need to be worked on by the management, as it's not the first time this season we've come unstuck against that type of opponent and style of play. Grimsby may do something similar and while recognising their current poor form, historically Blundell Park hasn't been a happy hunting ground for Rovers at the best of times.

It would be surprising if the season were halted, after football's continued right through the current peak of the pandemic and as covid figures start to fall. However, should that happen, then dropping points at Grimsby, if that happens for the reasons suggested above isn't going to help our PPG tally. We've played about the same or slightly more games than most teams around us, so not in danger of building up a huge backlog. Of course, we could go to Grimsby, win as the start of a long unbeaten run that sees the words 'inevitable defeat' erased from the Rovers lexicon, but I'm not confident of that happening...
 
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I think Grimsby under Hurst will play more football than Stevenage did last night, so I am not sure it will be the same kind of game and we will probably have more opportunity to express ourselves. However, the pitch probably won't be great.

I agree that the season will be completed now.
 

Sparky

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I share some of Bozs concerns about tiredness. Prior to Tuesday, Woolery and Lloyd had both been in good goal scoring form to show we’re not over reliant on Vaughan. Both were taken off fairly early and some of that must have been down to tiredness (although neither has played close to a full 90 minutes very often). But they are both the types of high energy and explosive players that need a rest says Keith and that’s fine.
The problem is do we have enough strength in depth to replace them as although only one half, Tuesdays performances from the likes of Morris, Kirkby and Jolley would suggest not. Assuming CBT/Ferrier haven’t apologised then going forward you do wonder if we’ll have enough cover of the required quality for the remainder of the season.
still too early to judge Crawford and hopefully Feeney won’t miss any more games and Nugent will be ready soon. But it is a worry if we are to stay up there.

I can see both sides of the argument though. Plus what else is there to do on a Saturday afternoon at the moment?! Although suspect the weather may mean game off
 
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The counter argument would be that the players certainly won't be any fresher in another two months after playing twice a week. Woolery and Lloyd did not complete the ninety minutes last night and did get some rest and Lloyd actually looked pretty lively before going off. Fatigue is mental as much as physical, and if we play a bit of football and score the first goal on Saturday I think we will get a different performance.

It is too early to judge the new signings, but I am not hugely worried about squad depth. Every club has a horrendous schedule and most clubs have less quality and quantity than us.
 

Sparky

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Yes on balance I want the game to go ahead as like you say RLC, every team has a busy schedule and we’ve just got to get on with it.
 
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I am loving these debates on this forum. All valid views politely expressed. Sometimes I agree with RLC, Boz, Sparky or whoever, sometimes I don't, but I always enjoy reading the response. We'll see who's "right" in the end, but by then we'll all have forgotten.

Thank you, Ian. I can't believe I've been on this forum for 15 years!
 
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Ian

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Thank you, Ian. I can't believe I've been on this forum for 15 years!
Always a pleasure @bring back the cowshed!
Earliest snapshot I can find from Oct 2001, where were you then! :D

snapshot.jpg
 
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Ah, those were the days! A few names to stir the memory. I wonder what happened to Joe Murphy. ;)
 

Boz

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Just watched the goal again. Manny mistimed the first header and the McDonald did the same
Just watched it back myself. You could argue that Clarke could have tightened up on the scorer too. I don't think any of the individual errors were glaring, but collectively they gave an opportunity to the visitors which they took full advantage of.
 
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