Tranmere Rovers
Thomas-Moore Signs For Rotherham
By Matthew Jones
January 26 2011
Striker leaves Prenton Park after a three year stint
Tranmere Rovers striker Ian Thomas-Moore has today ended months of speculation by sealing a move to League Two side Rotherham United, on an 18-month deal.
The striker, who was enjoying his second spell at Prenton Park, has been subject to serious media speculation since handing in a transfer request the day before the start of the season, but it is believed Rotherham, who were interested in the striker as far back as then, couldn't meet Tranmere's valuation of the player.
Moore, who was stripped of the Rovers captaincy following the ordeal, however has now left the club for an undisclosed fee, as Tranmere look to cash in on the 34-year old who's contract on the Wirral expired in June.
Rumours began to spread again about his future come January when the transfer window reopened, whilst the writing was on the wall last night as Thomas-Moore threw his shirt in to the crowd falling a brief substitute appearance in Tranmere's 0-0 draw at Swindon, his final game for the club.
The Tranmere number 9 has been a hugely valuable player to Rovers over the last couple of seasons, none more so than last year, when his tally of fifteen goals helped Tranmere to survival in League One, with Rovers not losing any of the thirteen games he scored in all season.
Thomas-Moore started his career at Prenton Park in the early 1990s and was a huge prospect with the club, earning England honours at U21 level before leaving Tranmere for £1,000,000 in 1997, joining Nottingham Forest.
He went on to play for West Ham, Stockport, Burnley, Leeds and Hartlepool before returning to Tranmere in 2008 on the final day of the January transfer window, signing for his dad for the first time.
Today sees him rejoin father Ronnie, who is now manager at Rotherham after being unceremoniously sacked by Tranmere in May 2009, a move that unsettled Thomas-Moore back then, though he was unable to leave the club having just signed a new two-year deal.
In his entire Tranmere career, Thomas-Moore netted 51 goals in 207 games, including nine goals this campaign, making him the clubs leading scorer.
Total Tranmere wishes Ian all the best for the future and would like to thank him for the time he spent at Prenton Park. He was most certainly a valuable player in the team and one who's goals and workrate will not be easy to replace.
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26/01/2011 17:06
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:01:26:18:23:55 by Deadly Submarine.
26/01/2011 18:04
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He even admitted publicly that in the 0-0 at home to Hartlepool, he should have scored.
all being well)he does not score.
Thank Ian for the good times and your goals over the years.
26/01/2011 22:26
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No in all seriousness, I think one prospective figure touted here, from a very respectable member, was around £50,000.
He will certainly be missed as our top scorer last season & so far this season, without his goals last season we would have been relegated.
I wish him all the best at Rotherham.
This came as no surprise to me. ITM has wanted away, having heard that he first wanted his contract cancelled and then wanting a transfer request, which was at first rejected, now he will be happier in Yorkshire.
The board has once again, dragged this out and only because they got some finances, will the fans be happy.
The whole Ronnie & ITM fiasco will come to light one day perhaps, and the boards actions will be seen in a different light.
Thanks ITM, for all your efforts, especially due to the circumstances.
Moore did get 2 against Dons, but Enoch teed up a Jennings goal as well and fortunately Enoch I think has played the most games of anyone this season, which is something, at a club where at times players have bene crocked left right and centre.
For me on balance, Enoch had the edge this season on key contributions, as some of Moores goals were penalties, which I will say are often vital to results sometimes, but Ian was a Tranmere great for me, perhaps not quite the same force he was when he went to Notts Forest, but his contribution to the club will never be forgotten I doubt.
If this move works out better for him, then good luck to him. The man has my respect, inspite of what went on in the past 6 months and the people who said he was unproffessional and should just get out, were totally wrong.
That's why Liverpool ended up in 3rd place I recall after signing Crouch. His first goal came in his 10th game, but by then he'd already gotten a 70% combined direct and indirect goal ratio. For what they paid, that was a snip considering what he started doing for them, not that some Liverpool fans could see it like that.
As far as I'm concerned, any club that has a forward player, that assists in 66.66% of initial games and helps you get third in your respective league, is a darn good player for you.
It's a sad state of affairs for me, that strikers are judged on goals too much, because they are often more than just goalscorers and people should consider overall contributions, instead of just singling out one primary aspect of the players game.
Moore could potentially outscore Enoch it's true, but on the current overall contribution levels, had Ian stayed, I think by May, despite potentially scoring more goals, he would be slightly lower on total contributions to Enoch, like he was before he left.
I'm grateful for Moores contributions since his return, of course, but Enochs combination of quality and experience, (like Moore's), for me is still invaluable to the team, when the current money makes players with both attributes hard to come by.
I guess I like to see football as more than just a black and white game and view it with a more analytical and measured approach, but hopefully when the season ends, players like Enoch will get fair judgement by fans, as should Ian and hopefully Robbo too if he lives up to expectation.
Though I completely agree with your comment Mart about strikers being judged, but I do find it a bit dissapointing that fans don't appreciate more of a players ability sometimes, as it sometimes does players a big disservice.
Also it doesn't help when a lot of websites never put things like assists on their stats pages. possibly it's harder to monitor, but at least it's more factual
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