Tranmere Rovers
A ghost from the past
Tranmere Crest
By David Sindall
February 16 2025
At the game against MK Dons I spotted John Aldridge sat in the main stand. ‘The Legend that is Aldo’ to give him his correct title. I was immediately overcome with both affection and sadness. Aldo as manager was like having your mad best mate in charge. It seems a million miles away from where we are now.
John was a fantastic striker for Rovers and a more than half decent manager. Under him we got to the League Cup Final, FA Cup Quarter Final and played some attractive but kamikaze like football. John’s final season was hampered by strange financial goings on at the club, but he still put huge amounts of his own savings into the team. He never professed to being a lifelong Rovers supporter, we all knew he was a dyed in the wool Red. Yet he brought a passion to the club that seems totally absent now.
During the second half of the match I paid particular attention to our current manager’s demeanour. He was somewhere between a man waiting for a dental appointment or a man watching paint dry. He certainly wasn’t particularly engaged, if anything he seemed to have been in a parallel universe where he was still regarded as a ‘good manager’. Fancy.
Aldo squeezed every ounce out of the players who turned out for him. He cajoled, encouraged, ranted, put his arms around players shoulders and frequently looked like he was going to murder the referee. Nigel, by comparison, looks like he is embarrassed by his charges. John took responsibility for poor performances, Nigel ducks the blame and looks to apportion it to anyone else but himself. Aldo would walk through walls for his team, Nigel looks like he wouldn’t even walk through an open door.
Nostalgia is a seductive thing. Times were still bad. There was the sense that all Aldo was holding out for, after that win over Southampton, was the game against Liverpool. That may be true. Yet even in the darkest of times you got the sense that the players were united, committed to the fan base and committed to the manager. Now? It just seems like mostly journeymen, collecting a wage but not invested in what the club means, other than a means to paying their mortgages.
We are on the cusp of a change in ownership. The end of an era. It could be that this brave new dawn is the start of a new trip to the moon, a golden age. Who knows. As somebody shouted ‘come back John, all is forgiven’. I doubt the same words will ever be said in respect of Nigel Adkins.
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16/02/2025 16:00
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I was having a drink with the wife when who did we spot sitting at the table opposite .
Aldo ..
Not being one to stand back I approached John and thanked him for everything he did at Tranmere..
Thinking that would be it and now feeling apologetic for distributing him,I turned to return to the Missus..
Aldo was having none of it and invited us to join his table and we chatted about Tranmere and how I started supporting them?
I said my dad took me as a 7 year old and I was hooked straight away..
He asked did my dad still go and I said yes but was currently in hospital having a hip replacement..
Immediately he said can I have your phone and proceeded to take a self video in which he wished my dad a speedy recovery..
He needn’t have done that but I will be eternally thankful that he did ..
Needless to say my old fella was over the moon and I’m sure helped his recovery.
Quote:johnoshackers
Thinking that would be it and now feeling apologetic for distributing him
I think you mean to say disturbing him didn't you. The last person who distributed him was Johnny King, by letting him roam free in the 18 yard box
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
Quote:johnoshackers
I met Aldo whilst I was on holiday in Portugal a few years ago..
I was having a drink with the wife when who did we spot sitting at the table opposite .
Aldo ..
Not being one to stand back I approached John and thanked him for everything he did at Tranmere..
Thinking that would be it and now feeling apologetic for distributing him,I turned to return to the Missus..
Aldo was having none of it and invited us to join his table and we chatted about Tranmere and how I started supporting them?
I said my dad took me as a 7 year old and I was hooked straight away..
He asked did my dad still go and I said yes but was currently in hospital having a hip replacement..
Immediately he said can I have your phone and proceeded to take a self video in which he wished my dad a speedy recovery..
He needn’t have done that but I will be eternally thankful that he did ..
Needless to say my old fella was over the moon and I’m sure helped his recovery.
That’s my experience of Aldo too. A gentleman.
Quote:Rover phoenix
Nice to hear, Aldo is an absolute legend. The grief he gets on here and elsewhere at times is beyond me
Well if you read some of the stuff Perry Taylor said about him in the past, it would make for interesting reading.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
Quote:only ever read his side of the story about being bullied,rumour was he was partying a bit too much and aldo went madMatt34Quote:Rover phoenix
Nice to hear, Aldo is an absolute legend. The grief he gets on here and elsewhere at times is beyond me
Well if you read some of the stuff Perry Taylor said about him in the past, it would make for interesting reading.
Quote:Matt34Quote:Rover phoenix
Nice to hear, Aldo is an absolute legend. The grief he gets on here and elsewhere at times is beyond me
Well if you read some of the stuff Perry Taylor said about him in the past, it would make for interesting reading.
I don't think it would actually
