Rovers treading road to recovery

SHAUN GARNETT . . . opposing his former club.

PARK LIFE: TRANMERE Rovers have attracted plenty of headlines for the wrong reasons lately.

After controversially sacking former Athletic manager Ronnie Moore in the summer following their failure to reach the Coca-Cola League One play-offs last term, John Barnes was put in charge in July with ex-Liverpool team-mate Jason McAteer installed as his assistant.

But the pair found life difficult and could muster only two victories in 11 matches, a run of poor form which saw them both follow Moore out of the exit door at Prenton Park.

An even more left-field appointment has since been made, but this time it appears to be paying dividends for Tranmere.

In a move which echoes that made by Scunthorpe United – who are now plying their trade in the Championship – Rovers elected to make physio Les Parry their caretaker boss in October.

And, like Mark Adkins, he has brought about enough of a change in fortunes to warrant being offered the post full-time, accepting the role last week with little fanfare.

Parry’s recent results have been positive. Following a 3-3 draw at Huddersfield — a game in which Tranmere recovered from going behind three times — the team have won three of their last four in all competitions, culminating in a 2-0 home victory over Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

The main link to Athletic comes in the form of new assistant coach Shaun Garnett, the tough centre-back who spent six years at Boundary Park, making 173 appearances before leaving for Halifax in 2002.

Garnett was in charge of the youth team at Rovers before stepping up to become Parry’s right-hand man.

Michael Ricketts, the much-travelled striker with an England cap to his name, has also arrived at Tranmere this season.

Once transferred from Bolton to Middlesbrough for £3.5million, Ricketts managed only two goals in 12 matches in an unhappy spell at Athletic in 2007-08 and has managed as many this term in 16 appearances for Rovers.

Tranmere’s top scorer to date is veteran forward Ian Thomas-Moore, son of Ronnie, who has six goals in 26 games this season.

But the visitors’ hopes of getting something from the game at Boundary Park on Boxing Day appear slim when you examine their away record.

The second-worst in the division, Tranmere have picked up one win and one draw from their 11 matches on the road, scoring only six while conceding 26.