Tranmere fans will have to adapt to life without talisman James Norwood next season and that will likely be the deciding factor in their survival or success in their first League 1 campaign following relegation in 2014.
There is no denying how important Norwood was to Tranmere, with his 29 goals in the regular season ensuring Rovers would end their return to the Football League in sixth.
The 28-year-old fittingly scored the leveller at the New Lawn to send the Super White Army to Wembley for a third successive play-off final – leading to phenomenal back-to-back promotions.
Did Tranmere fans expect Norwood to leave? I’m not sure – I thought if promoted, he would stay but, if they failed to beat Newport, he would leave. However, when a massive club like Ipswich comes calling the situation is complicated. Let’s be honest – Ipswich are able to offer him a superior wage than Tranmere, but it isn’t all about the money and Norwood made that clear, with the Suffolk based team allegedly closer to home.
Also, Ipswich have a genuine chance of promotion whilst Tranmere are an outsider at best. At 28 years old, Norwood is in the prime of his career and he deserves a serious shot at the Championship.
After bagging 92 goals in 180 games for Tranmere, the Tractor Boys have one of the deadliest strikers in the EFL at their disposal. So just how worried should Tranmere fans be in the wake of Norwood leaving? We look at some of the key considerations to hopefully reassure you all…
- Key player leaving – Tranmere know all about it. At the end of Tranmere’s national league promotion season in 2018, ‘super’ Andy Cook swapped Prenton Park for the Bescot stadium. The much-loved number 9 bagged 26 goals that season and his departure was met with worry and anxiety about Tranmere’s ability to replace him. People often say what they need is standing right in front of them and that was the case, with Norwood taking over the reins with aplomb (albeit he managed 20 in the league that season himself). The point here is that Tranmere have been in this situation before. Losing a key player on a free transfer is naturally a situation you don’t want to be in but it’s a familiar one for Micky Mellon, and he did alright at the first time of asking.
- It’s not all about goals, you know – People often get too bogged down in matters at the top end of the pitch but keeping them out is just as important and Tranmere have an excellent defence. Stopper Scott Davies won the golden glove award with 19 clean sheets, four ahead of nearest rival Daniel Iverson and only Lincoln, MK Dons, Mansfield, Forest Green and Exeter conceding fewer overall – and two of those teams adopted a back five, so fewer goals conceded is somewhat expected. In front of Davies is a top-quality centre half in Manny Monthe. The 6ft 4in Cameroonian is dominant in the air, calm in possession and a player I thought may get a move in the summer. However – he’s signed a new two-year deal keeping him at Prenton Park and he has a big part to play in the next campaign.
- 2nd September – That’s when the Transfer window closes, over two months away. With the departure of Cole Stockton as well as Norwood, Tranmere are light up front so of course, they will sign a new striker. With such a long time to go in the transfer window, Micky Mellon will want to make sure the right player and the right person is signed. The worst thing to do would be to sign the first player that becomes available, a sort of panic signing to try and fill the rather large void left by Norwood’s departure.
- Micky Mellon – He has been in League 1 before, and survived in league 1 before, with Shrewsbury. He has guided Tranmere to these incredible back-to-back promotions often in the face of adversity – losing a play-off final at Wembley is often an experience teams cannot bounce back from, especially against a team as disgusting as Forest Green Rovers, but Mellon lead the team to victory at the second time of asking, despite playing that fateful game in May 2018 with ten men for 88 minutes. He is a fantastic manager, and he is certain to ensure that next season Tranmere will indeed have yet another wonderful goalscorer at the helm.
Tranmere did not win promotion in 2019 exclusively because of James Norwood. He may have scored 29 out of 63 league goals, but someone has to give him the ball, and someone has to stop them going in at the other end. The resilience, hard-work and never-say-die mindset of every player and coach in the dressing room has rebuilt a DNA and an attitude at Tranmere bringing about a togetherness that cannot be taken away.
I genuinely hope Norwood does brilliantly with Ipswich – an outstanding player coming through the non-league route is becoming a rarity in today’s game yet he is a prime example that hard-work and self-belief can go a long way.
