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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:01:21:17:11:47 by Deadly Submarine.

My Team finally come to town. Oh what joy it is to live in Milton Keynes. I'm optimistic about tommorow hoping for a win, my last game due to work was walsall away and what a day that was!!!!! I can only hope for another win but it will be hard!

Did you leave before the ned Dr death??

Sorry 'end'

I meant the away game

mccrystal in for goodison zoom for itm

If Les Parry remains in charge we are going down, simple as that.

Couldn't get to the game but from text highlights thoughts;

Beat walsall and mk dons 433 scoring 4 in each game and with good performances, play the same teams a few months later and play a complete different style?????? At 442 we are getting out run in the centre of midfield, jennings as left mid means he isn't as forward as we would like to see him and thus harder for him to make an impact. Away from home and against the good teams 433 has worked very well for us and I hope we consider returning to it for sheff wed etc... we look a lot more solid imo!


Taylor sounded like had a poor game BUT i'd defend him in the fact he looked weak physically at rochdale and with lack of games after a long lay off is still not fully match fit.

ITM I presume dropped for contract issues?? If so good on Les and co. We need 11 players on and off the field giving it everything. Same go's for broomes when he is fit although again in the players defence we do not know what offer the club is putting on the table.......

Dale in central role sounded good? I remember shuker doing well in a 'free role' position behind the striker under RM could be a good way to use dale?

Good to hear mcchrystal sounded like had a decent game especially considering his lack of match sharpness.

Overall MK dons challenging for playoffs, at home, good home record. Us without our talisman at centre back 2-0 is nothing more than expected. If we can get back to the form we showed the other month a good run of results will again ease the pressure. Hopefully we don't over react to this result and last few but suspect we will and that is where we could have a problem.

What annoys me is the two goalscorers have basically been loaned out a lot, they weren't even regulars.

I'm not 100% certain why Les used normal and not advanced wide players as her normally does and Moore on the bench instead of upfront with Jennings replacing Bakayogo?

Still not sure, but I don't think it was a hideous result. Some of the players must have done okay and Warner still looks pretty solid from what I read of the game, but things still need to be addressed clearly.

Warners distribution was good, apart from a few dodgy tackles Kay looks excellent. McChrystal looks solid and unflustered unfortunatly today was not one of tailors better games he wasn't physical enough and I dont remember him winning anything today at fault for second goal. Cresswell reliable as ever.
Zoom at left mid sounded good at first but I dont know if it was down to lack of games but seems to have lost sine pace.
Ladabie and welsh ran around a lot today but with no end product.
Lateef didn't do that much really.
I was looking forward to the little and large act up front but our hoof upfield seemed to be flicked on to noone inparticular!!!!
Word about the ref..... Crap springs to mind a home banker if there ever was one! Defo pen turned away in the first half and every major decision was a home one.
If we had been switched on from the restart we may have got a good point but again our defensive frailities reared there ugly head.
Great support from the swa the stewards told me they weren't expecting this many, maybe why we were moved to behind the goal instead of shoved into the corner

It pains me to say but i agree with ricci if Les stays as manager for the rest of the season we will get relegated.

Its not just down to les that we are were we are but i am now of the opinion that he isnt upto the task of managing tranmere.

Im sure people will say if he had more money to spend things will be better but he has wasted money on players who simply are not upto this standard wood, akins, mcgurk & morrow to say the least.

Between the two goals we dominated them but didn't create too many chances and didn't take those we did create.

Certainly for the first goal (and it would seem the second goal too although I couldn't see) it seems Ash was at fault but perhaps for him and amongst a back four with a n average age of 22, it was just an off day.

For me I still think Ash is much better suited to Centre Back than Centre Mid!!

Yes we could talk budgets indeed, but he is human after all.

How can you possibly know if people like Morrow and Wood and Akins will play well in the first team, just by giving them some training sessions and a couple of reserve games?

I know I wouldn't be able to. There's absolutely no player ever in the hisory of football that's a 100% no risk / gamble to bring in or promote to the first team.

Especially as some of the players he's signed have had a smattering of games since signing, with a very inexperienced history, (McGurk and Wood never played before), or in Morrows case very little consecutive minutes of football. The guy hasn't even had 3-4 back to back games, to build any form, confidence or relationships with other players.

Wood did play consecutive games and McGurk did as well, but trying to name a manager that never gets dissapointing or below par players, is like trying to find a farmer that breeds flying pigs.

At least Akins came free, not for £30,000,000-£32,000,000 of Ukranian or Arabic megabucks.

Plus some of the problems associated with the result could have been down to no Goodison or Broomes, which is something we'll never know now.

When you think, that he got players like Showunmi, Warner, Kay, Lateef, Wootton, Gulacsi, Labadie, Blanchard and put his trust in Cresswell, Collister and Jennings as well, he's really procured and blooded some quality players and considering Enoch has helped the team to get 11 goals in all comps, 7 goals, 4 assists, to Moores 9 goals and 1 assist, it's debateable if other managers would have writen him off, for either supposed lack of ability, or for the possible cost per week, in light of the kind of money other clubs he played for may have paid him.

Les has signed some dubious players, (who doesn't), but most of have been good and McChrystal seems to be another possible plus point player.

When you look at games like Notts County, Walsall 4-1, MK Dons 4-2, Peterborough, Brighton, (robbed by no penalities), Charlton, Carlisle 2-1, Huddersfield 1-1, Plymouth 1-0, you see hope, you see progress under Les, that for me, could never have happened under Barnes. 5-0 against Millwall springs to mind.

Yes some games this season like Brentford 3-0, don't make light reading, but he will soon enough have Mahon to use which might be just the tonic perhaps and his supposed new midfield signing, so I think he needs more time and I think he can kep the team up and gain a few more places as well.

I think ther team is good enough it win 3 back to back league games, but whatever the reasons, it eludes them.

So for me I'm not overly concerned. Other teams like plymouth, Peterborough and one or tow others are losing quality, that may be hard to replace, so they will dip in form.

Tranmere won't, or shouldn't lose irreplacable quality, (Broomes right now be the slight possibility), but by having McChrystal, and Warner and Lateef, Kay and this soon to be new incumbent, then there is potential strengthening and potential added squad depth to be had.

I still see many positives and still have belief in Les and yes I still think better budgets would help. There's no way for me, that Tranemre would be just above the drop zone, if players like Robbo and / or Hume and / or Trundle had signed which were possibles, however realistic or slight.

So I'll keep the belief for now as I think it can work out .

According to the BBC, our possession was 26%!!!

I know Pete at one point in the game the it went down to 20%. I was not at the game but at min we are in trouble. We can't seem to win. Yeovil have now won there last three games against good teams. We need to start now or it's over..........................

Every ball is a white ball............TRFC

I'm not so sure what's happened to us recently. Like has been mentioned here before, we put in some good performances this season and not much has changed in terms of personel really.

For me it's down to the formation. What's very strange though is that, Les bought a team to play 433 and now he seems intent on playing 442 which just isn't working. I just hope he's not playing this formation to suite loan players because we all know we nearly went down because he kept playing Ben Gordon who was simply shocking.

The break we had over December has simply killed us and there is a certain amount of belief missing in the team that was there a few months before and we desperately need to get that back. What worries me is that Southampton put 6 past a decent Oldham team, god knows what they could do to us next week!!!!

Matt only recently you said we had a 1% chance of relegation and we are only just outside the bottom 4.

Morrow & Mcgurk were signed and had very poor injury records so it didnt take much working out that they would get injured quite a bit which has what happended, Akins is very poor and not upto football league standard never mind league 1 so it wouldnt take much working out.

Matt how you think we are going to win 3 games in a row is beyond me as we havent does this for a fair while now and wont do. Our defence is poor weve conceded 9 goals in 4 games this season our top scorer wants out (hence the transfer request) our best centre half is injured.

At what point will people become concenred about our position as things are going we will be in th bottom 4 next week and will struggle to get out of it.

Trouble is we have Southampton at home(winners at Oldham 6-0)
Swindon away do not think we will get any thing out of those two it could be by then we could be in the bottom fourand if we end up in there this season it could be the trap door shuts and we are stuck and will not get out of it but how the hellwe manage to go behind with in fourteen seconds of kicking off yesterday does not give one much hope against the likes of Southampton only hope Johnson puts some money on the table to help build the squad before the transfer window shuts but thats not going to happen so we may end up going down this season PJ most have long term plan
of league two and then further down the pyramid to non league
and sell up of the land even the houseing market may have picked up by then. Can not see any hope of coming out of this down turn on the field unless their is investment now
we seem to be going back to the days of mobile generators that kept the floodlights going and a squad of if any turned up with boots they all most could have had a game it seems a shame from going from those bleak days to knocking on the door of the premiership to being back in the danger of dropping down and if we end there it would be hard to return without investment but whilst theirs hope and life I will still be at Prenton Park colours on cheering the lads on I only hope that one I do not have to shut the door on PP and put the lights off for the last time.So we need a wake up call on the pitch and dig in to fight our way from the bottom four and regroup for next season . Come on you Whites(bit off white at this moment) Super White Army

Yes I did say 1% chance of relegation and I'll stick by that for now , though that's not to say I'd vehemently stick to anything I've said before till the death as they say, because it's just a personal view that could change depending on how things work out.

As for the 3 in a row, Ronnie did it last, I think against Northampton, Cheltenham and Leyton Orient, in his last season.

When you look at the team as a whole, they did get Walsall, Stockport and MK Dons back to back and if Carlisle, who many thought could have lost if Tranmere had scored first at their place, had lost, Tranmere could have gone on to get 4-5 straight league wins. I know they didn't, but it was'nt a million miles off happening.

Admittedly little things like Gulacsi's minor fluff against Charlton and the ref at Brighton not giving any penalities, are part and parcel of a season, though they don't help, but what can Les do? People bemoan 4-3-3 and praise 4-4-2, then he goes for 4-4-2 quite a bit and people bemoan that.

It'll get to the point soon where he'll have to use Goodison as a Sweeper or a try a Christmas Tree formation, just to find a couple of back to back victories and stop some people moaning.

Though as stated, other clubs are going to find issues. Plymouth selling, Peterboprough losing players. Carlisle have signed Michalik but lost Madine and Southampton if they lose Oxlaide-Chamberlain may find a small dip in form a possibility.

if Plymouth nose dive, they could be in serious trouble and Peterborough may also find the new incumbents second coming a damp squib, (nothing about the Brighton game suggests a glorious return), especially if the lose Mackail Smith as well, plus Swindon may lose Austin and one of their defenders is offski very soon for definite.

Tranmere have as stated got players like Warner, Kay and Lateef in, to increase options and strength, so I think other teams may drop form, but Tranmere in theory shouldn't.

I'm not bothered about Dagenham signing Akinde as the guy nearly joined Northampton, so he's clearly not a "wouldn't play league 2 kind of player", which suggests he might be useful but not overly efficient as a striker at league one standard, because if your agent and you thought you were a Jordan Rhodes type guy, you'd give league 2 short consideration, knowing £3,000+ a week deals in league one and possibily championship could really happen.

I'm just looking at the bigger picture right now Mart. I understand your frustrations and appreciate your take on things. I know how I feel and like to take a lot of factors into consideration, because I'm not the type like a few rogue posters are, to come here and say Les should have taken Jennings to the County game, when Jennings actually played the full 90, or Les could do what Poyet does, because Poyet has Tranmere money to spend, as I actually bother to think about what I say before I do it.

I'll still for now stand by my thought, that Tranmere have 1% chance of going down, as I would never have said 0%, because I like to not be definite, otherwise people can throw that back at me. At least saying 1% chance gives me some wiggle room, if I do have to man up at some point and concede my stance .

Though for me budget, injuries and one one or two little things have partially blighted the season, but hopefully the latter half of the season is more stable and a basis to cultivate more consistency .

I don't blame Les, after watching the game on Saturday I would suggest the best way to defend is to attack the ball in every area of the pitch.As per usual JW (vastly underated) did his best in the midfield but ALL midfielders need to do a similar job - chasing and getting into the ball players therefore giving some protection to the back four. Alright AT did not have a very good game but if all the 8 infront of TW got into the faces of the oppo we could create a problem for any team. I would also expect all the players to 'work' for the entire game and then only be able to crawl off the pitch after the final whistle - after all thats what we pay for. Oh yes and a few techincal points need to be addressed 1.the passing needs to improve and ES need to learn how to jump and then perhaps he could provide a better outlet for the longer ball. Good to see ITM come on as a sub - he really makes a difference.
Bring on Southampton

What is a training session at TRanmere ?
Has Les a board with on which to illustrate tactics ?

Imagine if you lot had kept Barnes, you'd probably be where Brighton are now in that they too had a bright young manager, except they gave him a chance unlike you lot.
You're going down to meet Ronnie 'hoof' Moore in Division 4.
Suckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

what a great statement that was, you clearly have no idea about football do you.

Quote:

John Barnes Ghost
Imagine if you lot had kept Barnes, you'd probably be where Brighton are now in that they too had a bright young manager, except they gave him a chance unlike you lot.
You're going down to meet Ronnie 'hoof' Moore in Division 4.
Suckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Obviously a red sh**e supporter from the Wirral who only supports them because he can watch them on tv every week. Get back on your couch SLOB!!!!!!!!!! (sorry shouldn't rise to the bait Ha Ha)

COME ON YOU MIGHTY WHITES

Barnes isn't that young well not compared to Eddie Howe and if his Celtic days were used as proof of his ability, then he certainly didn't do anything at Tranmere to lay old ghosts to rest.

Not if they're coming back on here and talking cack at any rate .

John Barnes inherited a terrible Celtic team and his record was not bad in the context of his predecessors. Barnes has only just turned 47 and is a baby in the context of a managerial career that can continue until into your 70s as greats such as Fergie, Paisley and Trappatoni prove. Barnes has time on his side and should prove himself in non-league/2nd Division like Clough, Ince and O'Neil did and then proceed from there. He should not let the @#$%& kill his dream.

Every man has the girlfriend they deserve and every club has the manager they deserve - you've got Les Parry. LOL!!!!!!

Barnes came 3rd in a 2 team league at Celtic so you are talking rubbish.

If he was any good as manager other clubs would have looked to bring him in as manager but they havent and its all down to one reason, hes a bad manager,

Bigmart please don't sprout facts that are complete lies. Barnes was manager for 21 games at celtic in which he won 15 games and lost 6, this compares very favourably to Mowbray who won only 8 games in the same period. Also Celtic were second when he left. He was sacked for not challenging Ranges at the time who were winning almost every game due to their massive budget in those days plus the fact he lost a cup game to Inverness.
Other clubs have looked at him as manager and he only came to Tranmere as he was promised the squad would not be sold yet very soon after his appointment all the key members of the squad were sold making his job impossible in the short-term. Due to his success in the Jamaica role Barnes is currently in negotiations for the very lucrative position of managing Saudi Arabia.
We lost a good man with a good brain who would have been an assett to the club!!!

Every man has the girlfriend they deserve and every club has the manager they deserve - you've got Les Parry. LOL!!!!!!

What was John Barnes' record at Tranmere?

so in other words barnes was sacked at celtic for failing is what you are saying.

He spent over £5million on a total flop called rafael so did have some money to spend but wasted it. His tactics there were poor playing 4-2-2-2 and he lost the dressing room these are the reasons he was sacked.

As for the fact he may manage Saudi Arabia it doesnt make him a good club manager does it. You say sveral clubs looked at him but the key point is none of them appointed him.

Also which players were 'sold' after Barnes arrived?

John Barnes lost 5-0 to Millwall a team who were good, but not good enough to beat Tranmere by that margin. He beat Gillingham 4-2, only after a penalty and a late goal, he signed Kithson Bain who went on loan to a Conference side.

That would not be acceptable if he'd been loaned to a league 2 side. You simply don't loan signings out to lower division clubs in their first season, it looks very, very bad.

He lost to Bury in the JPT when he was 1-0 up a match Les won with a less experienced team. So he had something akin to the Caley Thistle scenario that got him canned.

Les's total after 23 games is 26 points and -10 GD.

Last season after 23, it was 21 points and -22 GD, so he's improved, by getting 5 more points and gaining 12 on the goal difference, even though his budget is smaller and his injury problems much greater and if Taylor hadn't made errors against MK Dons, The players hadn't thrown the Walsall game away and the ref had given Tranmere some penalities at Brighton, they could have had another 5 possibly 7 points.

Les beat Walsall, Stockport and MK Dons in back to back fixtures as he did with Bury, Plymouth and Notts County.

The best Barnes could do was win 2 of the first 3 fixtures in all competitions. The best league form was just 4 back to back points with a better budget.

Barnes did nothing better than Les and even during last season when Les took over, he had a run of 7 points from 9 around Christmas, a 5 game unbeaten run around Novermber / December and 10 points from 15 at the end of the last season things Barnes couldn't do and probably never would have done either.

So you tell me Einstein how any of the comparisons there stack up for the all hallowed Barnsey, because to me they don't.

The main differences Matt were the following:
1. Barnes inherited a team that was quickly decimated by the chairman after his arrival, therefore Barnes had to rebuild this team. Parry inherited a team that had played together for half a season.
2. Barnes did not have the backing of the supporters at the club due to his links with Liverpool. Therefore from almost day 1 his teams were booed meaning it was extremely difficult for Barnes to have the credibility to manage the players.
Further Matt you are comparing statistics for Barnes v. Les taking a period of 22 games. This is extraordinarily foolish as Barnes only managed for 13 games of which 11 were league games. Therefore you are utilising games as evidence that Barnes did poorly based on games he didn't even manage. I don't think I've ever seen anything so idiotic with the exception of all the posts I've observed you write. Your posts are absolutely woeful as they ramble on and on and on and on yet say pricisely nothing. I suggest you go on a basic English writing course and focus on writing succinctly.

Every man has the girlfriend they deserve and every club has the manager they deserve - you've got Les Parry. LOL!!!!!!

Ah so now you've changed from players being sold in the summer to the squad being decimated by the Chairman?

Of course Peter Johnson appointed Barnes and then immediately forced Kay, Chorley etc to leave the Club didn't he!!

Oh yes, I can compare both sets of 23 games, because I know if Les had not have taken over, Barnes would have continued with form, that saw him get 7 points in 11 league games, a pathetic 21% points tally and the team would have had nothing close to 23 points from 23 games.

Why did some fans boo him? Simple. They do not like managers of Tranmere averaging 21% from just over 10 games or seeing their team losing 5-0 and until he got the last 4 points of his 7, he had gotten 3 points from 8 games, an absolutely woeful 12.5% average.

Even someone like you, who it seems, cannot see the obvious, could have gotten more than 3 points out of 24 if given the job.

Tranmere had no ability to pay Kay or Coyne what they earn now. If you think either was getting offered Tranmere style wages at Middlesborough and Huddersfield respectively, you're mistaken.

Alternatively you could be the person who posted here some time back, who thought Gus Poyet has Tranmere money so Les should be getting Poyet's level of league form.

If that misguided individual was not you, I apologise, but do not waste our time, with repetitve ramblings and fuzzy logic. John Barnes averaged 12.5% points from 8 league games, FACT. Les has never nor would he ever average that with his smaller budget

Les is better than Barnes in every way, because he does not sign players that get dumped on lower league teams within weeks of singing, nor does he lose games 5-0, or lose 6 league games in a row, or overspend.

You are right though, Tranmere do deserve Les Parry, because they never deserved John Barnes as a manager.

Some great players do not cut it at management, Barnes is the same calibre of player, that transitioned to management like a lead balloon.

Les Parry's worst run of league games is 3 straight defeats. John Barnes lost 6 in row, a feat I doubt even Walsall have achieved this season.

As for saying Parry inherited a team that had stayed together, so what? He had more than 10 injuries at times this season, arguably the worst injury record of any team ever. Barnes never had that problem and still had some atrocious results.

Oh and because you are comparing games Barnes played with ones Les played here's some more facts for you.

Barnes 7 points from 11 games. -17 goal difference.

Les this season, 10 points from 11 games. -8 goal difference.

Frankly and no offense intended, but I need to go on a writing course a lot less than you need extra curricular Maths and better observational skills.

I'm done replying to you, because you make less sense than employing John Barnes as a manager and that's being as polite as other readers of this forum deserve, though in this valley of two eyed men, one eyed people like you will never become King.

Good day.

Great response Matt (he has been banned by the way so won't be replying)!