Down to the Wire
Tranmere Crest
By David Sindall
March 29 2026
promised to come back and look at this at the start of April. March was far from a happy hunting ground for us. The relegation spot is now down to 2 from 5. How we quite managed to get ourselves into this catastrophic situation can be explored after 2nd May. It shouldn’t be ending this way. All bar one result went against us.
Our performance against Swindon showed much promise. Yet we came away with nothing. Clubs above us are now safe, I reckon as I can’t see Barrow, Newport or Crawley closing the gap on Shrewsbury. If you disagree I’m sure you’ll comment.
Teams trying to catch us have to play each other in that Barrow host Newport on the final day. And Newport host Crawley on Good Friday. Newport also play Harrogate on 11th April. I can see them avoiding the drop, I can’t see Barrow doing so. I suspect and then I think it’s Harrogate or Crawley who will join them. What this means is that the notional available points can’t translate into these totals for all the teams listed.
Tranmere
Home (Points available 9)
6th April - Colchester
18th April - Bristol Rovers
2nd May - Grimsby
Away (Points available 12)
3rd April - Shrewsbury
11th April - Chesterfield
21sr April - Cheltenham T (a)
25th April - MK Dons
Crawley Town
Home (9pts)
6th April - Grimsby Town
18th April - Shrewsbury Town
2nd May - Salford City
Away (9pts)
3rd April - Newport County
11th April - Bristol Rovers
25th April - Accrington
Barrow
Home (12pts)
6th April - Chesterfield
14th April - Oldham
18th April - Walsall
2nd May - Newport County
Away (9pts)
3rd April - MK Dons
11th April - Barnet
25th April - Cambridge Utd
Harrogate Town
Home (9pts)
6th April - Bristol Rovers
18th April - Colchester United
2nd May - Barnet
Away (9pts)
3rd April - Grimsby
11th April - Newport County
25th April - Walsall
Newport County
Home (9pts)
3rd April - Crawley
11th April - Harrogate Town
25th April - Oldham
Away (9pts)
6th April - Notts County
18th April - Cheltenham Town
2nd May - Barrow
Newport play 3 of their relegation rivals, so it's possible that their maximum points is as low as 43, Harrogates maximum is 48pts.
if Tranmere only win three games it means that
Harrogate Have to win 6
Barrow have to win 5 and
Crawley and Newport have to win 4.
We are 4 points above the drop. This is the point in the disaster movie in our season where either the cavalry arrive, or the alien space ship destroys the rescue vessel. I’m worried it’s the latter.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Quote:Total Tranmere
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
I wouldn't write Barrow off. I watched their game against Bromley yesterday and they completely dominated the league leaders particularly in the second half and should have won by more. Such a performance is beyond our team at the moment. I wouldn't fancy us in a head to head against any of the teams currently down at the bottom.
We have had our destiny in our own hands for months, and with a considerable margin to spare, and that has been totally squandered. With each game the pressure increases and we do not look like a team with the character to respond. Too often we have cracked late in games. It is reasonable to hope that suddenly things will change but the harsh reality is that there has been nothing yet to give substance to hope. Throughout 2026, we have played like a team bad enough to be relegated. At that time I subscribed to the the view that with our cushion we should not go down, but that we were poor enough that we could go down. The first part of that statement, is now utterly fragile and the second part stronger than ever.
The new manager bounce - in some cases a manager comes in and instantly gets the results needed, and then after 5 or 6 games they fall away again eg. Cowan at Shrewsbury...in other cases, a manager comes in and struggles initially but after some time he starts to get results eg. Evans at Bristol Rovers.,,we have had no new manager bounce with Wild, and IF he does get to the stage when he starts to get results then it could be too late.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:03:29:13:47:32 by hong kong rover.
I can completely imagine us continuing to struggle and it going down to the last game or two. I can also imagine us picking up positive results from the next couple of games that would take us a massive step closer to safety.
Hopefully, the improvement shown against Swindon will continue and be translated into the wins we desperately need.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:03:29:17:07:24 by jonesy792.
With the exception of the debacle against Harrogate, Fleetwood was a dogged if unattractive performance and IMO, we were unlucky not to have beaten Swindon.
Quote:Jack of all Trades
We certainly need to win the next two games, no easy task, based on current form and take the remaining games one by one.
Hopefully, the improvement shown against Swindon will continue and be translated into the wins we desperately need.
Don't think Swindon was an improvement , we lost 1-0 to another late goal, which began on the 1st Day at Colchester. We are a losing side
quote Bored rover][quote Jack of all Trades]We certainly need to win the next two games, no easy task, based on current form and take the remaining games one by one.
Hopefully, the improvement shown against Swindon will continue and be translated into the wins we desperately need.[/quote]
Don't think Swindon was an improvement , we lost 1-0 to another late goal, which began on the 1st Day at Colchester. We are a losing side[/quote]