If Nigel Adkins had been reading this site for the last six months he would probably be saying "I see his point"
Some people have accused me during this season of having vendettas against several players, they tell me I have been unfair in my criticism and that they would much rather go on the opinions of those more qualified than myself.
This site aims to do what accred9ted media outlets cannot do and that is be blunt, of course on the official website you are going to get nothing in a match report other than club spin and i dont have a problem with that, even the media who cover Saints games have to be very careful in what they write, I dont mean that from what has happened at St Mary's this season with the Echo & photographers, although that is a consideration, but in general if a local journalist cricicises individual players then he could find that player will refuse to talk to him or even the whole squad and that will make his life very difficult.
I dont have such constraints, so i can tell it how it is.
Over the season i have repeatably expressed my concern about our goalkeeper, I have backed this up with facts and statistics, pointed out that our goals let in to shots on target is horrendous and compared other teams tactiics against us and pointed out that in this league its not about shot stopping for a keeper, but command of the box.
At Tranmere all of my points were illustrated in graphic detail, the home side had two shots on target, exactly the number of goals scored, the first goal should have been a routine catch for Kelvin Davis, the ball was headed up about 30 feet in the air, Fonte had cleverly held off his man, it just needed the keeper to come out under no pressure and get it on the edge of his own six yard box, he didnt and a goal was the result.
The official site said it was hesitation between Fonte & Davis, nothing of the sort, the central dfender had done his bit and had every right to expect his keeper to come and get the ball
The second goal was almost as bad in its comedy value, their man 40 yards out latched on to a ball and seeing Davis hopefully out of position curled a shot from long range into the goal, the shot in truth didnt have much power just accuracy and it left Davis looking silly ashe scrambled in vain.
Promotion isnt won by beating sides at home or even the odd good win, its achieved on grounds like Prenton Park where you have to face down a pumped up home side, draw their sting and then dominate, schoolboy errors like this let the opposition get on top and put hesitation in our play.
Perhaps Nigel got his team selection wrong also, why the change at left back, good teams dont tinker too much, they find a winning formation at the back and keep to it, it took long enough for the manager to recognise certain flaws, why keep repeating them, I can see why he pushed Dickson in midfield, but he is a full back, when you have selection problems its basics to just slot a man into the problem position, it compounds potenial for problems if you switch around a bit.
Adkins did have options, he could have played Butterfield out wide, he could have played Guly there and actually started the man who has looked our best striker in every game he has played in the past two months bar none, he could even have used Gobern.
Another worrying trait is our failure to use substitutes, only Barnard came on in a game where we were woeful at 2-0 down and nothing to lose why wasnt caution thrown to the wind, Butterfield or Gobern could have been used, even Doble, this being just the sort of game where youngsters can make a name for themselves, but we seemed content to lose with a wimper and not a bang.
This wasnt a total disaster performance, Davis didnt have another save to make apart from the goals, we were quite tight at the back, we just lacked leadership and direction with the ball being pumped aimlessly too often, we had our chances with their keeper making several smart saves, indeed compare our stats of 6 on target and 9 off to theirs of 2 on target and 3 off and we were not without chances, but once again it was the problem I have highlighted all season, too many of the opposition chances go in and not enough of ours do.
If Bart Bialkowski is not the answer then I would suggest we find someone who is pretty fast, otherwise this season will become groundhog day pretty fast.