The Opponent: Tranmere Rovers
When this lot were promotion rivals last year the dozy Scousers seemed to pop up everywhere. There obsession with Di Canio was somewhat alarming and the average Tranmere fan was way below what would be considered average intelligence. Whatever did happen to their promotion push anyway? Leyton Orient beware. Current form would suggest Rovers are pretty shit and are there for the taking, although our own player shortages may well play a part in the outcome of today’s match. I would think Tranmere will not only have had us watched, but there is a good chance they will have heard of Red Jed’s rather too public whinge, so I am fully expecting several barrels to be kicked out of us, or at least what is currently left of us. Its been a week of hacking coughs and runny noses in my household, so its going to be nice to get out, and infect as many of you as I can.
Contrary to popular belief, Tranmere does actually exist, with a population of around 12’000. It is a small suburb of Birkenhead where many moons ago, today’s opponents came from, although when they moved to Prenton, they decided to keep the name. It is a bit of a shame that today’s game isn’t away, I have been dying to stock up on shell suits for the kids for a while now. Tranmere’s few famous faces include average midfielder/nancy boy shampoo bloke Jason McAteer, Patricia Routledge, more commonly known as Hyacinth Bucket from the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, and not forgetting everyone’s favourite drag artist, Paul O’Grady of Lily Savage fame. Apart from that, Tranmere is a suburb full of nothing, with little to offer its residents, a few Premier Costcutter type shops and nearly as many plastic scousers as there are in Runcorn.
The Last Time We Met At – The County Ground - Just before Christmas 2012 a crowd of nearly 9000 saw us destroy Tranmere bit by bit. Goals from Hollands, Ritchie, De Vita and a rare Andy Williams double sent out a thumping warning to the rest of League 1, although not long after this it all went tits up for both of us.
They have served us both – Jake Jervis, Alan Navarro, Ken Beamish, Bryan Hamilton, Tony Warner, Gareth Edds, Nicky Summerbee
Where the opposition gather – http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s383/st183711.htmTranmere Last 6 – LLDLLL
The Odds – Swindon 1/5 Draw 12/5 Tranmere 10/3 (Ladbrokes) Not feeling to confident for a first goalscorer this week so I am opting for Draw HT Swindon FT which is a best priced 7/2 with Bwin.
The Son Says – He remembered before me that we dinked this lot 5-0 last season, although he wasn’t feeling quite so optimistic and has plumped for a 3-0 victory this time round.
The Prediction – Its a strange one this. Not having a fit squad to choose from will never work well, but I still think we should have enough to be able to win this 2-0, with goals from Massimo Luongo and Nicky Ajose, in front of 7’110 (180 from Liverpool).
And Finally - Tranmere contains one of the largest and most expensive WWII air raid shelters in the country. It consists of a series of tunnels stretching to a total length of 6500ft and was designed to house up to 6000 people (many of them workers at the strategically important Camel Laird shipyard) - however by the time they were completed, they were no longer needed as the threat of invasion has diminished. The tunnels were later used by the Ministry of food for storage, and were considered as a nuclear fallout shelter during the cold war era. The tunnels were finally sealed off in 1989 amid growing H&S concerns. The tunnels still exist however and building work in 2008 uncovered a shaft - allowing temporary exploration of them, before being sealed off again. It is believed to still be used for hiding away fugly locals's deemed even to ugly for The Jeremy Kyle Show.
