Crawley Town v Tranmere Rovers – The match preview

In the mix of another busy few days at Tranmere, Mike Jackson hopes for his first away victory as Rovers manager

A few days on from Tranmere’s 2-0 home victory against Southend United they are back in action,  again against a Southern football club, as they travel to Crawley Town. It’s set to be an interesting fixture and Tranmere could overtake their hosts in the league table if they manage to win.

Saturday saw few positives, it was more than evident that our team is capable of crossing the ball and players such as Peter Clarke are more than capable of scoring a great header after meeting these crosses. It is also evident that the players are able to ‘dig in’ and work together as a team to get the desired result from their performance. However, I thought that we didn’t play particularly ‘well’. This might not be a bad thing, we won without having to use too much energy and we may be able to use this energy and the understanding of the areas we can improve on in the upcoming fixtures. Being ‘negative’, this might speak volumes that there are problems within the team. Again, this may not be the case. The squad is still waiting to return to full match fitness, players need to become accustomed to playing alongside other players and once this happens maybe we can build as a squad and move up the league’s table as we start to get more desired results and perform in a better playing style. It’s interesting, to say the least. Tranmere appeared quite slow and sluggish and were unable to play in an attractive style on Saturday, these are all things that manager Mike Jackson should look to improve on in the future through his training sessions etc.

Tranmere v Southend – match stats:

Possession – 47/53

Shots – 10/12

Shots on target – 4/2

Corners – 5/8

Fouls – 15/14

Yesterday evening, the FA Cup’s first round draw was made. Tranmere are set to face Accrington Stanley at Prenton Park in the nation’s greatest cup competition. Last season, Tranmere got past Chichester City and Wycombe Wanderers before facing premier league giants Manchester United. The ‘Red devils’ were able to ‘smash’ a struggling Rovers side, yet Prenton Park’s attendance was sold out for this historic encounter and the money from the supporters that flocked to Birkenhead meant that the club were able to make successful signings in the January transfer window. I believe these signings would’ve been able to make Tranmere survive in the third division, if given the chance. However, the money received from this fixture made Tranmere stronger as a club regardless of the division the team would play in. Now, the fans aren’t able to enter the gates of Prenton Park yet they are able to watch the game through the club’s official website. You could argue that this fixture, without fans, is without meaning. However, considering Accrington Stanley’s vote to end the season which saw them survive and Tranmere demoted it may be a good opportunity to see where the two teams are now at as they come head to head in a cup clash. ‘Accrington Stanley, who ar’ .. you know the rest.

As I said above, Tranmere travel south to face Crawley Town for their next league fixture. Rovers supporters will be hoping that the performance that they see from their team is more fast paced and progressive than they saw in the victory against Southend United. However, they will also be hoping for a similar scoreline. I suppose there was a sense that the team was building and getting stronger if we compare Saturday to the previous two fixtures. In the previous two, we only managed one shot on target across the course of two games thus we had improved in that department. As players get closer to peak fitness, there will be a hope that the amount of shots that we can force upon the opponents goal will increase. That is, of course, the only way that we will be able to win games. Tuesday evenings league encounter will make or break a busy few days at the club, Rovers have to keep improving if they are to reach their goals, the end goal being promotion. Peter Clarke and James Vaughan showed what they bring to the team on the weekend and they certainly improve Tranmere when they are fit, thus there are positives to take and to think about. Mike Jackson will be hoping that Tuesday night sees a performance that is able to reward him his first away league victory as Tranmere manager.

This Tuesday evening, the hosts are John Yem’s ‘Red devils’ and this league encounter will be put on display at Broadfield Stadium. The stadium holds just over 6,000 spectators and was built and opened only 23 years ago. The club that plays their home game at this stadium, Crawley Town, have got off to a relatively good start. They sit in 13th place, at the time of writing, and they possess two more points than Jackson’s ‘whites’. They have been victorious in just under half of the league encounters that they have played so far this season: Scunthorpe United and Morecambe at home as well as Oldham away. Crawley managed to beat Morecambe 4-0, thus they are a side that are capable of holding sides of good standard ‘to the sword’. This week, their aim is to avoid going three games without a win. Tranmere will hope that they can add to their hosts ‘woes’. Last season, the ‘Reds’ finished 13th in League Two. 

However, we have to go back further to see the last encounter between Crawley and Tranmere. The two sides last came head to head in May 2019, once it was already confirmed that the ‘whites’ would compete in the playoffs. Tranmere manager at the time, Micky Mellon, saw this as an opportunity to field those that were without a great level of game time in order to improve the match fitness of his squad. Adam Buxton, Ben Tollit, Chris Dagnall all starred in a 3-1 defeat at the Broadfield Stadium, Tranmere would soon be promoted via the play offs. Tranmere have faced Crawley on six occasions before.

Won – 3

Draw – 1

Loss – 2

This pre-season, manager John Yem was capable of bolstering his side’s quality with the signings such as Grimsby Town’s talented midfielder Jake Hessnehaler. However, they lost the services of young forward Beryly Lubala who last season netted 12 in 34 league outings. 

A player that the Tranmere defence should watch out for this Tuesday is, midfielder who can also play at right back, George Francomb who has 4 goal involvements in 8 fixtures this campaign. Thus, Tuesday nights encounter will be interesting yet it will be tough for both sides making this encounter an entertaining watch.

My predictions:

Line-up: Davies,O’Connor,Ellis,Clarke,Ridehalgh,Spearing,Young,Banks,Feeney,Vaughan,Woolery

Scoreline: Crawley 1 Tranmere 2

What is Marcus Rashford doing to help combat child hunger/poverty?

Marcus Rashford’s role in the ‘end child hunger’ movement. The division between those in charge and those who are struggling has again rised.

If we’re honest, we can all agree that most of the public don’t see footballers in the best of lights. I produced a write-up on this last year, where I spoke about Raheem Sterling and his experiences with the media whilst also delving further back talking about the racism that footballers have experienced in bygone eras by the ‘fans’ in the terraces. (https://ethanhoijord.com/2019/10/11/racism-in-football/) However, it is now time to talk about another fight involving another great black sportstar … Marcus Rashford has united the country by attempting to end child hunger across England and this has made everyone, except the MP’s who try their best to disagree with him, proud. This case has shown that injustice is still rife in England and many have become emotional and angry as this case is vital to those that find themselves living underprivileged lifestyles.

First of all, Marcus Rashford is a footballer for Manchester United and he is a successful footballer at that. He is a footballer that I have always idolised, due to my ‘soft spot’ for the historically famous ‘Red Devils’. He has scored many goals at the highest of levels and has represented his nation, England, on more than forty occasions. His Manchester United debut came in 2016, in the UEFA Europa League against FC Midtjylland, he has since scored seventy-one goals in 221 appearances as he continues to strive for his boyhood club. He rose through the United academy ranks, the club taking him in 2005 to join the club at school levels. However, my ‘idolisation’ has grown through the actions that he is currently taking to help his country’s people off the ‘field’ and although he has scored many goals after his debut, his goal now is to end child hunger in England and it is a goal that is causing action to stick his name on the hearts of the English people … this means more than football, the saying ‘football rivalries aside’ is one that certainly celebrates the young forward’s off-field decisions.

England has always been a country where it’s population has experienced some struggle and unrest, there has always been the fight between those in charge and those who serve those in charge through taxes and their general work lives. There has also always been child hunger, yet in a year like this it is essential that more is done to be of help. The year has been disastrous; worry, loneliness and depression is rife following the outbreak of COVID-19 which was believed to be caused by a Chinese man eating a ‘dodgy’ bat from a Wuhan food market. Yet it is obvious that much isn’t being done by those who have power to do so. As I have stated above, there has always been unrest between the upper and working classes yet at the moment this division is ‘great’. Recently, the ‘IPSA’ proposals have stated that the MP’s could get a £3,000 pay rise under new proposals. It is one that will excite MP’s as they will believe that they deserve the extra money. However, this has understandably frustrated the English public as the MP’s and those in power continue to use a poor proposal of money to ‘help’ different industries such as the hospitality industry in a time that sees their workers struggle as well as the places they work for due to the restrictions forced on them due to the pandemic. Talking about hospitality, this is a horrendous time for children who are suffering with a shortage of food at their homes. One of the great aspects of reopening schools was that the education system allows some to have ‘free’ school meals. However, now the October and Christmas breaks from education are looming, more time is going to be spent away from these ‘free’ meals as they are forced to stay with their families at home who have to do their best to afford bills and food etc. Families are struggling and MP’s should be doing a lot more to help people.  

What exactly is child hunger? This is a pretty simply answered question, it is hunger that is experienced by children as well as the families who are tasked with feeding them. If you are reading this and you believe that there aren’t many families struggling in this area. It is essential that you look and start to understand the statistics behind this issue. Thus, let’s take a look at this horrendous situation faced by many …

Facts and statistics: child poverty/hunger (UK)

In 2018/2019 there were 4.2million children living in poverty. To put that into context, picture a classroom and the children inside. Nine of the thirty children you are picturing, they are facing child poverty.

44% of children living in ‘one-parent’ families are in poverty. Lone parents face a higher risk of poverty due to the lack of an additional earner.

46% of children from black and minority ethnic groups live in poverty.

Childcare and housing are two of the costs that take the biggest toll on families budgets – Child hunger can be placed in this area.

The charity ‘UNICEF’ estimates that 2.5million British children, 19%, live in food insecure households.  

Earlier this month, Marcus Rashford was awarded the MBE (member of the order for the british empire) during the Queen’s 2020 birthday honours. This was a recognition of his successful campaign to provide ‘eligible’ schoolchildren free meals during the coronavirus lockdown. This campaign is called ‘End Child Food Poverty’. 

Last Wednesday, the Conservatives again beat the wishes of the Labour Party in parliament. This time, the wishes of the labour party was to provide disadvantaged children with food vouchers during school holidays up until the Easter school holidays of 2021. The ‘winning’ MP’s argued against ‘increasing dependency’ through freebies and solutions labelled as a ‘sticking plaster’. Rashford has expressed his upset at this vote, urging Boris Johnson to discuss a solution. 

In June, Rashford raised around £20million with ‘FareShare’ in order to supply around 3million meals to underprivileged children. The Manchester United Forward also wrote to MPs and spoke with PM Boris Johnson. 

In a new petition, Rashford has been campaigning for three provisions. 

  1. To expand free school meals to all under-16s where a parent/guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefit – According to the BBC, this would result in an additional 1.5million children between ages 7-16 being covered.
  2. For meals to be provided even during vacations.
  3. To increase the food voucher for pregnant women from the current £3.10 per week to £4.25

Thus, being the main face of this project to feed more children and to cut down and hopefully end child hunger/poverty Marcus Rashford has been placed into the hearts of the English public and has certainly done a lot of great and vital work to help this issue. For that, he has been celebrated globally including by the children themselves who have produced work in school to celebrate his actions. In a school in Birmingham, ‘Anderton Park’, a teacher has renamed a classroom the ‘Rashford Room’ and the pupils created a tribute to the man himself stating that ‘Marcus is determined, polite, thoughtful, does not boast or show off, which is why we admire him so much. He does not give up. He inspires us to be great citizens and to use our voices calmly but firmly. He loves his mum and knows he wouldn’t be where he is today without her strength’ with the use of pictures next to the words to illustrate the meaning.

Q+A

I asked questions, in order to get an opinionated view on the issues that surround the child hunger topic, of a young student who would like to work in politics as a member of the Labour Party. The young man’s name is ‘JJ’.

Do you believe that child hunger in the UK is a ‘great’ problem that the country faces? ‘I think poverty, more specifically child poverty is the biggest issue facing our country. I find it remarkably horrifying that we have a society in which there are children who through no fault of their own, by any means, are oblivious to where their next meal is going to come from.

What do you think of the government’s actions towards child hunger?

‘I think the government has acted in a horrendous way within the voting of the recent bill. I think it goes to show the tremendous lack of empathy shown by the conservative MP’s who voted ‘against’, most of these MP’s come through private education and have no idea what it would be like living in this much struggle’.

What do you think of Rashford’s actions, how successful do you believe his actions have been?

‘When you look at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the government asked footballers to do their bit. Marcus Rashford should be hailed as a hero for his work in recent months. He was successful once in getting free school meals during the summer and the fact that so many have shown solidarity towards this movement and the fact that many small businesses have got involved shows that he’s had success with the recent campaign as well despite the parliament bill being voted down’

What do you think the next actions should be to help this issue?

‘I think the next stage has to be a for the government to perform another U-turn on this. It’s great that local businesses have shown solidarity to these children over this half term but we’re about to enter one of the toughest winters in peace time and without government support some of these families may struggle to see it through’

Thank you ‘JJ’, for your answers and your time.

To those who have read this, thank you for doing so. The overall message of this write-up is to respect and love each other as we face such a difficult year and to do your best you can when you see situations of poverty and hunger.

Child hunger matters, so does mental health in these very uncertain times … Be Nice!

Tranmere Rovers v Southend United – Match Preview

English Football League Two

@PrentonPark

Saturday 24th October 2020

Unfortunately, I have been unable to comment on Tranmere’s past two league games as of yet. Mike Jackson’s men faced Newport County in South Wales, in midweek they also faced Leyton Orient which was a game under the Prenton Park lights on the newly instated pristine pitch. The performances, however, were not pristine. Both performances lacked the quality that we believe the team, on paper, should provide. There was little fight, little effort and there was absolutely no result of pride. Throughout the two games, the midfield and frontmen failed to create. In fact, there has only been one shot on target from Jackson’s ‘Whites’ in the past 180 minutes of league encounter football. Aswell as that, the defenders also struggled. The midfield lacked any pace and strength to close attacks down, due to this the defence was pressurised and they were unable to answer the questions of the goals that Newport and Orient put into the back of goalkeeper Joe Murphy’s net. It has been a worrying week, Tranmere didn’t get off to the best of starts even though positives were taken from the away game at Salford City two weeks ago where Tranmere came back from 2-0 to level in the dying moments after a penalty box scramble. The positives and fight in those remaining minutes are yet to be built on, it is certainly something that must be shown this weekend in order for Mike Jackson’s side to get their second league win of the season. 

This Saturday Tranmere come up against Mark Molesley’s Southend United. The ‘shrimpers’ sit at the very bottom of the football league pyramid, thus Tranmere are favourites and this encounter is one in which the ‘Whites’ must strive and display their quality. This game should be seen as winnable and Rovers manager Mike Jackson must set out to expose the leaking Southend defence. Although it has been a horrid week, where performances and results are concerned, there has been more time for players to improve their fitness and it has given players who had to isolate more time to recover from their virus exposure and return back to full match fitness. Following the final two league encounters, the Rovers manager has stated that ‘a lack of fitness’ has contributed heavily to the poor displays. Thus, he is saying that he believes his side are capable of winning once their fitness improves .. the team’s fitness will have hopefully improved from midweek. In my opinion, Jackson definitely does need to look at his capabilities and qualities as a manager and plan to improve his tactics and training sessions if need be. The tactics are clearly not working as after seven games a side with such great attacking qualities have only managed to score four goals meaning that there have been five league games without scoring. This is a clear problem and with players with the quality of James Vaughan, Kaiyne Woolery etc all available for selection Tranmere should be capable of scoring. Manager Mike Jackson, in a recent meeting with the local press, stated ‘we are only two or three light now which is the best that we have been in that position’. However, there are still players that remain unavailable due to injuries etc. Stefan Payne is unavailable as he has recently undergone a successful groin injury operation, Corey Blackett-Taylor remains unavailable due to a heart complication which isn’t too serious and centre-half Manny Monthe may still be unavailable due to a ‘grumbling knee’ which was revealed following the home defeat to Leyton Orient. Aswell as this, striker Morgan Ferrier is still recovering from a hamstring injury. I believe, if we set out to attack and we play with pride, we will be able to beat Molesley’s ‘shrimpers’.

‘In the other corner’, Southend United travel to Merseyside this weekend in search of their first league win of the season. At time of writing, they sit 24th in the league two table. However, they could fire themselves up to 21st which is outside of the relegation zone if they manage to beat their hosts. Thus, a positive result for the ‘Shrimpers’ could see them getting their campaign back on track. Southend have a massive problem, an extremely leaky defence. They have conceded two or more goals in six of their seven league encounters so far. They aren’t too successful up front either, scoring four in seven. Each goal came from a different player, thus their source of goals can be seen in different positions. Emile Acquah, Brandon Goodship, Nathan Ralph and full-back Jason Demetriou have all netted one so far. Last season, Southend saw themselves relegated to the fourth division alongside Tranmere Rovers and Bolton Wanderers. This season, they aim to get back on track and the team’s role is to help their club maintain their football league status. The club hit their most recent peak in 2006, being announced league one winners but they didn’t manage more than a season without being relegated in the Championship. The club has also seen success in the Football League Trophy, reaching the final on three occasions in the 21st century. This pre-season there was a clear out at Roots Hall, many were released and the club managed to get some money through undisclosed transfer fees. Those released were: Henry Burnett, Luke Hyam, Sam Mantom, Mark Milligan, Theo Robinson, Joe Shaughnessy and Sam Barratt. The club received money from: Stephen Humphrys transfer to Rochdale, Isaac Hutchinson’s transfer to Derby County and Charlie Kelman’s transfer to QPR. Those that moved to Southend-On-Sea on a permanent basis were: centre-half Shaun Hobson, defensive midfielder Alan McCormack, winger Ashley Nathaniel-George and experienced striker Simeon Akinola. Centre midfielders Kyle Taylor and James Olayinka, winger Jordan Green and striker Kazaiah Sterling all joined on a temporary basis. Thus, although Southend have had a poor start to the 2020/2021 campaign they have a good core of players who will certainly be capable of hurting an underperforming Tranmere side. It’s set to be a good, closely affected affair at Prenton Park.  

Tranmere have faced Southend United on 52 occasions, the last being a draw at Southend’s Roots Hall in early January of this year. Both sides struggled to gain any sort of relegation survival momentum, Tranmere’s successful momentum started over a month later.

Tranmere wins – 21

Draws – 16

Southend wins – 15 

Thoughts of Tranmere manager Mike Jackson, before this weekend’s league encounter:

On team news, how previous injuries and the exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the training schedule of his side:

‘We have welcomed back some players into the squad, and we are only two or three light now and that is the first time we have been in that position. That has given everyone a huge boost and now the job is to get the players who have been out up to speed. We have been so light in numbers, in recent weeks we have only had ten players and one goalkeeper so we have been protecting that group so they do not get injured for the game. We have had a number of injuries and players missing through Covid-19, so it has affected training.We have not been able to do 11 vs 11 on the training pitch, and we have not been able to even train with the U18s as we can’t mix groups but it is what it is. Apart from that, we have got everyone back in the building which is brilliant because we have not had that continuity and consistency of training and getting the same team to play together.”

On a hopefully successful future:

“This is a new team, a new group of players, and there were signs before what has happened, that we were starting to gel with our performances against Cambridge and Scunthorpe. This group is ready to go, we are calm with what we are doing and the focus is where it needs to be.”

My predictions:

Team; Murphy,O’Connor,Clarke,Ellis,Ridehalgh,Spearing,Banks,Morris,Khan,Woolery,Vaughan

Result; 

Tranmere Rovers 2 Southend United 1

Newport County v Tranmere Rovers – Match Preview

Newport County v Tranmere Rovers – Match preview

League Two

Saturday 17th October 2020

@RodneyParade

It’s that time of the week again, it’s time to get excited. The weekend is looming, Tranmere travel across the border as they head to South Wales to face Newport County at their Rodney Parade stadium. The last time the two clubs met was at Wembley in the 2019 league two play off final, Tranmere won in the final minute of added time with a header from Connor Jennings to confirm promotion to league one, this game is in a much earlier stage of the season yet promotion is in the minds of both teams and that is why we should be excited. It has been a successful week for Mike Jackson’s ‘superwhites’, last weekend saw a draw against Salford City with a comeback in the final minutes. Midweek saw two more disagreements with the EFL, a young midfield signing from the North East and another week of training. With the EFL; they claimed that we had lied about being unsure on whether or not we would have action taken against us if we postponed the game due to having many players out due to COVID. However, their statement just proved that they are a confusing organization. As Well as this, club owner Mark Palios’ views differed from Rick Parry’s as he stated his anger towards ‘Project big picture’ which would see ‘elite clubs take power for the sake of giving money to those through the EFL who have less’. The new recruit for midfield was announced on Wednesday, 19-year-old Newcastle United under 21s captain would join Tranmere on a loan until the end of the season. This has been claimed by those with knowledge on the midfielder as a signing which should be successful for the Rovers, the youngster having extremely good ball retention and wanting to spread the ball across the pitch into mostly progressive areas. He has made the Newcastle senior bench for Premier League encounters against Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool thus he is highly rated and it will be interesting to see his quality at league two level.

Throughout the rest of the team, there is a mixture of good and bad news relating to those who are available for selection and those who aren’t. A few, who weren’t available for last week’s draw against Salford City due to the COVID pandemic are now available for selection. However, there are also a few who remain isolated away from their team-mates and there are also a few who remain unavailable due to injury. Through the manager’s pre-match meeting with the press there weren’t many names mentioned, this has probably been done so the opposition are unable to guess how the whites’ eleven will look. Stefan Payne is certainly unavailable though as he was pictured, on his social media account, in a hospital bed possibly waiting for surgery on a groin injury which I believe was sustained in the encounter with Scunthorpe United at Prenton Park. On a positive note, one of the star men in the last performance, Kaiyne Woolery was only at 50% and he stated this on his social media accounts. This week has given the forward time to become nearer to that 100% so if selected Tranmere have a man on their books that will cause great problems to Newport’s back-line. Those who I stated had minor injuries last week may be available for selection this weekend, they will have certainly come closer to return.

Newport County are this Saturday’s hosts, as Mike Jackson’s ‘super whites’ travel to South Wales. So far this league two campaign, Mike Flynn’s ‘Exiles’ have played five and won three league two fixtures. They have also picked up a draw. They have beaten: Barrow, Bolton and Mansfield. Picked up a point against Scunthorpe United and lost away at Cambridge United as former Tranmere striker scored another two goals last weekend. Thus, they have had a great start to the league campaign and they will be hoping to continue that into their sixth league fixture. Aside from the league fixtures, they have had a strong league cup run; reaching the fourth round following wins against Swansea, Cambridge and Watford but Newcastle were able to get past them in the fourth round after a successful penalty shootout. A certain one to watch is youngster Tristan Abrahams. The 21-year-old striker has so far scored two goals in the league, yet through all competitions he has netted six goals in the nine that he has played in. He is certainly an exciting prospect with a good future ahead of him yet for this weekend his aim is to get past a very strong Tranmere defence. Last season, Newport finished in a poor position of 14th and reached the semi-final of the EFL Trophy. This summer, the aim was to recruit players that would see Newport have a greater campaign. Defence was addressed with the signings of: Scot Bennett, David Longe-King and Liam Shephard all joining on free transfers. Brandon Cooper and Bradley Webb coming to South Wales on a loan deal. To address any goal scoring issues: Ryan Taylor and former Tranmere veteran forward Kevin Ellison came in on free transfers. Saikou Jenneh, Scott Twine and Jamie Devitt came in on loan. Thus, the ‘Exiles’ should be able to have a successful season ahead. 

Tranmere’s record against Newport is a mixed one. It is one that shows there isn’t much between the two clubs and it is one which shows that it is impossible to predict a winner for this weekend despite all the positivity between the two clubs squads.

There have been 27 meetings so far between Newport County and Tranmere Rovers.

Tranmere wins – 11

Draws – 7

Newport wins – 9 

Quotes from manager Mike Jackson’s pre-match meeting with the press:

On new signing, Jack Young – ‘The thing I like about him the most is that he likes to play forward and create; he’s not a midfield player who just passes back and square. He will be a great acquisition’

On team news and the training schedule – ‘We’ve not been able to train the way we’d like to, but we’ve adapted to that. When you’ve come back from COVID, you can’t start training straight away as there is a four or five-day protocol before you can start training properly. If you look at the teams that we’ve been able to field so far since we started the season, we’ve not had a chance to actually put a proper starting eleven out. This team has resilience about them and they have had to face many differently difficult circumstances’

On this weekend’s hosts, Newport County – ‘It is always a tough place to go. I know their manager really well and I used to play with him at Blackpool. You’ve got to be physically and mentally prepared when you go to them. It’s going to be a tough game but a great challenge. It’s the sort of games that as a player and manager you want to be going into, you have to take the challenge on’.

Salford (A) Match Report

Salford City v Tranmere Rovers – Match Report

@Peninsula Stadium

English Football League Two

Saturday 10th October 2020

Mike Jackson’s men show that their qualities stretch to the characters that they are, in an amazing comeback to equalise against league title candidates Salford City despite the squad being affected by COVID-19. 

Murphy – nelson clarke ellis monthe – morris spearing lewis khan – burton woolery

kyle hayde, danny walker-rice, george nugent, ethan gouldbourne, jamie timlin 

A very peculiar team line-up, one that no Tranmere supporter would have predicted. The line-up saw a great number of academy products involved as the news broke that there had been an outburst of the global pandemic through the squad. The story of today’s game is one of much more than the scoreline, Tranmere’s story this season is certainly one that will hopefully hurt the EFL.

The game started evenly, the Tranmere side aimed to show their attacking quality ‘from the off’ but it was their defensive quality that was soon questioned as their hosts opened the scoring in the opening three minutes. Ritchie Towell’s shot deflected over goalkeeper Joe Murphy and went into his net. Otis Khan soon searched for a response, as he broke through the Salford defence but saw his shot beaten away by ‘the ammies’ keeper. The fast forward was booked quickly after for what looked like a good sliding tackle on Touray.The next attack was that of the host’s as Tranmere goalkeeper Murphy parried away Hunter’s curling effort from the left. Ellis nearly evened the scoreline as he met Khan’s corner at the back post but his header was blocked and scrambled away. The next period of attacking domination was Salford’s, Tranmere midfielder Jay Spearing came across well to block Golden’s cross as he got into the box just before former Manchester United striker James Wilson doubled the hosts lead. The striker was able to find the top corner from the edge of the box. There was nearly an instant response from Tranmere after the host’s second goal of the afternoon. The ball dropped to central defender Mark Ellis in the box but his powerful volley was blocked. Khan soon tried to thread a ball through to Woolery but opposition goalkeeper Hladky was off his line to claim. Woolery was again in action when Clarke aimed to find Woolery over the top but he couldn’t quite beat Touray to it. Midfielder Paul Lewis soon tried his luck from 25 yards but his shot whistled past the post. The first Tranmere substitution of the afternoon saw an academy product replace another as winger Danny Walker-Rice came on for stiker Jake Burton. The young striker excelled throughout the first half yet this substitution was done for a strong and successful tactical purpose. The first half soon finished without much further action, the hosts leading 2-0.

In my opinion, we had performed well yet the inability to play ‘proper’ full-backs was clearly affecting our performance. Salford’s first goal, Murphy couldn’t do much about as he had dived before the ball took a deflection which helped it end up in the back of the net. For the second goal, Murphy again couldn’t do much about it as it was a beautiful strike from the Salford goalscorer. The midfield and frontmen played well, Jake Burton looks like a very promising young forward as he raced into areas that the Salford defenders were able to affect and Kaiyne Woolery also managed to impress. 

First half general statistics: Possession – 48.3%   Total shots – 7   On target – 1   Clear-cut chances – 0   Successful crosses – 2/8   Successful dribbles – 2/2   Corners – 2   Offsides – 2

Tranmere’s defence again had their character strength challenged with another period of domination by the Salford attackers. Towell’s powerful shot from distance was blocked by the head of Ellis before Salford man Hunter’s dangerous cross was volleyed away by Rovers centre-half veteran Peter Clarke. However, Tranmere would soon go on to dominate the game, with many attacking chances beautifully carved out as the defence stayed strong. Kaiyne Woolery broke into the Salford box but his run was judged to be offside. Manny Monthe beat his man down the left but sliced his cross behind for a goal kick. Khan’s free kick from the edge of the box dipped over the bar. Walker-Rice cut inside but his cross was unable to pick out a Rovers shirt in the box. Khan chipped a ball towards Clarke who saw his downward header saved. Khan’s corner dropped to Monthe in the box who attempted an overhead, the ball ended up firing over the bar. Lewis soon got his head to a long ball into the box but was unable to trouble the keeper. It was in the final ten minutes that Rovers had their best chance of the afternoon, Ellis was able to meet a wonderful cross from forward Otis Khan to the back post with his head but the keeper managed to save. After dominating, Tranmere soon found their breakthrough. An unbelievable strike from Kieron Morris in the final five minutes from 25 yards out, his strike was able to fire past the Salford goalkeeper and reach the top corner. Tranmere weren’t finished yet and the quality that the team had shown throughout the game certainly deserved more. Scenes of delirium came in the last minute of stoppage time, Tranmere had searched and fought for another after opening their half of the scoreline. The Salford defence were unable to clear their lines in their box and the ball soon fell to Paul Lewis who struck home from close range to send the Tranmere players and the supporters,watching at home, into a state of delirium. The performance had deserved at least a point, they wanted more but didn’t manage to score another as the final whistle soon blew.

Full time … result: Salford City 2 Tranmere Rovers 2 

A brilliant point for Tranmere on the road, as their showing of strong character and high quality continues their unbeaten away record in the league. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many others, that was an amazing performance ‘from the off’ by the Tranmere team. The defence kept strong all game, despite the opening two goals which came in the first twenty, the midfield helped the defence and was able to create many wonderfully carved out chances and the forwards who played ran the Salford defensive line ragged all game in the search for goals. A very pleasing afternoon for the Tranmere faithful and the players who had worked extremely hard.

General statistics – overall: Possession 48.9%, Total shots 16, On target 5, Clear-cut chances 0, Successful crosses 7/18, Successful dribbles 4/6, Corners 4, Offsides 6.

Salford City (A) Match Preview

Saturday 10th October 2020

@Peninsula Stadium 

English Football League Two

Tranmere search for their second victory of the 2020/21 campaign, looking to show all of the qualities that made them successful last time out at home to Scunthorpe United.

Last week was a breath of fresh air to the Tranmere manager, Mike Jackson, and his squad. It was a performance in which every quality that they had shown they had possessed in recent weeks came off in a victory against tough opposition in Scunthorpe United, resulting in a great game from start to finish at Prenton Park. From defence to attack, every Tranmere player impressed and Jackon’s early tactical change to substitute Stefan Payne for Paul Lewis showed that Jackson had quality in his tactical nous as Rovers would soon dominate midfield and create many attacking chances in the search for a Tranmere goal. The goal came, Tranmere victorious 2-0. This weekend they will face more challenging questions against another tough opponent in Salford City, at the Peninsula stadium. It will be a challenging game, yet the Tranmere faithful should be excited and confident as their side has certainly shown a quality that the best of teams in the league should fear.  

This upcoming game has come too early for a couple of the Tranmere squad, as Mike Jackson looks doubtful to be with the services of some productive forwards. Stefan Payne picked up an injury in training this week and looks doubtful for this weekend. Liam Feeney also looks doubtful for this weekend, another injury.

There also may be an absentee in defence, as full-back Lee O’Connor has been chosen to represent the republic of Ireland at reserves level. The young loanee right-back has impressed so far as he has started the majority of games, thus I’d like to wish him the best of luck as he looks to impress his nation.

However, it is good news for new signing Kaiyne Woolery who may be able to start this weekend as he comes back from a minor injury. This is good news for the player himself as he looks to impress his new manager and Mike Jackson will certainly be pleased if he is available for selection as he has quality in abundance and will certainly benefit Tranmere’s attacking play. This week has also seen a return to training for the fast and skilful forward Corey Blackett-Taylor who will be another massive boost for the attack once he is back to full fitness.

Salford City have risen through the divisions in the past six years, after the club’s take over from the ‘Class of 92’. The ‘Class of 92’ are Manchester United playing legends, who came through United’s academy in 1992 hence the nickname. These players are: Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and David Beckham. They are partnered up with Peter Lim who is a singoporean billionaire businessman. ‘The class of 92’ took over Salford City in 2014, when the club was in the Northern Premier League Division One North (tier 7 of the English football pyramid). Since then, they have been promoted three times and their football league status came last May as they beat AFC Fylde 3-0 at Wembley Stadium in the National League play-off final. Last season, in the club’s first ever season in the football league they finished in a very respectable position of 11th and they also managed to reach the EFL Trophy final where they are set to face Portsmouth. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic the final wasn’t played, yet it is scheduled to take place some time next year. However, this season their sights are set higher. Throughout pre-season their squad was transformed, eighteen players left the club and eleven replaced them. One of the faces coming out of the city of Salford was right-winger Devante Rodney who was released and joined Port Vale F.C, the young forward was never a favourite at Salford as he had many loan spells elsewhere during his time yet his quality has certainly shone at his new club. One of the faces that came into Salford is Ian Henderson, a 35-year-old midfielder/forward with an eye for goal and that has certainly come to fruition as he currently lies at the top of the league’s top scorer charts with four goals. Manager Graham Alexander will be hoping that the veteran can continue his fine goalscoring form, the Tranmere defence will certainly have to be wary. Although this season is in the early stages, ‘the ammies’ have done well. They have drawn two and won two league games, after playing four. One of the victories was a very impressive 4-0 thrashing against Grimsby Town and they also impressed at Goodison Park despite the 3-0 scoreline. This Saturday’s encounter will be tough for both sides, it will certainly be entertaining.

I would like to see Mike Jackson choose the eleven that played last week, including the substitution of Paul Lewis for Stefan Payne. With the exception of Sid Nelson for Lee O’Connor as the former may be unable for selection due to being on international duty and Nelson is the only defender capable of performing at right-back. 

Line-up: Davies, Nelson, Clarke, Monthe, Ridehalgh, Banks, Spearing, Lewis, Feeney, Vaughan, Khan.

Score prediction: Salford City 1 Tranmere Rovers 3

Pre-match quotes from manager Mike Jackson:

‘Last weekend saw a good victory for the group as a whole, it was a little bit different from other performances and we had to show different qualities to get the result. We kicked on once we got the second goal, the players showed their intelligence and qualities through a never give up attitude’

‘Salford have recruited well, I know their manager and their assistant as I have played hundreds of games alongside them. Their great guys and I have had some special times with them. However, we will both be aiming for victories for our sides this weekend’

‘We’re Tranmere Rovers Football Club and we have a place in this league as well. Whenever we go anywhere, we’re going to try and win the game. We back ourselves if we get things right with the talent we’ve got, keep that mentality, team spirit and get players back from injury and we’ll be able to achieve something this year. We have to remember who we are, not just who the opposition are’

Pre-match quotes from defender Peter Clarke:

‘Me and Monthe have started the season together, we’ve got a good understanding and I think we complement each other well. It’s nice to be getting clean sheets and we’re really happy with where we’re at. I’ve been fortunate to play with some talented defenders, who I’ve learnt from. Manny is another, he’s got all of the perfect attributes to be a great central defender’

‘You start a new campaign and every club throughout the country is looking to get their first win of the season. We felt it should’ve come a week sooner, but the performances have certainly been building. To go and win the way we did last weekend made us delighted. If we can keep getting positive results, it breeds confidence. I don’t think there are many players who don’t play better when they’re confident’.

‘The league table is still evolving, we’ll soon be able to get a better picture of the squad that we have once we reach the ten game mark etc. We want to be up at the top end of the table but people can get carried away with the way things are’.

Scunthorpe United (H): Match report

Tranmere Rovers 2 v Scunthorpe United 0

Saturday 3rd October 2020

Prenton Park

English Football League Two 

First of all, I would like to send my condolences to those who knew and were close to Ryan Soderberg. Ryan passed away suddenly on 15th September 2020 and is certainly Tranmere’s shining star. 

This saturday afternoon on the Wirral was a wet one, Scunthorpe United were Tranmere’s visitors to Prenton Park. Tranmere’s attackers were hoping that the pitch could force the Scunthorpe back line into making errors that lead to goals in Mike Jackson’s fourth league game as manager. 

The past week has been a success, there have been clear improvements as the squad becomes stronger as they get closer to peak fitness. The past week has seen Tranmere draw away at Cambridge, where a goal from James Vaughan was cruelly disallowed for offside and the ‘superwhite’ strikers James Vaughan and Stefan Payne bagged three goals between them against a strong Liverpool reserve defence.

To the excitement of the Tranmere faithful, Mike Jackson sets his side out this afternoon in a 4-4-2 formation. There has been cries for two up front as the search for the first league goal of the season continues. The two strikers being played are those that scored three goals between them in midweek against Liverpool in the Leasing.Com trophy. On the bench sees youth striker Jake Burton, as Kaiyne Woolery and Liam Feeney are declared ‘injured’. Other than that, there were no real surprises. On the other hand, looking at Scunthorpe United’s social media the team that manager Neil Cox had set out was to the disappointment of the ‘Iron’ fans as they state the lineup is a ‘joke’ and ‘pathetic’. A football match sometimes shows a lot more about the team than supporters know, viewers are set to have a great spectacle played out in front of their eyes.

Match action –

Tranmere impressed from the off, with a showing of great one touch football by Rovers within the first five minutes. Khan got into the box and crossed to Payne who flicked on before O’Connors cross was eventually blocked. Shortly after, at the other end, Spence had a shot from the edge of the box for Scunthorpe but midfielder Ollie Banks was there to block the shot for a corner. Payne showed his great ability of holding the ball up before he played it down the line to Khan but the ball skidded off the surface and went out for a goal kick.A period of good pressure from Rovers soon followed. A deep cross falls to Vaughan who sees his shot blocked before Ridehalgh’s cross is cleared. Tranmere’s first substitution of the afternoon came within the first thirty minutes, Paul Lewis replaced Stefan Payne, as Mike Jackson looked for extra legs in midfield. It is also rumoured that Payne picked up a slight ‘niggle’ and no risks were taken by letting the confident forward continue. Centre-half veteran Peter Clarke got his head to a dangerous cross to clear away from goal before Liam Ridehalgh picked out midfielder Paul Lewis with a great pass. Lewis fires it into Vaughan who is shut out in the box. Tranmere’s first goal of the afternoon came when Banks was able to find midfielder Paul Lewis who picked out Vaughan in the box. The forward had plenty to do but flicks it into the far bottom corner on the half volley.

HALF TIME: 1-0 Goalkeeper Scott Davies hadn’t had much to do, the tranmere defence were amazing under pressure, the midfield has been great in their defensive duties and the attack had done well to get past Scunthorpe’s strong defence) 

A perfect tackle by full-back O’Connor denied a shot from close range as Otis Khan ran with the ball at the other end in an attempt to create chances. Both sides started the second half off strongly. Right winger Kieron Morris was soon booked for stopping a fast Scunthorpe counter attack with a foul. Soon after, Hippolyte cleared the crossbar with his free kick from 25 yards causing no problems for Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies who soon saved comfortably from Hippolyte’s shot from inside the box. The forward was having plenty of efforts, with no real result. Scunthorpe were having more of the ball at the start of the second half, but Rovers kept their shape well in defense. Defence was soon turned to attack, James Vaughan found the back of the net again … his second brace of the week with a beautiful volley which went powerfully past the Scunthorpe goalkeeper. Vaughan came so close to his hat trick, the ball dropped in the box for the forward but the defenders were able to block his effort on the line. O’Connor soon showed his great progressive ability with an unbelievable cross to midfielder Paul Lewis but he wasn’t able to connect to divert it towards goal. The midfielder soon pressed high to win the ball back but again he couldn’t hit the target from inside the box. At the other end, Scott Davies came out to claim a lofted cross into the box to relieve some pressure from his defenders after a short period of pressure from the Scunthorpe attackers. Rovers second substitution of the afternoon came when Otis Khan made way for full-back Calum Macdonald. Khan had played very well, the forward made many runs towards goal and was always passing the ball on to other forwards successfully, showing the type of progressive football style that we need to play in. However, it was time for the Tranmere manager to bring players on to defend his team’s lead late into the game. However, it wasn’t all defensive Banks’ cross to the back post was met by Clarke who headed onto the roof of the net. Following a quick counter attack, Davies again raised highest to claim from a deep cross. The game soon sizzled out, Tranmere victorious on a wet day on the Wirral in a very closely contested encounter with Scunthorpe United.

FULL TIME – Tranmere Rovers 2 Scunthorpe United 0, The goals that the Tranmere faithful were crying out for have been scored as James Vaughan scored his second brace of the week and another clean sheet was kept by a very strong defence. This is Tranmere’s third clean sheet in four league games, this is also Tranmere’s first league win of the season. An extremely successful afternoon at Prenton Park. 

Scunthorpe United (H): The match preview.

Tranmere Rovers v Scunthorpe United: The match preview. 

Saturday 3rd October 2020

@Prenton Park

Mike Jackson’s search for his first league win as Tranmere manager continues into Tranmere’s fourth game of the season, the ‘whites’ will face Scunthorpe United at Prenton Park this weekend.

I’m yet to state how pleased I am with the improvements that Mike Jackson’s Tranmere side have shown within their past two performances, I am very pleased. Our past two games have seen us draw against Cambridge United in their Abbey Stadium and we have beat Barry Lewtas’ Liverpool Under 23s in the ‘Leasing.Com’ trophy three goals to two at Prenton Park. Although we expect to beat Liverpool’s reserves when we place a strong side out on home turf, in a season where we are struggling to score goals against our opponents it is thus great that we were able to score three and hopefully see a contrast of fortunes with our efforts in front of goal as confidence hopefully grows. In Liverpool’s defence was the young senior centre half Sepp Van Der Berg, who was very impressive. Against Cambridge United last Saturday, the game finished in a goalless draw, we were able to improve in comparison to the previous weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Cheltenham Town. We should’ve won, after James Vaughan’s goal from inside the box was cruelly ruled offside with a late call from the linesman. Again, our defence stood strong as we were able to pick up another clean sheet on the road. One shining light in midweek was the home debut for Kaiyne Woolery, he impressed the Tranmere faithful throughout the first half when he was placed up-front with cult hero Stefan Payne. 

This Saturday Tranmere face Neil Cox’s Scunthorpe United, the visitors coming into the game in relatively average form after gaining four points in their first three league games of the season. They were able to beat Carlisle United 1-0, draw 1-1 against Newport County yet were beaten 1-0 away at Crawley Town. This weekend, Neil Cox’s ‘Iron’ will travel 140 miles West in the hope of improving on their midweek performance where they were defeated 4-0 at home against Manchester City’s reserves. Tranmere, however, are hoping to add to their visitors’ bad week. This week has improved the fitness of the Tranmere squad meaning that we can add Liam Feeney and Kaiyne Woolery to the names of a possible starting eleven. Although, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Morgan Ferrier will remain on the sidelines another week has passed thus it is getting closer to a time where they can be included in Mike Jackson’s pool of performers. This week, I believe we have seen an attempt by the Rovers manager to play progressive football which is something I have recently stated we must do in order to win games. We have players that are capable of damaging opponents, thus we should set out an eleven that frightens and use tactics that see an exciting style of play. With an improved fitness and confidence, Mike Jackson’s side shall be able to defeat their visitors. I believe Tranmere fans should be confident and excited to see how the ‘Superwhites’ perform this weekend.

Neil Cox’s ‘Iron’ will be hoping to improve on their midweek mistakes and hoping to get past a defence that has kept two clean sheets in three league games this season. They will be hoping that one of their key men, German forward Kenan Dunnwald-Turan, will be fit to travel and perform in Merseyside this weekend. The German sat out of their previous two games with a groin injury and has been able to train in the two upcoming days before this weekend’s upcoming fixture. If he is fit and available, he is certainly one to look out for. The 24-year-old arriving at Scunthorpe from German level 4 side Bonner this summer. Speaking about the midweek defeat to Manchester City Cox stated ‘We have to put it behind us, everyone is going to be needed and to stay fit and sharp and there shall be no sulking’. Last season, Scunthorpe were managed by Paul Hurst until late January before Russ Wilcox steered them to survival as they finished in a position of 21st. This pre-season they appointed Neil Cox as permanent manager, in an attempt to successfully transform the squad. Sixteen players saw themselves on the released list, as two went on loan to non-league Frickley Athletic. Ten players were brought in, six being forwards, most being successful non-league youngsters with an aim of impressing. Scunthorpe definitely have an aim of turning their fates around as they aim to have a successful future, Tranmere will certainly attempt to stand in their way this weekend.

Tranmere Rovers v Scunthorpe United: results record.

Played – 58

Tranmere wins – 22 

Draws – 10

Scunthorpe wins – 26

The last time Tranmere faced Scunthorpe in league action was December 2012, an extremely long eight years in which a lot has happened. The fixture was in League one, played at Prenton Park and Ronnie Moore’s ‘superwhites’ won 1-0 due to a goal from Cole Stockton. This game saw Tranmere return back to the top of league one. 

Mike Jackson’s thoughts going into this weekend:

‘I looked back at our past two games and the pressing and amount of times we turned the ball over in the opposition half is high. That’s the way we want to play, we want to be aggressive on that press at the right times and then we can come out with the ball and attack. It’s got to be a part of our identity. I have seen a lot of improvements in our past two performances, we look to have gelled a bit more. Our attacking play has come down to the great attackers we have available and there are still two more to come back. I’m also delighted with last weekend’s clean sheet’

‘I know the Scunthorpe manager well and how he sets his sides up. He’s a good guy. It’s another tough league encounter. They’ve got some decent players and a good way of playing. We’ve just got to keep building and I believe we are ready to go’.

The thoughts of forward and midweek brace-scoring James Vaughan heading into this weekend:

‘Forwards are judged by the goals they score. We haven’t got them so far this season, but the chances have been created. If we keep creating, we will start scoring. I’ll keep getting in the right positions and so will the other forwards’

‘We believe we should be in League One and we’re going to give everything we can to make sure that we get back to where, we believe, we should be. We have the quality of players. For those of us that were here last season, we feel as though we would have stayed up if given the chance. On one side, you’ve got to put it behind you and move on but on the other side you’ve got to use it to fuel a season of promotion’.  

My predictions:

Starting eleven – Davies, O’Connor, Clarke, Monthe, Ridehalgh, Feeney, Spearing, Banks, Khan, Vaughan, Woolery.

Scoreline – Tranmere Rovers 2 Scunthorpe United 1 

Cambridge United (A)

Cambridge United v TRANMERE ROVERS

@Abbey Stadium

Saturday 26th September 2020

The pre-match write-up of Tranmere’s third league game of season 2020/21

Tranmere search for their first league win of the season, after a week of trying to put wrong to rights in training following a poor home performance in a 3-0 defeat against Cheltenham Town F.C. This weekend they travel south to face Mark Bonner’s Cambridge United, where former Tranmere forward Paul Mullin can be found in fine form. 

Mike Jackson’s men face a tough task trying to defend against Mullin, they must also be alot better in attack. Improvements have to be seen this coming Saturday from a team that should be looking towards the promotion places, or atleast playing progressive football with a showing of great effort to win.

In my post-match write-up last weekend, I placed the questions that we as Tranmere fans have to see answered .. they may not be answered in press conferences, yet on the pitch if we don’t see them answered, we can only expect to see a team continue to struggle. However, past all of this negativity Tranmere fans should remain excited about the chance of seeing the new signings on their screens this weekend. In the week leading up to last weekend’s defeat against ‘the robins’ two forwards secured their futures at Prenton Park: Kaiyne Woolery and Liam Feeney. Although Woolery is unable to play due to a lack of match fitness, right-winger Feeney replaced Mark Ellis midway through last saturday’s game and excelled creating many attacking situations. Tranmere fans should be excited about Feeney as he is a possible match-winner however other match winners such as Corey Blackett-Taylor, Morgan Ferrier and Kaiyne Woolery all remain on the touchline unable to play.

Quotes from Mike Jackon’s pre-match interview:

‘Cambridge are a good team, we understand their strengths and we aim to do our best to do well whilst respecting our opponents. We were disappointed after last weekend’s defeat at Prenton Park,it hurt me as well as the team, thus we look forward to improving and aiming to do well this weekend. How we respond from defeat will show people a lot about the characters that we are. We’ve had a good week in training and we’ve seen players become stronger and get fitter. However, with the amount of signings that we have made it’ll take time to build playing connections within the team. Regardless, we have to learn how to compete’.

Quotes from, captain and goalkeeper, Scott Davies’ pre-match interview:

‘After a defeat, you want to play straight away. However, having no midweek games gives you the chance to work and be prepared to play well. We weren’t happy with our performance last Saturday, but I’ve been in this game long enough to understand that it won’t fully determine where we finish at the end of the season. If we put the work in, we will see more positive than negative results. This team is a new group, we have to stick together and listen to the manager’s instructions and deliver on matchdays. We’ve learnt from our mistakes, we have to be model professionals’.

Tranmere’s opponents this weekend are Cambridge United, who are aiming to set their sights higher than their league position last season of 16th. They changed their manager on 9th March 2020, Mark Bonner replaced Colin Calderwood. However, due to COVID-19 Bonner wouldn’t be able to manage a league game until September and the U’s have started off extremely well. Going into this weekend, Cambridge United sit at the top of the table and after two league games former Tranmere forward Paul Mullin sits at the top of their scoring charts with three goals. Mullin got all three in a hat trick against Morecambe last weekend so he is in great form. This pre-season Cambridge overhauled their squad as they aim for a successful campaign. Players such as centre-forward Jabo Ibehere, central midfielder Samir Carruthers, centre-half George Taft and central-midfielder Paul Lewis who was quickly snapped up by Tranmere Rovers were released. George Maris was another player who left the Abbey Stadium this summer, signing for Mansfield Town on an undisclosed fee.  Coming into the Abbey gates: striker Paul Mullin from Tranmere, defensive midfielder Paul Digby from Stevenage and interestingly former Norwich player Wes Hoolahan came back to England after a spell with Newcastle Jets in Australia. Many others were brought in as well, as seven secured their signatures on free signing contracts. However, two signed on a season long loan: Robbie Cundy from Bristol City and Idris El Mizouni from Ipswich Town. Thus, the Tranmere defence have to face many difficult questions this weekend and the attackers have to produce at the other end against a strong defence.

TRANMERE ROVERS v cambridge united – record:

Played – 26

Won – 9

Draws – 8 

Defeats – 9

Tranmere faced Cambridge twice as league opposition in the 2018/19 season, Micky Mellon’s ‘super whites’ were victorious 1-0 at Prenton Park and they drew 0-0 in Cambridgeshire.

This Saturday, I’d love to see Mike Jackson set Tranmere out in an eleven that aims to play progressive football. We have to start attacking teams, if we see the continuation of playing with a defensive style and give starts to more defensive than progrssive players I personally believe that we’ll struggle. I believe we are capable of winning if our playing style and starting eleven are progressive.

The Tranmere eleven that I’d like to see play at Cambridge United: 

Davies

O’Connor Ellis Clarke Ridehalgh

Spearing Banks

Feeney Morris Khan

Vaughan

My result prediction: Cambridge United 1 Tranmere Rovers 2.

Cheltenham Town (H) – Match report.

Tranmere Rovers 0 v Cheltenham Town 3

Prenton Park

Saturday 19th September 2020

Opinionated match report – how can we improve?

Ultimately the performance against Cheltenham at Prenton Park wasn’t anywhere near ‘good enough’. Thus, for this weekend I’m going to change the type of match report I usually provide. I’m going to try and be as honest as possible in an opinionated match report where I will detail where I believe we have gone wrong, portraying similar mistakes that we have shown in previous games throughout Mike Jackson’s tenure. 

Let’s be honest, playing against Cheltenham we expect to face questions of our quality from our opponents. Cheltenham Town are tough opponents, they always have been. However, when Tranmere perform in a way as poor as we did we as Tranmere fans should be disappointed and just like the opponents should ask of us we should also ask the team and the manager questions. Why did we start with five at the back and one up front at home? Why did play in a way that looked shy of any great interest and creativity? Why did our defence concede three?, regardless of the quality that the Cheltenham side possesses.

I aim to go into depth on all these points and explain how we can improve in our upcoming games, the next being a tough away encounter in Cambridge as Mike Jackson’s side face Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium.

First of all, I believe that Jackson set his side out in the wrong formation. I don’t understand why we continue to leave experienced striker James Vaughan without a partner, I also don’t understand the need to play five at the back when we know that we are capable of defending well. In my honest opinion, Mike Jackson needs to take more risks and set a Tranmere side out to attack the opponents that would certainly be a way of reaching his wishes of creating a ‘Tranmere side that Tranmere fans are proud of’. From previous games, Tranmere have played two competitive cup games and their league campaign started at Mansfield Town the week before, it is understandable that we struggle to create thus I don’t understand why Ollie Banks was left out of the midfield and only brought on with ten minutes left on the clock .. he is a midfielder that is certainly able to create good attacking opportunities from situations where nothing positively attractive looks likely. It is also worrying that we continue to spread high ‘hoof’ balls, which have little success rate, across the pitch. I believe we would get into better areas and have more success if we played fast-paced attractive short passes, the performances would certainly be more attractive and it would save Vaughan who is isolated on his own trying his best to header balls that he has no chance of reaching. Aswell as Ollie Banks in midfield, I also believe that Liam Feeney should’ve been used from the off, he admitted after the game that he is in perfect fitness as his club,Blackpool, who we have loaned him from were one of the firsts to come back into pre-season training. Maybe he wasn’t used as he was only announced this week and it may take time to bed into the squad through training sessions etc, I believe that his amazing attacking performance yesterday is good enough to guarantee a start next week. I believe that he is our best attacker and he created so much yesterday when he replaced Mark Ellis in the first half. Thus, I believe that the team selection and playing style is something that we have to improve on. 

Yesterday, it also seemed to my eyes that players looked off the pace and disinterested in the game. This has to be another thing that Jackson needs to improve on as we need to reach a good level of fitness to become strong in both defending and attacking situations to get points next to our name on the league table. In my opinion, if the Tranmere manager puts out an eleven that are capable of attacking their opponents the team will look more interested and the quality that we have on paper will shine.

Aswell as in front of goal, we struggled defensively against Cheltenham Town’s attack. We conceded twice from corners, the first seeming to be from a lack of communication and the second an own goal. We also conceded from a position where we played with a high line of defence as we searched for a goal at the other end. Thus, it is clear that we aren’t perfect in defence although we are usually solid. Again, I believe the best way to combat this is to play with players who are able to perform at the other end as we would place less focus on our defensive play thus pressing the opponents defence instead of having our defence pressurised. This may mean less mistakes in front of our goal.

The defence also isn’t helped by the players that have been chosen to play in midfield, Jay Spearing and Paul Lewis both played poorly yesterday as they both looked unfit and failed to provide any sort of strength in front of the Tranmere defence. This may be an area that Mike Jackson needs to talk about with club owner Mark Palios as new recruitments may need to be signed, Tranmere are only able to field: Ollie Banks, Paul Lewis and the experienced Jay Spearing in the centre of the park. 

However, we also must look to work on our set pieces as we look poor when there are many in our box although we have many defenders to strive in those positions and we look like we struggle to be successful when it is us that has a corner.

The game against Cheltenham showed that we have many things to work on thus hopefully the following week at Solar Campus is successful in targeting the improvements and we should also hope for a more progressive line-up next Saturday in our third league game of the season.

Thank you for reading, let’s try to keep the faith and continue to back the ‘whites’ in our upcoming games despite doing this from behind a screen.

Tranmere Stats:

Possession 46%

Pass accuracy 60%

Shots 8

Shots on target 1

Cheltenham Stats:

Possession 54%

Pass accuracy 65%

Shots 9

Shots on target 3 

Goals:

Tranmere – 0

Cheltenham – 3 : Raglan 6’, Williams 20’, Lewis (OG) 39’

Mike Jackson’s ‘whites’ are next in action on Saturday 26th September as they face Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium. Former Tranmere striker Paul Mullin may face his old club, he is in great form so far this season.