League 1 Match 25 - Tranmere 2 Southampton 0

Trannies 2 Fanny's 0

We’re at Prenton Park today to visit Tranmere – not a happy hunting ground for us. Last year we lost 2-1 up here and had a ridiculous penalty decision go against us when a forward leaned on Seaborne, who backed away causing the forward to fall down as gravity dictates that you will fall if you are leaning on something and it moves. The law of gravity does not dictate that it should be a penalty but it was last year. More recently, we beat them 2-0 at home and we put on a bit of a masterclass and they were shockingly bad. Though they’ve obviously improved and are not bottom of the league - it’s cliché o’clock and it’s a game we really should win.

This week has seen one major positive in that Guly do Prado has signed a two and a half year deal with the club to make his move permanent. You have to be pleased with that as he’s got better and better as he’s got used to English football and I see no reason why he won’t continue to do so as he’s quality and has the right attitude. On the negative side has been the continual attempt by the media to sell Alex Chamberlain. So far they’ve failed in their quest and now only have a week left to complete their task. No one has bid as yet but apparently, Man City have snatched him without making a bid but the bid they haven’t made is bigger than the bid that Arsenal haven’t made either. Meanwhile Fulham are winning the race to sign him without making a bid, as the bid that Arsenal didn’t make has been accepted by no one and Alex couldn’t agree to the personal terms that Arsenal didn’t offer him. Much funnier is the speculation that Pompey want to sign Jason Puncheon but we priced them out of it by asking for 14p, money up front. Apparently, it was the ‘money up front’ clause that killed it and I know this cos I read it on Tribal Football, about as reliable as a promise from Eddie Howe.

Nigel Adkins’ pre-match interview revealed that he was taking his parents out for dinner and that he is a miserable sod when we lose. In the quest to have a happy dinner, Nigel makes just the one change from the bore draw with Notts County as Jason Puncheon is left out with Dicko moving into midfield and Harding coming in at left back. The reports are that Deano and Lallana are not far away but not ready yet. Tranmere have Dale Jennings on the wing – a young player who has scored a few goals this year so it will be an interesting match-up between him and Alex Chamberlain, who despite what www.completefabricationandspeculation.co.uk say, is still a Saints player.

The start of the game was kind of null and void as far as Saints were concerned with Tranmere being the more lively and Saints just kind of being there. Hang on, we should be pinning them back ... but we weren’t. On the quarter hour, Tranmere deservedly went in front when a cross from the right was flicked up in the air and Fonte and Davis looked at eachother as it bounced between them.... in nipped Welch and poked it in the net. It’s abysmal, it really is and it’s 99% the keepers fault. He’s facing the play, he can see everything, he has to call and make the decision, he has to take responsibility. My guess is that he didn’t call and Fonte was waiting for the call – understandably as it was only 6 yards out. If he didn’t get a call then Fonte should really have just got rid of it but he can be forgiven as the keeper HAS to come and sort it out, it was in the 6 yard box for fucks sake.

Five minutes later and an injury break meant that Nigel had the opportunity to administer an 11-man bollocking which showed you what he thought of it all. Sir Rickie headed wide from Chambo’s cross and Saints came close as half time approached with the Gulyman meeting a Dickson cross and forcing the keeper to claw it away. Radio Dave made this sound like a fantastic save but it really wasn’t all that.

Half time and crap with Tranmere just content to sit back and soak up our somewhat clueless attempts the break them down. Our Lallanaless performances are beginning to become a bit of an issue. Still, 45 to go... stay positive and stay on the bus.

Any thoughts of being positive were alive for a few second half minutes as Sir Rickie looked dangerous without looking like scoring. Positivity and optimism left the building and got off of the bus on the hour mark with a Tranny break, a ball inside Richardson to Jennings who decides to hit it first time from about 35 yards. The shot curls round Davis and bounces up into the net. It’s a wierd goal – great vision and execution but how did it go in? Was the keeper not expecting a shot? Was he in the wrong position? Put it this way – there are question marks against Not-so-superkelv again as he scrabbled around on the ground.

Nigel made his one attacking substitution (Ryan Doble must be heading for some sort of record of appearances on the bench without playing a minute) a bit earlier than usual but took off the wrong man with Dickson making way for Barney. Surely Harding should have come off as Dickson is a better attacker or maybe the Invisible Schneiderlin. So, Barney went up front, Chambo was playing behind them, as was Guly and in fact, the midfield was a complete mess with very little width. Barney’s first contribution was to fall over and get booked when he was looking for a penalty. Radio Dave was not impressed and called the dive even before the ref booked him – from that, even allowing for Merrington senility – we can assume it was a correct call.

The last 20 minutes were a bit of siege on the Tranmere goal but Warner in goal kept us out, first denying Barnard and then Harding. Saints had numerous efforts fly high and wide from Chambo, Sir Rickie and Schneiderlin as we finally played with the intensity that we should have had from the start. You got the impression that if we got one then we would get two but you also knew that we probably wouldn’t get one..... and so it proved, despite the additional 5 minutes of injury time.

Perhaps Nigel needs to chew on this over his miserable dinner... The bus needs an MOT and a few quid spent on it to keep the wheels moving. We were rubbish and deserved to lose and a performance like this is not acceptable according to Nigel and according to me. The bottom line is that when a team defends deep against us and in numbers, we have no way of unlocking them, especially when Lallana isn’t there. Usually, away from home, we get more space but Tranmere to their credit, played like an away side, left one up front and played on the break. To counteract this gameplan, you have to score first and early which means starting fast and putting a team under pressure. We totally failed to do this today and once Tranmere went in front, we were always struggling.

As documented earlier, I feel Davis was at fault for both goals and this must be something that’s on Nigel’s mind now after the recent balls in the Brentford home game which we lost in very similar fashion. Like the Brentford game, Davis gifted them the first goal, then a second which was questionable at best and then we couldn’t get back into it. The second goal v Brentford was remarkably similar to today’s first goal – ball up in the air, keeper doesn’t claim, they react, we don’t. In both cases the ball came down within 6 yards of the goal – keepers ball every time... punch it or catch it or shovel it over the bar... don't just fucking leave it. Tranmere had two shots and scored two goals... is it time for the Bartman? Personally, I think it is. He got dropped last year for no reason after 7 or 8 decent performances and deserves an opportunity again.

In his post match, Nigel was clearly about to have a go at Schneiderlin but reigned himself in. Morgan’s been playing well recently but he does have these games where he starts badly and then gets worse, his head goes down and there is no way back. At the moment, he’s the kind of player who you could safely substitute at half time when he’s playing badly but when you only have Gobern on the bench, you have to stick with it. Up front we had a few chances but Sir Rickie was not at his best and the introduction of Barney to liven things up (which he did), came about 15 minutes too late again. The first half was that bad, it really could have been made at half time.

After the weekend, we dropped down to 4th place with Huddersfield winning and the great Bournemouth slide totally failing to materialise as they beat table-topping Brighton. We are two points off 2nd with a game in hand so it’s not wrist-slitting time as yet but a reality check and a realisation that we are not going to ‘walk’ to promotion – as if we ever were.

Transfer window rubbish and it seems that Arsene Wenger is breaking all the gentlemans agreements that don’t exist for the big clubs (and Portsmouth) and is talking about a player who is under contract at another club. Apparently, Alex wants to sign for them though no agreement has been reached with Saints. Annoying though this is, the direct quote from Wenger suddenly makes it look a lot more likely that Alex will be on his way.... maybe we should put a bid in for Dale Jennings as a replacement – we could certainly do worse.

Next week we have the game that I suspect was on a few players minds today... Man Utd at home in the FA Cup 4th Round. They warmed up for it by beating Birmingham 5-0 whereas we lost 2-0 to Tranmere. Should be close then. Am I looking forward to it? – no, not really. I reckon we should pick a really attacking line-up and just go for it, Bart in goal, Richardson, Fonte, Martin, Dickson in defence, Morgan, Chappers and Alex in midfield with Guly just in front.... Barney and Sir Rickie up front. Just fucking go for it.