Four thoughts after Port Vale’s home draw with Colchester United

Hurst leaps ahead of McKirdy… Rob Fielding shares his thoughts on a disappointing draw with Colchester United…

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Team player Hurst leaps ahead of free spirit McKirdy

It was interesting that John Askey opted to hand Alex Hurst a first League start in the absence of the injured Cristian Montano. Harry McKirdy’s game time has been limited but with Vale shot-shy his goal threat has led to calls for his inclusion in the team. However, there looks to be a good reason why it was Hurst who started instead.

For me, Hurst looks to be a great team player, he remains available on the flank and he tracks back to help his full-back – both things that free spirit McKirdy doesn’t do consistency. McKirdy’s propensity to drift into other positions may make him a goal threat and cause unexpected problems for the opposition but it can also backfire and leave his fullback horribly exposed.

In contrast, Hurst still managed to be a goal threat with a couple of chances while sticking to his task on hugging the left flank. If you need to go for broke then it makes sense to gamble and bring on a potential gamechanger like McKirdy but over ninety minutes, it’s no surprise Askey opted for team player Hurst instead. It may be that McKirdy has to settle for a “supersub” role until he can add that positional discipline to his game.

Developing Rodney still needs to add goals to game

Devante Rodney is clearly a work in progress. His workrate, passing and link-up play was again impressive and this time he added to it with a deserved goal.  However, one of the problems with Rodney’s play at the moment is his goals don’t come across as “fox in the box” efforts. His last two have both come from outside the area and good as they are, if he could add some close range finishes he could really cement his position. Vale didn’t get a goal for all their first-half efforts and if Rodney can add one or two of them, then it would be a massive boost.

Don’t get me wrong, Rodney’s all-round play, strength and link-up play was really impressive. But he needs an end product more often. Rodney has some great qualities and his workrate is fantastic but if he occasionally has a game where passes go astray, ten shots sail over the bar but he scuffs home an 89th minute winner from two yards, then the fans will be happy.

Nice to see some potential future talent

This is largely a very experienced Vale squad. Scott Brown, Leon Legge, Luke Joyce and Tom Pope are clearly veterans but the rest of the squad largely comprises of players who are no spring chickens – David Worrall (30), David Fitzpatrick (30), Shaun Brisley (30), David Amoo (29), Mark Cullen (28) and Cristian Montano (28) for instance.

There’s not a huge number of youngsters present. Adam Crookes is only 23 and may still develop, James Gibbons (pictured) shows huge promise at 22 so it’s nice to add Alex Hurst and Devante Rodney to the “promising youngster” list. Hurst may be 21 but he’s a late developer after his spell in non-league and his rapid progress in recent weeks suggests he’s moving in the right direction. Similarly, Rodney at 22 still has time to develop into a top class forward and has looked a better player in recent weeks. With the likes of Brown, Joyce, Legge and Pope nearing the end of their careers, Vale will be grateful for the presence of some new blood.

Vale’s struggles after early failure to convert

It’s possible to argue that if this game had finished 6-3 like last Saturday then it would have been a fair score. Port Vale are prone to concede at the back and Colchester had a couple of clear chances but the Vale’s dominant first-half display could have resulted in a goalfest like the six scored at Bolton.

So why didn’t it? To me, it seems to be very fine lines and possibly down to the timing of goals. At Bolton, those early goals gave Vale a boost, they grew in confidence and relaxed. It was the opposite story against Colchester when Vale racked up chance after chance but couldn’t find the back of the net. Vale have been vulnerable at the back this season so you could see the alarm bells ring. “What if the opposition break now and score?” seemed to be running through their minds. As the minutes ticked with the game goalless you could see anxiety levels rise.

If you look at Vale’s most comprehensive performances this season, they’ve come when the side gets early goals. At Bolton they were 2-0 up after nine minutes. At Exeter (pictured) they went ahead on 21 minutes. Against Tranmere (a game later transformed by a red card) they were 2-0 up after 24 minutes. It certainly looks like early goals help the Vale to settle and relax.

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