Tranmere Rovers
League One Midweek Review – 14th February 2012
By Henry Hudson
February 16 2012
With the cold weather of recent weeks having disappeared for the time being, this midweek saw a full set of League One fixtures take place and Henry Hudson brings us his regular look back at all the talking points in the division…..
After the icy weather that we had all grown tired of talking about had passed, we finally got the privilege to see a whole set of League One fixtures during this week. It was thrilling watching the scores come in as there were many surprises and shocks on Tuesday night and because of the quantity of entertainment it is hard to know where to start with my review.
The big two matches saw first place play fifth place and fourth take on third. Huddersfield were disappointing as they crumbled to only a third League defeat of the season at home to Sheffield United. The hosts could not fight back after a very early goal from the visitors and with more points dropped for Huddersfield, after manager Lee Clarke was so highly rated and even linked with a vacant manager post at Leicester mid-season, it seems his magic has worn off, so much so that since the defeat he has been sacked.
Their decline started when Charlton ended their stunning unbeaten League run and from then on they kept dropping points and now they are adrift of the automatic promotion places in fourth. As for Sheffield United, another clean sheet helps them climb above their fierce rivals Wednesday into second place and remaining eight points away from leaders Charlton.
The Blades climbed up into the automatic promotion places as the Owls fell to a shock home defeat at the hands of Stevenage. A goal right before half time condemned Gary Megson’s side to a second straight defeat. Before I suggest what may be going on at Wednesday, I believe that Stevenage have earned a lot of credit. Keeping a clean sheet away from home is an achievement in itself, but doing it against one of the most free scoring teams in the League should be applauded.
It seems the influence of Graham Westley is not missed at Stevenage and their play-off push seems to be gaining momentum every game that passes, making them the dark horses of League One as they were in League Two this time last year. As for the team they conquered, Gary Megson will have a lot of explaining to do. Saturdays defeat at Exeter was bad enough, but now a home defeat to a team they were expected to win reasonably comfortably against.
Now the questions about the quality of Megson’s management will be asked. Has he lost the dressing room? Do his colleagues at the club still believe in him? Will Mandaric feel that he has to take action? Megson will know himself that Saturday’s game with bottom of the table Chesterfield will be crucial. If they lose, fans will really start to turn against him, thus Mandaric may be forced into taking decisive action.
Gary Megson's Sheffield Wednesday have a couple of poor results which could put him under pressure
Former Stevenage boss Graham Westley took charge of his first home game at Deepdale as his Preston side took on Hartlepool. In his opening game, Yeovil defeated them 2-1 at Huish Park so there was a sense of tension going into this encounter. Preston scraped a narrow win but it was not spectacular. The new gaffer thanked the fans for their patience in his post match interview.
The fans knew that because of postponements, the players needed to regain a bit of match fitness, and were grateful that they got the three points plus a clean sheet. This match showed that Westley would not change his philosophy just because he moved clubs. He believes in patience and the Preston fans will accept that as long as they do win games and keep clean sheets more often. As for Hartlepool, they will be disappointed that they could not get anything from this game, they put in enough effort to snatch a point but they still remain mid table along with Preston.
They do not win many away games but Yeovil Town took another step towards League One safety with a 3-2 win at Adams Park. Wycombe did take the lead but were blown away by the Somerset based side. Both sets of supporters were shocked about how they managed to turn it around.
Wycombe fans knew how fragile their defence can be but still expected better against Yeovil. As for the visiting fans, so many times they had gone behind and just fallen away but for the first time in a while, they stood up for themselves away from home. Wycombe boss Gary Waddock was heavily criticised for his use of tactics after the match as they dropped into the bottom four.
Graham Westley's old and new sides both recorded wins in midweek
As for Yeovil, the fans can sense a turnaround in fortunes. Three courageous performances on the spin now with the win on Tuesday and the win at home to Preston sandwiching a very narrow defeat at Sheffield Wednesday. Even the most proud Yeovil fan would have expected relegation this season but after demoting ex-manager Terry Skiverton to assistant and appointing former Bristol City boss Gary Johnson could they avoid a late season relegation scrap? Or is this short term success just a bit of good form?
Bournemouth’s playoff hopes were severely dented as they succumbed at home to a spirited Leyton Orient side. Leyton Orient have the single aim of consolidating a mid-table finish and with performances like that you wonder whether they should be aiming higher. Of course the expectations of the Orient fans now are that the team put in these sorts of performances at a more consistent basis. Some of the displays at Brisbane Road this year have been far less than satisfactory.
The Cherries now have to take a long hard look at themselves. Do they really have the quality to get to the playoffs? Perhaps more importantly do they have the ambition to do so? Some fans will question the effort the players made in that match as really, player for player; many would say that Bournemouth’s squad is far superior. However, saying that, credit to Leyton Orient for such an impressive win, they did not fear the Cherries they knew how vulnerable they were and manager Russell Slade got the tactics almost perfect.
Bottom side Chesterfield snatched a valuable draw at mid-table Bury which lifted them off the bottom of the League. Although earning a draw at the ground of superior opposition is an achievement, the fans will feel the valuable draw should have been a fantastic victory. They were pegged back late on by Bury as Steven Schumacher spared his team from a humiliating loss.
The hosts will feel that they need to bring back their cutting edge, as the stats show how they dominated their lowly opposition but the score will show that they were fortunate to earn a point. Chesterfield still have a lot to improve on, holding leads would be the fans main complaint, however they will be relieved that they no longer have the burden of being the League’s bottom side – for now at least.
The side that fell to the bottom of the League were Rochdale after being beaten at Scunthorpe. There was little quality in the match to tell the truth with the hosts slugging it out for a precious, yet uninspiring victory. Scunthorpe are still just two points above the relegation zone, but do have games in hand on the teams around them whilst Rochdale remain four points from safety. Both of these teams are slowly in decline, dwindling attendances and a poor quality of football are not what the hierarchy at these clubs want, yet a few wins can change that, which is why these players need to start working together more efficiently.
Colchester showed tremendous character as they overcame a rugged Brentford side to snatch victory late on in Essex. Brentford thought they had done enough to earn an impressive away win and keep their slimming play-off dream alive but two goals in as many minutes denied the Bees and left their fans devastated. Colchester are now just one point behind Brentford. Colchester supporters will be delighted to a certain extent, but also slightly disappointed that they did not show this kind of character in the games prior to this one. If they had they could be challenging for a play-off place rather than just dwindling in midtable.
Rochdale fans will surely be more concerned than ever after their team dropped to the bottom of League One
Exeter’s excellent win over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend perhaps lasted too long as their minds seemed distracted as they fell to defeat at Notts County. Two sloppy goals cost Exeter a win and maybe reminded the players and fans that they were still right in the relegation scrap. Whilst on Saturday they impressed, they did quite the opposite in this game, they did shade the match statistically, yet they still stay on thirty points, four off the drop zone.
Oldham edged relegation threatened Walsall in an encounter that the fans perhaps found exciting, yet the neutrals did not mention, because in all honesty, these two sides struggled to produce real quality which explains why they are both in the bottom half. Oldham got the win they expected, but made it hard for themselves after conceding a late consolation. Walsall fans will now looking forward to Saturday’s six-pointer with Wycombe Wanderers.
The final game of the week may have been the only goalless draw but certainly was not the least entertaining. Tranmere Rovers travelled to play-off contenders Carlisle United and although I’m aware that many fans were disappointed that Rovers did not gain all three points, I feel it is important to draw on the positives from the match.
Firstly that they ended a long losing run away from home and against a side that could well be challenging for a place in the second tier of English football come May. Of course clean sheets have been a problem with Tranmere as well so to keep one away from home to a team that certainly like scoring goals is a real achievement. As for the hosts, losing ground on Stevenage will disappoint them, especially in a match they should have won. It was a below-par performance by Carlisle as even their own supporters will admit.
I was surprised about how many teams managed to produce terrific displays especially considering it was a midweek when the temperatures were still low and perhaps slightly tricky playing conditions. I, as many do, hope Saturday delivers another great set of games to watch on the Football League Show. Tranmere face arguably their toughest test so far at Prenton Park as they host League leaders Charlton whilst Graham Westley will face his hardest test so far as Preston manager when he takes them to second place Sheffield United.
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16/02/2012 18:19
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