Barnes and McAteer sacked
Sunday 4th October, 2009
By Richard Ault

Tranmere have sacked manager John Barnes and his assistant Jason McAteer today after a disastrous spell in charge.  Chairman Peter Johnson did what many had been forecasting for some time due to the woeful start to the season, although his timing did surprise a few people.

Barnes was appointed after the contentious dismissal of Ronnie Moore in the summer.  Whilst the timing of Moore's sacking was odd, Barnes learnt of his faith just minutes after taking his usual Friday morning press conference.

In all honesty, he was always going to be up against it, and when he reputation from Celtic was taken into consideration along with a tiny budget at Rovers, some thought he was on a hiding to nothing.

Whether that's the case or not, Barnes and McAteer simply did nothing to build the fans' confidence in them, nor to try and build up any rapport with the Prenton Park faithful.  Poor signings, dire tactics and a refusal to take blame for bad performances didn't help Barnes' cause either.  There were no positive signs at all.

Last weeks thrashing by Millwall was bad enough, but after Bury dumped us out of the Johnstones Paint Trophy on Tuesday as well, the mini-revival that briefly threatened a couple of weeks ago was dead and buried, as it turns out were Barnes and McAteer.

Some fans and pundits around the country have suggested the club have acted prematurely by sacking the pair at this early stage, but they have not been watching close enough.  One of the worst Tranmere defences in modern times was bolstered only by the signing of an unfit Marlon Broomes, and it still leaked goals left right and centre.  Instead of using what little scope for wages he had to improve it, he instead brought in unfit attacking players such as Kithson Bain, Michael Ricketts and Sebastien Carole.

Rovers have a real job on their hands to get out of the mess and save their League One status, and that is the real issue here.  Nobody has a personal axe to grind against John Barnes or Jason McAteer, but when the dust settles it will become even more obvious the club was moving backwards at a dangerous rate of knots.

It's perhaps a little cruel that the ever-lasting image of today's events will be those screened by Sky Sports News this morning, showing Barnes packing his bicycle into the back of McAteer's Range Rover.  After all the interest and reporting angles taken a few months ago showing him enthusiastically riding into Prenton Park, his bike didn't even get to ride back out of the gates.

Long-serving physio Les Parry has been placed in caretaker charge, a shock in itself, whilst reserve team boss and former Rovers' defender Shaun Garnett will assist him.  They get their first taste of it in front of a live television audience against Stockport County on Monday.