Match Discussion: Boreham Wood (A)

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:12:03:18:29:47 by Deadly Submarine.

With possibly Kirby and Vaughan in the squad and some more confidence with our goal scoring chances I would say 2-1 Tranmere we just need that bit of luck.

no idea at all. So going for a 0-1 defeat.

Good chance of a win here - They'll be smarting after Woking and being turned over by Boredom Wood at PP earlier in the season.

1 0 to Rovers.

Another defeat would be unbearable.

Lose 4-0 because there a bunch of a has-beens who have all been there and done it and don't give a @#$%& about giving 100% and just turn up for a kick about and payday

Don't give 100%? They had around 20 chances the other day and the majority of possession. What about that says they don't care?

There's caring and being able to translate that into results and Norwood has scored in consecutive games, so does that include him too?

Frankly I'll take a 1-0 and hopefully some momentum because of it. A couple of wins are needed and I think there's a possibility they might happen, certainly with the personnel in the squad.

Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.

Boreham Wood being the place where "On the Buses" sitcom was filmed, like buses that always seem to come in threes, I'm going for a 3-0 win for us. "I 'ate you Blakey!!"

Quote:

Gilbert's Fridge
Boreham Wood being the place where "On the Buses" sitcom was filmed, like buses that always seem to come in threes, I'm going for a 3-0 win for us. "I 'ate you Blakey!!"

i'll ave you butler, if its the last thing I do, naah get that bus out.

Confidence is low in the squad and with me but I am going with a two nil win to SWA. I don't even mind an own goal from Boreham Wood don't want to GB go, still think he,s got more to offer.

there has to be a reaction after tuesday and yesterdays incomings and outgoings if there isnt, brabin is finished as tranmere manager

I think we will do well to avoid defeat, hopefully I am wrong

I would take a draw that's how far we have sunk now

2-1 win. Back to 442, better shape and more options. Mangan and Norwood up TOP with goal each

Quote:

bigmart
I would take a draw that's how far we have sunk now

Another way of looking at could be that that's how far you have sunk .

Admittedly a draw would not be a dreadful result, but if the team can even get a goal, the defense in general holds up. Third best defense I think before that Tuesday night p!ss up and even now the four conceded dropped Tranmere behind a couple of other teams I think, so still in general, the goals against form this season is evidential of decent defending in the main.

I appreciate your thinking about Brabin going, though for now I do not concur, but if the team were to win, would you call off the dogs, so to speak, for a week or two?

Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.

It is a game that should be won but we are not turning possession into goals and so results are difficult to call. The tem has not looked right since Dawson's injury. The signings since then have looked better on paper than they have on the field

Quote:

AndyMase
2-1 win. Back to 442, better shape and more options. Mangan and Norwood up TOP with goal each

Absolutely nailed it there.

I expect Rovers to win today as I expect them to win every match! Another defeat and the manager has to question his ability to motivate and organise his team.

Quote:

DevonExile
It is a game that should be won but we are not turning possession into goals and so results are difficult to call. The tem has not looked right since Dawson's injury. The signings since then have looked better on paper than they have on the field

The team's problems essentially boil down to this.

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Matt34

Quote:

bigmart
I would take a draw that's how far we have sunk now

Another way of looking at could be that that's how far you have sunk .

Admittedly a draw would not be a dreadful result, but if the team can even get a goal, the defense in general holds up. Third best defense I think before that Tuesday night p!ss up and even now the four conceded dropped Tranmere behind a couple of other teams I think, so still in general, the goals against form this season is evidential of decent defending in the main.

I appreciate your thinking about Brabin going, though for now I do not concur, but if the team were to win, would you call off the dogs, so to speak, for a week or two?

Brabin was brought in with the sole aim of getting us promoted, we look a long way away from a promotion outfit he has had very good backing with a budget that is not top 8 but top 4.We are halfway through the season after today nothing that I have witnessed suggests we will get promoted.

We cannot be as bad as the home game against them, or can we?

a must win game to get us back on track

surprised he's playing Tomlinson in front of Mekki,disappointed he's persisted with Jenno.

mekki and mangan on the bench? brabin must have his reasons.

0-0 after 30 mins. we never seem to come out of the starting blocks and attack from the start under brabin.

where is the immediate reaction from the humiliation at woking??? they say, patience is a virtue, bloody well hope so.

From the commentary sounds like we are battling well but creating naff all. Tomlinson sounds dreadful.

three substitutions through injury, not good.

Hopefully brabin last game in charge today after another poor result against 5th from bottom of the league, just proves we are a mid table team with a @#$%& poor manager !!!! We should be beating these teams when challenging for a play off place which is gettin further and further away after every game !!!
WE WANT BRABIN OUT WE WANT BRABIN OUT !!!!!

In the past 11 games we have taken just; 2 more points than Southport, 4 more than Halifax and 5 more than Kidderminster, 3 of the bottom four, 7 of those points came 8 games ago, relegation form if ever I saw it, we MUST see change of some sort or we will soon be sucked into trouble.

Plus for Brabin he signed a right back minus for Brabin it's half a season too late then to bring back Kirby and play Tomlinson. We have drawn with a team who got zero shots on target. I'm now convinced. BRABIN OUT.

Very odd team selection today. I was hopeful of change today after the inns and outs but set up again seemed wrong. Tomlinson has been poor since joining! I don't particularly like Kirby but if you going to recall him give him a game for god's sake.

not good enough. no response after the woking game. no goals again. two games against a side that came up to the conference last season and fail to score against them in both games. something definitely wrong at the club. is it brabin and his system or tactics? is it the players? is it something else? jimmy Harvey at Halifax wins his first game 4-1 at gateshead and today he wins again 4-2 versus dover. proof that if u change your manager it can have an immediate and successful impact.

Please dont say we want brabin out, you dont speak for majority of supporters .

Thank you

poor result to be honest

Quote:

ming05
Please dont say we want brabin out, you dont speak for majority of supporters .
Thank you

I didn't say' brabin out' in my post.

Been saying for months how poor of a manager Gary brabin is... People are now starting to realise and anyone who doesn't and would like to see our club fall lower and lower this season are a joke !!

Happy with a point under the circumstances . Hope injuries are ok.

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hong kong rover

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ming05
Please dont say we want brabin out, you dont speak for majority of supporters .
Thank you

I didn't say' brabin out' in my post.

I think he meant me. I've not said it before but today I am fed up with the situation. I thought in the week it was positive to bring in two players but today was more of the same.

Six points from the top six places, three injuries, an attendance of 640 people.A point away from Home, no goals against,..others dropped points . Do I feel happy or numb ?Answers on a Postcard
more Happy than MP or GB. Keep the Faith.

OK, maybe. But Cheltenham were as bad as us last season. But yeah would prefer continuity if we could start scoring

I just dont understand his team selections.

so we are half way through the campaign and our season has gone completely flat, doesn't look as if an immediate return to the football league is on the cards [ not at the moment anyway.] if we are to still be down here come next season, then I hope the season so far and the remainder of it will be a big learning curve for us and we have a much better understanding of whats needed to win games and how we approach teams and their different styles of play. I watched the eastleigh v southport game today on a computer stream and eastleigh didn't look like a cheating, dirty side at all [ I believe they were when they beat us at prenton a few weeks back ] the point I am trying to make is that we have to learn from sides like eastleigh and a few others and deal with it... back to today, yet again we have had NO REACTION after a bad result previously. why aren't we getting a response? mind u we kept a clean sheet today and didn't concede 4.lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:28:18:40:35 by hong kong rover.

When we criticise team selections, this is done without any knowledge of what may be happening behind the scenes. Remember against Guiseley, the crowd were furious when Mekki was substituted only to find out later that it was due to cramp. There is probably a good reason while Kirby wasn't even on the bench today, (illness, injury or perhaps GB wants him to have more time with the squad first). Near the beginning of the season, the crowd couldn't understand why Margetts wasn't in the starting 11. When he eventually got his chance - did it work? No.

So when the manager picks team that the fans don't agree with, it doesn't mean that he doesn't know what he's doing.
After all, how many of Gary's critics have had football management experience? No manager would deliberately make bad selection decisions, because afer all, it is his career and reputation which is at stake.

We are all dissappointed that we are not at least in the top 5 at present, but with half the season still to go, it is acheivable. Let's get behind Gary and the players and help to make it happen. Football is all about ups and downs, that's the way it is.

Anyone who is happy with this result is seriously deluded. They had 313 home fans, they, at best, will have 10% of our budget. Failing to even score is pefetic.

I am glad I stayed at home today

Coltran, can you explain to me why he keeps picking Jennings

our next three games..

Braintree - they don't lose many
Halifax - rejuvenated under jimmy Harvey and scored 8 in 2 games
macclesfield - the form side in the conference at present

good luck tranmere!

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coltran
When we criticise team selections, this is done without any knowledge of what may be happening behind the scenes. Remember against Guiseley, the crowd were furious when Mekki was substituted only to find out later that it was due to cramp. There is probably a good reason while Kirby wasn't even on the bench today, (illness, injury or perhaps GB wants him to have more time with the squad first). Near the beginning of the season, the crowd couldn't understand why Margetts wasn't in the starting 11. When he eventually got his chance - did it work? No.
So when the manager picks team that the fans don't agree with, it doesn't mean that he doesn't know what he's doing.
After all, how many of Gary's critics have had football management experience? No manager would deliberately make bad selection decisions, because afer all, it is his career and reputation which is at stake.

We are all dissappointed that we are not at least in the top 5 at present, but with half the season still to go, it is acheivable. Let's get behind Gary and the players and help to make it happen. Football is all about ups and downs, that's the way it is.

I fully accept what you say, however IMO he isn't cut out for it. IMO he wants to play a style of football our players are not happy with, round holes square pegs. I'm not comparing us or our situation to Them for 1 minute but UTD were poor under Moyes not because he is a poor manager or because they had poor players but because Moyes tried to inflict a style of play, he utilised to great success at Everton, upon the UTD players. Giggs or Matta are no Cahill's they are gifted players who want to play expansive attacking football not stifle the opposition and be hard to beat, eventually and very quickly UTDS players got really fed up results were poor Moyes went and they moved on. Leicester virtually the same team as last season , new manager new ideas improved performance. Football managment is not just about what players you buy and your formation. Like any manager in any job a football, manager has to be able to "manage" players off the pitch, expectations, work life balance, happiness, confidence, interest and IMO ours look decidedly uninterested, lacking confidence and unhappy. IMO Brabin talks the talk but can't walk the walk. As you say we don't know what's going on behind closed doors Could very well be that Brabn isn't happy in his role or with how things at the club are being run, who knows. But what is for sure is we keep banging on a locked front door and it appears no one has checked to see if the back door is open.

Agree. Les Parrys one achievement was to keep us up with Barnes
squad. He did this by playing a system the players understood. And yes it was very negative. We have some good players now they should do better. 442 anyone

Quote:

dinamofookdarest
Been saying for months how poor of a manager Gary brabin is... People are now starting to realise and anyone who doesn't and would like to see our club fall lower and lower this season are a joke !!

The joke is you speaking for the rest of us, as if we're mindless sheep who should think like you do.

You don't speak for me an never will so please stop doing it and if you knew enough about today's result, which you might, you'd realise he had to make 3 subs due to injury, not bad selection.

As for people criticising their attendance and speculating on their budget, in that case bigger teams with more fans should always win cup matches shouldn't they, so then if you always have the biggest and best budget and players you should be one of 4 teams that always win the big two domestic cup competitions.

No budget at any level gives you divine right to beat people with less, so that argument for me is flawed massively.

I'm pleased with the clean sheet, but disappointed with no goals, but given the three enforced subs it could have been worse.

Hopefully the next game, will prove a bit more fruitful.

Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.

Matt34 😂😂😂 get a grip, pleased with the clean sheet, yea so is everyone else but we played 5th from bottom, nothing to be proud of !! Sick of supporters such as yourself making excuse after excuse for this embarrassment, I never thought one bit we would walk this league or win every game by 3 or 4 goals, how ever when 95% of the fan base have said we need a right back (he gets one after 22 games) when he had all of pre season so no excuse there, he plays Jennings week after week for God knows what reason, we've got no pace or power atall in this team, when we are playing in the conference and the skill levels are extremely low, the main winning factors are these 2 things, Tomlinson is a joke of a signing and this is extremely obvious after playing a few games at Grimsby (promotion rivals) and them not wanting to keep him... I could go on but sick of explaining why he should go !!

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dinamofookdarest
Matt34 😂😂😂 get a grip, pleased with the clean sheet, yea so is everyone else but we played 5th from bottom, nothing to be proud of !! Sick of supporters such as yourself making excuse after excuse for this embarrassment, I never thought one bit we would walk this league or win every game by 3 or 4 goals, how ever when 95% of the fan base have said we need a right back (he gets one after 22 games) when he had all of pre season so no excuse there, he plays Jennings week after week for God knows what reason, we've got no pace or power atall in this team, when we are playing in the conference and the skill levels are extremely low, the main winning factors are these 2 things, Tomlinson is a joke of a signing and this is extremely obvious after playing a few games at Grimsby (promotion rivals) and them not wanting to keep him... I could go on but sick of explaining why he should go !!

Skill levels aren't the issue here, anyone who's played football to a good level knows that the players in this division are no less skilful than premiership players, they just lack other atributes such as athleticism, fitness, concentration every single player in this division would run circles round any West Chesire players or the like, that's why it's so difficult!

I can't deal with some of the people that come on this forum... HIGGOSBOOTS- how can you say players at this level are no less skilled than premiership players 😳😳😳 so Adam mekki has the same skill level as Eden hazard but hazard has a better fitness level ?? Vincent kompany has the same skill level as Richie Sutton but he's not as athletic ??? Litterally the dumbest thing I've ever read !!!

Quote:

dinamofookdarest
I can't deal with some of the people that come on this forum... HIGGOSBOOTS- how can you say players at this level are no less skilled than premiership players 😳😳😳 so Adam mekki has the same skill level as Eden hazard but hazard has a better fitness level ?? Vincent kompany has the same skill level as Richie Sutton but he's not as athletic ??? Litterally the dumbest thing I've ever read !!!

Firstly there is no need to be so rude, I never mentioned Eden Hazard or any of the other star players, there are 20 teams in the Premiership and they don't all consist of Vincent Kompany. Clearly mate you ain't a footballer and from your posts know very little about the game, I can assure you that Mekki and Sutton as poor as you may think they are have fantastic ability otherwise they wouldn't be playing at this level, given Everyman and his dog turn out on Sunday for the Queens Arms or The Albion. I assume you attend the games negatively critique good play and shout general rubbish at BRABIN from the family enclosure as you had a trial for West Ham in the 80's but broke your leg. Tiny violin time Do very one a favour and stop writing rubbish!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:28:21:28:40 by Higgosboots.

Most of them would have been more suited to spending their afternoon playing on the Meadow Park childrens play area just outside the ground.If that was supposed to be a response to the Woking debacle,then we really are in deep clag.

Grim from start to finish-honourable exceptions Vaughan[easily our best player] and Norwood who at least tried his best.

One of the few bits of humour I heard from our fans was when somebody shouted,''Come on Rovers,let's pretend that we're good''.
We all laughed because there was no chance of that.


However,it didn't look or sound good when GTF screamed a couple of sentences laced with swear words at Hill for the heinous crime of not running over to take a the ball off him for a throw in after about half an hour.

They don't get on its obvious and it's our problem

Can someone tell me what GTF has brought to the team and is he any better than Mangan

Quote:

Old Rover
Can someone tell me what GTF has brought to the team and is he any better than Mangan

He played well at Forest Green,ok the next game but since then not a lot.

Mangan was extremely poor again today when he came on in the second half-hardly got involved and contributed absolutely nothing apart from demanding and taking the ball from Norwood when we had a free kick in a very good position about a quarter of an hour from the end. He then hit an appalling effort straight into the wall when the situation screamed for Norwood to take it.

TBF I have been critical of the manager and would like a "better" manager however BRABIN is correct in his post match. We have kept a clean sheet and it is important to do so, and we haven't done so for a while. I just think we should be way past making the team solid at the halfway stage, that's a pre season first couple of matches job. We should be kicking on now.

Hoots do you think Mangan is cheesed off that GTF is starting ahead of him

I believe the manager has lost the fans!


But worse, I believe the players can't believe our so called supporters.


We have drawn away 0-0 in a game of football in a league that's turning out to be so competitive and hard in my opinion.

We lost on Tuesday badly as a result, ok, we didn't win but it was a decent away point and nearly won it at the end!

Couldn't believe the booing at the end, I was disgusted by our so called fans reaction.

Absolutely no need and undeserving for most of the lads on the park!

Quote:

Old Rover
Hoots do you think Mangan is cheesed off that GTF is starting ahead of him

I don't know. But he was poor against Guiseley and just didn't look up for it at all today.Mind you,he spent much of his time today on the left wing not up front.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:28:23:29:37 by Hoots Mon.

Quote:

Ingleboro08
I believe the manager has lost the fans!

But worse, I believe the players can't believe our so called supporters.


We have drawn away 0-0 in a game of football in a league that's turning out to be so competitive and hard in my opinion.

We lost on Tuesday badly as a result, ok, we didn't win but it was a decent away point and nearly won it at the end!

Couldn't believe the booing at the end, I was disgusted by our so called fans reaction.

Absolutely no need and undeserving for most of the lads on the park!

Sorry but I don't agree it was a ''decent away point''. Borehamwood played much worse today than they did at Prenton Park yet we deserved no more than a draw-we just did not seem up for it[apart from Vaughan and Norwood].

the form we have at the moment will still b a possibility to get out of this division. Only problem is it will b getting relegated again 😳😳😳 come on Palios let's not go for a hat trick of relegations please !!!!

Yes Mr.Brabin we kept a clean sheet the only problem was so did Borehamwood. If we keep on getting a decent away point and a decent home point we will be out of this league on a downward spiral.

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Hoots Mon
Most of them would have been more suited to spending their afternoon playing on the Meadow Park childrens play area just outside the ground.If that was supposed to be a response to the Woking debacle,then we really are in deep clag.
Grim from start to finish-honourable exceptions Vaughan[easily our best player] and Norwood who at least tried his best.

exactly right hoots, where was the reaction from the woking fiasco? its the fans, like yourself , that pay hard earned money and take time out for games, that I feel sorry for.if results and performances don't start improving very soon then surely it will start to affect attendances. will be interesting to see what the gate will be for the Braintree game. they are not a big draw [ without being too disrespectful to them ] also xmas is coming up and with our recent poor efforts on the pitch are we to see a sub 4000 gate?

I could only get updates on wirral radio yesterday, but got full commentary for the final 5 mins. one interesting point that the commentator mentioned..was that as soon as the final whistle went, palios gave a long hard stare to the tranmere dugout. how much longer will he put up with this? his patience must be running out now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:29:11:25:14 by hong kong rover.

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hong kong rover

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Hoots Mon
Most of them would have been more suited to spending their afternoon playing on the Meadow Park childrens play area just outside the ground.If that was supposed to be a response to the Woking debacle,then we really are in deep clag.
Grim from start to finish-honourable exceptions Vaughan[easily our best player] and Norwood who at least tried his best.

exactly right hoots, where was the reaction from the woking fiasco? its the fans, like yourself , that pay hard earned money and take time out for games, that I feel sorry for.if results and performances don't start improving very soon then surely it will start to affect attendances. will be interesting to see what the gate will be for the Braintree game. they are not a big draw [ without being too disrespectful to them ] also xmas is coming up and with our recent poor efforts on the pitch are we to see a sub 4000 gate?

I could only get updates on wirral radio yesterday, but got full commentary for the final 5 mins. one interesting point that the commentator mentioned..was that as soon as the final whistle went, palios gave a long hard stare to the tranmere dugout. how much longer will he put up with his? his patience must be running out now.

Yes.I left home at quarter past nine in the morning and got back home about five past nine at night.

I love people looking at the positives of keeping a clean sheet. They didn't have a shot on target! When we realised that they posed no striking threat, we should have subbed a defender and gone for the win.

Minus a lucky 2-1 win, our last 7 results have been dire, nobody can argue that.

If we had played mekki, kirby, Maynard and Harris in midfield and mangan next to Norwood, we would have had so much energy in our play.

By playing Jennings and GTF plus badly balanced teams, we hand the iniaitive to the opposition and don't dominate teams.

And from what I have seen this season, teams have come to PP waiting to be beaten (Boreham Wood being an example) and have then grown with confidence when they realise they are not being dominated.

And what happened when we had Harris and Maynard, and two wide men against Bromley?? We smashed them 4-0 which proves that we can do it. I also remember walking away from that game believing that we could win the league.

Mark Palios needs to sit Brabin down and make him watch that game (and the Chester one), and just remind him of how good we actually are - without all of the new signings in those games as well!!

The last word should go to Bobby Moore in Escape to Victory when they are about to sneak off at half time:

'We can still win this!'

#SWA

Quote:

Old Rover
Coltran, can you explain to me why he keeps picking Jennings

I've said what I think elsewhere. I believe he is doing exactly what the manager is asking him to do, which is to sit in front of the defence, keep our shape and free up Harris and the wingers to get forward. Hence it appears that he doesn't do much - long balls out of defence bypass him and he's not getting forward to support attacks.

The game against Eastleigh at home when he came off the bench and scored we were chasing the game and he looked a completely different player.

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mini_andy
I love people looking at the positives of keeping a clean sheet. They didn't have a shot on target! When we realised that they posed no striking threat, we should have subbed a defender and gone for the win.
Minus a lucky 2-1 win, our last 7 results have been dire, nobody can argue that.

We had no subs left to use because of injury just after half time.

I am not having that, doogie.

In most games we have not needed a holding midfielder because we have not had teams attacking us.

And secondly, a holding midfielders role is a dynamic one and is usually an extremely mobile, fit and aggressive player. Jennings simply does not get around the pitch enough and doesn't close down enough. Two years ago maybe, but not now.

And lastly, Harris can do that job better, he starts off attacks better and he can shoot better.

Jennings is literally holding us back.

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Doogie'sGhost

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Old Rover
Coltran, can you explain to me why he keeps picking Jennings

I've said what I think elsewhere. I believe he is doing exactly what the manager is asking him to do, which is to sit in front of the defence, keep our shape and free up Harris and the wingers to get forward. Hence it appears that he doesn't do much - long balls out of defence bypass him and he's not getting forward to support attacks.

The game against Eastleigh at home when he came off the bench and scored we were chasing the game and he looked a completely different player.

And as well as the stuff I said in an earlier post, Jennings never wants the ball so we can't build up play. He never asks for it from the full back because he knows he can't pass the ball properly.

In reply to your question above Old Rover, it is a mystery to me also why Jennings seems to be an automatic choice in midfield. Gary must have his reasons and as the manager he will either succeed or fail on the basis of those decisions.
If he did drop Jennings and it made the situation worse, I don't think many people on this forum would like to admit they were wrong. As the manager, he is best placed to know the strengths and weaknesses of his squad and his future career is dependant on the decisions he makes.

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Higgosboots
They don't get on its obvious and it's our problem

interesting point. do we have disharmony within the ranks at tranmere and is this the major factor in our recent poor run of results? if this is the case, and I will reiterate, IF, then its ridiculous and its the kind of behavior one would expect in the school play yard. if certain players aren't getting along then brabin sure needs to sort it out and quick. does seem that mcnulty and GTF have upset the apple cart since their arrivals at the club.

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Hoots Mon

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mini_andy
I love people looking at the positives of keeping a clean sheet. They didn't have a shot on target! When we realised that they posed no striking threat, we should have subbed a defender and gone for the win.
Minus a lucky 2-1 win, our last 7 results have been dire, nobody can argue that.

We had no subs left to use because of injury just after half time.

Hogan is a defender last time I checked, he got injured just before half time, at which point we could have reshuffled the side. No plan b from brabin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:11:29:12:15:31 by mini_andy.

Boreham Wood are a very poor side with a very poor home record and people are satisfied with a point there!

We are halfway through the season we do not look remotely like a team who will make the play offs, quite simply we need to change the manager as we are going nowehere under Brabin

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mini_andy

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Hoots Mon

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mini_andy
I love people looking at the positives of keeping a clean sheet. They didn't have a shot on target! When we realised that they posed no striking threat, we should have subbed a defender and gone for the win.
Minus a lucky 2-1 win, our last 7 results have been dire, nobody can argue that.

We had no subs left to use because of injury just after half time.

Hogan is a defender last time I checked, he got injured just before half time, at which point we could have reshuffled the side. No plan b from brabin

Sutton was the right substitution when Hogan was injured. In fact I can't understand why he was not in the starting eleven.

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hong kong rover

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Higgosboots
They don't get on its obvious and it's our problem

interesting point. do we have disharmony within the ranks at tranmere and is this the major factor in our recent poor run of results? if this is the case, and I will reiterate, IF, then its ridiculous and its the kind of behavior one would expect in the school play yard. if certain players aren't getting along then brabin sure needs to sort it out and quick. does seem that mcnulty and GTF have upset the apple cart since their arrivals at the club.

It's only my opinion based on what I have seen, I don't think its GTF or McNulty either, Halifax at home was the first I noticed it. Norwood yelling "Play it to my f&&ing feet at his defence" and fisty cuffs in front of the away end between two players. I've also heard about disharmony in the changies too, won't mention the midfielder involved.

A few things here that no one has really mentioned. If Brabin is sacked, I would imagine he has to be paid off. If we then take on a new manager, then he has to be paid as well. MP might be a wealthy man compared to probably everyone on this thread, but he is not a bottomless pit. He has invested heavily in the club in many departments already. I think everyone who wants GB to go might look at things differently if all the money was coming out of their pocket to fund all the changes. As much as we are all in despair, imagine how MP feels.

I always wait a while before getting my bit in, but even after 24 hours, I still think that was the worst game I have ever seen. Borehamwood were woeful. Scott Davis could have just folded his kit up after that match ready for Braintree. It's easy to look on the positives (clean sheet, point gained etc). It's just as easy to look at the negatives (2 points lost, no goals scored, potential disharmony etc). There is one thing we all have in common and that is we want our team to do well. We had more supporters at Borehamwood than they did, so we still have huge support in this league. We can't moan at the Player's not giving their all and then us not doing the same by stop going to support them. At least we can be proud that we are still there giving our support. Incidentally, do the guys shouting "you're not fit to wear the shirt"" at the end of the Borehamwood match seriously think that they are helping morale?

I'm as upset as everyone else here. I never thought we'd get this bad. However, there are a lot of decent footballing sides in this league. As bad as we were after 20 minutes at Woking, nobody has mentioned how good their number 20 was (I think his name was Holman). Equally, there are some real clogger's around. Let's just hope that over the winter, our players gel a bit more and our (supposed) fitness levels favour us.

Finally, I'm sure I'll get shouted down by a few with this post, but don't get personal like some on here. I want us to be promoted, or at least play decent football, as much as anyone else. That's why we all go isn't it?

Superb post Dupak - full of common sense and reason.

We all agree we need to score goals and BRABIN knows it too. For me his style knocks players confidence and is confusing:

Take our top scorers as examples: Mangan 7 goals hasn't started every game, As top scorer you would expect to start and should be brimming with confidence and pride as a CF. He has pace and an eye for goal two things defenders hate. But instead he is relegated to the bench in favour of a guy who's scored 1 goal in 7 or 8 games and is a big unit who can't run, 2 things defenders are happy to play against. (I appreciate he has a touch of class and was a good signing I felt, but as a game changer to come on with 30 minutes to go).If I was in Mangans shoes I'd wonder what on earth I need to do in order to start, see my rear and be tapping up clubs for a January move. Consequences to his confidence: Low.

Norwood 7 goals scored, joint top scorer, used as a wide man. Another big unit but a bit more mobile has 10 yards of pace and eyes for goal, defenders aren't going to be overjoyed playing him. We're do we play him, outside, why? He's a striker, he won't be happy, but is in the starting 11. If I was Norwood wonder what I need to do to get the CF berth, I have played league football feel I can still play it, it's the reason I came here, Could be tempted away to play CF by a promo chasing side in January with a guarantee of playing up front. Consequence on confidence, satisfied.

Maynard, 3 goals, next best in terms of beating the custodian. Big powerful, quick, determined, tough, eye for goal. Opposite number and defenders will loathe playing against this. Halifax player of the year last season, called upto a "big" team pre season, 3 goals early on, called upto National side, riding a crest of a wave: reward from GB, dropped to bench then recalled to right back. If I was Maynard, wouldn't be happy Old has been of a big unit in Jennings preferred to me in CM. Should I be club captain? I would now be looking to cement my place in the National side however I will need regular football in my position, feel I could be playing league football and may consider a move away to cheltenham, Grimbsy, FG in January, I would probably be tapping them up. Consequence on confidence, indifferent, boosted by national call up but feeling outed at my league club.


I realise I can not speak for those 3 players, and these are fictional feelings before I'm told off, they may be very content at Rovers, it's just my take on how I might feel in their shoes and why performance may be effected.

Quote:

Dupak
A few things here that no one has really mentioned. If Brabin is sacked, I would imagine he has to be paid off. If we then take on a new manager, then he has to be paid as well. MP might be a wealthy man compared to probably everyone on this thread, but he is not a bottomless pit. He has invested heavily in the club in many departments already. I think everyone who wants GB to go might look at things differently if all the money was coming out of their pocket to fund all the changes. As much as we are all in despair, imagine how MP feels.
I always wait a while before getting my bit in, but even after 24 hours, I still think that was the worst game I have ever seen. Borehamwood were woeful. Scott Davis could have just folded his kit up after that match ready for Braintree. It's easy to look on the positives (clean sheet, point gained etc). It's just as easy to look at the negatives (2 points lost, no goals scored, potential disharmony etc). There is one thing we all have in common and that is we want our team to do well. We had more supporters at Borehamwood than they did, so we still have huge support in this league. We can't moan at the Player's not giving their all and then us not doing the same by stop going to support them. At least we can be proud that we are still there giving our support. Incidentally, do the guys shouting "you're not fit to wear the shirt"" at the end of the Borehamwood match seriously think that they are helping morale?

I'm as upset as everyone else here. I never thought we'd get this bad. However, there are a lot of decent footballing sides in this league. As bad as we were after 20 minutes at Woking, nobody has mentioned how good their number 20 was (I think his name was Holman). Equally, there are some real clogger's around. Let's just hope that over the winter, our players gel a bit more and our (supposed) fitness levels favour us.

Finally, I'm sure I'll get shouted down by a few with this post, but don't get personal like some on here. I want us to be promoted, or at least play decent football, as much as anyone else. That's why we all go isn't it?

Your comment about the pay off is a good one and is always a fact that people are prepared to ignore in situations like this.

Also, I agree that abusing players is never a sensible course of action and can often be counter-productive.

The issue is that the team is under-achieving and I think the manager needs to take some hard decisions on who is playing and in what position. And actually, if I am being really honest, I don't think brabin is up to the job but we will probably have to wait until the end of the season before a final assessment is made.

It's just really disappointing and frustrating because we should be doing so much better than we are.

Quote:

Higgosboots
We all agree we need to score goals and BRABIN knows it too. For me his style knocks players confidence and is confusing:
Take our top scorers as examples: Mangan 7 goals hasn't started every game, As top scorer you would expect to start and should be brimming with confidence and pride as a CF. He has pace and an eye for goal two things defenders hate. But instead he is relegated to the bench in favour of a guy who's scored 1 goal in 7 or 8 games and is a big unit who can't run, 2 things defenders are happy to play against. (I appreciate he has a touch of class and was a good signing I felt, but as a game changer to come on with 30 minutes to go).If I was in Mangans shoes I'd wonder what on earth I need to do in order to start, see my rear and be tapping up clubs for a January move. Consequences to his confidence: Low.

Norwood 7 goals scored, joint top scorer, used as a wide man. Another big unit but a bit more mobile has 10 yards of pace and eyes for goal, defenders aren't going to be overjoyed playing him. We're do we play him, outside, why? He's a striker, he won't be happy, but is in the starting 11. If I was Norwood wonder what I need to do to get the CF berth, I have played league football feel I can still play it, it's the reason I came here, Could be tempted away to play CF by a promo chasing side in January with a guarantee of playing up front. Consequence on confidence, satisfied.

Maynard, 3 goals, next best in terms of beating the custodian. Big powerful, quick, determined, tough, eye for goal. Opposite number and defenders will loathe playing against this. Halifax player of the year last season, called upto a "big" team pre season, 3 goals early on, called upto National side, riding a crest of a wave: reward from GB, dropped to bench then recalled to right back. If I was Maynard, wouldn't be happy Old has been of a big unit in Jennings preferred to me in CM. Should I be club captain? I would now be looking to cement my place in the National side however I will need regular football in my position, feel I could be playing league football and may consider a move away to cheltenham, Grimbsy, FG in January, I would probably be tapping them up. Consequence on confidence, indifferent, boosted by national call up but feeling outed at my league club.


I realise I can not speak for those 3 players, and these are fictional feelings before I'm told off, they may be very content at Rovers, it's just my take on how I might feel in their shoes and why performance may be effected.

Fictional feelings indeed. The last two of them AFAIK are in the first year of two year contracts so why would they be tempted away. Mangan was poor against Guiseley and didn't look up for it yesterday. Why? Ask him.

Quote:

Hoots Mon

Quote:

Higgosboots
We all agree we need to score goals and BRABIN knows it too. For me his style knocks players confidence and is confusing:
Take our top scorers as examples: Mangan 7 goals hasn't started every game, As top scorer you would expect to start and should be brimming with confidence and pride as a CF. He has pace and an eye for goal two things defenders hate. But instead he is relegated to the bench in favour of a guy who's scored 1 goal in 7 or 8 games and is a big unit who can't run, 2 things defenders are happy to play against. (I appreciate he has a touch of class and was a good signing I felt, but as a game changer to come on with 30 minutes to go).If I was in Mangans shoes I'd wonder what on earth I need to do in order to start, see my rear and be tapping up clubs for a January move. Consequences to his confidence: Low.

Norwood 7 goals scored, joint top scorer, used as a wide man. Another big unit but a bit more mobile has 10 yards of pace and eyes for goal, defenders aren't going to be overjoyed playing him. We're do we play him, outside, why? He's a striker, he won't be happy, but is in the starting 11. If I was Norwood wonder what I need to do to get the CF berth, I have played league football feel I can still play it, it's the reason I came here, Could be tempted away to play CF by a promo chasing side in January with a guarantee of playing up front. Consequence on confidence, satisfied.

Maynard, 3 goals, next best in terms of beating the custodian. Big powerful, quick, determined, tough, eye for goal. Opposite number and defenders will loathe playing against this. Halifax player of the year last season, called upto a "big" team pre season, 3 goals early on, called upto National side, riding a crest of a wave: reward from GB, dropped to bench then recalled to right back. If I was Maynard, wouldn't be happy Old has been of a big unit in Jennings preferred to me in CM. Should I be club captain? I would now be looking to cement my place in the National side however I will need regular football in my position, feel I could be playing league football and may consider a move away to cheltenham, Grimbsy, FG in January, I would probably be tapping them up. Consequence on confidence, indifferent, boosted by national call up but feeling outed at my league club.


I realise I can not speak for those 3 players, and these are fictional feelings before I'm told off, they may be very content at Rovers, it's just my take on how I might feel in their shoes and why performance may be effected.

Fictional feelings indeed. The last two of them AFAIK are in the first year of two year contracts so why would they be tempted away. Mangan was poor against Guiseley and didn't look up for it yesterday. Why? Ask him.

More money, success/promotion, footballers are fickle creatures contracts mean nada.

Quote:

Hoots Mon

Quote:

Higgosboots
We all agree we need to score goals and BRABIN knows it too. For me his style knocks players confidence and is confusing:
Take our top scorers as examples: Mangan 7 goals hasn't started every game, As top scorer you would expect to start and should be brimming with confidence and pride as a CF. He has pace and an eye for goal two things defenders hate. But instead he is relegated to the bench in favour of a guy who's scored 1 goal in 7 or 8 games and is a big unit who can't run, 2 things defenders are happy to play against. (I appreciate he has a touch of class and was a good signing I felt, but as a game changer to come on with 30 minutes to go).If I was in Mangans shoes I'd wonder what on earth I need to do in order to start, see my rear and be tapping up clubs for a January move. Consequences to his confidence: Low.

Norwood 7 goals scored, joint top scorer, used as a wide man. Another big unit but a bit more mobile has 10 yards of pace and eyes for goal, defenders aren't going to be overjoyed playing him. We're do we play him, outside, why? He's a striker, he won't be happy, but is in the starting 11. If I was Norwood wonder what I need to do to get the CF berth, I have played league football feel I can still play it, it's the reason I came here, Could be tempted away to play CF by a promo chasing side in January with a guarantee of playing up front. Consequence on confidence, satisfied.

Maynard, 3 goals, next best in terms of beating the custodian. Big powerful, quick, determined, tough, eye for goal. Opposite number and defenders will loathe playing against this. Halifax player of the year last season, called upto a "big" team pre season, 3 goals early on, called upto National side, riding a crest of a wave: reward from GB, dropped to bench then recalled to right back. If I was Maynard, wouldn't be happy Old has been of a big unit in Jennings preferred to me in CM. Should I be club captain? I would now be looking to cement my place in the National side however I will need regular football in my position, feel I could be playing league football and may consider a move away to cheltenham, Grimbsy, FG in January, I would probably be tapping them up. Consequence on confidence, indifferent, boosted by national call up but feeling outed at my league club.


I realise I can not speak for those 3 players, and these are fictional feelings before I'm told off, they may be very content at Rovers, it's just my take on how I might feel in their shoes and why performance may be effected.

Fictional feelings indeed. The last two of them AFAIK are in the first year of two year contracts so why would they be tempted away. Mangan was poor against Guiseley and didn't look up for it yesterday. Why? Ask him.

Because he's sat on the bench watching GTF do nothing in his position.

For me there's no question that Norwood should be playing centre forward. Despite his wayward finishing he's the most complete player we have - strength, pace and skill. It's very easy to move players like that out to the wing and point to the fact that they have an impact there, but we should have a system where we are getting the ball to him in the middle.
GTF flatters to deceive. By playing between the strikers and the midfield he gets a lot more of the ball and it looks like he's controling the game but everyone looks better in that position - they have more space to play in but the fact is that they are there at the expense of having someone in the danger area. This isn't the right team for him in my opinion.

Going back to the days of relegation under Aldridge the expectation has been that we will bounce straight back up. As we have dropped down the divisions we have becom more and more the big club (in our minds!); this has increased the expectation with each drop. Probably time for a reality check and to understand that success and promotion are earned and not a right. We are currently not good enough and maybe, at least for now, we have found our level. This is painful to accept as the quality of the football we are watching is not what we want to accept; certainly no comparisons with premier league players PLEASE!!! I guess we should be grateful we look to have stopped the rot of further relegation and at least have a platform, even if a bit rickety, to build from. I guess I'm in between those who have blind faith (foolish in my opinion) and those who have lost the faith; have had time to reflect and calm down since Boreham result though! I agree with MalkinsNobblyKnees and Norwood would be my first choice centre forward.

Quote:

Phil65
Going back to the days of relegation under Aldridge the expectation has been that we will bounce straight back up. As we have dropped down the divisions we have becom more and more the big club (in our minds!); this has increased the expectation with each drop. Probably time for a reality check and to understand that success and promotion are earned and not a right. We are currently not good enough and maybe, at least for now, we have found our level. This is painful to accept as the quality of the football we are watching is not what we want to accept; certainly no comparisons with premier league players PLEASE!!! I guess we should be grateful we look to have stopped the rot of further relegation and at least have a platform, even if a bit rickety, to build from. I guess I'm in between those who have blind faith (foolish in my opinion) and those who have lost the faith; have had time to reflect and calm down since Boreham result though! I agree with MalkinsNobblyKnees and Norwood would be my first choice centre forward.

Good sensible post.

Hi Phil and HootsMan

I refuse to accept that we have "found our level". What we have at the moment is a team that is under-performing. We are six points away from the play-offs with 23 games still to play. The club has set its stall out with the slogan "the fight-back starts now" or words to that effect. We may be consigned to playing in this hell-hole of a league for more than one season, but I feel that it is defeatist to believe that we cannot achieve promotion. I am also relieved that we appear to have "stopped the rot".
The team has yet to find a level of consistency this season and with the transfer window beckoning, we are certainly in with a shout.

I understand the 'found our level' arguments but only agree to a certain degree and would suggest that League 1 or 2 should be our level. My reason for that is clubs like Accrington , Morecambe and Walsall who do well at those levels with relatively small budgets.

The thing is that from the middle of league one to the middle of the conference there's so little difference that it's difficult to say where anyone's level is! Once you get sucked down you find yourself in a situation where the advantage that you have over other clubs in the same division in terms of income due to crowds is cancelled out by general running costs (stadium maintenance, staff etc.)
I have a friend who's getting £300 per week part time (one training session + match) in the UNIBOND!!! (or whatever it's called now) so we aren't necessarily capable of paying wages in excess of what other clubs are paying, despite having attendances that are many times theirs.
Imagine a club that charges £20 (would have to be in the south!) per match and gets 1000 fans per match. It they have a more or less skeleton operation they could be paying their players a grand at every home game which is more or less £500 per week. That's probably the same as what we are able to pay in wages with attendances of 4,000 after all the running costs of the club have been deducted!

Quote:

MalkinsNobblyKnees
The thing is that from the middle of league one to the middle of the conference there's so little difference that it's difficult to say where anyone's level is! Once you get sucked down you find yourself in a situation where the advantage that you have over other clubs in the same division in terms of income due to crowds is cancelled out by general running costs (stadium maintenance, staff etc.)
I have a friend who's getting £300 per week part time (one training session + match) in the UNIBOND!!! (or whatever it's called now) so we aren't necessarily capable of paying wages in excess of what other clubs are paying, despite having attendances that are many times theirs.
Imagine a club that charges £20 (would have to be in the south!) per match and gets 1000 fans per match. It they have a more or less skeleton operation they could be paying their players a grand at every home game which is more or less £500 per week. That's probably the same as what we are able to pay in wages with attendances of 4,000 after all the running costs of the club have been deducted!

Agree totally.

Personally I feel our players are probably too good for this league. Ultimatley it goes back to what GB said early on (ish) teams are trying to park the bus. In some senses they are, the league is all about hustle and bustle and we are trying to play football against teams that have no interest in that. For example Boreham Wood, they had some big lads and there whole game plan was hoof it and kick us, to the point that at one stage there managment were yelling boot it higher! This is something that Brabin has to address and fast, we can't out football these sides so we need to get tough. Hence IMO why we put in good performances at top of the table sides, they want to play. I think the addition of McNulty is an attempt at toughening us up, however my feelings are that the likes of him and GTF have probably had enough of being booted about all ready and may well be off to pastures new in January or back to Luton, hopefully not. The challange for the manager is to turn us into a team that compete with the hustle and bustle and win the battle. We have to earn the right to win games and we just aren't at the moment and it's not good enough to keep coming up with the excuses.

Quote:

Higgosboots
Personally I feel our players are probably too good for this league. Ultimatley it goes back to what GB said early on (ish) teams are trying to park the bus. In some senses they are, the league is all about hustle and bustle and we are trying to play football against teams that have no interest in that. For example Boreham Wood, they had some big lads and there whole game plan was hoof it and kick us, to the point that at one stage there managment were yelling boot it higher! This is something that Brabin has to address and fast, we can't out football these sides so we need to get tough. Hence IMO why we put in good performances at top of the table sides, they want to play. I think the addition of McNulty is an attempt at toughening us up, however my feelings are that the likes of him and GTF have probably had enough of being booted about all ready and may well be off to pastures new in January or back to Luton, hopefully not. The challange for the manager is to turn us into a team that compete with the hustle and bustle and win the battle. We have to earn the right to win games and we just aren't at the moment and it's not good enough to keep coming up with the excuses.

good post

i think i said in an earlier post that if we don't go up this season then this seasons experience should be a massive learning curve for us and that come next season we have a much better understanding of each and every sides tactics[ footballing or not ] as higgo said we can play ,and the games versus fgr, bromley and aldershot have proved that. it could well be a case of us needing to come to terms with the hustle and bustle of this national league.

I think we as fans are new to this level of football but the management and players we recruited are not. This is no excuse for them underperforming as far as I'm concerned. It's time for the whole team to start getting the results back to winning ways.

Every ball is a white ball............TRFC

Quote:

MalkinsNobblyKnees
The thing is that from the middle of league one to the middle of the conference there's so little difference that it's difficult to say where anyone's level is! Once you get sucked down you find yourself in a situation where the advantage that you have over other clubs in the same division in terms of income due to crowds is cancelled out by general running costs (stadium maintenance, staff etc.)
I have a friend who's getting £300 per week part time (one training session + match) in the UNIBOND!!! (or whatever it's called now) so we aren't necessarily capable of paying wages in excess of what other clubs are paying, despite having attendances that are many times theirs.
Imagine a club that charges £20 (would have to be in the south!) per match and gets 1000 fans per match. It they have a more or less skeleton operation they could be paying their players a grand at every home game which is more or less £500 per week. That's probably the same as what we are able to pay in wages with attendances of 4,000 after all the running costs of the club have been deducted!

Hence the "we need to stay in the conference to be profitable" rumor mill and the "we couldn't afford to get promoted to the prem so we kept throwing it away" rumors all those years ago...

I'm getting really fed up of reading posts saying we're only 6 points off this, we're only 6 points off that( I dont mean any disrespect too the people posting the comments). I've been reading post like that for over two seasons now and look where we are.I long for posts saying what a great season we're having, Is'nt the manager brilliant, No one will catch us now.I've got a bottle of champers to celebrate our promotion(any promotion) I'm taking it to the antique road show next week. Sorry for the rant.

Quote:

Old Rover
I'm getting really fed up of reading posts saying we're only 6 points off this, we're only 6 points off that( I dont mean any disrespect too the people posting the comments). I've been reading post like that for over two seasons now and look where we are.I long for posts saying what a great season we're having, Is'nt the manager brilliant, No one will catch us now.I've got a bottle of champers to celebrate our promotion(any promotion) I'm taking it to the antique road show next week. Sorry for the rant.

You make a good point, I think that the rest of this season really is do or die for the club. A lot has been spent improving facilities and match day entertainment however this could be all in vein if there is no significant improvment. Chap in work has been going since mid 70's, bought a season ticket this year and has given up already, he's written the cash off as he says he's waisting his Saturdays. We still show 4 to 41/2 thousand gates but a season ticket shows on the gate automaticaly wether filled or not, our gates may actually be significantly lower if others are doing the same. How many won't renew next year that bought or did this year on the promise of fight back. We could soon have the expense of a 19000 ground with 2000 in it.

"Too good for this league" and it's alter ego "too good to go down" are phrases that mean nothing. We are where we are due to our performances and we need to deal with the now and not the past or unrealistic future. Performances have been polar opposites from the decent to the dire. Teams "parking the bus" are prevalent in all divisions (even Jose Mourhino has been accused of this!)so we can't use that as a get out clause. Some of the buses that have been parked have suffered huge impact damage, at some previous point, leaving gaping holes for us to exploit but our finishing has been woeful. Having said all that I do admire the passion and desire from other posts and understand the difficulty in accepting our current predicament. On a positive note I get great pleasure from seeing the awe on some away supporters faces when they visit Prenton Park and their phones capture pictures of the stadium. In conversation with my manager, after she visited Prenton as a Chester supporter for the first time, she was mightily impressed with the set up ( no pay rise for me though after the result!). I guess we need to stay proud and live in hope. Sorry for any diversion with this post, just as passionate as others, believe me.

Quote:

MalkinsNobblyKnees
It they have a more or less skeleton operation they could be paying their players a grand at every home game which is more or less £500 per week.

That's confused me a little bit, as a grand is not £500 unless I'm misinterpreting things.

Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.

1000/2 me thinks Matt (1 home game every 2 weeks I think he was getting at) but then my calculator is on the blink 😄

Yes, you play approximately 26 home games per year (23 league + 3 cup) so that's one home game on average every two weeks.

Makes sense.

Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.