The Ronnie Moore Derby - Sponsored by Ladbrokes

[localhero]

A game we should be looking to win if we intend to pull away from the bottom two. I'm glad to see Ronnie back in a job and wish him well for the season (this Saturday aside), hopefully he'll get a decent reception from the home fans despite his betting antics which possibly cost us our place in League One. Maybe his sacking was slightly harsh but at the time we were in an awful run of form and he shouldn't have given us the excuse to get rid.

With the recent additions to the square I suspect their may be an element of trial and error in our starting lineups over the coming weeks, particularly on the left side with Molyneux and Taylor. Presumably JMW will come straight in (providing he's match fit) and play on the right wing. I'd go with:

OFW

Holmes Ihiekwe Thompson Taylor

JMW Jennings Power Molyneux

Donnelly Odejayi

Stick Koumas in again for Power if he's still ill/sold.

I'll go for 2-1, Donnelly and Odejayi with our goals.

 

[LordJord]

Your starting line up looks decent now, I am expecting you to end up somewhere mid table by the end of the season.

 

[localhero]

Your starting line up looks decent now, I am expecting you to end up somewhere mid table by the end of the season.

I know, it's not looking too bad for now. Unfortunately Thompson's loan spell ends after Saturday and, aside from youth team players, we don't have any backup at centre half with Holness injured. I'm still hoping we can either extend the Thompson loan with Colchester or get Donacian back from Aston Villa but I'm guessing we won't find out about either until the end of this month.

Top half finish would be great, especially if we can keep the majority of the team together and take the momentum in to the 2015-16 season....Plus I put 20 quid on us to finish in the top half before Adams was appointed and we were bottom of the league!

 

[White Army]

For once the team doesnt pick itself and we have options in all attacking areas. Fenelon will be unlucky to be dropped but i imagine that is what will happen.

Ill go for a 2-0 win Donnelly and Jennings with the goals.

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

If Hartlepool lose this, I'd say they're as good as down already. Went to the reverse fixture back in September, and we pretty much played them off the park despite having Edwards in charge. Hope Ronnie gets a decent reception, and I'm going for 3-1 Rovers. Might even put 2 quid on it

 

[Boz]

I would stick with Fenelon, he played well last Saturday and no idea how match-fit JMW is. Changing a winning team not a good idea, though an exception might be made if Max Power is still here and well.

Agree with the remarks about the defence. Donacien was recalled rather abruptly by Villa, doesn't seem to be making the bench there, but no indication they'll let him return. Thompson has had his loan extended to the maximum, so short of buying him, I doubt he'll be with us after Saturday.

Expecting a tight game, which Rovers will edge.

Don't think any of the Pools fans from TFF have found their way here yet? Would be interesting to get a contrary viewpoint. It does sound as though their takeover hasn't worked out as hoped.

 

[Richard Cranium]

1-0 to the Monkey Hangers. Rakish Bingham to do us a big favour!

 

[TRFC ON TOUR]

We win this and it's game over for the monkey hangers in the football league.

 

[shoddycollins]

we'll be keeping an eye on this one.

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

By the sounds of things, we're gonna lose this unless we improve second half. 1-1 HT.

 

[localhero]

Back down to earth with a bang after last week. Half the team didn't look up to it and we were beaten to the ball on far too many occasions.

Not sure why Flinders was taking his time with the goal kicks though, a point is far better for us than it is for them, especially when we were there for the taking.

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

I obviously didn't go (nearly went to York V Burton, but that's another story), but sounds like a point gained against the team bottom of the league. Not good...

 

[1884 Belmont]

First of all, after signing up for the other forum just over a month ago, I was very confused when it went missing! Finally found my way here (looks like I'm a bit late). Apologies if my new Avatar belongs to someone else but I couldn't get my Ian Goodison one to work. Anyway, nice to be back!
As for the game, I thought it was strangely entertaining. Both teams seemed determined to make it fairly open and yet at the same time neither looked a great threat to score. Hartlepool bossed the midfield and we just couldn't get a grip in the middle and all of the counter attacks seemed to fade at the half way line. A draw was probably lucky for us in terms of open play but being objective, both sides probably had similar numbers of good chances (a lot of Hartlepool's efforts were from long range). If Hartlepool play like that every game, at least if they do go down they will have gone with a bit of a fight. If we keep playing like that (which is poor by recent standards), we will be right back in the hunt for a relegation place.

 

[Boz]

Welcome back 1884.
I felt the visitors were much the better side yesterday. Not a typical Ronnie side, played the ball on the deck a lot until Harewood came on, and despite many of their efforts being from distance, they did test Fonners. By contrast, aside from our goal and a scramble midway through the second half, can't remember us testing Flinders much, and given he looked a bit at fault for the goal, that was an error. If Hartlepool play like this every week, then they shouldn't be written off just yet.
I did find Ronnie's reaction a bit OTT, which is why it pleased me that a player he never seemed to rate in Danny Holmes was instrumental in ensuring we took something from the game; for once no argument with the sponsors choice as MoM