Coventry City (A) Live Updates and Match Discussion
By Deadly Submarine
January 15 2013
If you can't make Tranmere's game away at Coventry City in NPower League One on Wednesday evening, why not follow our live match updates right here and join in the banter right and with other Rovers fans who are unable to attend......
Following football even at League One level is pretty expensive these days and no matter how much you love the Rovers, it will sometimes be difficult to make the games in person whether it be the lengthy away trips, or for exiles living elsewhere in the UK or abroad, the home games too.
As a result, for those fans who can't make some of the Rovers games this season, we at Total Tranmere will not only be providing this match discussion thread for you to discuss developments with the game, but in a brand new feature we will also be providing a live updates service from the game which will include team line-ups, score updates and also pictures and snippets live from the game.
Tranmere of course, travel to Coventry City in NPower League One on Wednesday evening so if you're not going to the game why not join in the banter right here while the game is going on? You could use our live updates service to keep tabs on the action at the game whilst discussing all the talking points right here on our discussion thread. You could also use this thread to discuss other interesting scores throughout the league as well as discussing this game afterwards if you have been to watch the game live.
What you discuss below is up to you but hopefully it can all be focused on one thread to make it easier for everyone to use. To follow our live match updates, click on the link below and select the link for the Derby County game from the list.
Even though you created a couple of great chances late on (how that goal-line scramble didn't go In I will never know) I thought we should have had the game sewn up earlier on ! Good luck for the rest of the season , braddy !
I was watching the BBC updates and Akpro appeared to be flagged for offside about 4 times. I don't know if he was mistiming his runs or if one or both linesmen had a wonky eye, but that was dissapointing.
It seemed Ronnie went 4-3-3, whereas I feel 4-4-2 might have been better, as Robbo being benched for the entire game, raised a question or two for me.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
Who are we to question Ronnie? He thought the system would be more effective but it wasn't. Let's remember we have played something like 7 games in the last 25 days so not a bad thing to freshen things up. Don't forget Robbo is no spring chicken and it will have done him no harm at all to be rested as you have to loook at the bigger picture, ie; 18 games to go and we want him fit and fresh. We sounded as though we were unlucky last night so no knee-jerk reaction, we need to go to Brentford and get a result but I'm confident that we can.
Is Ronnie doing a "Brian Little"? We are sitting at the top of the league, and on merit, so why not stick with Plan A and let the opposition do the worrying? You clearly need a PLan B, which Ronnie has, but it should be your back up and instigated if your normal playing pattern just isn't working. Plan A is probably what they use on the Training Ground most of the time, and the players are comfortable with, so have faith and stick with it.
At the end of the day though, if you don't take your chances you will drop points in games you should be getting something from.
Brian Little always thought too much when we were comfortably 3rd in the Division, and tried to out think all the other Managers in the Division. Same thing, let them do the worrying, just get our players to play the way they can for a full 90 minutes and the results will come. Keep it up Ronnie, you've given us so much this season already, compared with the last 3 seasons of absolute dross.
I can see why people are questioning Ronnie's tactics but at the end of the day it was a tale of two corners. Both teams went to sleep defending one - Coventry scored, we didn't.
If the tactic was to keep it tight and quieten the crowd and then make use of our pace in the second half when legs were tired then it would probably have worked well, if we'd just kept our concentration.
Robbo and McGurk looked knackered on Saturday while ABBs might not have been able to last the 60 mins you need from a starter so there was good reason for the starting formation. However, with hindsight after seeing McGurk and ABBs play last night Ronnie may well be reflecting that he'd have been better off just putting out his best 11 from the off.
I think some people have a right to question Ronnie now and then. Not in a really bad way, or to kick him when it's not quite right, but although it's a brilliant season, that doesn't exclude him from criticism or make him untouchable.
Alex Ferguson and his players have been booed on the odd occasion in the past 4-5 seasons, for a game or half that wasn't all that and you would think him untouchable, but their fans rightly or wrongly don't, if probably less than 5% of his games in the past few season have been adjudged as meritworthy of booing or critique, by a small proportion of fans.
You could say criticising Ronnie is over the top looking at the bigger picture and it's fans becoming accustomed to unprecendented levels of achievement and being a bit addicted to it, to the point where a fluffed result here and there, smacks of being substandard, especially if it was a game where even in average or struggling seasons, such a game could still be deemed a 50/50 or more chance of winning.
2 years ago, playing teams of Coventry's ilk and losing 1-0 would have probably been seen as acceptable, if you're a team with fans thinking that creeping into the top 10 in May, is a great season, having bagged a win or two agaisnt a filthy rich side, that finished in the top 6.
Now fans get used to being top and therefore, have a right to think any team below theirs is not as good or better by default and therefore is at least a 50/50 odds on to beaten team, even if that thinking is not necessarily wwholly accurate or sensible.
For me I am not angry or shocked by the defeat, just a little dissapointed, that when the 4-4-2 yielded a little more tempo and urgency it would seem, it was not considered more appropriate from the start, as now that Brentford game has a lot more sigificance and pressure on it, because of their 2 games in lieu.
Hopefully they will lose Forrester to a higher level team soon enough and dip a bit on form. He's being touted, so the sooner the better.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
Yes but lets not forget we have been stuffed 5-0 twice away from home in the last month! he has clearly tried to make us more solid as a result and perhaps had he played 4-4-2 then the game could have been out of sight for us by half time! as it happens, we still had a change of getting something out of the game.
I agree, the comback from a six game lack of wins, cemented by a flattening by Swindon was not an ideal string of games and the bounceback has been great and you're right the game had some chance of being won.
I'm actually cheesed off about that 5-0 now, knowing that if they had been playing players that were earning more sensible money, Tranmere might have won.
I almost feel some clubs drawing games to them and losing by a goal, should be given another point or 3, at Swindon's expense to punish Swindon for winning games dishonestly.
In Tranmere's case I doubt they could say they would have won against Swindon, if Swindon had had a first 11 costing 40%-50% less, but it would be a bit of righteous justification.
Alternatively, perhaps the FA could force the Hollands loan deal to be cancelled and ban them from using players like Roberts, Miller and other players deemed to be too expensive, until they're clear of the financial turbulence.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:01:18:22:16:42 by Matt34.
That may be so, but has the owner pulled out in recent days or weeks, because if he pulled out and lunged the club into debt, why have they still got Adam Rooney, Bostock, Hollands and Chris Martin on loan? They should have realised the moment the guy announced he was going to pull his money, what could happen and cancelled those loan deals immediately, to prevent such wages worsening the situation.
They haven't, which means they are still paying loan players they cannot afford and to some extent it's mild dishonesty in my mind.
They would still have 23 players according to their squad list, not including Caddis and Benson who are on loan, so they could hardly say they would be threadbare and struggling to put out subs if all 4 deals were cancelled.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
Stll annoyed me though that today they played Martin and Hollands and Martin bagged a penalty around the 60 minute mark when Shrewsbury were still in it.
The possibility is, if they'd dropped them and played other players instead, the game might have possibly been a 0-0, or a 1-1.
They still have those loan players there when they are heavily in debt. They should have cancelled the deals and haven't.
Totally taking a liberty.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
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