Tranmere Rovers
Have we been spoilt?
Tranmere Crest
By David Sindall
October 11 2024
There is a question that arises, which may seem strange, but I wonder, have we as supporters been spoilt under the period of Mark and Nicola Palios’ ownership of the club? Most of us assume our glory days were under Peter Johnson. We reached our highest position in the League, knocking on the door of the Premier League, but Mark and Nicola never had the resources PJ had.
Before writing this article I wanted to look at the success of managers since I started supporting Rovers. I first went to see Tranmere play in 1968, at the end of the Dave Russell era. I have to say I can’t remember huge amounts about those early games as I was seven and didn’t concentrate much on the football. I was more interested in messing around at the back of the Borough Road terracing, in those days it was more like watching from a well maintained field. The Cowsheds was even worse,the back of it was like a council tip, but suffice to say, the first couple of seasons don’t conjure up huge memories. It got better after that and I was lucky to see the likes of Coombes, Yardley, Beamish, Crossley, Mathias, Ronnie Moore and Mark Palios all wear Rovers shirts.
In my period of supporting Rovers we have had 23 managers, including Nigel. I am not sure how many owners we’ve had but the two most important have been Peter Johnson and Mark & Nicola Palios. By my reckoning we played 1452 competitive games under PJ’s stewardship and 521 competitive games under Mark and Nicola’s stewardship. Both have given the managers job to the same person on a number of occasions. Ronnie Moore managed twice under PJ, and Micky Mellon managed twice under Mark and Nicola.
It’s difficult to compare like with like. Football was very different when PJ took ownership of the club and it was still a time when it was easier to rise from the lower leagues to the top. Clubs like Watford and Notts County all managed to climb to the top. By contrast recent years have seen such transformations as being harder to achieve. Yes, Brighton have managed to climb from playing at the Rottingdean to playing in the Premier League, and Wrexham are enjoying a degree of success with an upward trajectory, but in general terms movement has become harder and less fluid.
The other difficulty in comparing records is that part of Mark & Nicola’s tenure has been outside of the Football League. It might be argued that the opposition wasn’t as difficult in Non- League as it was in the Football League. However, resources were also scarcer. A mate of mine, who I used to go to Rovers with when I was at Primary School, argues that getting back into the Football League is the clubs greatest achievement.
The surprising thing is that in terms of games won Mark and Nicola have a success rate of 41% compared to PJ’s 39%. They have also been quite ruthless. If you assume that a season is about 46 games in length only two of their managers, Gary Brabin and Micky Mellon, had tenures long enough to have had a ‘full season’. By comparison the only manager to have managed for less than a season under Peter Johnson was John Barnes, who took the helm for 14 matches.
There are, of course, lies, damn lies and statistics. In my own mind nothing can beat the thrill of Chris Malkin’s goal against Bolton, or Ned’s equaliser against Leicester. Yet, there are Rovers supporters who never experienced those thrills. Now is all they know, and now may not be such a bad place. However, what can’t be disputed is that the Palios period has been a success, not necessarily reaching the heights they themselves aspired to but still doing pretty well. Whoever comes after them will have a hard act to follow.
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11/10/2024 11:30
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As for not spending money, prudent owners don't pretend fresh air is money and spend it. Palios is an owner of Tranmere now not Portsmouth 10 years ago.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
and why would he but please come back Micky.
Quote:kennyspint
I went to Accrington we looked pretty good. Don't know what could have happened if the League had continued but it would have been justifiable to to just stop it and start again next season. Thanks M and N Palios. Controversial I know
[/b]and why would he but please come back Micky[b].
He still lives locally 🤷♂️
it is easy to criticise when not in the 'hot seat'
Quote:Bored rover
No absolutely not. Relegation to the NL as on there watch, it was a total disaster and should never have happened , we were not bankrupt when we dropped into Lg2 from Lg1, we had enough money to be mid-table. They made a poor choice in not ejecting Micky Adams earlier. They were new to club ownership granted but that was mega meltdown. Having gone down to NL we then spent mega-bucks at that level established an None League All stars cast and then failed to perform for 2 seasons. We then stumbled out of NL , shot through to Lg1 and spent no money and blamed Covid for losing like 30 of 39 games which is what resulted in relegation, blaming PPG because we had a mini revival for 2 games .
The football on the pitch is below par and the owners focus appears to be on finding a new owner and being involved in football administration matters.
The distancing of the club from the Trust and the early termination of the agreement with WBC to run the Beechwood Community Project appear to be a step back from the club being accessible to fans views and embracing the Wirral community.
I would point out that this is just my opinion but the general feeling
around the ground and the early evacuation of the Kop before the final whistle yesterday provide some indication that all is not right at the club.
We appear to be heading back where we were, despite Nigel's positivity and the club's spin on everything from having a good squad, community work ( I think the community charity does a great job,), the level of cattering, the PA in the
JK stand, etc.
Most people probably won't agree with me and the gloom from yesterday's match may be still lingering but I would be pleased to hear other people's views.
