Mellon’s tough half-time talk stirs Tranmere miracle men
IT’S the one question which is guaranteed to be asked of any manager who has just masterminded an improbable comeback: ‘What did you say to the players at half-time?’
When it was posed to Tranmere Rovers boss Micky Mellon after their glorious resurrection from three goals down at Premier League Watford on Saturday, it came with the caveat: ‘Bearing in mind this is a family audience.’ Mellon let out a hearty chuckle before explaining how he had reminded his players that, putting aside the 46-place gulf between the two teams in the pyramid, something as simple as professional pride was at stake. ‘Okay, so maybe it was said a little more aggressively than that,’ admitted the Glaswegian. Whatever the precise words, Mellon inspired his team to conjure an FA Cup fightback for the ages. Tranmere were a second-tier club when Mellon played for them in the late 1990s. By the time he was appointed manager in October 2016, they were in non-League. He has guided the Wirral club to back-to-back promotions in two seasons, taking them into League One and restoring prestige. And now this. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Tranmere’s famous 2001 comeback from three goals down and Paul Rideout’s hat-trick to knock Southampton out in the fifth round — but it wasn’t far off. Having endured pastings by Premier League clubs Swansea (6-2) and Tottenham (7-0) in recent seasons, they were facing a cricket score, with Watford 3-0 up after just 34 minutes. But in yet another illustration of the glorious unpredictability of the FA Cup — and how just one goal can flip the momentum of any match — they came away from Vicarage Road relishing the prospect of a replay next week. Reaching the third round has already earned Tranmere £90,000 and if they can eliminate Nigel Pearson’s team at Prenton Park, that will be another £135,000 for the coffers. If the replay is selected for live television coverage, as surely it will be, they stand to earn another £150,000. Those are potentially transformative sums for a club third from bottom of League One who have spent the first half of the season struggling to reacquaint themselves with the third tier after two promotions. Their January transfer business need not necessarily be limited to veteran defenders like 38-year-old Peter Clarke, who signed from Fleetwood Town on New Year’s Day. ‘The replay won’t be an unnecessary distraction to the bank manager,’ said Mellon (below). ‘We’d like ten replays if we can keep filling the stadium. ‘Tranmere have a brilliant history for a club of their size. In games against big clubs, Tranmere are always competitive. We had lost that for many years, so this is a big step forward.’ The 2,700 fans who followed them to Watford on Saturday were vocal even at three goals down. They grew louder as Connor Jennings’ header sparked their astonishing second-half comeback before Manny Monthe reduced the arrears to 3-2 with 12 minutes to play. When Tranmere won a penalty on 87 minutes, the nerves of steel shown by Paul Mullin to hammer the ball home under intense pressure was incredible. Morgan Ferrier had been designated penalty-taker until New Year’s Day, when he missed one in their 4-1 home loss to Coventry — and so Mellon shifted the responsibility to Mullin, who didn’t let him down. Little wonder Mullin was still beaming and confident that Tranmere have every chance of completing the upset in the replay. ‘Why not? It’s football, isn’t it?’ said Mullin. ‘You see upsets every year. I have every faith we can go and do it again and beat them the second time. We have nothing to lose.’ One thing is for sure: Mellon won’t need a sweary pep talk to get his team motivated for it.