Tonight we play Tranmere Rovers a team who lost their last away game 2-3 to Stockport County who are rather better than the ones we lost to at home. But we’ve got Schofield’s processes and they haven’t! His latest interview on Radio Sheffield features him regurgitating his regular “positivities" based around the background of coaching and motivational technicalities. He firmly believes that if the processes are executed, no doubt generating the target statistics, success will follow, although he fails to explain convincingly why he retains faith in Ro-Shaun Williams. There does not seem to be a place within the statistical coaching template for someone whose mistakes regularly cost goals.
So, we go forward with a leader confident that his execution of processes will triumph over the secondary element of life, of existence, reality.
Experience suggests that we may safely completely ignore what he says and hope that the team will be able to make some headway by means of that well established byproduct of intensive technical coaching, the playing of actual football with an increasingly better understanding of each other’s games.
“Giving him more time" remains a wish from some of those who do not consider that his methods and philosophy are only loosely related to the real world of kicking a ball around and scoring more goals than the opposition.
To me, his leadership is dangerous to the future of the club and we are drawing too close to the non-league trapdoor to risk an extended period of his methods if they continue to bear little fruit.
I leave you with this quote from the man himself: “It’s about believing in something you do, which I probably do." …only probably though!
So 1-1 - Miller G, Lavery.
DPL v Tranmere Rovers
posted on 7/2/23
2 - 0 Tranmere
posted on 7/2/23
I'll go for a Tranmere victory
In fact I can't see us winning again after recent performances.
TBH I have completely lost interest after 48 years watching the rovers. Last game I watched was Mansfield at home - not sure if I will ever go back - can't even be bothered to watch the highlights. In my opinion we are in a downward spiral and relegation is a far more likely prospect than promotion.
posted on 7/2/23
What an uplift I received from that awe-inspiring interview! – oh, sorry, I was standing on my head so it must have been a depression. I nearly had my wife come and listen to it; she is a retired Professor of English and might have been able to translate the gibberish to something understandable, or at least for it to give a positive message.
I can’t understand how he can rate the last few games “good performances” when we lose them all and hardly score goals. Maybe he liked the performances as they followed his “processes” which look like making the team relegation candidates.
I’ll watch today’s game, but unless it is a really inspiring performance, watching the Premier League will win on Saturday. Like the rest of you, it is very difficult to generate much interest in the team. I’ll cancel my automatic renewal to iFollow – of course, it we get relegated, I assume there will be no live coverage!
Just seen the line-up. Although earlier on I did not see anything in Biggins, I think he is now one of the better players, and so we are weakened by his injury – and further weakened with the continuous appearance of Williams. Unless Jake Oram is a wonderkid, let’s hope Mitchell does not get injured.
At best, I’ll say 1-1 with Tommy Rowe scoring.
posted on 7/2/23
Once again, who knows? 😒
Rovers 1-2 Tranmere
George Miller to score ⚽
posted on 7/2/23
2-1 to Rovers. Rowe with the first
posted on 7/2/23
Well, occasionally you need a little luck. Absolutely dreadful in the first half - even worse than last Saturday. Then a lucky deflection got us a goal, and then quickly a well taken goal by Hurst got a second (thanks to good work by Lakin). Defending then was a little chaotic at times, but Mitchell was there when needed. 40% possession, no corners, and just two shots on goal - not exactly an encouraging performance, but three points!
posted on 8/2/23
Credit should go to the goals scorers especially Hirst for keeping his head, but I find the football we play dreary and disjointed. Quality coaching should produce good teamwork with the product being better than the individual parts. That is not evident.
I could not get a home commentary for quite a while at the beginning of the first half and was listening to the Tranmere people who were good and fair. They remembered that RSW was a liability for us in their home match, such is his manifest incompetence.
Our defence as a whole did rather better than usual though in keeping them out when they were on top as they were in the first half. And Olowu’s introduction reinforced that later on. But the 6 in front (minus Lavery for some reason) were uncoordinated in their efforts. Some of them don’t seem to want to part with the ball and run into areas where their options to pass it become almost non existent. Others don’t seem too willing to make themselves available or don’t read the game well enough to know where to go to create options.
posted on 9/2/23
I share your sentiments Selby. As recently as McSheffery’s time when we saw Miller putting the chances away I was still excited by us scoring goals, but in the Tranmere game I felt no joy at all when that deflected shot that found the net. I appreciated the calm way in which Hurst took the second, but my overall feeling was that the chance was because of Tranmere’s defending.
On the other hand I suppose that I find more room to study how the opposition are (usually) getting the better of us and how Schofield’s coaching is no better than I could do myself.
So I suppose I carry on in a semi-detached sort of way.
It’s such a shame really because for 70 odd years I’ve identified strongly with them and even when they were struggling at the bottom of the old Division 4 I felt they were trying. They didn’t pass it backwards and play out from the back, they were trying to score goals and stop the opposition as soon as they could, rather than back-peddling.
Schofield has them trying to play the way top teams play against each other and failing miserably when they don’t have high quality ball control and tackling ability and what you get is a totally unedifying spectacle. But if you get someone like Schofield - a modern coach in charge - that’s what he’ll serve up. And on top of that he is inflexible, having lost sight of the true objective of the game.
Some people are taken in by his technical language and think he “needs time”. So we are stuck with him, the football tangled up in an inescapable mesh of coaching manual complications and stats.
posted on 9/2/23
Crazy's optimism is rewarded!
Mansfield T 4 : Rovers 1 (Hurst)
>>>>>>> Scorer > Score > Result Bonus > Total > Pts B/F > O/all
Donaldo>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 52 >>>>>> 52
PDXMickey> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 76 >>>>>> 76
BVZ>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>>> 0
Crazy>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 43 >>>>> 43
Mooligan>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>>> 64 >>>>>> 67
Nookie>>>> 4 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 4 >>>>> 54 >>>>>> 58
Selby>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 22 >>>>>> 22
>>>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 3 >>>> 0 >>>>> 7 >>>>> 311 >>>>> 318
Rovers 0 : Hartlepool U 1
>>>>>>> Scorer > Score > Result Bonus > Total > Pts B/F > O/all
Donaldo>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 52 >>>>>> 52
PDXMickey> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 76 >>>>>> 76
BVZ>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>>> 0
Crazy>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 43 >>>>> 43
Mooligan>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 67 >>>>>> 67
Nookie>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 58 >>>>>> 58
Selby>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 22 >>>>>> 22
>>>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 318 >>>>> 318
Rovers 2 (Close) : Tranmere Rovers 0
>>>>>>> Scorer > Score > Result Bonus > Total > Pts B/F > O/all
Donaldo>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 52 >>>>>> 52
PDXMickey> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 76 >>>>>> 76
BVZ>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>>> 0
Crazy>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>>> 43 >>>>> 46
Mooligan>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 67 >>>>>> 67
Nookie>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 58 >>>>>> 58
Selby>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 22 >>>>>> 22
>>>>>>>>> 0 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>>> 0 >>>>> 3 >>>>> 318 >>>>> 321