Tranmere have tonight parted company with manager Nigel Adkins following another abhorrent display in a crucial league game.
News broke around two hours after the final whistle at Prenton Park that Adkins had mutually agreed to depart the club. Sadly, such has been his and Mark Palios’ horrendous judgement and performance in their roles this season, the departure may come too late to save Rovers’ EFL status.
The straw that finally broke the camel’s back
The writing was on the wall when non-league Oldham came to Prenton Park in October and knocked us out of the FA Cup. A disastrous run that has seen us win only 2 games in 21 has left us only outside of the bottom two thanks to the horrific form of Carlisle and Morecambe.
Tonight’s game against Accrington was a match we knew anything other than a win would be unacceptable. Sadly, what unfolded at Prenton Park tonight, was what we all should have expected. Abject, dour and clueless football.
Rovers went into tonight’s crucial match against Accrington perhaps ever-so-slightly buoyed by improved displays against Notts County and MK Dons recently. It shows how low the bar has become that those two games we consider an improvement returned just one goal and one point.
It’s barely worth even getting into the detail of tonight’s action. It was awful from Tranmere once more. Save for the odd flash of hope through endeavour more than quality, there was never really a suggestion Rovers would score.
Another defensive howler gifted Accrington the only goal of the game, and the ref may as well have blown the full-time whistle at that point.
Adkins rattled through his usual raft of substitutions that rarely, if ever, positively affect the outcome of a match.
The players looked defeated from the moment the opposition scored. Give them some credit, they soldiered on, and tried, but there is just no shape, no plan, no system. It’s so, so bad.
What next?
Mark Palios’ has not covered himself in glory over the past couple of seasons. Frankly woeful decisions on the football side have left him with the very real possibility that he’s about to become the first owner to relegate Tranmere to non-league twice, and it’s absolutely on him.
He now needs to make perhaps one of the most important appointments of his tenure. He has made many, many bad ones, but this one has no room for error. It is not a time to appoint from within and give Neil Danns or another coach a go, as he has suggested was his favoured approach in the past.
Tranmere need someone who can get a reaction from this group of players who look to be down and out. That reaction, in truth, probably won’t need to be spectacular by way of points.
If Rovers can just get back to winning some home games with a degree of regularity, it may just be enough to stave off the very real threat of non-league football darkening our door again.
And make no mistake about it, there will be interest in the position, not all of it would probably be wanted by Tranmere.
Former Leicester and Lincoln manager Michael Appleton was in attendance at Tranmere’s last home game against MK Dons, he reportedly just missed out on the Carlisle job recently.
Robbie Fowler was photographed at a recent game also, and while there is no way his CV is in a position to be considered at this point, he will definitely be touting himself for it.
There are going to be all sorts of names floating around.
What is clear is this. Palios now needs to act swiftly, confidently and assertively to identify and secure the right man for the job.
Let’s hope he gets this one right, otherwise we all know what happens next.
