As a general rule of thumb, most clubs need continuity and not upheaval if they want any sort of success to be achieved.
Naturally there are exceptions to the rule, namely Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, who seem to thrive on the unstable nature that their clubs appear to operate in but it would be stretching beyond plausibility trying to link the ‘chaos theory = success’ formula at those clubs with Tranmere.
Under Ronnie Moore last season, Rovers were two minutes from sealing a play-off place when leading 1-0 at Scunthorpe, the side who had occupied the last place at the start of the final round of games in 2008-9.
Rovers were on course for the play-offs and Ronnie Moore was close to having parts of the Wirral renamed after him for the feats he had achieved as both a player and as a manager on limited budgets until Tranmere’s – and his – world caved in.
Firstly, captain Cliff Byrne was red-carded and from the resulting free-kick Scunthorpe equalised to secure the point they needed for the play-offs and eventually, promotion to the Championship.
Ex-Everton supremo Peter Johnson, who had taken over Rovers, waited until Ronnie Moore had begun to reassemble his squad over the summer before sacking him, and approached John Barnes to take over the club, to which the ex-England international accepted.
As decisions go, it raised eyebrows, notably among the Tranmere faithful, who were trying to fathom out why a man with experience and contacts in lower league football was booted out for an ex-Liverpool winger whose management record earned him the sack at Celtic after eight months in 2000 and had coached Jamaica with so little success that the Jamaican FA were happy for Barnes to leave them and accept the offer made by Tranmere this summer.
Johnson all but admitted he made his choice by theory of financial gain. The reasoning is that Barnes will draw passing Liverpool fans that can’t go to Liverpool games or can’t afford to watch Liverpool play, and would quite like to watch one of their stars from the late 80s and early 90s coach a team which would bear the hallmarks of the Anfield Boot Room footballing tradition.
The theory goes that Barnes will use the Liverpool magic and his contacts to link up with the LFC academy and take players on loan and create a genuinely exciting footballing side who will push for promotion to the Championship.
To say it has been a summer of upheaval is no lie, with new signing Mark Allott exiting the club almost as soon as he arrived, the victim of the revolving managerial door bolted on to Prenton Park.
Barnes wants his teams to play flowing football with attacking wing-play and the ability to dazzle the opposition with the ethos on keeping the ball and stretching them, but what was easy to achieve with recognised internationals in the Liverpool camp will not be so easy a challenge with lower league players who are playing at this level because of their lack of technical skills and ability.
While he does have the wily but young Jason McAteer as his assistant who has played for Tranmere and can offer some knowledge towards Barnes in terms of what to expect in the lower leagues, it remains to be seen whether players such as Paul McLaren can fully compute what the boss expects.
McLaren has re-signed for Rovers from Bradford, along with Alan Mahon from Burnley, and John Welsh has joined from Hull. The main name of interest for Leeds fans will be the recent signing of Michael Ricketts after his release by Walsall, and the striker is expected to line up alongside newly appointed captain Ian Thomas-Moore (who added his wife’s name to his) in an ex all-Leeds strikeforce.
So far the Tranmere promotion vehicle is yet to roar, with the team having won one of their three games (at home to Gillingham) and losing to both Yeovil and MK Dons – although they have progressed to the next stage of the League Cup after thumping Grimsby 4-0.
The loss of key goalie Danny Coyne to Middlesbrough has been offset by the loan signing of Luke Daniels from West Brom, but the midfield loss of Jennings and Anthony Kay has caused a whole new set of problems altogether for the new Tranmere boss, something he is struggling to cope with. It will be how he copes with the remoulding of his team and how long he is given that will decide where Rovers will end up this season.
Prediction: – If Leeds stay focused and don’t grow restless they should win this, with or without one of Thomas-Moore and/or Ricketts scoring in front of the Kop. Leeds to win with Beckford and Robinson scoring the goals. Leeds United 2-0 Tranmere.
