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Matthew
Jones |
Bio
I'm Matthew Jones and I've supported Tranmere
since I was five, being lucky enough to see
Rovers in the three F.A. Cup quarter finals and
one League Cup final, as well as countless
wonder matches, including wins over Bolton,
Everton and Southampton.
I live on the
Wirral, but as of September 2009 I've been at
Sheffield Hallam University studying Sports
Development with Coaching. When money allows,
I'm still trying to get to as many Rovers games
as possible and still feel as passionate as ever
about the team.
Favourite
ever player for Rovers: Andy Parkinson -
I grew up watching him terrorise defences with
his pace and skill.
Favourite
Rovers match: Worthington Cup Final; though
we lost, seeing Tranmere play at Wembley, when I
was nine, was just incredible, an experience I
pray I'll get again.
Favourite
Tranmere goal: Andy Parkinson vs.
Middlesbrough |
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8/3/2010
Matty's musings
The Big Bas Theory
Well,
it's been a while since I wrote a blog entry, four weeks in
fact, but since my last entry we've managed to pull ourselves
out of the relegation zone (at last!) and pick up some fantastic
results a long the way, such as the draw at Southend and the
recent win over Southampton.
It's great to finally pull away from the drop zone. At the time
of writing (just before our match against Leeds), we're four
points clear of Exeter in 21st place, with a game in hand.
Before we beat Leyton Orient a few weeks ago, we hadn't been out
of the relegation zone since August 22nd, after our 3-0 thumping
by Leeds at Elland Road. When Les Parry and co. took charge we
looked dead and buried, but we've kept fighting and to finally
pull out of the bottom four is such a huge confidence boost, to
both the players and fans.
It allows us some breathing space and you may argue it just
lifts the pressure off us slightly. With the fans now no doubt
also much more confident, I don't doubt that the players are
allowed to play more freely and express themselves more on the
pitch too. Hopefully we'll keep picking up the points and, as
I've always thought we would since Les took over, we'll avoid
the drop.
Another plus note was the return of Bas Savage at the weekend.
Just seeing him on the bench was a huge positive, especially as
he got a standing ovation just for warming up! But you could see
the immediate effect he had on the pitch as soon as he came on.
The fans and players lifted as soon as he took his jumper off,
and when he ran on to the pitch to such a roar, the team clearly
reacted. He may not have done much, but he certainly had a
positive effect to the team, who started playing much more
confidently and looked like a much better attacking outfit. As
soon as Bas came on, we attacked in numbers and hunted the ball
down upfront, and you could argue it was only a matter of time
before the eventual goal came.
It's fantastic that we now have a player like Bas to call upon,
and the squad suddenly has so much more strength in depth,
especially as Alan Mahon looked very good when he came on too
and with Ash Taylor yet to return from injury. It's such a boost
to both the players and fans to have that strength to call upon
as it shows that we are capable of changing a game around from
the bench, something which certainly bodes well for the next few
months, when it really is crunch time.
I recently took a jump into technology and created a twitter
account, as I was interested in seeing what the fuss was about
and in following some of my favourite sports men and women,
including the likes of England cricketers James Anderson and
Paul Collingwood. I know www.thecowsheds.co.uk has a Twitter
page, as there are many Tranmere fan pages, but I wonder if any
of the players are actually on there. If anybody knows, drop a
comment below, as I'd be interested in having a nose! It'd also
be the ideal place for Les Parry to continue his hilarious
physio column from the Matchday Programme, which is sadly no
longer and left a gaping hole in Saturday's edition for the
Southampton match.
That is after all something that has made Les so popular at
Prenton Park. The fans can connect to him so well, as he always
humours them and has something funny to say, whilst he's also a
local lad and a Tranmere fan at heart, who has served the club
so well for many years.
Just for that, it's great to see him doing so well and pulling
us away from the drop zone, let alone the fact that our beloved
club is now in slightly less danger of playing Division Two
football next season!
On a final note, I have to mention the calamity that was the
trip to Brentford on February 27th. Being the tenth anniversary
of our trip to Wembley, I was really looking forward to the day
out, but it was not to be as the game got belatedly cancelled,
with no doubt most, if not all, Tranmere fans travelling to the
game already on their way.
I think the fiasco could have been avoided. When the pitch
inspection took place on Saturday morning, the game was called
on, though further rain made the pitch unplayable. With further
rain expected at Griffin Park, and with the referee in full
knowledge that the pitch wouldn't be playable if it had rained,
surely it would have made more sense to just deem the pitch
unplayable at that point, instead of waiting to see if it
rained?
What made the whole situation even more annoying was that I
spent the whole day in London, having only discovered the game
was called off when 20 minutes from St. Pancras whilst on the
train, and it was bright sun shine with a strong wind all day,
something that must surely have gone some of the way to drying
out the pitch.
Anyway, not to worry, the game has been re-arranged and now we
have another long Tuesday night away trip to London. I'm still
undecided on whether or not to go...
That's all for this week anyway. I hope you enjoyed this entry
and I hope you enjoy the next couple of weeks as a Rovers fans.
Until next time,
Matthew
P.S. - We still haven't lost when Ian Thomas-Moore has scored
(see my January blog entry). He's now scored ten goals in nine
seperate games, and we've won eight of them! Keep going Ian!
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