• 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 Scunny v Rovers

Match result

  • Scunthorpe

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Draw

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tranmere

    Votes: 5 100.0%

  • Total voters
    5
  • Poll closed .

Boz

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Or perhaps he does not want to put too much pressure on two young kids in what is now a high pressure situation ? I agree with Boz that Burton is at least worth a place on the bench.

As I have said previously, we let three senior strikers leave in January and replaced them with Nugent, which was a terrible decision. Whether that decision was solely down to Hill, or a combination of Palios, Beck and Hill, I don't know.

We should not be in a position where a teenager with a total of thirty five minutes of senior football under his belt is our only forward option.
This hits the nail exactly. It's not as though either attacking midfielder he brought in, Kirby and Crawford has contributed to the goals tally. Nia has come close a couple of times, but the notlob fans felt whatever good things Ally did elsewhere on the park, most of his goal efforts end up being more like rugby conversions.

Walsall with their tails up after a good win will be a much harder proposition than Scunthorpe.
 

Ian

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Yes, some poor decisions were made but we have what we have. We cannot change this and we have to find an option before it's too late. My argument is that Hill should at least try different options other than Nugent who is now finished as a footballer. What has he got to lose? We will never know if we do not try something different. What we do know however is that opting to play Nugent is a dead option and will not get us the goals we so desperately need. The other options cannot be any worse no matter how young and raw they are.
 

Sparky

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Keith keeps saying Jolley isn’t ready but he did put burton on at Wembley so must think he has something, even if it was for a token few minutes.

as I say he can’t do any worse and we’re getting desperate as at this rate a lot of our good work will be undone (in part affected by injuries), and we’ll be in the lottery of the play offs (which isn’t a given the way we are going)
 
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The positive that I take at the moment is that I still think we are playing reasonably well - despite what you hear on certain podcasts and read on forums - and we are not losing games. I think we look solid defensively and our approach play in the middle third of the pitch is fine. This afternoon, and in the Cambridge and Mansfield games, we also created a fair number of chances, which did not always look like good chances because the finishing was so poor. It is not as if we are completely bereft of ideas and second best in every game.

I am hoping that one goal, or a couple of goals, can spark us and we can go on a decent run, with or without Vaughan. That has happened recently to teams like Carlisle and Orient, without any real changes in personnel.
 
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Yes, some poor decisions were made but we have what we have. We cannot change this and we have to find an option before it's too late. My argument is that Hill should at least try different options other than Nugent who is now finished as a footballer. What has he got to lose? We will never know if we do not try something different. What we do know however is that opting to play Nugent is a dead option and will not get us the goals we so desperately need. The other options cannot be any worse no matter how young and raw they are.
I don't know why we did not stick CBT up front in the second half today, rather than bringing on Nugent.
 

Sparky

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Yes CBT was effective in a more central role under Dawes and Parky and you wonder whether they have reminded Keith of this.

creating 19 shots today was probably one of the highest in the division
 

Ian

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I don't know why we did not stick CBT up front in the second half today, rather than bringing on Nugent.
Yeah, something we discussed before the game, which seems like a good option. Not sure why Hill persists with Nugent. It's baffling. I feel a bit sorry for CBT who is struggling to make an impression with the limited game time.

The only problem we have albeit a major problem is our goalscoring. Like you say, we are playing well. Even with Davies and Spearing out the side, we still look a good team. Plenty of possession, comfortable on the ball, not giving the opposition much, but all that means nothing when you come out of the game with one point. We have not won in five games. Draws really don't cut it now. That is not the form we want when in the middle of a promotion race and it's very annoying when you see Bolton leap ahead of us. We simply need to find an answer up top.
 

Ian

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creating 19 shots today was probably one of the highest in the division
It's crazy really. When you look at the possession we had, the corners, the set pieces. There were times they could not get out of their half yet we have hardly tested their keeper.
 

Ian

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Yeah, something we discussed before the game, which seems like a good option. Not sure why Hill persists with Nugent. It's baffling. I feel a bit sorry for CBT who is struggling to make an impression with the limited game time.

The only problem we have albeit a major problem is our goalscoring. Like you say, we are playing well. Even with Davies and Spearing out the side, we still look a good team. Plenty of possession, comfortable on the ball, not giving the opposition much, but all that means nothing when you come out of the game with one point. We have not won in five games. That is not the form we want when in the middle of a promotion race and it's very annoying when you see Bolton leap ahead of us. We simply need to find an answer up top.
Yes, we are nineteenth in the form table which is terrible for a promotion chasing team. That has to change quickly if the season is not going to peter out.
 

bigmart

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If we don't beat Walsall then the next 2 games are Salford and Bradford which will be very difficult
 

Ian

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If we don't beat Walsall then the next 2 games are Salford and Bradford which will be very difficult
I can see that being a frustrating game too @bigmart
They don't score or concede that many and have had plenty of draws. In fact, they are joint top draw specialists with Mansfield with 19 draws this season. I can see 0-0 all over it unless we manage to score a goal.
 
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I can see that being a frustrating game too @bigmart
They don't score or concede that many and have had plenty of draws. In fact, they are joint top draw specialists with Mansfield with 19 draws this season. I can see 0-0 all over it unless we manage to score a goal.
Yes, only two goals conceded in their last five games. Their first win in fourteen today against FGR.
 
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As I have said previously, we let three senior strikers leave in January and replaced them with Nugent, which was a terrible decision. Whether that decision was solely down to Hill, or a combination of Palios, Beck and Hill, I don't know.

We should not be in a position where a teenager with a total of thirty five minutes of senior football under his belt is our only forward option.
Ferrier actually left in mid-February, leaving us a striker short and no way of bringing in a replacement. I reckon this, besides whatever forced the move, is why the club's announcement of his departure was so frosty.

Who's to blame for his sudden departure, and whether we should (or even could) have offloaded him in January so that we could find a replacement, are the two big questions.

Ironically, although the gap left by his departure is costing us big time, he's also missed out on a Wembley appearance and a probable promotion. Even though he's now getting a few starts (but no goals!) in Israel, I wonder if he thinks whatever he did to fall out with the club was worth it.
 
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Ferrier actually left in mid-February, leaving us a striker short and no way of bringing in a replacement. I reckon this, besides whatever forced the move, is why the club's announcement of his departure was so frosty.

Who's to blame for his sudden departure, and whether we should (or even could) have offloaded him in January so that we could find a replacement, are the two big questions.

Ironically, although the gap left by his departure is costing us big time, he's also missed out on a Wembley appearance and a probable promotion. Even though he's now getting a few starts (but no goals!) in Israel, I wonder if he thinks whatever he did to fall out with the club was worth it.
However, we had already let two strikers leave prior to Ferrier, which was a risk as it was clear he was unsettled and was angling for a move. Hill was expressing frustration with Ferrier in January, prior to the transfer window closing, and from what I understand we actually expected a move to be concluded by the end of the window. I don't think we can pin all the blame for our current predicament on Ferrier.
 
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Ian

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I am still not sure whether he would have been good enough to fill the gap, although admittedly he would have been better than the current options. Welcome to the forum @Notanotherplayoff .
 
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Cheers Ian. Yes I agree he wouldn't have entirely filled the gap, but he'd have still weighed in with a few, and his work rate and hold up play would've brought others into play too. Which would've been better than we've had and so might've been enough.

I just don't believe we ever intended to see out the season with just two senior strikers (or even three, if Jolley was ever meant to feature much this season). And Nugent was surely brought in to complement either Vaughan or Ferrier if needed, certainly not to play as a lone striker.

I just fear that being left a striker short will end up defining our season, whoever was to blame for it.

Anyway, six more games to avoid the inquest!
 
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I was told before the end of January that Ferrier had lined up a move and was likely to go, so it seems he had been given permission to leave before the end of the transfer window. I think we knew our forward options would comprise Vaughan, Nugent and Jolley, which was obviously a poor decision but was one we consciously made.

In any case, there had been disciplinary issues with Ferrier all season, even under Jackson, so why leave ourselves open to his whims by releasing both Payne and Smith ?

I agree either Ferrier or Payne would have offered more than Nugent.
 
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