Who Are Ya?: Tranmere Rovers

Last updated : 21 August 2006 By Matthew Jones
The Gameplan
4-4-2 almost for sure. Ronnie Moore likes to employ a solid back four, a midfield which has two wingers (of which one is Kevin Ellison) and two central midfielders, who will pass the ball about and break up attacks. Then he has the big man/little man front pairing, with Gareth Taylor flicking it on to Greenacre and the wingers.

Strengths
Good wingers who supply good crosses and Ronnie Moore has built a superb backline, one of the best in League One in my opinion.

Weaknesses
Central midfield has appeared weak at times this season, while the strikers aren't banging in the goals.

Injuries/Suspensions
Danny Harrison is out with a broken foot whilst Paul McClaren is expected to miss out after going off injured on Saturday.

Predicted line-up
Ward/Achterberg
Stockdale Goodison McCready Cansdell-Sherriff
Shuker McAteer/McLaren (depending on McLaren's fitness) Mullin Ellison
Greenacre Taylor

However, any of Tremarco, Jennings, Zola and Davies could make the starting XI.

Player by Player
Gavin Ward (Goalkeeper): Very good experienced keeper who is a fantastic shot stopper in general.
Robbie Stockdale (Right-Back): I'm sure you know enough about Robbie. Strong tackler, not great going forward but great in defence.
Ian Goodison (Centre-Back): Another player you know all about. Very competent centre-back who is so far Rovers player of the season.
Chris McCready (Centre-Back): Ideal partner for Goodison, good in the air and good tackler.
Shane Cansdell-Sherriff (Left-Back): Captain. Very good on the floor, fantastic tackler, not bad going forward.
Chris Shuker (Right-Midfield): Very fast and can skin players easily, but has not provided so far this season.
John Mullin (Centre-Midfielder): Midfielder who makes good runs from the centre and is a good passer and finisher. Strong on the ball.
Jason McAteer (Centre-Midfield): Everybody knows Jason, and most clubs hate him. However, Jason is our version of your very own Nick Barmby, playing for his home town club - a dream. Fantastic passer who can and usually will run the game from midfield with his passing ability.
Kevin Ellison (Left-Midfield): Good going forward, strong, great passer, good finisher - as you know!
Gareth Taylor (Centre-Forward): Lazy target man but his strength and power wins him a lot of headers. Couldn't hit a cows backside with a banjo though.
Chris Greenacre (Centre-Forward): Leads the frontline. Scored 19 last year and hasn't scored since the opening day so will be hungery for goals.

Enjoy the game, I'm going for 1-0 to Tranmere, hopefully not 6-1 again! We will have 5 goalkeepers on the bench as a precaution.

Matthew Jones is editor of TRFC-Mad.