Solihull Moors v Rovers

[Boz]

A trip to Damson Park in the Midlands next for Rovers. Our opponents were promoted from the NL North last season and despite losing players unable to commit to the heavier schedules, are holding their own at present. Their results have been erratic, some good wins and some hammerings. Manager Marcus Bignot seems an interesting character, while Dutchman Akwasi Asante is their leading scorer.

Not much information on the Rovers front. Connor Jennings remains on the injury list and Ihiekwe is serving a suspension, while the position regarding Norwood is unclear. Did wonder if we might see one or two new arrivals at PP as there are a few players Micky's worked with before out of contract, but so far nothing. Presumably assessing the quality of those already here.

If Norwood is fit, he should play, otherwise I'd still expect more of an attacking line up than Barrow, with Kirby/Tollit alongside Cook up front. While it would be good to see Gumbs get a start, more likely Vaughan will come in and Sutton move to central defence. As for midfield, would expect Hughes to start after his lengthy ban, but how the rest of the pack in juggled is hard to guess.

I'd expect a decent Rovers following, despite the all-ticket provisions. Maybe about 350 travelling fans in a crowd just over 1k. We really need a win hopefully Micky can deliver.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

As Boz says, Solihull have adapted to the National League reasonably well, but we should be targeting this game and the one on Tuesday night against North Ferriby as winnable fixtures which we can use to get our season back on track.

I am not too concerned about the absence of Ihiekwe as I rate Lee Vaughan more highly than most of our supporters. Further forward, Norwood has apparently trained all week, but I have no idea if he will be ready to play. If he is not fit, Darren Stephenson was better than Kirby last week and might partner Cook up front. More generally, with Jeff Hughes available again in midfield it will be interesting to see what formation Micky goes for: if we start in a 4-4-2, my preference would be for a pairing of Maynard and Hughes in centre midfield, as Jennings and Harris reverted to type at Barrow.

I think Boz is way out with his estimate of the Rovers numbers. We had sold 500 tickets as of Wednesday night and Tranmere fans are now able to pay on the turnstile. I would guess we will take 6-700 fans, almost certainly matching the number of Moorons in the crowd.

 

[Boz]

Re crowd, have now seen the 500 figure you mention quoted elsewhere and the pay-on-the-day option potentially bolsters numbers. However after a relatively poor turnout at Barrow, am still a bit wary of predictions of large numbers of travelling SWA.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

We always have decent support in the Midlands; we had 800 at Kidderminster last season, albeit we were in better form then, and we would generally take between 600 and 1,000 fans to Walsall when we were in League One. Last week was a one-off as a lot of people won't watch an FA Cup qualifying match on principle, and Barrow is quite awkward to get to.

Solihull themselves confirmed that we had sold 400 tickets a couple of days ago so it will be a turnout of at least 500, which is excellent considering our current form.

 

[Boz]

While it looks as though your estimate may be right, I'm less sure about extrapolating crowd figures from past games in the area. We only got ~400 in our league game at Barrow last year, for example, well down on the SWA at Morecambe the year before.

It sounds from the o/s that Norwood is still a doubt.

 

[Boz]

It is quiet on here.
Strange line-up, Almond, Kirby starting, Tollitt on the bench, Duggan not featuring at all.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

It is quiet on here.

You can say that again. Playing well so far and fully deserve the lead. Almond is playing behind cook and Kirby in a 4312, and the football is encouraging.

 

[Boz]

A good win, some contentious decisions going our way according to Wirral radio commentary. Davies, Vaughan, Kirby and Jennings before a bad injury the pick of the players in their view. Looking forward to RLCs report

 

[Mal]

having a Newcastle/tranmere combo bet, I am really hoping that this game kickstartsed the season. Apparently, there were ove 1000 Tranmere supporters there.

 

[Ian]

Now that was refreshing! Sounds like we dominated and there was only going to be one winner. How it should be really. Pleased to see Jake getting a couple, which is a bit of a rarity.

Will be interesting to find out how some of the players got one. Vaughan, Almond, Hughes and Maynard in particular.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Yes, Boz, a strange line-up indeed. I'm wondering if Micky is experimenting a bit by trying out some of the players he hasn't seen. If I'm right, he'll run the changes again on Tuesday.

 

[Mal]

Watching his interview on Tranmere player, Micky indicated he is trying to find formations that suit the players he has at his disposal, and that can win matches. Also to work on a plan B If given approach isn't working in a match.

 

[Ian]

No disrespect to Solihull Moors but this is what we should be doing to teams week in week out. Let's hope it continues.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Apparently, there were ove 1000 Tranmere supporters there.

Yep, 1,047 Tranmere fans in a gate of 1,995, Solihull's record attendance ! Awesome support from the SWA and they got a performance to match.

We dominated the game from start to finish and the performance was highly encouraging. We created a number of good chances in addition to the goals and the scoreline could have been anything really: the only criticism would be that we did not convert our chances earlier to make life more comfortable for ourselves, but that would be nit-picking. Tactically, the 4-3-1-2 system we used worked really well and was a major advance on what we saw under Brabin, with every player - both starters and substitutes - utilised in their natural positions. Kirby and Almond were particularly impressive in their ability to find pockets of space behind the front two, something we have clearly worked on in training, and the passing football was very good at times. I would not be surprised if we used Connor Jennings in a similar role when he is fit.

There was some controversy surrounding our first goal - there was only one controversial decision - where the linesman flagged for a foul / offside against Cook but the referee allowed play to continue, with Jake Kirby showing a cool head to play to the whistle, round the keeper and score. The Solihull defenders stopped playing, and the ref should certainly have been more demonstrative when waving play on. However, every child is told to play to the whistle, so full marks to Kirby for doing just that. In any case, that bit of good fortune was outweighed by other decisions that went against us, notably Kirby harshly having a third goal disallowed for offside, and we were full value for the victory.

With regard to individual performances, I agree with the comments of the Wirral Radio commentators. With the system we were playing the width came from the full backs, and Vaughan in particular was outstanding on the right hand side. The midfield was greatly improved with the presence of Jeff Hughes and he seemed to bring the best out of Jennings, who had his best game for while. Louis Almond worked hard and played intelligently and the two centre backs were solid, with Solihull's only threat coming from set plays: I don't remember a shot on target from them in the entire ninety minutes. Man of the match, however, was the much-maligned Jake Kirby, who took his goals well, worked hard and was a constant threat.

Above all, it was great to see a performance that was so well balanced tactically and it is refreshing to have a manager who actually knows how to set a team up to win potentially tricky games like today's. This was the kind of performance against one of the 'lesser' teams we were always waiting for under Brabin, but never arrived.

Finally, credit to Solihull who seemed a friendly and professional club.

Roll on Tuesday night (and Thursday night).

 

[Cowshed Kid]

I might warm to my less than favourite Kirby if he keeps that up!
Bottom line is that we've achieved the sort of result we should always have been producing against that calibre of team since we sank to the depths and I mean no disrespect to Solihull.
Hopefully more similar moments to savour.
Great to see Nors back and with a goal.
Roll on Tuesday and, barring monumental disaster, we'll be right back in the mix.
Ignoring last week's blip, anyone else feeling a bit more relaxed about things?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Yes, Boz, a strange line-up indeed. I'm wondering if Micky is experimenting a bit by trying out some of the players he hasn't seen. If I'm right, he'll run the changes again on Tuesday.

I don't think he is experimenting, I just think he has looked at the squad and realised we only have one natural winger of our own (Mekki) and a number of central midfielders. With the players we have, a system where the width comes from the full backs and a creative player is used in the number ten role behind the strikers suits us quite well. Whether we start with four or five at the back, I think we might see this system used in the majority of future matches, certainly when Connor Jennings is available again

 

[Boz]

I got the crowd prediction hopelessly wrong; amazing turnout by the SWA.

The starting line-up was a little surprising. I'd thought Duggan after his recent performances would have at least made the bench, likewise Gumbs given the absence of other defensive cover, though Maynard/Hughes can be re-deployed in defensive roles. We'd just extended Tollit's loan, so seeing Almond starting was unexpected. The formation seems to have worked here, but Micky's managerial history shows a fair degree of flexibility, so unsure how often we'll use it. The radio commentators agreed with RLC about Jeff Hughes, who did a lot of the simple stuff well and in the process freed up Jennings and Maynard.

Controversial decisions; as well as the first goal, think the Mooroons had a goal disallowed at 0-1 for a foul on the keeper,which the commentators felt was generous to Rovers. They felt the disallowed Kirby effort was the correct decision.

It's never easy to gauge exactly what's going on from a radio commentary, but my impression was there was a period of about 20 minutes near the start of the second half when things were fairly even. They had brought their dangerman Asante on at half-time which may have given our defence more to think about. However it sounded like after that Rovers were in the ascendancy and Jake's second effectively killed the game off.

Suggestion on Wirral Radio of a winger coming in next week.

In answer to Cowshed Kid's question, in Micky we've clearly got a more tactically aware manager. The next game is one of those potential banana skins we'd have slipped up on under Brabin. Get over that hurdle and yes, I would feel more relaxed.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Mellon got it spot on tactically today. No, Duggan did not feature, but two of our other young players, Kirby and Almond, did and played key roles. Micky obviously had no intention of going 4-4-2, so there was no place for Tollitt, although he was chosen on the bench ahead of Mekki. It is not the role of the manager simply to shoehorn players into a team just because they played well the previous week, or because they are good names, a favourite G.Brabin trick; it is his job to pick a balanced, winning team, which we had today.

As for the 'controversial decisions', the Kirby 'offside' was marginal to say the least, and the SWA were closer to the incident than the commentators, and none of us thought it was offside. The foul on Davies was given well before the 'handball' incident, and in any case McNulty was so close to the ball to award a penalty would have been harsh. Rovers also had a good penalty claim of their own turned down. Solihull did have a better period after Asante came on, but did not create anything in open play, whereas we still looked very dangerous. We were much the better side and deserved the win today, no matter how much that may disappoint some people....... We look a team under Mellon, and I was encouraged by the performance.

It is rumoured the winger coming in is Adam Dawson, although other players including Sean Newton and Mangan have been mentioned. If we do bring in a winger, we would obviously have the option of playing 4-4-2, but I would maintain that when Connor Jennings is fit he will play just behind the strikers in a system similar to the one we used today.

One area where I do still have concerns is the lack of goals coming from midfield. Maynard had two good chances today which he did not take, and the sum total of goals from midfield this season is one, I believe. Maynard rarely scores and Hughes, Jennings and Harris never score. I think that has to improve if we are to win promotion.

 

[Mal]

Other people have commented that you cannot be offside from a goalkick.

 

[Boz]

RLC, neither of us got the starting line-up right in our pre-match remarks and it's good the team performed so well today. Quite a brave selection of Louis Almond, who hadn't impressed on previous outings, but it paid off. I agree that it's good to avoid the square peg/round hole approach to team selection that Brabin was fond of, hopefully Micky can steer well clear of the other Brabin speciality of persisting with out of form players regardless.

I didn't get the impression from the commentary that the McNulty 'handball' was the same incident as the disallowed goal, but they didn't say much about the penalty claim.

Unsure what to make of Dawson coming back, if that is the case. He's a player who seems to have mental issues preventing him applying his undoubted talent consistently, but would be a useful addition to the squad. It's hard to see how we could fit Mangan into the current line-up. Newton would be a good addition, but would cost a fee, whereas Demetriou, who Micky managed at Shrewsbury, is unattached.