By Bobby Ellis
August 2 2023

We are nearly there. The sun isn't quite cracking the pavements, in fact it's more likely the pavements are being washed away, but football is back. 46 games to come and at the moment we're unbeaten, have the best squad ever (until we see them play) and are confident that Tranmere will be champions come 24th April. The first game is always a reality check. How much of a reality check is questionable.

Take the past 5 seasons. Last season we got muscled off the park by Stevenage. If we had been paying attention we would have seen that they had assembled a fairly physical team that brushed us off the ball without too much trouble. How could we get beat, at home, to Stevenage? Surely this was a sign of how dreadful we were and relegation must have been a certainty. After all we lost to a team that had struggled against relegation the previous season. Just to remind you Stevenage got automatic promotion. 

The previous season we turned Walsall over 1-0. Much more positive, much better. Walsall had put together an effective squad who were expected to do well. A feather in our cap, surely? Walsall finished 16th. We finished 9th.

In the 2020/21 season we were smarting from being dumped back into League 2. Mansfield, often favoured as possible promotion contenders were our opponents on the opening day. The match finished 0-0. We made the play offs and they finished 16th. 

The less said about the the COVID season the better. We had achieved two successive promotions. COVID was not in our vocabulary and the idea of becoming extras in a sci-fi movie would have been laughed at when Rochdale ran out to face us at Prenton Park. We got beat 2-3 in what was an entertaining game. Dale finished 19th. They start life in non-league this season.

We were drawn away at Stevenage for our first game back in the football League at the start of the 2018/19 season. My overriding memory is of how many Rovers supporters turned up to cheer us on. A good 2-2 draw, but it gave no hints that we would make the playoffs and get promoted via that route at the end of the season. Stevenage finished 10th.

Since our demotion we have finished 7th, 9th and 12th. If that sequence were to continue you would expect us to finish around about 16th. Yet football at this level is far from predictable. Unlike the Premier League, where you can more or less guarantee that the same few teams will be the teams at the top, football at this level is much more unpredictable. 

Now, it could be that this season we break the records and even if we get beat against Barrow, we could then win the next 45 games and finish with 135pts. That's the problem with this time of the season, you can catastropise or be wildly optimistic and nobody can say you're wrong.

Does the first day tell us much?

Discussion started by Total Tranmere (IP Logged), 02/08/2023 11:29

Total Tranmere
02/08/2023 11:29

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

ALOTBSOL
02/08/2023 11:52

No 😜

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

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