Relegation thread.

[Fedora Dale]

About time this fred started.

Only three down this year, thanks to the scumbags who killed Bury.

Bolton have managed to claw back most of their points deduction on Southend, but this may be more to the latter's ineptitude than any particular virtues of their own. Barring a great turnaround in form, both look gone.

This leaves five main candidates for 21st - MK (who seem to be improving after a bad start), and four of the smaller, battling above their weight, clubs in Tranmere, Wimbledon, Accrington and ourselves.

But will anyone else be dragged in? The ultra-pragmatists of Shrewsbury; a rebuilding Lincoln; Bristol Rovers - seems to be "trouble at 'mill" with what they're (or their owners) are trying to do? Or even a somewhat disorganised Sunderland seeking a trophy as League 2 champions, or a total 'mare from the Wanderers of Wycombe?

Dale will be OK if they have better luck with injuries, if Ty Smith gets a few goals to take the pressure off Hendo and if they occasionally deign to hoof the ball out of defence rather than getting 72% possession by passing across the back four - Barcelona-impersonation is OK, but there is a time and a place, which don't always coincide at Spotland...

But who goes? Do Bolton and/or Southend make recoveries? Personally, I don't think so, and think Tranmere might be the third - not because they're particularly worse than the other candidates, but because the others - including ourselves - have experience of picking up the required points.

I suspect it will go down to the last game of the season...

 

[Back in the DHSS]

Agree with most of above. I think Tranmere’s biggest challenge is our pitch, wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t complete all our remaining home fixtures on it. It’s a f@£&ing mess.
I would give ourselves an evens chance of staying up.

 

[Shrimpurh]

Us and Bolton might as well be already posting in the league 2 forum

 

[Luke Imp]

We've got Portsmouth (h) and Ipswich (a) coming up but then we play, in no particular order over the next 5 weeks or so, Southend (h), Tranmere (a), Accy (a), Gills (h), AFCW (h) and MK (h).

8 of our next 12 are at home as well so the catch-up starts now on our home games!

I'd like to think we'll start being nicely nestled into mid-table over the next month but there's still question marks over Walker and Morrell's loan deals. Lose them and things change.

 

[Shrimpurh]

We've got Portsmouth (h) and Ipswich (a) coming up but then we play, in no particular order over the next 5 weeks or so, Southend (h), Tranmere (a), Accy (a), Gills (h), AFCW (h) and MK (h).

8 of our next 12 are at home as well so the catch-up starts now on our home games!

I'd like to think we'll start being nicely nestled into mid-table over the next month but there's still question marks over Walker and Morrell's loan deals. Lose them and things change.

You’re away against us?

 

[RLC]

Yes, I agree that we are slight favourites to occupy the third relegation place. Rochdale and Wimbledon both have the advantage of a prolific goalscorer and Accy seem to have a bit more general quality than us.

However, I do take issue a bit with FD's description of us as a 'smaller, battling above its weight' club. Financially that is definitely true, due to our three years spent in non league football, but historically I would argue we are bigger than any of the other clubs involved (bar the original Wimbledon).

 

[Plumbob]

You’re away against us?

Yep, played at ours early in the season.

 

[Shrimpurh]

Yep, played at ours early in the season.

Don’t remind me haha

 

[Luke Imp]

You’re away against us?

Just testing...

 

[LadyWomble]

Yes, I agree that we are slight favourites to occupy the third relegation place. Rochdale and Wimbledon both have the advantage of a prolific goalscorer and Accy seem to have a bit more general quality than us.

Not any more. Forss tore his hamstring last week. 2-3 months out apparently, a tear being far worse than a pull/strain/whatever, so he's gone back to Brentford. Gutted though sorry for the guy as well as us. Perhaps we'll make a bid for Cambridge's rabbits?

However, I do take issue a bit with FD's description of us as a 'smaller, battling above its weight' club. Financially that is definitely true, due to our three years spent in non league football, but historically I would argue we are bigger than any of the other clubs involved (bar the original Wimbledon).

Laughed when I read the OP wondering if any of you would bite. Naughty Fedora ;-) Amazed when I realised a relegation fred hadn't been started here. L2's is usually in full flow by mid-August!

 

[Plumbob]

Don’t remind me haha

Not one for rubbing salt in wounds. Perhaps against some.

 

[Kim Mitten]

No need for this thread. Bolton and Southend gone already and after Southend took 4 points off Milton Keynes the EFL have decided that they will be automatically relegated for flagrant shitness.

 

[Gassy]

Make no doubt, we're absolutely in this. We had a nice head start at the beginning but we are well in this fight.

Since Garner has taken over:

- We were: 4th in L1, 35 points, +4 GD.
- Now: 13th, 36 points, -5 GD.
- Our form: LDLDLLLL.
- We've scored 3 goals in his 8 games.
- 2 of those goals were penalties. The other was a free kick.
- We haven't scored from open play.
- 14 shots on target in 8 games - 50% of those came Vs Wimbledon & Coventry at home. If you take those games out, we're 1 shot on target per game.
- We haven't scored since 3rd Jan.
- We haven't scored in the league since 26th December, which was a penalty.
- He has told Nichols he can leave & doesn't play him, without having any back up.
- He hasn't signed a striker.
- He sign's attacking players, but doesn't produce a formation where they can play - not does he even start 2 of them.

Now Garner is out on compassionate leave over a family issue, we've got the worst of both worlds. No manager (who's shit anyway) but he's calling the shots still & meeting players.

We have no idea how long he'll be out for so we can't bring in someone on a temporary basis, nor can we fire (and nor should we) him due to his personal situation atm. We're really stuck in limbo and basically, we're f*cked.

 

[Pablosammy]

"smaller, battling above their weight, clubs"

Tranmere? Really? We're historically about as league one as it gets. We've spent time above and below, but always gravitated back to the third tier.

We are, saying all that, crap at the moment and almost certainly destined for the drop.

 

[Luke Imp]

Is Tranmere's issue a player one or a Mellon one? Or a bit of both? I agree that it's difficult when you jump two divisions too quickly. Whilst I'd have taken another promotion when we reached the L2 PO's, the squad would have needed too much work to be L1 ready.

Can't remember exactly how it panned out at Fleetwood (did he leave them in L1 and jump to Shrewsbury?) but he struggled at Shrewsbury before jumping to Tranmere.

 

[Stanleyfan]

We didn't lose in December and Coleman won manager of the month - but in January we've been diabolical - I've seen a number of our players arguing amongst themselves in the last couple of games and rumours of players wanting away - we're firmly in this still.

 

[RLC]

Is Tranmere's issue a player one or a Mellon one? Or a bit of both? I agree that it's difficult when you jump two divisions too quickly. Whilst I'd have taken another promotion when we reached the L2 PO's, the squad would have needed too much work to be L1 ready.

Can't remember exactly how it panned out at Fleetwood (did he leave them in L1 and jump to Shrewsbury?) but he struggled at Shrewsbury before jumping to Tranmere.

It is a player one almost entirely I would say.

We have very, very few players of League One quality and it shows. The workrate of the side is generally very good and there is far more spirit in this team than previous Rovers sides I have seen relegated. However, even in tight matches like today's game, we never have the quality you need at the vital moments.

Clarke and Woodyard will improve us defensively, but we are still woefully short in the creative areas and up front. Of the side that played today, I would say only Clarke, Monthe, Woodyard and Morris are unequivocally of League One quality.

Mellon left Fleetwood before they were promoted from League Two. When he left Shrewsbury to come to us they were struggling, but very early in the season. He does not have much experience at this level, which does not help, but the squad we were promoted with last season was not anywhere near good enough for League One (particularly when we lost our talisman and best player) and he has not remotely been given the resources to bring in the players we need. We will have one of the lowest budgets in the division.

 

[Meadow]

We lost Marcus Forss but Piggy has finally found his scoring boots. Sorenson from Brentford looks promising in defence. We'll be down there but hopefully a combination of useful loanees and returning players from injury will see us through.

 

[Fedora Dale]

"smaller, battling above their weight, clubs"

Tranmere? Really? We're historically about as league one as it gets. We've spent time above and below, but always gravitated back to the third tier.

We are, saying all that, crap at the moment and almost certainly destined for the drop.

OK, call it "Medium-sized, reasonably well-run and not spunking other people's non-existent money" clubs. And I agree you're bigger than Dale - but that is balanced by having to put up with Wrecsam and Deva as local "rivals"...

 

[Pablosammy]

Is Tranmere's issue a player one or a Mellon one? Or a bit of both? I agree that it's difficult when you jump two divisions too quickly. Whilst I'd have taken another promotion when we reached the L2 PO's, the squad would have needed too much work to be L1 ready.

Can't remember exactly how it panned out at Fleetwood (did he leave them in L1 and jump to Shrewsbury?) but he struggled at Shrewsbury before jumping to Tranmere.

Who knows? We are sorely lacking calibre on the pitch, so until we can catch up financially with other league 1 clubs we won't know if Mellon is capable or not. At the moment his hands are tied by our finances, and as FD says we don't have a wealthy backer, just two astute businesspeople at the helm... money doesn't grow on trees. It's hard to be a self-sustainable club these days, and league 1 has become a different beast to when we were last in it a short 5 seasons ago.

 

[Boz]

Is Tranmere's issue a player one or a Mellon one? Or a bit of both? I agree that it's difficult when you jump two divisions too quickly. Whilst I'd have taken another promotion when we reached the L2 PO's, the squad would have needed too much work to be L1 ready.

Can't remember exactly how it panned out at Fleetwood (did he leave them in L1 and jump to Shrewsbury?) but he struggled at Shrewsbury before jumping to Tranmere.

It is a player one almost entirely I would say.

We have very, very few players of League One quality and it shows. The workrate of the side is generally very good and there is far more spirit in this team than previous Rovers sides I have seen relegated. However, even in tight matches like today's game, we never have the quality you need at the vital moments.

Clarke and Woodyard will improve us defensively, but we are still woefully short in the creative areas and up front. Of the side that played today, I would say only Clarke, Monthe, Woodyard and Morris are unequivocally of League One quality.

Mellon left Fleetwood before they were promoted from League Two. When he left Shrewsbury to come to us they were struggling, but very early in the season. He does not have much experience at this level, which does not help, but the squad we were promoted with last season was not anywhere near good enough for League One (particularly when we lost our talisman and best player) and he has not remotely been given the resources to bring in the players we need. We will have one of the lowest budgets in the division.

Who knows? We are sorely lacking calibre on the pitch, so until we can catch up financially with other league 1 clubs we won't know if Mellon is capable or not. At the moment his hands are tied by our finances, and as FD says we don't have a wealthy backer, just two astute businesspeople at the helm... money doesn't grow on trees. It's hard to be a self-sustainable club these days, and league 1 has become a different beast to when we were last in it a short 5 seasons ago.

Mellon was dismissed by Fleetwood when the side were pressing for promotion from L2, a bit harshly. He took Shrewsbury down then back up. Hard to be crtiical of what he's done for us, given the budget limitations, though unsure why Payne has fallen totally out of favour.

Would agree with the players RLC lists as unequivocally L1 standard, though you could make an argument for Scott Davies, Neil Danns and maybe, despite a below par game yesterday, Connor Jennings. Others may be capable in time of being brought up to L1 standard, hard to say. As well as the areas he mentions needing strengthening, I would say we desperately need a player capable of playing both sides as a full-back/wing-back. That would have the benefit of allowing one of our best creative players Kieron Morris to be deployed in midfield rather than as a makeshift wing-back.

Think Rovers are the favourites for the third relegation place and I couldn't argue if that happened. Of the rivals, have only seen Bolton's team of kids, Southend, who played quite well at PP and Wimbledon who were poor in last month's visit to Birkenhead. If we don't strengthen, unlikely we'll stay up.

 

[dannylad01]

Mellon was dismissed by Fleetwood when the side were pressing for promotion from L2, a bit harshly. He took Shrewsbury down then back up. Hard to be crtiical of what he's done for us, given the budget limitations, though unsure why Payne has fallen totally out of favour.

Would agree with the players RLC lists as unequivocally L1 standard, though you could make an argument for Scott Davies, Neil Danns and maybe, despite a below par game yesterday, Connor Jennings. Others may be capable in time of being brought up to L1 standard, hard to say. As well as the areas he mentions needing strengthening, I would say we desperately need a player capable of playing both sides as a full-back/wing-back. That would have the benefit of allowing one of our best creative players Kieron Morris to be deployed in midfield rather than as a makeshift wing-back.

Think Rovers are the favourites for the third relegation place and I couldn't argue if that happened. Of the rivals, have only seen Bolton's team of kids, Southend, who played quite well at PP and Wimbledon who were poor in last month's visit to Birkenhead. If we don't strengthen, unlikely we'll stay up.

Just for the record, Mellon joined Shrewsbury after we were relegated from League 1 in 2014 (Mike Jackson was in charge for the 2nd half of that season after Turner left). He got is promotion at the first attempt in L2 with a 3-5-2 playing some good football. He moved away from that in L1, where we stayed up with a game to spare. A poor start at the start of the next season saw him leave for Tranmere.

He did a fantastic job for us in L2 and had a great relationship with the fans. Just didn't work out at this level, having signed "league 1 ready" players who were little more than aging players not wanted by anyone else. Hopefully he has learnt from his mistakes. Need to keep Tranmere in the league as a "local" game for Shrewsbury!

 

[joethegill]

Personally think it's between MK and Tranmere - the lack of a 4th relegation spot will save up to half a dozen clubs from too much angst from March onwards as it ordinarily would've done - Dons, Dale and Accy the main beneficiaries.

Blackpool and Bristol Rovers are in wretched form, but still comfortably above the line so will be absolutely fine despite the worries. It tends to be the case that the sides with the worst GD will go down (not necessarily the worst defence), so by that token it'll be Tranmere joining Southend and Bolton in going to Barrow next year.

 

[RLC]

Personally think it's between MK and Tranmere - the lack of a 4th relegation spot will save up to half a dozen clubs from too much angst from March onwards as it ordinarily would've done - Dons, Dale and Accy the main beneficiaries.

Blackpool and Bristol Rovers are in wretched form, but still comfortably above the line so will be absolutely fine despite the worries. It tends to be the case that the sides with the worst GD will go down (not necessarily the worst defence), so by that token it'll be Tranmere joining Southend and Bolton in going to Barrow next year.

Last night's result was huge for our survival chances. The victory alone was worth about £500,000 and there is a (slight) possibility we will have a replay at Old Trafford to come.

It is almost certain we will bring in players before the end of the month that were previously out of our price range.

 

[WhiteRussian]

We are doing OK at the moment courtesy of our home form. 9 clear of Tranmere and 3 clear of Wimbledon although both have games in hand.

At the moment I would say it's probably Tranmere going down but Wimbledon, us, Rochdale and Accrington certainly aren't out of it.

 

[RLC]

We have been very poor for some weeks now and look strong favourites to be the third relegated team. The performance at Bolton on Saturday was terrible.

However, we have actually done quite well in the transfer window. Clarke, Woodyard, Cook and Vaughan are all better than the players in the squad we started the season with, but the question is whether they can gel in time to give us a real chance of survival, or their arrival will be too little, too late.

Our game in hand against Doncaster tomorrow night is huge (assuming the pitch is playable). We have to somehow get a win.

 

[Gassy]

We have been very poor for some weeks now and look strong favourites to be the third relegated team. The performance at Bolton on Saturday was terrible.

However, we have actually done quite well in the transfer window. Clarke, Woodyard, Cook and Vaughan are all better than the players in the squad we started the season with, but the question is whether they can gel in time to give us a real chance of survival, or their arrival will be too little, too late.

Our game in hand against Doncaster tomorrow night is huge (assuming the pitch is playable). We have to somehow get a win.

We'll give you 3 points soon, don't worry.

Tranmere Rovers, we're coming for you!

 

[woburn]

Whilst we're not out of this by a long shot, I think we have enough to stay up, next couple of games could help, Shrews and Accrington, pick up points against them it also drags them into it.

 

[WhiteRussian]

Whilst we're not out of this by a long shot, I think we have enough to stay up, next couple of games could help, Shrews and Accrington, pick up points against them it also drags them into it.

Accrington is in April according to the fixture list, has something changed?

Also after Shrewsbury we have Lincoln (A), Bolton (H), Portsmoth (A) and Rotherham (A). I don't think we will have a big return from those games.

 

[woburn]

Nope, no idea where I got Accy from.