Tranmere Rovers: Making League Two life look easy

Football in the 1990s can in many respects be considered a huge success story if not just for reigniting the nations love for the sport but also for the way a number of the game’s less fashionable clubs competed a lot higher up the divisions than their historical size suggested they should.

Tranmere Rovers were one of those sides that season after season were able to compete with some of the second tiers biggest clubs. It was a Rovers team that boasted talent like John Alridge, Eric Nixon, Pat Nevin and Liam O’Brein. In fact from 1991 the side from Birkenhead played 10 consecutive seasons in what is now the Championship, finishing in the top five three times. However the good times didn’t last and relegation at the end of the 2000/01 season has seen them not yet return to the second tier.

Along with a number of clubs that were punching above their weight in the 90s, names like Crewe, Stockport, Grimsby and Cambridge come to mind, Tranmere have been unable to climb back to the Championship as the money at the top end of the game made it harder for smaller sides to compete.

Their geographic location also offers some pretty tough challenges. Tranmere have to fight for fans in a part of the country that both Liverpool and Everton likely consider their catchment area and with the media attention ever more focussed on the Premier League it is unsurprising that many kids flock to the bigger clubs.

Tranmere finished third in League One in 2005 but that was as close as they got to escaping the third tier in a positive manner. Instead they eventually dropped into League Two in 2014 before suffering back-to-back relegations that would see them compete in the Conference for the first time in their history.

Thankfully their stay in non-league football wouldn’t last long as promotion via the play-offs last season saw Micky Mellon return the Super White Army back to where they belong after just three seasons.

They have made life back in the Football League look easy so far as Mellon has built a side with a formidable defence helped by the goal scoring exploits of English football’s most prolific striker in James Norwood. The former Forest Green man has hit 13 goals so far and is clearly brimming with confidence.

So how far can Tranmere Rovers go?

It is arguably still too early to start talking about promotion but I am going to anyway. This side are clearly capable of mixing it with the best sides in League Two as proven by their 1-0 victory over Lincoln City at Prenton Park as well as their demolition job against Crawley.

Mellon has opted to play attacking formations at home especially often adapting a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 which against Exeter saw Norwood lead the line with Mullin play wide right and Connor Jennings on the left. Against the Grecians Larnell Cole was the supporting act from midfield though Mellon does have the option of bringing on exciting young talent like Harvey Gilmour. The Sheffield United loanee has impressed this season and is another example of how Mellon used his resources wisely when recruiting over the summer.

This bold choice of line-up is a common sight at Prenton Park this season and is a big part of the reason the Super White Army have lost just once at home conceding just three times in nine games so far.

Ollie Banks, a player often described by Oldham fans as lazy, has been an impressive creative force this season. He has created more chances (19) than any other Tranmere player as well as chipping in with five assists, one behind team leader Connor Jennings.

The away form has not been quite so impressive and is the only real blot on an excellent start to 2018/19. They have won just twice away from Prenton Park but even so still sit comfortably in the play-off mix.

The most impressive part of this team has been the performances of experienced centre back Steve McNulty who has made more defensive challenges than any player in the division so far this campaign. His experience at reading the game has brought out the best in defensive partner Manny Monthe who was far less assured when at Forest Green leading to Rovers conceding just 19 goals – 16 of which have been conceded on the road.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Tranmere’s continued growth and success would be the loss of manager Micky Mellon who has been linked to a number of other jobs, again a sign he is doing something right. He has taken sides out of the fourth tier before and has built up a good rapport with the Prenton Park faithful so keeping hold of him will be important – though no man is bigger than any club.

Another concern could be the reliance on James Norwood for goals but again I’m not fully convinced that his absence would affect the side in such a way that their form would drops off too far even if he has scored 48% of all their league goals.

What can be said is that Tranmere have played nearly all of the big hitters in League Two now and in most those games they a performed very well. Beating Lincoln, Exeter while taking points off Colchester, MK Dons and Mansfield is no easy task and with a more favourable run ahead of them in the next four games they could shoot up into automatic contention fairly quickly.

Whatever happens it appears that Rovers have well and truly stopped the slide that saw them drop into non-league oblivion and are now starting a journey that could see them rise back up the leagues like they did in the late 80s.

For now at least their fans can sit back and enjoy the ride and perhaps allow themselves, for the first time in some years, to dream of where it can take them.

words James Richards, D3D4 Football