Post-Match Thread and Ratings Tranmere Rovers 2-0 Southend United

[Chris Powell's mate]

Hi Tranmere fan here,

Just wanted to say we know how it feels really, we fell through the leagues into non league with a similar run and its horrible

As for the game I thought you were the better side in fairness and we were awful and extremely lucky

It really looked like a relegation level battle between 2 sides, we have only had 2 or more shots on target in 50% of games

Try and keep with it, its tough and the season we went down from this league was the worst I have had as a fan, fingers crossed it wont happen to you and you stay up

Appreciate the post.
But based on what you saw and what you experienced when Rovers took the plunge, who was the better side at this time in the season?

 

[Colchester and proud!]

A decent experienced central defender and club captain still looking for a club I believe is Krystian Pearce, still only 30 and a lot of league games behind him. I don’t think he got on with the new manager Graham Coughlan at Mansfield a few months ago, so left them this Summer after a 5 year stint.

 

[Barling Magna]

Comments from the Tranmere fans forum tell the story of this match:


"They were all over us."

"It's a home game, we let the bottom of the league, look far better than us!"

"Other than the goals, they have been the better team and they will be disappointed with the outcome!"

"Southend were the better footballing side."

"It is a big win in terms of retaining league status but the overall performance suggests that we are no better than the team that must be favourites to drop into the national."

"Southend passed and threatened but their defence is their weak link."

"That wasnt a comfortable 2-0 either. We were lucky to not give away a pen at the start and Southend, but for better finishing, could have been 3-0 up before we got going."

"We were not great and we had a little luck for once, Southend were a better side than us but had no luck."

"The first goal wasn't because of plan B and the second goal was a fluke, albeit laudable that Vaughan had a go. 10 'shots' all game with only 4 on target including the goals. Southend had more possession and were unlucky not to score. They had 8 corners to Tranmere's 5. Stats don't lie. "

 

[Kris]

I disagree; there is not one team we have played so far that I felt were a lot better than us and played is off the park.

It's the small margins (last minute worldly against Exeter, clear penalties not given against Salford and Tramere) and individual errors that are costing us.

Harrogate hammered us and to be honest the scoreline flattered us rather than them. And of the other teams, most of them played in third gear. Even Carlisle, who I thought were pretty poor, toyed with us in the second half and we had to rely on Oxley to keep the score down.

Sorry, but I think we would still be playing expecting to get a result out of Cheltenham.
I've seen some one-sided games, but that second half would easily make my top 10.

Yep, they were excellent and managed the game superbly. We couldn't get near them.

We have had good moments in the games so far, played some very neat football at times, and we very unlucky not to beat Exeter but overall we've struggled to create enough chances to punish teams when we have been on top.

I guess we've been blessed with excellent strikers/creators in recent years - Hopper, Cox, Humphrys, McLaughlin, Kightly and even this season Hutchinson and Kelman - to the extent that we might assume their replacements will be on a similar level (how many times have we read the dreaded phrase, 'easily replaceable') and are not used to having such problems.

That said, I'm still more or less glass half full. A victory over Oldham could potentially see us draw level with three other teams. Oldham have conceded almost as many as we have although they have scored more than most teams in the bottom half.

Looking forward to Tuesday. Come on you Shrimpetrs...

 

[stewart]

Defence may be suspect but even if it wasnt we still couldnt win if we cant score goals,desparately in need of a goalscoring striker,i know they hard to come by,but maybe if RM serious about keeping our beloved club in the league and avoiding relegation ,then he needs to find the funds to lift the embargo and go after one of them free agents that been posted in the thread here on Shrimpermoan. Yes will be expensive ( probably ) but if it helps maintain our league status then it would be money well spent ,not wasted as it has been for a while now. We cannot rely on akinde or what ever his name is when hes ready to return,sorry but he is unproven at this level.