John Warrington - The Journey to Greatness

But scoring goals makes for entertaining games

December 2017

So the FA Cup dream is over for another year, Rotherham were just too strong for us on the day. We move onto the FA Trophy now, with the win over Stockport giving us a second round home tie with Gateshead. In the league, we continue to do well. I was happy with the return of three wins out of four but the way in which we lost against Guiseley was totally unacceptable. We'll be looking to make amends away at Fylde on New Year's Day.

Fixtures

02/12/17 - FA Cup 2nd Round
Rotherham 1-0 Tranmere
[Ball 16] [-]
Match Info

09/12/17 - FA Trophy 1st Round
Tranmere 2-0 Stockport
[Cook 80, 90+2] [-]
Match Info

19/12/17 - National League Matchday 24
Tranmere 4-2 Torquay
[McDonagh 19,21, Vyner 49, Tollitt 68] [Gosling 27, Gabriel 48]
Match Info

23/12/17 - National League Matchday 25
Sutton Utd 1-3 Tranmere
[Davis 88] [McDonagh 11, Norwood 22, 27]
Match Info

26/12/17 - National League Matchday 26
Tranmere 1-0 AFC Fylde
[Norwood 51] [-]
Match Info

30/12/17 - National League Matchday 27
Tranmere 0-2 Guiseley
[-] [Morrison 40, 45]
Match Info

Stats

Matches Played - 27
Goals Scored - 68
Goals Conceded - 32
Yellow Cards - 46
Red Cards - 3
Average Attendance - 5,725

Top Goalscorer - James Norwood - 21
Highest Average Rating - Callum Gribbin - 7.44
Most Assists - Callum Gribbin, James Norwood, Ben Tollitt, Gerry McDonagh and Liam Ridehalgh - 7
Best Pass Completion - Callum Gribbin - 78%
Most POM's - James Norwood - 5
Most Yellow Cards - Ollie Norburn - 6
Most Red Cards - Ollie Norburn - 2

League Table



Injury Update



Two injuries currently. Callum Gribbin remains out with the torn hamstring but he's only about a month away from a potential return. Ollie Norburn picked up a concussion recently and is about for about two weeks.

Official Awards

John Warrington 2nd in Manager of the Month

Player of the Month



I've given Player of the Month to Zak Vyner for this month. Zak has been a rock in the heart of defence whilst also contributing a goal and two assists from right back.

January 2018

Another positive month with one really annoying/disappointing result. I seriously don't know what happened against Maidenhead, we just didn't turn up, like against Guiseley. It was great to get a win away at local rivals Wrexham and great to see Gerry McDonagh turn it on against one of his former clubs. We've had two players leave us this month with Jack Dunn and Jay Harris moving on free transfers to Newport and Barnet respectively. The two were moaning about not getting first team football and to be honest, we're never going to get it.

Fixtures

01/01/18 - National League Matchday 28
AFC Fylde 1-2 Tranmere
[Hepburn-Murphy 24] [Tollitt 14, Norwood 45+2]
Match Info

06/01/18 - National League Matchday 29
Barrow 2-5 Tranmere
[Harrison 45+3, Barkworth 71] [Vyner 10, McDonagh 26, Norwood 30, Tollitt 55, Cook 90+4]
Match Info

13/01/18 - FA Trophy 2nd Round
Tranmere 4-2 aet Gateshead
[McDonagh 13, 24, Alabi 106, Norwood 116] [Nash 2, Heaney 45]
Match Info

20/01/18 - National League Matchday 30
Tranmere 1-3 Maidenhead
[Hope O.G 83] [Hyde 4, Watt 45+2, Massey 73]
Match Info

28/01/18 - National League Matchday 31
Wrexham 1-2 Tranmere
[Boden 53] [McDonagh 21, 61]
Match Info

Stats

Matches Played - 31
Goals Scored - 78
Goals Conceded - 39
Yellow Cards - 52
Red Cards - 3
Average Attendance - 5,684

Top Goalscorer - James Norwood - 24
Highest Average Rating - Callum Gribbin - 7.44
Most Assists - Ben Tollitt - 10
Best Pass Completion - Callum Gribbin - 78%
Most POM's - James Norwood - 6
Most Yellow Cards - Ollie Norburn - 6
Most Red Cards - Ollie Norburn - 2

League Table



Injury Update



Callum Gribbin is finally back from his long injury layoff which is a plus for us. I'm not going to rush him back though as I have the cover and I'd rather not see him re-injure himself. Scott Davies is the only man out injured at the moment but he's due back in a day or two. It meant that I could finally hand Aleksandar Gogic his Tranmere debut though.

Official Awards

John Warrington 2nd in Manager of the Month

Player of the Month



5 goals and an assist during the month of January means Gerry McDonagh wins the award for a second time. Gerry has been really good since joining us on loan from Nottingham Forest and is currently keeping Andy Cook out of the side on merit.

Another very good month for you, perhaps surprising to see you lose against Guiseley and Maidenhead in the last two months out of everyone, but these things happen.

Really not that long to go until you are promoted now, keep it up and Tranmere will be ascending those leagues very fast!

Cheers fellas. It's great that it's all going so well. Hopefully the FA Trophy won't be a distraction

February 2018

I'm very happy with the way February went. Unbeaten and we're still in the FA Trophy with a two leg semi final against Eastleigh coming up. In the league we've been excellent, though we left it a little bit late against Macclesfield and Maidstone! If we continue in this way during March then we could have the title pretty much wrapped up by the end of the month.

Fixtures

03/02/18 - FA Trophy 3rd Round
Tranmere 0-0 Darlington
[-] [-]
Match Info

07/02/18 - FA Trophy 3rd Round Replay
Darlington 1-2 Tranmere
[Syers 82][Norwood 15, McDonagh 39]
Match Info

10/02/18 - National League Matchday 32
Leyton Orient 2-3 Tranmere
[Hirst 25, Koroma 89] [Norwood 1, 39, Tollitt 4]
Match Info

13/02/18 - National League Matchday 33
Tranmere 2-0 Ebbsfleet
[Alabi 54, 89] [-]
Match Info

17/02/18 - National League Matchday 34
Tranmere 5-2 Bromley
[McDonagh 28, 35, Norwood 60, 77, Vyner 68] [Allen 54, Stevenson 90]
Match Info

20/02/18 - National League Matchday 35
Tranmere 3-2 Macclesfield
[Karic 9, Norwood 50, 90+1] [Cantwell 39, Whitehead 84]
Match Info

24/02/18 - FA Trophy 4th Round
Tranmere 4-0 Solihull Moors
[Vyner 6, McDonagh 54, McNulty pen 65, Norwood 78] [-]
Match Info

27/02/18 - National League Matchday 36
Maidstone 2-2 Tranmere
[Hinchliffe 41, 51] [Norwood 7, Karic 90+3]
Match Info

Stats

Matches Played - 36
Goals Scored - 93
Goals Conceded - 47
Yellow Cards - 57
Red Cards - 3
Average Attendance - 5,550

Top Goalscorer - James Norwood - 33
Highest Average Rating - Zak Vyner - 7.53
Most Assists - James Norwood - 13
Best Pass Completion - Jeff Hughes - 78%
Most POM's - James Norwood - 9
Most Yellow Cards - Ollie Norburn - 10
Most Red Cards - Ollie Norburn - 2

League Table



Injury Update



A couple more injuries to report on this month. After Scott Davies returned from his pulled thigh, he went and twisted his ankle which ruled him out for the entire month of February. He is due to return soon though, as is Andy Cook, who has been out with a back strain. Cook has only really featured from the bench recently so we haven't really missed him that much and we haven't missed Ritchie Sutton at all. It's likely that Sutton has played his last game for Tranmere as he'll be departing in the summer.

Official Awards

James Norwood wins National League Player of the Month
Zak Vyner 2nd in Young Player of the Month
John Warrington 2nd in Manager of the Month

Player of the Month



Nors has been in sensational form as of late so I have to give this to him. He scored NINE goals during February whilst also pitching in with four assists and was rightfully rewarded with the National League Player of the Month award.

March 2018

It looks like it's going to be a record breaking season for Tranmere. During the month, it was confirmed that we've all but broken three National League records. The first is the most wins in a season which is currently 31 and we currently have 31 ourselves with plenty of games to go. The record for most League goals has already been smashed by us, Tranmere having 108 compared to the previous record of 103. James Norwood is also one goal away from breaking the most goals in a season record! What a season it has been and it's not even over yet, though the board have already rewarded me with a brand new contract!

Fixtures

03/03/18 - National League Matchday 37
Tranmere 3-1 Gateshead
[Norwood 38, 69, McDonagh 45] [York 79]
Match Info

10/03/18 - FA Trophy Semi Final 1st Leg
Tranmere 3-3 Eastleigh
[McEveley 2, Dawson 29, Norwood 45] [McCallum 6, McSheffrey 15, Constable 82]
Match Info

13/03/18 - National League Matchday 38
Dag & Red 2-2 Tranmere
[Okenabirhie 8, Morris 47] [Norwood 19, Lokko O.G 90+3]
Match Info

17/03/18 - FA Trophy Semi Final Leg 2
Eastleigh 1-2 Tranmere
[Yeates pen 49][Dawson 43, McDonagh 102]
Match Info

20/03/18 - National League Matchday 39
Boreham Wood 1-5 Tranmere
[Pearson 72] [McDonagh 13, 70, 88, Champion O.G 66, Waring 85]
Match Info

24/03/18 - National League Matchday 40
Tranmere 2-1 Eastleigh
[Norwood 14, 56] [Williamson 39]
Match Info

30/03/18 - National League Matchday 41
Dover 2-3 Tranmere
[Ofosu 64, Sho-Silva 84] [Norwood 6, Cain 40, McDonagh 87]
Match Info

Stats

Matches Played - 41
Goals Scored - 108
Goals Conceded - 54
Yellow Cards - 64
Red Cards - 3
Average Attendance - 5,519

Top Goalscorer - James Norwood - 40
Highest Average Rating - Zak Vyner - 7.48
Most Assists - Ben Tollitt - 14
Best Pass Completion - Jeff Hughes - 78%
Most POM's - James Norwood - 11
Most Yellow Cards - Ollie Norburn - 11
Most Red Cards - Ollie Norburn - 2

League Table



Injury Update



Here is our current injury list. Ritchie Sutton is still out with Dylan Mottley-Henry and Ben Tollitt during him on the injury list. I'm not particularly bothered about Dylan Mottley-Henry as he hasn't been able to break into the first team during his loan spell but Ben Tollitt will be a big miss. Ben has been a constant starter on the left wing and leaves us with a gap to fill, a gap I'd rather not have in all honesty.

Official Awards

James Norwood 2nd in Player of the Month
Gerry McDonagh 2nd in Young Player of the Month
John Warrington wins Manager of the Month

Player of the Month



Whilst I could quite easily have given this to James Norwood or Gerry McDonagh again, I decided to go for one of our more underrated players. Michael Cain has been exceptional over the past month, getting an average match rating of 7.46 in his last 5, the highest in the squad. He even chipped in with a goal against Dover.

April 2018

We've done it! We've won the National League title and are on our way back to the promised land of the football league. I couldn't be more proud right now and every single Tranmere player deserves a huge ovation for their hard work this season. You know you've had a good season when this is the shortlist for National League Player of the Season.

Fixtures

02/04/18 - National League Matchday 42
Tranmere 0-0 Solihull Moors
[-] [-]
Match Info

07/04/18 - National League Matchday 43
Chester 0-3 Tranmere
[-] [Kirby 3, 8, Norwood 78]
Match Info

14/04/18 - National League Matchday 44
Tranmere 1-2 Aldershot
[Norburn 75] [Vernam 71, 86]
Match Info

21/04/18 - National League Matchday 45
FC Halifax 1-3 Tranmere
[Whelan 41] [McDonagh 3, Norwood 77, Tollitt 86]
Match Info

28/04/18 - National League Matchday 46
Tranmere 4-3 Hartlepool
[McEveley pen 27, Tollitt 38, Norwood 62, 83] [Featherstone 14, Cassidy 26, Loader 65]
Match Info

Stats

Matches Played - 46
Goals Scored - 119
Goals Conceded - 60
Yellow Cards - 66
Red Cards - 3
Average Attendance - 5,723

Top Goalscorer - James Norwood - 44
Highest Average Rating - Zak Vyner - 7.48
Most Assists - Ben Tollitt - 15
Best Pass Completion - Jeff Hughes - 78%
Most POM's - James Norwood - 11
Most Yellow Cards - Ollie Norburn - 12
Most Red Cards - Ollie Norburn - 2

League Table



Injury Update



Absolutely gutted to see Michael Cain on this list. Last month's Player of the Month has a broken foot and will miss the FA Trophy final against Guiseley at Wembley. It's a shame for him but he will feature, there's no doubt about that.

Official Awards

John Warrington 2nd in Manager of the Month

Player of the Month



Once again I've gone for one of the players who flies under the radar but does a superb job for us on a regular basis and deserves a bit of recognition. Scotty Davies is like a brick wall in the net for us, very rarely getting under a 7 match rating and has saved us on more than one occasion this season.

Tranmere have won the FA Trophy, beating Guiseley by four goals to nil in front of 19,358 at Wembley.

With the National League title already secured, Tranmere boss John Warrington made two changes to the side that beat Hartlepool on the final day of the season. Charlie Scott and Liam Ridehalgh were the men to come in, with Callumk Gribbin and Adam Buxton dropping to the bench.

Rovers were looking positive from the first whistle and just two minutes in, Ben Tollitt had the opening effort on goal, curling a shot from 25 yards which was well saved by Guiseley custodian Jonny Maxted. On 17 minutes, Chris Dawson found James Norwood with an excellent diagonal ball and the former Forest Green forward raced on goal only for full-back Connor Brown to make a timely intercepting tackle to deny him a shooting opportunity.

With the next attack came the first goal of the game. James Norwood was the quickest to attack a bouncing ball inside the penalty area, before coolly going past the goalkeeper and sliding the ball into the net. The next meaningful opportunity produced the second goal with former Macclesfield man Ollie Norburn getting his second consecutive FA trophy final goal. The midfielder picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and unleashed a powerful low driven shot which Maxted could only fingertip onto the inside of the post before the ball nestled in his goal.

That proved to be somewhat of a wake up call for Guiseley and they began to put Rovers under a bit of pressure, Callum McFadzean forcing a good save from Scott Davies before the Tranmere goalkeeper denied a header from Reece Thompson. Shortly before half time, Davies was called into action again, first to deny a 20 yard shot from Purver before displaying lightning fast reflexes to keep out a point blank header by Mulhern.

Soon after the restart, a ball forward found McDonagh racing in on goal before he was brought to the floor by Jacob Bedeau. The referee blew for the foul and awarded a yellow card to the Guiseley centre back. Norwood was at the heart of the attacking threat for Rovers and had a header saved by Maxted before the Guiseley shot-stopper did brilliantly to dive at the striker’s feet and win the ball as the striker was looking likely to score.

The third Rovers goal came on 77 minutes courtesy of a Ben Tollitt header. Callum Gribbin’s corner from the right was whipped in with great pace and the former Portsmouth man sent a thunderous header past Maxted to send the 14,387 Rovers fans into delirium.

Gerry McDonagh almost gave Rovers a fourth goal with ten minutes to go, but he somehow stumbled when the ball came across to him in the six yard box. Norwood got to a deep cross from the left with five minutes remaining and his goalbound effort was cleared off the line. Rovers did eventually get a fourth goal in added on time. Gerry McDonagh was on hand to head home a Ben Tollitt cross to put the icing on the cake and to secure Rovers the FA Trophy.



Skipper James Norwood lifts the FA Trophy



John Warrington with the trophy during the lap of honour

Final Score: Guiseley 0-4 Tranmere

Guiseley: Maxted, Brown, McKay, Bedeau, Owens (Atkinson 64), Hurst (Haworth 64), Hatfield, Purver, McFadzean, Mulhern, Thompson (Fondop 77).
Subs Not Used: Green, Odour.

Booked: Brown, Bedeau, Purver.

Tranmere: Davies, Vyner, Karic, McEveley, Ridehalgh, Scott, Dawson (Gribbin 62), Norburn, Tollitt, McDonagh, Norwood.
Subs Not Used: Gogic, Kirby, Cook, Buxton.

Booked: Norwood.

Goals: Norwood 23, Norburn 29, Tollitt 77, McDonagh 90+4.

Ref: A. Fielding.

Att: 19,358 (14,387 Tranmere)

National League Awards

Manager of the Year



I don't even know how I've not won this. The guy who won it managed his team to SEVENTH place, I've been robbed. How a manager can win the award with a 42% win ratio over another with 73% is unbelievable. It just goes to show that if you're not liked by your fellow managers in the league then you won't win an award voted for by them.

Player of the Year



On the plus side, James Norwood was rightfully awarded the Player of the Season award for the National League. Lets be honest here, there could only be one winner. The guy has been outstanding for us this season and his goals are a very big reason for our success. Fingers crossed he can reproduce that form in League Two next season.

Golden Boot



Unsurprisingly, James also won the golden boot award. What I found interesting was that all of the top three in the golden boot have Tranmere connections. Obviously James Norwood and Gerry McDonagh are Tranmere pleayers but Lateef Elford-Alliyu was actually on loan at Tranmere a few years ago.

Goal of the Season



A bit unexpected but it was nice to see Zak Vyner pick up third place in the Goal of the Season award.

Club Awards



Fans' Player of the Season

Couldn't agree more. I'd have been amazed if James didn't win this award. Interesting to see that Zak Vyner ran him so close though. I was sure that Gerry McDonagh would make it into the top three too.

Goal of the Season

No surprises given that it came 3rd in the Goal of the Season award in the league. It's a shame I haven't got a copy of this to post up. Blame FM

Signing of the Season

Now I disagree with this. Gogic hardly played all season so I can only assume that the fans didn't factor in the loanees. Even then, I'd say that Dawson deserves the award over Gogic. For me, the signing of the season has to be between Zak Vyner and Callum Gribbin. Both of them have been superb for us over the course of the season.

Young Player of the Season

Can't argue with this one. Vyner has been a revelation since signing.

The Stats

Transfers

Transfers Out



We only let three contracted players leave permanently in the summer. George Waring, James Alabi and Ritchie Sutton all moved on to other clubs. Alabi and Sutton opted to remain in the National League whilst George Waring somehow got a move to League One. All three of them didn't feature for us last season and had no future at the club so it was good to get them off the wage bill.

Released Players



Speaking of getting players off the wage bill, I released a lot of players over the summer who didn't feature for us last season. The two most high profile are probably Steve McNulty, who was the club captain, and Jeff Hughes. Hughes has since taken up the role of Head of Youth Development at Chester whilst Steve McNulty has retired altogether. As of writing this, the only player to have actually found a new club is Adam Dawson, who has joined Ebbsfleet. I think this just goes to show that I made the right decision in releasing these guys.

Transfers In



With the massive amount of departures, I found that my squad was now looking quite thin. The first thing I did was to extend the loans of Gerry McDonagh, Zak Vyner, Sven Karic and later Callum Gribbin. All four of these played an important role for us last season and I think that they will again this season.

After signing those, I knew what targets I had in mind. From the squad I had I realised that I needed the following: atleast two centre backs, a backup striker, two backup midfield players, a winger and a backup right back. Now the transfer window is over I'm extremely delighted with the business I managed to do.

At centre back, we've brought in Terell Thomas, Matty Elsdon and Jack Fitzwater, meaning we now have 5 centre backs to choose from. These signings are a little risky as the only one to play regularly last season was Jack Fitzwater, who made 30 appearances for Forest Green on loan.

The backup right back I brought in is 20 year old James Yates, formerly of Hull and Everton. Whilst he's not at the level of Zak Vyner, my scouts tell me that he could improve a lot in the future, which means that he'll be a great backup to call upon. Fingers crossed he can develop well and be a regular in the future.

I brought in Andrew Tutte and George Marsh for the midfield positions. George Marsh is very much a backup, given that he's only 19. However, after coming through the Tottenham youth system, I'm expecting him to grow into a decent little player. Tutte was a big bonus for me. I was only looking for a backup but there is no doubt that Tutte will feature in the first team, especially as my scouts tell me he's our best midfield option.

Dale Jennings returns to Tranmere as a backup for Ben Tollitt on the left wing. Jennings started his career at Tranmere but it's since gone downhill. I'm hoping his return can reignite him and he can show some of the form he showed for us in the past.

The final signing is Charlie Brown on loan from Chelsea at striker. I was only looking for a backup but there's no reason why Charlie can't push for a place in the first team over the course of the season. He spent last season at Aldershot, scoring 18 in 36 games.

*Clicking pictures will show player screenshots

Goalkeepers



Scott Davies - Aleksandar Gogic

Defenders

Fullbacks



Adam Buxton - Liam Ridehalgh - James Yates - Zak Vyner

Centre Backs



Jay McEveley - Sven Karic - Terell Thomas - Jack Fitzwater - Matty Elsdon

Midfielders

Defensive Midfielders



Ollie Norburn - George Marsh

Centre Midfielders



Callum Gribbin - Chris Dawson - Andrew Tutte - Michael Cain

Wingers



Ben Tollitt - Dale Jennings

Strikers



Andy Cook - James Norwood - Gerry McDonagh - Charlie Brown

Pre-season 2019/20



Overall I would say that pre-season was very positive given that we won five out of the seven games we played, only losing out to higher league opposition. Gerry McDonagh has been in terrific form which is great to see ahead of the season, there was only one game where he failed to score in and he scored FIVE against Carmarthen Town.

We started pre-season with two games away at relatively easy opposition. The aim was to use these two games in order to build up the player's fitness and get the squad back together after the summer away. We won both easily as expected, with 16 year old Gary Scott scoring two at Cammell Laird.

Following those two games, we tested ourselves against two teams from higher leagues. First, we lost in the last minute to West Ham. Whilst I was disappointed to lose, I was really pleased with our performance and on another day we would have won. We then drew 3-3 with Portsmouth after another pleasing performance.

Two more games against lower league opposition followed and we showed that we were ready for the season by absolutely smashing Carmarthen Town by NINE goals to one! We ended pre-season with a pleasing win away at League One Blackpool, who we incidentally drew in our Checkatrade Trophy group.

Highlight of pre-season

It can only be this result really. NINE GOALS!