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No.3: 2nd April 2015


By John Lee
April 2 2015

Continuing another new feature here on Total Tranmere, John Lee provides his take on everything topical in relation to Tranmere in his 'Topical Musings' Blog - here is his third installment.....

 

 

 

 

 

The result away at Cambridge set us up nicely for our two home games.  We went into them full of confidence, still outside of the relegation zone and dreaming of six points.  Unfortunately, like the rest of the season so far, dreaming of back to back wins is as close as we got to those six points!

Burton Albion are a good side and we knew that we would need to play very well to get anything out of the game.  We also knew that we would need a little bit of luck along the way.  We didn’t get that.  Losing 4-1 should sounds like a battering and that our heads would drop but it was far from a poor performance.  We played well.  We deserved something from the game.  But we didn’t get that luck we needed.  After going two goals down, we pulled one back through an absolutely world class finish from Kayode Odejayi.  Something that I can’t quite believe I am writing.  I once tweeted that he wouldn’t score a single goal for us this season!  He certainly proved me wrong there. 

We then came out for the second half with renewed optimism and really got at Burton.  The awarding of a penalty looked like it might be the turning point in our season.  The moment we have been waiting for.  We score this and we are away.  2-2 with only one side in it.  We were playing well and your mind drifts to the next goal.  You are already thinking about that vital win.  It’s still 2-1, the penalty hasn’t even been taken yet but you are already thinking about how vital three points would be, what the teams around us are doing and even thinking about next week’s game against  AFC Wimbledon!  The balloon quickly bursts though. Max Power steps up and misses…again.  Credit to him, he backs himself. I’d struggle to take a meaningful penalty in a five a side game. Stepping up in front of The Kop at Prenton Park with everybody’s hopes and dreams on your shoulders. I’d crumble. Lots of our players would crumble, which is why they don’t step up.  But Max steps up.  Every time.  So I will not slate him for missing but it was the moment that the game got away from us.

Burton went on to score two more goals as we chased a point and they ran out winners.  Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink stating afterwards that we deserved to win the game counts for very little.  There is no column in the table for good performances.  Small margins again, Micky?  I’m starting to get a bit sick of these small margins.  Whatever happened to the glory days of massive margins!  We all knew where we stood back then!  Anyway, we stayed out of the relegation zone and saw enough in the game to think we can get three big points against AFC Wimbledon.  So all was not lost.

Pulling up outside Prenton Park, I was fairly happy seeing the starting line-up.  As ever, I would rather see Danny Holmes start but I was happy enough.  I was interested to see how George Green would do.  He only looked very slight in the warm up and I think he looked nervous in the minutes before the game.  Could he handle the physicality of the game?  Will his heart be in it with him only being a loan player?  Could he do what he has been doing in the reserves at Everton?  YES HE ABSOLUTELY CAN!  Answered with aplomb.  But more on that later.  We absolutely bossed this game.  To only get a point is hard to take.  We had chance after chance.  Janoi Donacien, Adam Dugdale and Steven Jennings all missed really clear cut chances.

Green George

George Green was Inspirational on his Rovers Debut against Wimbledon last Saturday

With the score being 1-0 to AFC Wimbledon at the time of each, you do fear the worst.  We were creating lots of chances but not putting them away. Adebayo Akinfenwa was winning every single ball played into him.  He was fully in beast mode.  But he was their only threat.  Their only option.  Once when we got the ball off him, we looked good.  Our midfield worked really well and got us moving quickly.  This was by far our most committed performance of the season and the most deserving of three points I have seen in a long time.  But going into injury time, we had nothing to show for our efforts. Yet again.  Then up steps young George Green.  He’d spent 90 minutes demanding the ball, beating his man and creating chances.  What a breath of fresh air!

A hard critic would say he over hit a few corners, tried things in dangerous positions, didn’t release the ball and may get the other players backs up with his moaning….but for what he produces, all of this can be forgiven.  He was absolutely incredible at times.  Beating men with ease.  Creating chance after chance.  He was demanding the ball from experienced professionals just two days after meeting them…on his debut!  His equaliser summed it all up.  Max Power took a free kick by just nudging it to him and effectively said, ‘go on, do something!’  And he did!  He cuts in from the right, beats two players and smashed it into the top corner!  What a talent.  You can see why Micky Adams beams when he is asked about him.  If he plays like this every week and has the same attitude as in this game, the kid could keep us up on his own!

I think we need changes for the Stevenage game.  For me, Danny Holmes has to come in for Adam Dugdale, with Michael Iheikwe moving into central defence.  He isn’t playing well at the moment and we have our most fierce competitor sat on the bench.  I’d go with the same three in midfield but bring in Iain Hume for Rory Donnelly.  Depending on fitness, I would also bring in Danny Gardner for Jennison Myrie-Williams but by the sounds of things, this game may have come too soon for him. 

I raised a question on my Twitter account recently about our goalkeeper situation and who should play on Friday.  Owain Fon Williams was preferred by 23 to 15.  However, I think I would stick with Peter Brezovan.  He has kept several clean sheets for Southport while on loan there and did well against AFC Wimbledon.  Many haven’t forgiven him for his performance against Accrington in September but that game was a long time ago.  Cheltenham were top of the League back then! I think he deserves his chance.

So just the one point from these two home games.  It’s less than we required.  If we had played poorly, it may have been leading to the inevitable.  Looking at the cold hard facts, you could argue that these dropped points will be too much to recover from.  But we played very well and we have unearthed a gem of a player in Green.  The results themselves don’t show this.  We needed points in these games as it looked like we would pick very little up on the road. But that was then.  It now seems our performances have turned a corner. Maybe we can go to Stevenage and upset the applecart?

They have just been beaten at home and haven’t won in four games.  Will they be feeling the pressure as they lose grip on that play off place? I can see some people on here are losing faith and it is understandable. But it is so tight at the bottom and a win away at Stevenage would change everything. It could be the game that catapults us to safety. Unlikely? Probably.  But definitely not impossible.  As they say, stranger things have happened.  You just need to look at what Hartlepool have achieved to see that!

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Topical Musings: 2nd April 2015 (Number 3)
Discussion started by Total Tranmere (IP Logged), 02/04/2015 18:24
Total Tranmere
Total Tranmere
02/04/2015 18:24
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Hoots Mon
Hoots Mon
02/04/2015 19:06
Thoroughly entertaining John. I don't agree with all the comments but well done.

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