As Tranmere take on Bromley at Hayes Lane on Saturday afternoon, keep up to date with the action and have your say on what’s unfolding with our Match Thread.......
The new season is finally here and after the disappointment of missing out on the play-off places by just a couple of points last season after a decent season on the whole, Rovers travel to Bromley on Saturday afternoon hoping to get their new campaign off to a winning start.
Whether you are at the game or are following from somewhere else, why not discuss what you are seeing or hearing from the match as it progresses, using our Message Forum facility at the base of this story? Fans of both Tranmere and Bromley are welcome to join in the discussion before, during and after the game.
Tranmere make their second ever visit to Hayes Lane, Bromley on Saturday afternoon
If you are unable to make it to Bromley’s Hayes Lane ground on Saturday afternoon, you can also keep up with events at the game through our social media channels where we will be providing Live Updates throughout the afternoon.
Our Twitter account (@totaltranmere) and our Facebook page (Total Tranmere Website) will both have pre-match team news from around 2:00pm and updates on the action as it happens will follow from when the game kicks off at 3:00pm.
So if you haven’t already done so, why not sign up to our Message Forum, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook? You know you want to?!
Also for anyone who is part of our Total Tranmere Prediction League, don't forget to make your prediction for this game by clicking on the 'Prediction League' option at the top of our left page menu and then clicking on 'My Predictions'. Any predictions made can be changed any time up until kick-off,
Bromley do not have a strong squad and they are likely to finish in the lower half. Just the sort of side that a promotion candidate should beat. Anything less than three points will be disappointing.On paper we have the superior team and an at King approach is more likely to produce the win. A defensive approach means a smaller margin for error.
Draw, few chances created and a happy manager who will tell us how it could have nearly been with a bit more jiggery pokerey. Really hope I'm wrong. If your going enjoy the trip and hopefully the game.
We should be looking to hammer them. A Barcelona / Bayern munich mentality / swagger is required to get out of this league. Our players should have enough about them to realise they should be one of the best 2 or 3 teams in this division. Their forum seems to suggest it's all doom and gloom.
Obviously like all Rovers fans I'm looking for a win (with a positive start to the goal difference), with NO injuries, and hopefully no cards either. Seven games in August really is 'hitting the ground at a fast pace', perhaps by October the strength/depth of the squad should prove capable of proving the managers selection & formation right. Here goes....
I'm going for a 1-1 with a bizarre turn of events including one of the following:
Dog on the pitch
Mango in goal
Someone from the crowd stepping in for a linesman
Lost ball and have to run the local shop
Whistle blows 4 minutes before full time
Z list Celebrity appears for their half time lotto draw
Game stopped due to car being illegally parked on the corner flag
Welcome back non-league, I've missed your oddities
Hardly Irons I'm going for a 1-1 with a bizarre turn of events including one of the following:
Dog on the pitch
Mango in goal
Someone from the crowd stepping in for a linesman
Lost ball and have to run the local shop
Whistle blows 4 minutes before full time
Z list Celebrity appears for their half time lotto draw
Game stopped due to car being illegally parked on the corner flag
Welcome back non-league, I've missed your oddities
and Goosed complaining about lack of scoreboard holds up the kick off
Its a marker for the season, we should be able to stick 2 past them no problem. But many many years of following Rovers it could be anything from a lucky 1-0 to a 3-0 defeat...
Doogie'sGhost Good result and a great start. Surely no one can moan at that.
No moaning but some constructive radio analysis as I Didn't go, we sounded very good, I was worried when I saw the lack of width on the start sheet but we sounded good on the radio with only two "disapointments" for me: no one else got on the scoresheet in terms of basically relying on Norwood last season (on a side point both his goals sounded well taken and sounded like 3 chances 2 goals as opposed to 6 chances 1 goal last season: and finally we are not top because Gateshead and someone else scored 3 :-(
A Good 3 points to start, a goal inside 10 minutes, 2 up at HT and cruise control. It was Mentioned on the radio that Cooks performance maybe justified Homers decision to sign Higdon last season as he probably expected much more from the fat one which was delivered by the "rotund" one today.
There was a bit of the usual reliance on long balls, although there were flashes of attempting to play the ball through. Bromley did huff and puff but no end product. Shouldn't be churlish but I hope the home games rely less on long ball. Glad to finally see an opening day away win.the last one i saw was Brighton! Norwood's goals were well taken.
Hot as hell there today, thank God for the new beer or in my case cider kiosk which was a marked improvement on last season. Good all round performance in testing temperature and yes the Wirral commentators were literally in the middle of both sets of fans when Bromley changed ends at half time.
A good result in the end and hopefully more players will step up and score and Stephenson will be given the chance to impact in a way he was not given today.
Then I ate his Liver.......... with some baked beans and a can of coke.
I am with you Deadly in terms of it not mattering who scores and I think that Norwood benefitted from Cooks presence up front. And yes it was a great result and yes it was just one match so too much can not be read into the either the result or the performance.
For what it is worth, I though Bromley looked poor with a very fragile defence and it was a tad disappointing that we didnt take the game to them more in the second half. When we played the ball around it we looked good but long balls still seem to be the preferred approach. The niggle for me is that against better teams it could let teams back into the game.
Cook will,I am sure score goals, if his first touch could be improved he would be an accomplished player. The defence looked solid with a good understanding.
It is good that we have picked up where we left off last year in terms of away form.The real encouragement will be if we can show over the next two games an improvement at home
Deadly Submarine A great start indeed and yet still under are negatives such as "only Norwood contributed to the goals".
It was one game for goodness sake! Cook get a hat-trick on Tuesday against his former Club for all we know.
I really no longer know what people expect any more!
It's not a negative, it's an observation and a factual one at that, yes Cook may get a hat trick, man may land on Mars, Trump may be president, until it happens it's nothing more than a thought. Do you think the team will go away and hi-5 each other all week or their will not be critical analysis of the video on what could have been done better. I'll get the bunting for the promotion bus ride instead, given that even the manager has said others need to contribute its a valid remark. I think they issue here is the amount of negative people on this forum who see everything as a critisism instead of discussion on points of a football match, and given that I did not go I can only comment on the stats not the quality of cider or how lovely Norwoods boots looked in Pink.
DevonExile I am with you Deadly in terms of it not mattering who scores and I think that Norwood benefitted from Cooks presence up front. And yes it was a great result and yes it was just one match so too much can not be read into the either the result or the performance.
For what it is worth, I though Bromley looked poor with a very fragile defence and it was a tad disappointing that we didnt take the game to them more in the second half. When we played the ball around it we looked good but long balls still seem to be the preferred approach. The niggle for me is that against better teams it could let teams back into the game.
Cook will,I am sure score goals, if his first touch could be improved he would be an accomplished player. The defence looked solid with a good understanding.
It is good that we have picked up where we left off last year in terms of away form.The real encouragement will be if we can show over the next two games an improvement at home
I agree that Bromley did look poor. They had a lot of possession after we scored our first but we were very rarely in any danger. Is that good defence or a poor team? It could be a combination of both but we will certainly come up against far better teams than Bromley this season... Starting on Tuesday!
Good performance overall particularly in the first half on a very hot day. Was a little disappointed that we sat back on the two goal lead a bit in the second half . Two excellent goals from Norwood-he's better when he does not have time to think when he gets a chance,hence missed a sitter near the end. The front three and defence looked good.Still have concerns about the engine room in the middle-hard to remember any chances that any of them created.Bromley had plenty of possession and weaved some pretty patterns but rarely threatened.
But overall an excellent start.
Also very good to see that the first person to applaud the fans at the end was Brabin.
Deadly Submarine A great start indeed and yet still under are negatives such as "only Norwood contributed to the goals".
It was one game for goodness sake! Cook get a hat-trick on Tuesday against his former Club for all we know.
I really no longer know what people expect any more!
It's not a negative, it's an observation and a factual one at that, yes Cook may get a hat trick, man may land on Mars, Trump may be president, until it happens it's nothing more than a thought. Do you think the team will go away and hi-5 each other all week or their will not be critical analysis of the video on what could have been done better. I'll get the bunting for the promotion bus ride instead, given that even the manager has said others need to contribute its a valid remark. I think they issue here is the amount of negative people on this forum who see everything as a critisism instead of discussion on points of a football match, and given that I did not go I can only comment on the stats not the quality of cider or how lovely Norwoods boots looked in Pink.
If it weren't for the other forwards, Norwood wouldn't have scored. It wasn't a one man show.
mini_andy 1st game of the season, 2-0 up at half time, bloody hot day and a game on Tuesday. Is it any surprise we sat back in the second half?
A win is a win, last season we started with a sketchy 1-0 win, this season a dominant win. Happy days!
Beat me to it there Andy. Reading the posts was thinking exactly the same thing. Would have been very surprised if the team talk at half time didn't mention the heat and Tuesday night.
Hoots Mon Good performance overall particularly in the first half on a very hot day. Was a little disappointed that we sat back on the two goal lead a bit in the second half . Two excellent goals from Norwood-he's better when he does not have time to think when he gets a chance,hence missed a sitter near the end. The front three and defence looked good.Still have concerns about the engine room in the middle-hard to remember any chances that any of them created.Bromley had plenty of possession and weaved some pretty patterns but rarely threatened.
But overall an excellent start.
Also very good to see that the first person to applaud the fans at the end was Brabin.
welcome back hoots mon. have u been hibernating throughout the summer or been on a really lengthy holiday? lol. good start for the rovers yday. I am all set to watch the cricket today. can England take 10 wckts on the final day today? A big ask , but they've done it before.
Great first result. Clean sheet, and it looks like our talisman has hit the ground running (that 16/1 looks like it would of been a good bet as he's now 7/1). Coupled with all the work still going on at PP everything is rosey in the garden. At least till Tuesday.
Just wondering if Maynard is going to the regular right back or if this was a one off tactical ploy he did OK but I would have thought Vaughan a better defensive player who still got a few goals last season
kennyspint Just wondering if Maynard is going to the regular right back or if this was a one off tactical ploy he did OK but I would have thought Vaughan a better defensive player who still got a few goals last season
Could be the fact that he's much bigger than Vaughan and more physical, we were defiantly out muscled at times last year as one of the squad mentioned some of the teams are like rugby players, the manager needs to combat that as much as the goals thing this year and this could be a step toward it, the back four are certainly bigger with Maynard in their.
Thought Rovers definitely deserved to win and it was a shame not to attack more in the second half. We looked better than last season. A note of caution, though : I've seen a lot of Bromley over the last three years and they were well below par ; also, their best forward (Emmanuel) left the week before. It's the first time I've seen Cook and I thought he played well. Think I'd prefer Vaughan at right back, though Maynard played well. Ridehalgh was very good coming forward. McNulty marshals the defence very well. I think we'll go up this year.
Two great goals from Norwood. The Brighton game has been mentioned. Norwoods finishing on Saturday was on a par with Aldo. Two assists from Cooky, and unlucky not to score with that header. Generally thought he looked good when we got bodies around him. Looked like Maynard was brought in to counter their aerial threat. Won all the headers against their no10; and from set pieces. We clearly had a game plan that was executed. Always great to win the first game of the season, especially away. And a bonus to get a sun tan!
Very happy with our performance. Davies was never truly tested in my opinion. The defence was solid. A few odd looks at each other in the away end when we saw that Maynard was starting at right back, but he held his own. I agree with the physicality aspect that has been mentioned, he definitely stood men up better than Vaughan would have!
Norwood was outstanding, as to be expected, and Cook was VERY unlucky with the header. Brilliant reflexes from their keeper to deny him!
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net