Liverpool visit Wirral as Tranmere Rovers eye up new faces
Story by Nick Hilton
THE little more than two months after closing the door on the 2007/08 campaign, Tranmere begin their public preparations for the new season with a friendly against Liverpool this weekend.
The visit of the Premier League giants from the opposite end of the Mersey Tunnel is on course to produce a 15,500 sell-out at Prenton Park on Saturday.
The afternoon promises to be a family affair, providing fans young and old with a chance to see Rafa Benitez's squad of internationals in live action at a fraction of Premier League admission prices
No one in the Rovers camp will be complaining about the loyalties of many of the paying spectators. The early summer windfall of gate revenue offers a welcome respite at the end of a close season spell in which the financial constraints on the Wirral club have been apparent.
Tranmere began training for the Liverpool game this week with barely enough senior professionals on the books to make a starting line-up to face the Anfield aristocrats.
Recruitment of new signings during the summer has been slow, while half a dozen senior members of last season's squad headed out of the exit door.
Manager Ronnie Moore hopes he can add a fresh face or two by the weekend but there should still be scope for youngsters and trialists to make an impression.
It is less than a surprise to find Tranmere behind their usual schedule in putting together a squad for the new League One campaign, when you consider that last season ended with uncertainty hanging over the future of the club's ownership and management.
Portuguese investment group Best Holdings, fronted by players' agent Georges Rubenstein, showed an interest in a Prenton Park takeover in April, when their initial approach to Tranmere owner Peter Johnson was revealed in the Daily Post. There were no quick developments but the prospect of Best pursuing that interest in the coming weeks and months can't be ignored.
Meanwhile, Moore was kept in limbo through most of May before his contract was renewed with a two-year extension. He may well find the job becomes more testing than ever.
In the absence of new investment and any significant income from transfers or cup-runs last season, Tranmere were always more likely to trim rather than increase the manager's budget for spending on the squad in 2008/09.
So re-signing out-of-contract players and securing new faces presents a tricky balancing act.
Rovers may well be finding that more League One clubs are prepared to out-bid them when offering contract terms to players this summer than was the case a year ago. Talent usually follows the money.
Indeed, it is becoming increasingly common these days for professional footballers to value the top line on the wage slip above the division they are contracted to play in.
As a consequence Paul McLaren, Tranmere's players' player of last season, dropped down to League Two to sign a two-year deal with Bradford City last week and the versatile Shane Sherriff also dropped a division to join Shrewsbury Town.
Hot prospect Steve Davies had no such compromises to consider when joining Championship club Derby County, a deal from which Tranmere hope to recoup some compensation on their investment in the development of the 20-year-old winger when an independent tribunal sets a fee.
A guaranteed £200,000 fee from Crewe Alex for striker Calvin Zola proved too tempting for the Tranmere board to turn down.
The future of another out-of-contract player, Steve Jennings, is in the balance. The homegrown midfielder is on week-to -week terms at Prenton Park while he considers his options.
The early summer signing of versatile Australian Gareth Edds from MK Dons is the only incoming balance to the departures so far this summer.
That's not to say Moore has been slow in identifying and contacting the players he believes best suit Rovers' needs. He is no stranger to working on a budget and has moulded successful teams from modest resources in the past.
Even the most experienced operators in the market, however, need to follow their own judgement and require the support of an effective mechanism that enables them to act promptly and decisively to capture the players they want.
Rovers wll probably be looking to sign a right-back, to replace Robbie Stockdale, who was released in May, a central midfielder and a powerful front man to balance the trio of mobile strikers on the books - Chris Greenacre, Ian Moore and Craig Curran.
Ins and outs at Prenton Park since May 3
OUT:
Robbie Stockdale: Full-back. Released, joined Grimsby Town.
John Mullin: Midfielder. Released. On trial with Accrington Stanley.
Steve Davies: Winger. Out of contract. Joined Derby County. Compenation fee to be fixed by tribunal.
Shane Sherriff: Defender/midfielder. Out of contract. Joined Shrewsbury.
Paul McLaren: Midfielder. Out of contract. Joined Bradford City.
Calvin Zola: Striker. Joined Crewe Alex for £200,000 fee.
Michael Johnston: Defender. Released, joined Bangor City.
Mike Jones: Winger. Released.
IN:
Gareth Edds: Defender/midfielder signed from MK Dons.
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