Opinion: Brown’s additions have one crucial shared achievement
OVF editor Rob Fielding points out that several of the new signings have something in common that could benefit the Valiants.
Rob Fielding writes…
Four of the seven (at time of writing) new signings that Michael Brown has brought to Vale Park have one thing in common which could prove crucial for next season.
Anthony Kay has two League One promotions to his name while Tom Pope, Rob Lainton and Cristian Montano all have experience of winning promotion from League Two…
Anthony Kay has two League One promotions to his name while Tom Pope, Rob Lainton and Cristian Montano all have experience of winning promotion from League Two – and in fairly recent years too.
It’s in stark contrast to Bruno Ribeiro’s squad last summer which in many cases had little to no experience of the English game let alone any knowledge of being successful in it. It may also prove to be a crucial one. I personally think Vale may need more than one season to bounce back from last season (we need time to rebuild) but this type of promotion experience may just prove me wrong.
Often fans seem to take too much interest in the stats a player has, or his performances for former clubs, but these things can sometimes be deceptive. Micky Adams’ promotion-winning side showed just how crucial character and squad togetherness can be. So, when you bring the vast experience of the likes of Pope, Danny Pugh and Kay into the squad and add some youthful potential in the likes of Nathan Smith, James Gibbons, Dan Turner, Billy Reeves and new additions Graham Kelly and Sam Hornby the squad already has a decent balance to it.
Sure, it is currently sorely lacking in some key positions – notably the full-back roles and wide midfield but there’s still plenty of the summer left. I think Brown has been pretty honest – telling the media that signings may take time and loan signings could come very close to the start of the season.
I think at the very least, fans should wait until the season starts before they assess whether Brown has done good summer deals but at least they can rest assured that so far the Vale boss has brought in some experienced characters who have been successful in the lower leagues, something that can surely only be a good thing…