Tranmere Rovers
Consistently inconsistent
By Martin Johns
February 26 2024
One week we are beating the League leaders, the next we are getting beat by relegation candidates. Inconsistency is becoming a characteristic of our season and it's hard to understand what this is down to? The same players enter the field of play, yet 90 minutes later they trudge off unrecognisable from the team we saw a week earlier. Sometimes it even happens in the same game, 15 minutes of brilliance against Morecambe, followed by 75 minutes of gradual disintegration.
What can we put this down to. The obvious point, after Forest Green, is that we are a team that does not travel well. We are 2nd to bottom on the away form guide and 9th on the home form guide. Clearly, dropping points on the road has become a habit, one that may make the difference between making the play offs and finishing in the bottom third. Only Sutton United have a worse away record, they visit Prenton Park at the weekend, I wonder if we will be in a generous mood? Why playing away from home is so hard is difficult to understand. Our away support is phenomenal, always loud, always enthusiastic. Perhaps it is the modern trend of travelling to and from matches on the same day? Another indication that we are skint.
Away form alone though can't explain it. We have a squad of players who are favoured by the manager but contain personnel who can be worryingly inconsistent. The star performers, Jennings, Apter and McGee, always perform well. There are some though who you don't know what you're going to get. Walker, Morris, Turnbull, Hendry and Saunders, seem to play great one week and not so well next time out. Can this be improved through coaching, or is it just part of the problem with players in the 4th tier? You could argue that Stockport had a poor team showing when they lost to us, yet the following week they were back to being on good form. The difference must be that good teams at this level have fewer off days than poorer teams, who only have occasional good days?
This squad needs restructuring. We are very close to securing our place in the EFL for next season. It remains to be seen whether or not the inconsistency in individual performances can be ironed out or if this is something we have to learn to live with. If Nigel has managed to secure us League football the next step,is building a squad that can deliver promotion. That will only come through consistency.
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26/02/2024 09:45
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The substitutions made no impact
I am not sure it is a confidence issue more a squad that includes quite a few indifferent players. The hope for me is that NA will oversee better recruitment in the close season
I believe our pitch is one of the best in the division. I think there have been issues with the grass but the hybrid nature of it helps us disguise this. It drains well and looks like a very good surface to play on.
This must make some other pitches much harder to play on. The FGR pitch looked heavy and saturated, with so many players slipping and the ball bobbling off cut up tufts of turf. This has to be an advantage for the home team, who are used to playing on it every other match.
For me, there is no question that playing in front of a noisy and supportive crowd, provides extra adrenaline to go the extra yard. Being the home team provides greater numbers for this. We have had some really impressive away followings that have spurred the team on at times. Equally, we had great numbers at FGR but the open air nature and general spreading of supporters down the length of the pitch made it less atmospheric than a roofed stand. I thought that was a disadvantage for us.
With our current squad, if the selection is right with some pace available in the full back areas and attacking positions (which is in short supply), I still feel we rely on a large degree luck, alongside a fully committed 11, with our positive results.
For me, Nige's task for the summer is to clear out the players that either don't offer pace, significant strength or impressive passing accuracy/ability (which is quite a few sadly) and bring in some hungry players that do. To start with, I feel this needs to include better quality loan recruitment. Apter has worked out well after a very slow start but have any of the others? They should all enhance the team, be nailed on starters and push other squad members to preform to their standards, rather than just fill spaces on the bench (or not play at all).
Might need to be a new thread but I'm interested on seeing who supporters would keep and release at the end of the season. My hope is that Nige is already well on with his plans in this regard.
In Nige we trust SWA
We have already lost more games this season (19 losses) than any full season in recent years.
2023-24 (so far) P35 W12 D4 L19 F53 A52 PTS 40
2022-23 P46 W15 D13 L13 F45 A48 PTS 68
2021-22 P46 W21 D12 L13 F53 A40 PTS 75
2020-21 P46 W20 D13 L13 F55 A50 PTS 73
2019-20 Demoted from EFL1
2018-19 P46 W20 D13 L13 F63 A50 PTS 73 (Promoted via Play off Final V Newport)
The previous seasons statistics reinforce how poor we have been so far this season and with only 11 games to go will be significantly worse (subject to a late sequence of wins as December)
Home Games - Sutton, Mansfield, Crawley, Colchester, Walsall and AFC Wimbledon.
Away Games - Gillingham, Wrexham, Bradford C, Newport and Accrington.
I would settle for an away win at Wrexham, just to hear whinging Phil Parkinson's excuses on how they were robbed yet again!!!!
Whatever the remaining season brings survival will be a result but, next season with the few exceptions already signed up, requires a major overhaul.
Quote:Jack of all Trades
As others have stated, it has always been an up and down process following Rovers none more so than this season, until the turnaround with Nige in full charge.
We have already lost more games this season (19 losses) than any full season in recent years.
2023-24 (so far) P35 W12 D4 L19 F53 A52 PTS 40
2022-23 P46 W15 D13 L13 F45 A48 PTS 68
2021-22 P46 W21 D12 L13 F53 A40 PTS 75
2020-21 P46 W20 D13 L13 F55 A50 PTS 73
2019-20 Demoted from EFL1
2018-19 P46 W20 D13 L13 F63 A50 PTS 73 (Promoted via Play off Final V Newport)
The previous seasons statistics reinforce how poor we have been so far this season and with only 11 games to go will be significantly worse (subject to a late sequence of wins as December)
Home Games - Sutton, Mansfield, Crawley, Colchester, Walsall and AFC Wimbledon.
Away Games - Gillingham, Wrexham, Bradford C, Newport and Accrington.
I would settle for an away win at Wrexham, just to hear whinging Phil Parkinson's excuses on how they were robbed yet again!!!!
Whatever the remaining season brings survival will be a result but, next season with the few exceptions already signed up, requires a major overhaul.
Looking at those home games, other than Mansfield, there's no reason we can't win the other 5. And the away games I'd be happy just drawing one or two of them. And comparing our run in to that of FGR, Grimsby and Colc, I think we've got an easier run in. Especially compared to FGR who have like 8 play off/promotion chasers out of their last 12 or something like that.
