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After looking like they were going to run away with the league last season, Tranmere came a cropper after Christmas immediately following the Brentford game … It’s all our fault … And failed to even make the playoffs. BillytheBee chats to Paul Harper from Total Tranmere about John Aldridge, the Sodje family and useless strikers.

Tranmere have had a topsy-turvy start to the season. One decent win away to Oldham has been coupled with losses to Walsall, Crewe and Peterborough and draws against Stevenage and Crawley

The biggest issue we’ve had so far is being unable to defend. Players not picking up, not attacking the ball, ball watching, not following runners, getting outfought, I could go on but I won’t bore you any more with that! We’ve conceded so many sloppy goals already which have cost us dearly. Then on Saturday we keep a clean sheet against Stevenage and can’t score! Injuries to key players haven’t helped but if we had defended better we’d have been much better off in terms of the number of points on the board.

Tranmere came to Griffin Park in January last season top of the league and turned us over. We thought you were one of the most efficient sides we had seen down at Griffin Park that season. We couldn’t believe you fell away so badly. What went wrong?

Excellent question. The simple answer is we just couldn’t score enough goals in the second half of the season. We lost Jake Cassidy who went back to Wolves and replaced him with David Amoo who caused me more problems at the back of the stand than he did opposition goalkeepers! We did pick up a lot of injuries as well which of course didn’t help. We just ran out of steam at the end and it was a very tame finish to the season. After that Brentford win, think we only won a couple more games.

Did you lose any players in the close season?

The main player we lost was Zooooooooom Bakayogo. It was the second time in successive seasons that we had lost our player of the season, both of them left backs too (David Buchanan left us to join Preston the season before). Zoom has gone to Leicester which is a good move for him, he’ll be on far better money there and it’s a Championship club but he’s not played that much there.

Carlisle picked up one of your old boys David Amoo. Their fans said you guys were glad to see the back of him but he’s started off alright there with 4 goals to date. Do you regret letting him go?

As I explained earlier, no. He was useless. He did score on his debut but after that he was abysmal. He’s quick but was the only positive attribute I could see in him. Fair play to him though, he’s gone to Carlisle and started off well so good luck to him but while he was with us he showed next to nothing.

Did you pick any players up? Do you need any more in the loan window to strengthen the squad?

The main incoming players have been Jason Koumas and Ryan Lowe. Ronnie has definitely made an effort to bring in experience to the squad to add to the young players who were already here. Problem being is that the ‘veterans’ keep getting injured! We only have a squad of 19 players so any injuries are always going to be felt. If the right players become available at a price we can afford, then I’d definitely like to see us strengthen if we can.

This weekend you will be missing Andy Robinson, Jason Koumas, Jake Kirby and James Wallace through injury. How big a blow is this?

That would make a pretty useful midfield 4! It’s typical that all the injuries come to players in the same position! It’s a blow, of course it is. Robinson, Koumas and Wallace are arguably our best three players, albeit we haven’t seen Wallace all year. But the lads who have come in to the side have to stake their claim for a permanent place in the team and they are good players in their own right so hopefully they’ll put in a good performance.

Do you realise you are the 24th league club to have a Sodje represent you. Your Sodje, Akpo, is the most volatile Sodje – never hanging around clubs for long compared to big brother Efe who parks up his caravan when he signs his contract. We have a Sodje love-in at Brentford due to ex-Bee Sam. How’s his brother getting on?

Only 24? Hahaha, think they’re trying to do ‘The 92’ if they can! Akpo has been sparingly used so far. He joined, scored on his debut in pre-season and then obviously got injured! He’s played a couple of times and looks a handful but difficult to give an opinion based on a lack of minutes on the pitch.

What’s your style of playing? Who are your key players? How will you line up against the Bees ?

Depends who is fit! I’d like to think we will pass the ball around a bit and try and play through the midfield but it might be a bit more direct depending on who we have available. Ronnie Moore likes a 4-4-2 formation but recently we have been playing a more narrow 4-3-1-2 as we didn’t have the wingers available. Joe Thompson and Abdulai Baggie I think should be available so we go may back to a 4-4-2 for this one.

The Tranmere team of the 90s and early noughties was deadly. John Aldridge. Pat Nevin. They even beat Brentford in our first ever playoff semi-final – getting to Wembley four times in just over 12 months. Good times?

If we beat Brentford, it must have been a good side, eh?! Hahaha. Yeah really good times. I started following Rovers in the late 80s so just before we had our purple patch so I’ve been quite lucky to have watched us at Wembley a good number of times and some good cup runs too. To have seen the likes of Pat Nevin and John Aldridge in Tranmere shirts has been fantastic, we had a very good side of very good players who gelled well together and achieved a great deal. It was a pleasure to watch them.

Head to head, Tranmere are just shading it winning 20 games to the Bees’ 16 with 8 games drawn. Chances of extending that today?

I’m hopeful we can yes. It will be a tough match. Brentford came agonisingly close to promotion last term and have a good squad there with some very good players, and I think Uwe Rosler is doing a very good job as manager. So it’s going to be tough. But we’re due a bit of good fortune so if we play well and get the rub of the green then hopefully we’ll pick up 3 points.

Ronnie Moore. Unlucky or living on borrowed time?

Not sure I’d say either really. Can you say picking up so many injuries is unlucky? Perhaps. But he’s brought in older players who were also more likely to pick up knocks a bit more frequently. And as he’s a popular figure, I don’t think he’s on borrowed time either.

For some teams it’s hard for us outsiders to identify their rivals. Tranmere are one. Bolton or Oldham maybe? How deep does it run? Any notable Rivals games you care to share?

Yeah we don’t really have big rivals as such. Locally, you have Everton and Liverpool across the water but as we very rarely play them there’s not a rivalry as such there. In the 90s it was Bolton, as we had a few good battles with them and there was a bit of needle between Fat Sam (Allardyce) and John Aldridge. But again, in recent years, we rarely play them so the rivalry has dimmed down quite a bit. Oldham I suppose is the closest we have at the moment, especially as they have a distinct dislike of Ronnie Moore after his spell in charge at Boundary Park.

Does this “my second team is” bizness run with Tranmere and either Liverpool or Everton like it does with some London Premiership fans and Brentford? If yes, do you find it a tad patronising?

We get it a bit. Is it patronising? We need all the help we can get so it’s difficult. We don’t have a large core fanbase so if the extra support from fans of those clubs generates a bit more revenue and that, then we can’t really complain.

Score prediction?

1-1

Where do you recommend away fans hang out out pre-match?

The Mersey Clipper (pub) is probably the most popular pre-match hang-out. Home and away fans mix in there and it’s generally a good atmosphere. Eastern Delight on Borough Road is decent for a takeaway stop.

Thanks for Paul Harper for taking the time out to chat to Beesotted. You can catch him on twitter – @paulharper82 and @totaltranmere . He also hosts the ‘Totally Tranmere Podcast‘ as well as writing blogs for a number of different websites and publications.