By John Lee
March 13 2015
In another new feature here on Total Tranmere, John Lee provides his take on everything topical in relation to Tranmere in his 'Topical Musings' Blog.....
Words have failed me recently. I haven't put a blog together for a good few weeks. But I'm back now and on a new platform with Total Tranmere after the collapse of Rover Radio. We are going through a difficult time as a club and so we need to stick together. This is my rallying cry!....
The Poor Run
I think the debacle away to Pompey is a good place to start. We were safe. At 2-0 up, I felt as though we were not only in a safe position in the game but a safe position in the table. A win would have moved us six points clear. I honestly think that would have been it. Done. Safe. But we couldn't hold on. To concede those goals in such a short space of time is unforgivable. I wasn't one of the fantastically faithful fans that made the trip that night but I tip my cap to you all. It's a huge effort at the best of times. It must have been a difficult journey home. Unfortunately, this wasn't the one off blip we were hoping it would be.
Cheltenham was a nightmare. We were playing a team just below us. The team occupying the final relegation place. They hadn’t won at home since October and had only won one game in 2015. They hadn’t kept a clean sheet since September and a win would put right the collapse of the previous game and left us again six points clear. Less than ten minutes into the game and we are 1-0 down. Listening to the commentary on Tranmere Player, it felt inevitable. We went on to lose one of the biggest games of our season and yet again underperformed in a so called ‘six pointer’. Another chance wasted and talk of the wheels coming off.
After a difficult couple of away games, we had an opportunity to make home advantage count and to nip this bad run of form in the bud. I travel from Manchester for the home games and when I arrived in Liverpool I received a call from my dad saying his car had broken down and wouldn't be coming to the match. Looking back, it was a sign of things to come. It was a freezing cold night and we just didn't get going. Wycombe are a decent side but I didn't leave thinking they were any better than us. This is how things have been recently. We haven't been outplayed. Not often anyway. But we don't seem to do the little things correctly. Other teams clear their lines. We seem to mess about and take chances. Other teams see games out when they are ahead, like Wycombe. We don't. Like against Portsmouth. If we had the nous that Wycombe did, we'd have seen out the games against Pompey, Shrewsbury, Accrington and Cheltenham. All games we were leading in. All games we lost. Sitting here with twelve more points, things would have looked a lot rosier.
Dagenham and Redbridge
When news filtered through that Jason Koumas was starting and that we had dropped Kayode Odejayi, I was very optimistic. So much so that I glossed over the fact that this seasons star performer, Danny Holmes, was benched. Koumas oozed class from the first minute. He makes time and plays passes that our other players could only dream of. He hit an inch perfect 40 yard pass to Jennison Myrie-Williams that any player in world football would be proud of. Then he did it again. I just kept questioning why we had a player who can do this sat on our bench every week. Then disaster struck. His hamstring went. Now, it went because he was putting a shift in and making up for the fact that Max Power and Steven Jennings were not doing their bit. That must be acknowledged. But it happened and within a minute we were losing. Season over? It certainly felt that way for a few minutes. Our saviour had retuned and was running the show. The player we have all been calling for to get a start was doing the business. Only for him to pull up lame and signal to the bench to come off. It felt like a huge moment, especially when Jamie Cureton lobbed Owain Fon Williams less than a minute later. But then Danny Gardner produced something very special. What a peach of a strike. All hope and optimism was restored.....only for us to make the a catalogue of errors and lose the game. Yet again.
I started this blog stating that this is my rally cry. Now I am right behind the lads and will be at every home game and a few away ones cheering us on to safety. But full time on Saturday was my lowest ebb as a Tranmere fan. I left Prenton Park for the second time in four days completely disillusioned. It felt like last season all over again. Dagenham posed no real threat. Ability wise, they were no better than us. But they wanted it more. How is that possible? How can another team come to our ground when we are in the position we are and want it more? That isn’t acceptable and it needs to change.
Micky Adams
There has been a lot of reaction to him in recent weeks. Not everyone was happy with the appointment in the first place. Most were just happy to see the back of Rob Edwards. But now there seems to be a large number calling for his head. Would this be a good move with eleven games to go? I felt this would be a ludicrous move when this was first mentioned. But now, I think I’m open to it. I must stress that I am not calling for his head and I’m still backing him but I wouldn’t see it as a bad move if Mark Palios gave him the boot. Financially, he’s only contacted until June, so it wouldn’t be much of a pay-out. Maybe it could work? Maybe a new guy would get us the wins we need? Would Palios do it though? I don’t think so. He’s backed Adams all along and I can’t see that changing. So I urge all the fans to get behind Micky Adams, get behind the team and save the calling for his head until after the last game of the season.
Cobblers
Next up is a really in-form Northampton Town. They are flying up the league and are a decent bet for the play offs. We need to go to their back yard and bring something home. It doesn’t seem likely, does it? But we need to forget that. We need the players to go there full of confidence and the best way for that to happen is for the fans to get behind them. It needs to start now. We can’t go another game without a point. When Micky first took over, he steadied the ship with draws and then the wins came. We have been away to Exeter and won. We have been away to Dagenham and won. Next week, we need to be talking about how we went to Northampton a won. Or at the very least, avoided defeat. People keep talking about these being ‘must win’ games. I don’t think we are quite there yet. We are only one point from safety. So it doesn’t have to happen now.....but it has to happen soon!
Saturday evening was the first time I had truly contemplated relegation to the Conference. It needs to be the last. Let’s get behind the lads whatever team Micky picks this weekend but let’s hope Danny Gardner gets a start. I think that boy might just be the one who keeps us up.
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