Adkins: Palios is ‘best owner I’ve had’ as boss insists new players are coming
TRANMERE manager Nigel Adkins has praised Tranmere owner Mark Palios as he admitted investment in new players this January transfer window was proving difficult.
Adkins was speaking after his Tranmere side were held to a 1-1 draw by Gillingham at Prenton Park.
The result means it is now just one win in seven for Rovers who are 22nd in League Two, five points off the relegation zone.
The home side took the lead in the 17th minute when Sol Solomon finished off a nice passing move to fire home from close range but they were made to pay on the stroke of half-time when Bradley Dack’s cross was turned into his own net by Jordan Turnbull.
Tranmere travel to Ian Holloway’s Swindon Town on Tuesday evening with the hosts pulling themselves out of relegation trouble with two consecutive victories after bringing in a number of players to the County Ground.
Similar incomings at Prenton Park have been thin on the ground but Adkins insisted new arrivals could still materialise before the transfer window slams shut.
“I’ve got to give massive credit to the owner here Mark Palios,” said Adkins. “It’s a challenging time and he is one of the best owners I’ve ever had because he knows things are against us and he backs us and helps this football club tremendously.
“We are in the transfer window and we’re desperate to try and do things to help but we’re well aware of the salary cap management you’ve got to have and he is trying his upmost to help this football club.
“We are working had behind the scenes and there are a lot of situations we have to deal with that people are maybe not aware of and we are pushing the boundaries as much as possible.
Most deals are done in the last two or three days of the window and then there’s a cascade effect.
“We did some really good business in the summer window and maybe it hasn’t worked out as we anticipated but the owner has been brilliant and he’s pushed the boundaries as much as he can to give us a chance and he has been so supportive.”
Adkins insisted that he and his background team were working hard to secure the deals needed to keep Tranmere away from the League Two drop zone.
“Everyone will be at the training ground until 11 P.M on February 3 when the window shuts and we’re going to be doing as much as we can to give ourselves an opportunity,” he said.
“We have to be as creative as possible with it because we know there is a new investment coming down the line.
“Everyone expected it to have been done before the January transfer window and that hasn’t happened and we have invested heavily in the summer to try and get ourselves in a position where we could have kicked on again but the reality is that’s not happened yet and the reality is we’re in a relegation battle which is not what we anticipated.”
