League Two Midweek: Adams to make new family happy

Micky Adams could have Tranmere backers smiling

Micky Adams is an extremely experienced manager who can remind Tranmere of better days, while Portsmouth need a filip and Morecambe are an eye-poppingly good price to win at home, says Ian Lamont of Tuesday's fixtures...

Tranmere 2.56/4 v Mansfield 3.39/4; the draw 3.39/4

Tranmere took their time to appoint a new manager - and picked a cracker well before Christmas.

It might take until then for Micky Adams to sort Rovers out, just like it did for him the second time around at Port Vale, that time against a background of financial difficulties and change of owners it has to be said.

Quite rightly, former FA chief Mark Palios said he needed to find a manager who knew the game and the trade - of management rather than playing. Many clubs will take a chance on a young manager. Tranmere know they need experience to sort out a spiral of decline and now have a man with a good track record in not just firefighting but ultimate success, not just in this tier either but higher levels.

Adams needs to remind several of the squad that they topped the table 18 months ago - in League One. And then he needs to impose his blueprint for successful devised and adapted over 17 years.

Who knows quite why players leave teams, but I am sure Tranmere are regretting letting Ryan Lowe go. They still have the wonderfully named Abdulai Bell-Baggie though, who has as many goals as names (three). At 22 he is one who will have the energy and willingness to prove himself to an experienced man like Adams. Armand Gnaduillet's arrival to bolster the attack, from Chesterfield on loan for a month, can't come soon enough and is exactly what Palios wants from a manager with experience and contacts.

Mansfield's recent form is not exactly dripping with glory, being two defeats and two draws in four - featuring just one goal. Away from home, they have just one win - at Exeter in early September. So while backing a team with a new boss is always a risk it is worthy opposing The Stags.

Recommended Bet
Back Tranmere to Win @ 2.447/5

Portsmouth 2.35/4 v Stevenage 3.55/2; the draw 3.412/5

League Two remains as tricky as an autumn traipse through treacherous muddy woodland, which is why all but one 'win' price on the 24 teams in action tonight is 2.35/4 or above. You could make a case for pretty much any team.

Tuesday nights, in my experience, throw up the oddest of results against form and it might just be that Portsmouth can defeat Stevenage, who, Opta will tell you, have only registered the same result - win, draw or loss - in consecutive games once this season.

Did victory over Accrington just paper over the cracks in Graham Westley's squad? I think he tried to do that himself last week by signing four players on a month's loan. He left  Jack Jebb (Arsenal), Josh Clarke and Charlie Adams (both Brentford) on the bench and started David McAllister, then watched two of his established players score the goals, Charlie Lee and Chris Whelpdale.

Andy Awford can tell his Portsmouth players 'that wasn't good enough' as much as he likes. He did so after a 3-0 reverse at flying Bury. Supporters' dissatisfaction with a 3-5-2 system seems to have been heeded, given its half-time abandonment at Gigg Lane. However, it doesn't matter what formation you provide, one shot on target isn't good enough at any level.

Maybe Pompey need someone in charge with a decade's worth of management experience like Micky Adams? Time will tell.

Why are they worth the risk? James Dunne returns after suspension and an on-field shake-up is threatened by a manager who is surely fearing the sword of Damacles. Patrick Agyemang or others need to step up to the plate and kick-start the well-supported Portsmouth train to success.

Recommended Bet
Back Portsmouth to Win @ 2.35/4

Morecambe 2.89/5 v York 2.915/8; the draw 3.412/5

York City might have a new manager to impress, but I rather think that Russ Wilcox would have preferred to spend their first week in the job without a midweek game.

Wilcox's hopes of picking up a positive result at Morecambe will not have improved with the suspension of Russell Penn, sent off at home to Shrewsbury on Saturday.

Naturally, the new boss felt the red card changed the game, forcing York to put everyone behind the ball and defend for their lives. Funnily enough, that is exactly what I thought had got them to the play-offs last season after being third from bottom at Christmas. It certainly seemed to be a 'defensive mode first' team when I saw them in action. It served them well.

Since then, however, there was a change of some playing personnel over the summer. Since then the most perhaps has not been made of Anthony Straker and Jake Hyde. Maybe management feels that the established guard, such as Michael Coulson, is best.

Meanwhile, Morecambe seem to have come out of a slumber which saw them win just once in five attempts, taking a second win in three, this time at hugely odds-on Burton. And who was it who was leading the way? Kevin Ellison, an evergreen grandfather of the lower leagues, still full of verve at 35. Every time he scores, Morecambe pick up points. He has six goals. Not bad for a supply man!

His enthusiasm rubs off on others - and rubs opponents up the wrong way. It seems only a matter of time before Tom Barkhuizen - who knows this level after scoring 11 from midfield for Hereford before joining Fleetwood and then Blackpool, from where he is on loan - joins him in the scoring charts.

Morecambe, in sixth place, are enjoying themselves. York City are not. The price on the hosts is eye popping.

Recommended Bet
Back Morecambe to Win @ 2.89/5

AFC Wimbledon 2.68/5 v Plymouth 3.185/40; the draw 3.45n/a

The hosts might be worth chancing at home to the Pilgrims - and the reason it is a 'chance' is AFC Wimbledon's inconsistency.

Their manager believes they have the best strike force in League Two in Bayo Akinfenwa and Matt Tubbs but, like many of the best striker forces, that doesn't make the team world beaters. In fact, the Dons are frustratingly inconsistent.

No sooner do they appear to build momentum with victory in Buckinghamshire, then beat Bury after drawing at Cheltenham, then they put in a poor one at Wycombe.

Away form will cost them what some predict can be a play-off spot if they do not improve it, but home form will be crucial. They have won the last three at Kingsmeadow, with the two before Bury done through clean sheets. A small number of goals is likely with Plymouth scoring just four on the road. They have two wins and four defeats - and six goals against.

This is AFC's chance to get back to where they left off 10 days ago.

Recommended Bet
Back AFC Wimbledon to Win @ 2.68/5

P/L 2014-15

+3.99pt