• 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 Sutton

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I agree that Murphy is likely to retire next summer, but I think Doohan might sign for us permanently. He is well down the pecking order at Celtic and at his age will be desperate for first-team experience. I'd be surprised if we can't afford him, but we may have competition from other clubs. It may depend ultimately on his family/girlfriend situation. ;)
I think Mellon would definitely bring him here on a permanent deal if he could.

Regarding the performance of other players, I would be questioning the contribution of Ryan Watson ahead of Clarke and Spearing, both of whom are generally doing a steady job in my view. The performances of the centre halves and the defensive midfielder are not the issue.
 

drwhoman

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I agree RLC.we can carp about thegoalie and the defence but the problems are further forward. The is a simple lack of creativity delivered at pace which gives a hard working but inexperienced Nevitt little chance. Hawkes seems to be the only bright spark. The rest might be trying hard but their best days are gone.
 

Ian

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Sounds like we need a boost in January!
 

Boz

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Regarding the performance of other players, I would be questioning the contribution of Ryan Watson ahead of Clarke and Spearing, both of whom are generally doing a steady job in my view. The performances of the centre halves and the defensive midfielder are not the issue.
I don't think that Clarke has been as good as last season, which was excellent, maybe age catching up with him to an extent? A mistake for the goal yesterday, though he saved us with a goal-line clearance earlier, while Mansfield wasn't his finest ninety minutes, albeit while carrying an injury. When we're doing so little at the other end of the park, then any defensive error becomes more critical. Our 3 central defenders are much of a muchness in terms of current defensive ability, Clarke stands out in terms of leadership abilities, but in my view it shouldn't be a given he starts every league game.

Spearing has been fine. It will be interesting to see how we cope without him after he picked up a 5th booking.

Ryan Watson is an enigma. It made sense to play him yesterday given how Sutton operate as he's a big unit and as a team we're not that physically strong. I thought he did ok defensively, broke up a few attacks but contributed little going forward, though he did mention a couple of half chances in the post match interview, which didn't really register at the time.
 
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Sparky

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Agree with Boz about Watson. I thought as a number 10 he would be ideal yesterday but he didn’t get into the box anywhere near as much as foley has in previous games.
 

ONIGP

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I agree RLC.we can carp about thegoalie and the defence but the problems are further forward. The is a simple lack of creativity delivered at pace which gives a hard working but inexperienced Nevitt little chance. Hawkes seems to be the only bright spark. The rest might be trying hard but their best days are gone.
I thought Morris was excellent yesterday; he was all over the pitch and offered more creativity than anybody else.
 
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drwhoman

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I thought Morris was excellent yesterday; he was all over the pitch and offered more creativity than anybody else.
I agree.that Morris had a good game. The problem is the collective. They are not creative enough as a group reflecting their age and their lack of speed. Vast experience is simply not making up for this.
 

ADD

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The general squad strength is reasonable but the strikers are inadequate and there is a lack of pace and that makes it very difficult to create a winning formula.

I am not sure how relevant games in the Micky Mouse Trophy are compared to competitive football.
The Leeds game might well have been Mickey Mouse yes I totally agree but the games against Salford and especially Oldham were genuine games of football between senior professionals in the main. Oldham had pretty much their first team playing and were certainly motivated to progress whilst aside from Stratulis and Maguire every one of our other players could arguably slot straight into our "League team" with no issue whatsoever if MM was so inclined.
 
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The Leeds game might well have been Mickey Mouse yes I totally agree but the games against Salford and especially Oldham were genuine games of football between senior professionals in the main. Oldham had pretty much their first team playing and were certainly motivated to progress whilst aside from Stratulis and Maguire every one of our other players could arguably slot straight into our "League team" with no issue whatsoever if MM was so inclined.
The competition is treated with contempt by players and supporters, so levels of motivation and commitment are not the same as in League matches.

Salford played their kids. Oldham are a poor side and you can question their levels of motivation for the fixture.

Glatzel and Maynard probably will feature more in the weeks ahead, but the decision to use them was not cut and dried when Glatzel was performing hopelessly and Maynard was lacking match fitness.

It is easy to see why Mellon would have been reluctant to start with Glatzel against Sutton's team of brutes and giants.
 
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