Aldridge v Allardyce, King v Neal.

[Back in the DHSS]

Used to be quite a game this at one time, as anyone who was around 18-30 years ago will testify. It was treated as a big rivalry for us at Tranmere whilst being more of a grudge match for those from Bolton. I still know some Bolton fans who absolutely hate us even now.
Got to say I’m a little bit worried by Tranmere’s start to life back in the 3rd tier and have been left underwhelmed by most of our recent signings.
Judging by some of the comments on the Tranmere forums some people think this will be a walk in the park for us, I’m not so sure and wouldn’t be surprised if we struggle again. Thought the Monthe/ Nelson partnership looked very promising towards the end of last season and hope this will be resumed again on Saturday.

 

[Pablosammy]

We can't kid ourselves, this should be three points and if it's not then that's seriously worrying. We're playing a team of kids, with all respect to them.

I don't feel like old rivalries will be particularly relevant given Bolton's predicament - while some of our kids will take great delight in seeing them struggling, most level headed fans will appreciate what their fans are going through. Despite all that, they'll bring decent numbers and noise, and probably come close to selling out the Cowshed - fair play to them.

One or two of our players are looking out of their depth at the moment, this is their chance to build some confidence and hopefully get up to speed.

 

[Boz]

I know that there was quite a rivalry back in the day, but surprised at some of the strength of feeling against Rovers on the notlob forum.

Agree that Rovers summer dealings haven’t been great, though Blackett-Taylor has the potential to come good. We’re lacking a defensive midfielder and the manager doesn’t know who his best options are up front. Like BITDHSS, I would have stuck with the Monthe-Nelson partnership, but don’t think Ray’s done much wrong so expect will start him. I don’t think this game will be a stroll at all, but given the youngsters we’ll be up against, alarm bells will be ringing if we don’t win out in the end.

 

[Muzzle]

It's never been quite a big game, we had a bit of rivalry in the 1990's and that was it, it's more of a game of the day annoyance, nearly a sold out away end. Ruptured achilles so not making the journey

 

[SF_]

First i've heard of this being close to a rivalry.

 

[Reremnart]

Any Rovers fan who was at Wembley against Notlob in 1991 will tell you why there is a rivalry. Some of the things I saw that day from so called Bolton fans disgusted me and I have despised them ever since and I know many of my age group who feel exactly the same way. Nothing would give me greater pleasure then smashing them on Saturday and if we play like we did in the second half against Hull and Mellon plays Mullin with Ferrier up top we will do exactly that. As for what "they are going through ". They spent a forture they didn`t have staying in a league they had no divine right, despite the mumbling of one of their previous chairmen who at one time suggested the Premier League should be a closed shop with no relegation or promotion (funnily enough Bolton were in it at the time), to be in. Now they are suffering for it they expect us to feel sorry for them. After the gleeful crowing of some of their one brain cell knuckle draggers after we got relegated to the VNL for living within our means I, for one, have no sympathy for them whatsoever.

 

[Fedora Dale]

Tranmere went from inoffensive to disliked thanks mainly to Elton Welby jibbering on about them all the time on local TV programme kick-off. Especially when you're a Rochdale/Bolton/Bury/Oldham fan, and have sat through 20 minutes of irrelevant dribble about ManYoo/Liverpool hoping for some mention of your team's doings, only to find that the lower division news relates to a pigeon nesting on the roof of Prenton Park...

 

[Reremnart]

Tranmere went from inoffensive to disliked thanks mainly to Elton Welby jibbering on about them all the time on local TV programme kick-off. Especially when you're a Rochdale/Bolton/Bury/Oldham fan, and have sat through 20 minutes of irrelevant dribble about ManYoo/Liverpool hoping for some mention of your team's doings, only to find that the lower division news relates to a pigeon nesting on the roof of Prenton Park...

Believe me very few fans of other clubs disliked Elton Welsby more than we did at the time. Man was a total pratt.

 

[Back in the DHSS]

Tranmere went from inoffensive to disliked thanks mainly to Elton Welby jibbering on about them all the time on local TV programme kick-off. Especially when you're a Rochdale/Bolton/Bury/Oldham fan, and have sat through 20 minutes of irrelevant dribble about ManYoo/Liverpool hoping for some mention of your team's doings, only to find that the lower division news relates to a pigeon nesting on the roof of Prenton Park...

What about Saint and Greavsie, showing highlights of our Friday night exploits every other Saturday on ITV ‘s midday football show. Got a lot of good coverage back then, amazing what a few back handers can do.

 

[White Army]

Im a bit young to care about Bolton, but there was definitely something there at one point.

A quick read of their forum backs this up.

http://www.wanderersways.com/forum/topic/89863-tranmere/

 

[Muzzle]

It's more to do the coverage you lot got from granada and Aldridge, rather then rivalry. Trust me, we care nowt for you lot as a club.
But come saturday, we'll treat it as a local one off match. And if your WUM on the internet does come down and "bring it to Bolton", him and his mates will end up regretting it sharpish.

 

[Back in the DHSS]

Im a bit young to care about Bolton, but there was definitely something there at one point.

A quick read of their forum backs this up.

http://www.wanderersways.com/forum/topic/89863-tranmere/

Quite a colourful read that!

Looks like Bolton are set to sell out.

 

[getoutofit]

It's more to do the coverage you lot got from granada and Aldridge, rather then rivalry. Trust me, we care nowt for you lot as a club.
But come saturday, we'll treat it as a local one off match. And if your WUM on the internet does come down and "bring it to Bolton", him and his mates will end up regretting it sharpish.

Ooo you're hard.

 

[Reremnart]

And if your WUM on the internet does come down and "bring it to Bolton", him and his mates will end up regretting it sharpish.

And comments like that and some of the things I`ve seen on various fan sites over the last few days show that an element of Bolton`s fans still think its the 1980s. And when Merseyside Police use the same after match "crowd control" tactics on them that they used when Oldham visited Prenton Park last season, which by the way I totally disagreed with and was completely over the top, they will be online complaining like crazy about it.

 

[Pablosammy]

First i've heard of this being close to a rivalry.

There was definitely needle throughout the nineties. From the playoff final to the league cup semi, and everything in between, there was more than a little rivalry on and off the pitch.

 

[Fedora Dale]

What about Saint and Greavsie, showing highlights of our Friday night exploits every other Saturday on ITV ‘s midday football show. Got a lot of good coverage back then, amazing what a few back handers can do.

Didn't mind Saint and Greavsie, who were both knowledgeable and amusing. A couple of minutes of Tranmere beating somebody random didn’t grate too much, either...

 

[Mark kavanagh]

Any Rovers fan who was at Wembley against Notlob in 1991 will tell you why there is a rivalry. Some of the things I saw that day from so called Bolton fans disgusted me and I have despised them ever since and I know many of my age group who feel exactly the same way. Nothing would give me greater pleasure then smashing them on Saturday and if we play like we did in the second half against Hull and Mellon plays Mullin with Ferrier up top we will do exactly that. As for what "they are going through ". They spent a forture they didn`t have staying in a league they had no divine right, despite the mumbling of one of their previous chairmen who at one time suggested the Premier League should be a closed shop with no relegation or promotion (funnily enough Bolton were in it at the time), to be in. Now they are suffering for it they expect us to feel sorry for them. After the gleeful crowing of some of their one brain cell knuckle draggers after we got relegated to the VNL for living within our means I, for one, have no sympathy for them whatsoever.

Thanks for the memories mate... sammy Lee's angry face and shouting at the swa as we laughed it him will stay with me forever

 

[Mark kavanagh]

Didn't mind Saint and Greavsie, who were both knowledgeable and amusing. A couple of minutes of Tranmere beating somebody random didn’t grate too much, either...

Our friday night favourites....... Muir the liniker of the lower divisions... some of their fav quotes about us

 

[RLC]

There was definitely needle throughout the nineties. From the playoff final to the league cup semi, and everything in between, there was more than a little rivalry on and off the pitch.

I still consider Bolton to be our biggest rivals. The clubs had a similar trajectory in the late eighties / nineties and we had far more big, meaningful matches against them in that period than any of the other North West clubs, including our geographical rivals Wrexham and Chester, who were pretty much irrelevant to us until our brief non-league exile.

When the Trotters were swanning about in the Uefa Cup and we were on a downward trajectory, I doubted we would ever play each other again in a league game, but things change quickly in football.

We desperately need the three points to get our season going, and I think we will win.

 

[RLC]

Agree that Rovers summer dealings haven’t been great.

I have no idea how you can say that after two league games.

In any case, what do we mean by 'great' ? We are not going to be challenging Portsmouth and Sunderland for the title, so even a squad with moderate quality could be perfectly adequate to keep us up, which is all we are looking for.

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

I still consider Bolton to be our biggest rivals. The clubs had a similar trajectory in the late eighties / nineties and we had far more big, meaningful matches against them in that period than any of the other North West clubs, including our geographical rivals Wrexham and Chester, who were pretty much irrelevant to us until our brief non-league exile.

When the Trotters were swanning about in the Uefa Cup and we were on a downward trajectory, I doubted we would ever play each other again in a league game, but things change quickly in football.

We desperately need the three points to get our season going, and I think we will win.

Pretty much all of this, especially the part about the meaningful matches - there wouldn't be any rivalry if we hadn't met in so many cup/play off etc etc games over the year. Or if Fat Sam hadn't decided the coach is apparently a suitable changing room... Bolton fans love a good Tranmere related moan, should be a good game.

 

[Boz]

I have no idea how you can say that after two league games.

In any case, what do we mean by 'great' ? We are not going to be challenging Portsmouth and Sunderland for the title, so even a squad with moderate quality could be perfectly adequate to keep us up, which is all we are looking for.

I was agreeing with BITDHSS about being left underwhelmed by most of our recent signings. Too many have problems be they fitness (Woods), attitude(Payne) or inexperience (Ponticelli). That’s not to say they won’t come good and neither of us have said all of them weren’t great signings, but especially given the evidence of the 3/3 defeats to date, it’s realistic to start with low expectations. The manager had started different attacking formations or line-ups in each game, suggesting he’s unsure of his best attacking line-up.

I agree survival is the primary aim. If you divide the league into thirds, our opening game was against another side, Rochdale, expected to be in the bottom third and by all accounts we were deservedly beaten. It might be that Rochdale are going to do better than expected, but still raises a concern as any L1 survival plan is reliant on picking up points from anticipated fellow strugglers. We have bolstered the squad with a couple of loans since then, so hopefully they’ll make a difference.

 

[birkenhead tranny]

looking forward to the game tomorrow , have always enjoyed the games over the years , had some good days out at bolton over the years even as far back as when frank wortington was player / manager for us , lets see if we can get some points on the board ,,,,swa swa

 

[birkenhead tranny]

i believe bolton are bringing a good crowd tomorrow always adds to the atmosphere , wonder if the bolton fans that were on pheonix nights still follow them ? swa swa

 

[Back in the DHSS]

looking forward to the game tomorrow , have always enjoyed the games over the years , had some good days out at bolton over the years even as far back as when frank wortington was player / manager for us , lets see if we can get some points on the board ,,,,swa swa

Remember Frank scoring a spectacular goal for us at Burnden Park during an 1980’s cup game only to be chalked off for a very marginal offside. At half time during that game Nat Lofthouse walked on the pitch with microphone in hand and called the 150 or so Tranmere anoraks who made the journey a vile foul mouthed bunch of hooligans. Got legged after the game all the way back to the station, funnily enough by a load of vile foul mouthed Bolton hooligans.

Loved Phoenix nights, but the only one I can remember Bolton fans in was the one where a bus full of midgets wearing Bolton shirts beat up Paddy and Max.

 

[RLC]

I was agreeing with BITDHSS about being left underwhelmed by most of our recent signings. Too many have problems be they fitness (Woods), attitude(Payne) or inexperience (Ponticelli)..

You have been quite selective with the players you mention there. I think the performances of Ray, Wilson, Potter, Ferrier, CBT and Hepburn Murphy have all been positive and Payne has been fine as well.

The Rochdale match was our first at this level for five years with a much-changed squad and was never going to be easy. You can't draw too many conclusions from a single game.

 

[Boz]

Taken 38 minutes to break down the Bolton youngsters, but followed with a second shortly after. Deserve to be in front, but need to keep things tight and not give the visitors any early hope in the second half.

 

[Muzzle]

Deserve the score but ferrier should have been sent off for that challenge on Brockbank, not nice to see that

 

[Pablosammy]

Feels a bit hollow, in all fairness.

 

[Mark kavanagh]

Dont like seeing any club in this position. Get well soon trotters