Tranmere’s 2-1 defeat away to Fleetwood meant they have only won one game out of their last five league matches.
It sees them sit them sit three points above the relegation zone after seventeen games. With it looking like the Rovers will be battling for survival for the rest of the season could team spirit and unity be the key to their survival.
“Anyone who watches us and looks at the team will be enjoying watching the team develop, watching human beings develop that’s what it’s all about so we give people time and patience and give them the right advice and the right training session and to help them improve,” Mellon told MerseySportLive.
The Scotsman has led the Rovers to back-to-back promotions but now faces a different challenge of trying to keep his side in the league.
Mellon though has stressed that his players must buy into the history and the philosophy of the club.
“We all know what are football club is, it’s a peninsula it’s surrounded by water, there’s a big city on the doorstep it’s quite unique.
“It is a club that is very much a community club. A club that probably, from the outside punches above its weight but when you live and you work on the Wirral you know what the people are like here.”
“It has a real special feel about it so when the new players come we try everything we can to make sure they are aware of what Tranmere is all about and the history, what the club has achieved, the players that have played here, the great times they have had.
“We say to them you must fill the jersey well, you must fill the Tranmere jersey well because before you it has been filled very well by some fantastic people and players so you are just the next person who is wearing it.
“So, you have to make sure you wear it well and make sure you represent it well.
“It is buying into this philosophy that Mellon hopes will motivate his players to perform to the best of their abilities for the club.
“Because I have been here a long time as a player and a manager I’m able to draw on the past, tell them the things that have happened, tell them about the rich history of the football club.
“Because of the way we feel about it they need to make sure they wear the jersey well and make sure you represent the people of the Wirral properly and you fight for them.
“It’s a big group effort and if you come to Tranmere you’d better be ready to work hard and keep trying to improve.”
Striker Morgan Ferrier echoed his thoughts.
“When you come into a team, it is all well and good when the manager is talking about team spirit and togetherness.
“If he is not part of it or buying into it himself it is pointless as a player, it kind of goes in one ear and out the other but with the gaffer and the coaches here as I said everyday they come in and you can see how hard they want to work for the lads.
“How hard they want to work for the club and how much they want to improve everyone so naturally as a player when you’re going out there you want to work hard for your manager and work hard for the club and give that extra one or two percent and I feel we are a close knit group.
“Everyone wants to do well for each other whether it is from the start, whether it is from the bench. As a squad we are getting closer together and more closely knit and that is starting to show on the pitch.”
Ferrier arrived from Rovers in the summer and so far has scored three goals for Tranmere this season, including a late winner away to Wycombe in a FA Cup replay.
He says that part of the good team spirit is down to the older players influence and how they help the younger players in the squad.
“I feel I learn a lot from the older in the group, there brilliant people and great to feed off because they’ve played at a higher level, they’ve played obviously with a better standard of players over the years so when you see the level and commitment they show.
“As a younger player it shows you what you have to do and if you want to go and push on to a higher level and in terms of the gaffer you know you can’t come in and slack off or else he’s going to be on you but that breeds a winning mentality, everyone in training wants to win.
“If people don’t win matches there upset and I feel that breeds confidence, I’m a firm believer of you can’t go through the week training at a certain level and then just turn up on a Saturday, I certainly can’t and if you work hard Monday to Friday you get your rewards.”
Tranmere face Chichester in the FA Cup second round next which will come as a welcome distraction given their recent league run.
Their next league fixture is not until the 7th December when they face Accrington Stanley at home, a game which could be vital given the fact that Stanley are only two points ahead of the Rovers.
What is for certain, though, is that the team spirit amongst the squad will be vital to ensuring that Tranmere are still in the league next season.
(Tranmere Roves, Prenton Park, pic by IJA under creative commons licence)
