The Opposition View

Following yesterday’s defeat at the hands of Tranmere Rovers, here are some views on the game from Rovers manager John Barnes and a few of their fans.


Speaking to the Liverpool Daily Post, Barnes was full of praise for his defence, who achieved what Wycombe haven’t yet managed to do and kept their first clean sheet of the season.

“The victory was very pleasing, but the clean sheet was just as pleasing. We are defending much better as a unit,” he said.

“Once again it was a very physical battle,” said Barnes, adding that his side coped well with “Wycombe’s big players.”

“They asked us lots of questions but we definitely stood up to it,” he said.

The Tranmere boss felt his side played some good stuff in the first half and moved the ball well, but conceded that they were under pressure after half time.

“They put us under more pressure in the second half and I felt we could have passed the ball better to alleviate some of that pressure. We got a little bit nervy close to the end, and there were one or two near things,” said Barnes, adding “We had some luck but I think we earned it.”



The Tranmere fans were naturally delighted with their win and felt Wycombe lacked confidence and a cutting edge.

The following extracts are taken from ‘The Cowsheds’, Total Tranmere’ and ‘White Review’.



Coventry Rover wrote:
‘Plenty of passion and could see the confidence coming back into the team. First half an hour we searched for a goal then sat back after Ian Thomas-Moore’s stunning volley from a narrow angle. Second half we had a few nervy moments which were nearly costly but hung on in there and got what we needed. All in all, a draw probably would of been a fair result.’



bring back the cowshed wrote:
‘We scored with our only shot on target and we only had three shots all night.’



Lord Melchett wrote:
‘I don’t care that they had more shots or that it was only Wycombe or that Barnes still has a lot to prove – my lovely beautiful Rovers made me proud today for the first time in ages.’



trfc wrote:
‘Thought we looked much better going forward in the first half and the little spell of pressure we had before the goal was eventually rewarded We looked shaky at the back in the first ten minutes though, but luckily they weren’t anywhere near good enough to capitalise on our mistakes. Again in the second half, some of our defending was questionable, but towards the end we did well to keep out anything Wycombe tried to throw at us.’



tranmereforever wrote:
‘Overall, Wycombe put a fair bit of pressure on us without creating too many good chances – mainly long range efforts.’



voodoo wrote:
‘Wycombe’s only real threat seemed to be their number-6 at set pieces, it was worrying how many times he won headers.’



King Kenny Irons wrote:
‘They had a lot of play in the 2nd half but the majority of their so called ‘goal attempts’ were either easily dealt with or miles wide. Wycombe are the poorest team I’ve seen since Grimsby.’



troupy wrote:
‘A deserved three points for Rovers, but possibly only because we were up against a side with even less confidence than ourselves. This was my first sight of Digger and Trigger’s boys this season as I’m exiled in Essex and for what it’s worth we could have won by more if the lads weren’t so negative.’



Deadly Submarine wrote:
“Wycombe were a poor side who probably had (and certainly wasted) more chances than us, but if there’s anything our side has missed in the last month or more it’s (1) A Clean Sheet and (2) Confidence – something this win is bound to bring.”


Two things we are also clearly missing.


Next game: Leyton Orient at Adams Park on Saturday 3rd October at 3.00pm.