“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves”

Full credit to Tranmere for a fully committed performance, but really today was all about our own poor decisions costing us the points from an extremely winnable game.

First off, it was an awful decision by the manger to leave Glendon on the bench all afternoon. We won last week, comfortably in the end – so to shuffle the pack in this fashion was clearly the wrong decision. Were we that desperate to accommodate Hallam Hope back into the side? Yates had looked far more comfortable on our left-wing, but to fit Hope back into the side we’ve dropped Glendon and moved Yates back to the position where we wasn’t effective on the right. As a combination in central midfield, Devitt and Etuhu do not work effectively enough together as a two. Etuhu has been much more dynamic this season in battling to win the ball back but he lacks awareness positionally and Devitt doesn’t have either the discipline or awareness to do the dirty side of the game well. All too often throughout the game, the lack of any real midfield nous resulted in us lumping balls aimlessly forward towards Bennett’s head, against a Conference wise defence like Tranmere’s – that’s never going to end well. Glendon’s calm assurance and quality of his passing could’ve brought our wide players and Nadesan into the game more.

Anyway, despite this the game was still there for the taking. Tranmere defended doggedly, but offered little offensively and when we finally decided to play a little football we sliced them to pieces and won the penalty (although in honesty, Liddle should’ve scored anyway). In a matter of minutes Devitt’s shameful effort from the spot and Parkes’ cool, classy finish for Tranmere effectively lost us the game. The second goal, although well taken, would not have happened if we hadn’t have been chasing the game.

Better news is we have Grainger and Jones returning to the fold, and it was great to see a manager actually give one of our own young players an actual debut (although he could’ve used more time).

Sheridan needs to ask himself some long hard questions about his team selection and tactics before the game at Bury next week.

Collin – 6 – Stood no chance with either of the goals. Generally handled the ball well and his positioning was excellent. Doesn’t have to kick the ball every time he comes into possession however, he can throw it out to his full backs from time to time. It might help to give Bennett a break from fighting for headers constantly all day.

Liddle – 3 – Supposedly our captain. Honestly. I’m not sure why it took him so long to overlap or crawl forward? I’m going to be critical of our wingers today but it can’t be easy playing on the right flank when Liddle leaves you so isolated. I can’t decide whether he drifts inside to defend because he thinks he’s a central defender or because he’s trying to cover for the lump of lard treading water next to him. His inability to hold his position at full-back is not an asset, it’s a liability. To his credit, he ‘won” us the penalty, but you could conceivably argue he should have scored and was fortunate the keeper fouled him. However you make your own luck. We’re crying out for a genuine full-back on our right side, we signed one in the summer – and although he had a personal disaster against Exeter, he really needs another chance in the side.

Gillesphey – 6 – Looks much more composed defensively after a couple of starts and it will be extremely harsh to drop him when Grainger returns. Passed the ball quite well, worked his touchline decently and didn’t do very much wrong. Would I be tempted to drop Parkes and give him an opportunity in central defence when Grainger returns? Very possibly...

Gerrard – 2 – Hopelessly behind the pace of the game, dubious use of the football, positionally poor. Being so unfit, when you don’t have a great afternoon you look entirely like a pub player. He’s been a tower of strength since arriving at the club before today, however performances like this afternoon are unacceptable in every sense of the word. You probably can’t out-conference a successful conference team.

Parkes – 3 – Welcome back the old Tom Parkes, minus the forward runs and insightful passing. A solid, aggressive performace for most of the afternoon but when it really mattered – he lost concentration and cost us a match deciding goal. This is Parkes, as a player, in a nut-shell. Neither as defensively inept as Liddle, nor as pie-munching and butter-fuelled as Gerrard – but you can absolutely count on him (in central defence) to switch his brain off and cost you a goal, on countless occasions.

Etuhu – 5 – Playing a little too far forward to protect the back four, but (when involved) did a decent job winning possession and keeping it simple. The problem for Etuhu today was he was over-run centrally and was chasing shadows for the most part – a bit like a reverse Rourke’s drift, he was fighting a battle he could not win.

Devitt – 1 – Complete garbage. Someone’s told him he’s a technically gifted player and he mistakenly believes them. Like a fish out of water in central midfield and sulked like a schoolboy when asked to play on the right. His penalty was telegraphed to the goalkeeper, side-footed and placed at a nice comfortable height for him to save. There is absolutely no way, with the plethora of central midfield options we have at the club, he should ever be asked to play in midfield two – it effectively means we play with one in midfield.

Yates – 2 – Back on the right wing and straight back to his awful form. Didn’t dribble past a single player all afternoon. Although ran about a lot and looked busy his influence on the game was minimal. Injured and substituted, but he would’ve been luck to stay on the pitch even if he wasn’t limping.

Hope – 2 – Still in Guyana for the first forty minutes. When he came over the right at the end of the first half showed some of the simple passing and basic movement Yates had failed to provide, but in the second half vanished into obscurity again. Generally, I’ve liked Hope as a left-winger but today’s effort was shamefully poor.

Bennett – 3 – Won a few headers but when he did have the ball at his feet this afternoon he looked like he had hooves rather than feet. Some of the criticism Bennett gets is unfair as he is being asked to do a job for the team which doesn’t play to his strengths, but with the ball at his feet on the ground, he has to do way better than today.

Nadesan – 3 – Fighting for lost causes, but I preferred the old Nadesan. Our managerial team have clearly told him to limit his running and to stay centrally upfront, but they should unshackle him and let him play his natural game.

Substitutes:

Sowerby – 1 – I desperately wanted a genuine central midfielder to come off the bench and give us some quality in central areas, but what on Earth was this? Looked like he was running through treacle and barely passed the ball forward at all in forty minutes. He’s followed up his hugely unimpressive cameos from the bench with a hugely unimpressive half of football from the bench. Can somebody flick his “on” switch please?

Campbell – 6 – Deserves a start. Looks bright and uses the ball well. He could easily start in preference to Devitt or even upfront with Nadesan to give Bennett a break and change the focus of our side. More effective than either Hope or Yates, I can’t think of a single reason not to play him next game.

McCarron – Needs someone to buy him a pair of football boots with actual studs. When he managed to stay on his feet he looked like he was a little unsure of himself, but with a touch more calmness and confidence there might be a player there. Fantastic we’re giving one of our own young players an opportunity rather than loaning a young player from elsewhere.