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5 Comments

  1. Phil Yeomans
    13th January 2021 @ 11:50 am

    Having listened to the commentary on the radio it appeared a drab affair and Rob is correct the players stepping in didn’t advance their chances although I understand the need to change the team was expected but 4-3-3 could prove a mistake if that formation is chosen for Saturday’s game, 4-4-2 is a must and we may start to see improvements. Jake Taylor will be a big bonus and the return of James Gibbons being back in training is also a positive. The next two results will lay down a marker as at this point I’m still in favour of a more experienced manager coming in.

  2. Phil Smith
    13th January 2021 @ 3:34 pm

    I think Pugh was right to prioritise the league over this crappy competition. He/we found out/confirmed what we always knew – I think he wss proving a very important point. He just proved what we’ve always known. When we are without handful of first team players, whether through injury, illness, suspension, lack of form, or through choice such as prioritising the league, the players coming in are just not good enough for this level. These second string players are almost all Askey signings, whereas mostly the first teamers were all signed pre-Askey. Accommodating the odd one of Askey’s signings we can just about get away with, but more than that we’re on a hiding to nothing. Whoever takes over fully at the Vale needs to turn over at least 6 players in the short-term, and to do that he needs an extensive network of current contacts. This was Askey’s biggest failing; he found it hard to look past players with which he’d already had experience of, due in a large part to a lack of contacts in the EFL. It was always going to happen at some point whereby we’d need to look towards his signings to carry us over a crisis of some denomination; thats when the Vale would be found wanting, and we certainly were, and Askey paid the inevitable price. Other than that, he did a pretty sound job.

  3. John
    13th January 2021 @ 5:52 pm

    Pugh was a poor player , and he will be no better as a manager. In this time of no fans, and little money, Vale had a chance to progress to the quarter finals, and earn a decent payment for their efforts. However , there was no effort , especially in the 1st half. Pugh folds his arms , and Sinclair barks at everyone, including the officials. It’s doomed to failure , that management team, temporary or not. There is no pride there , no willingness to fight for every ball. It’s pathetic to watch. We need a root and branch clearout , a manager who is not on first name terms with players, and vice versa, or otherwise we are looking at relegation this season. I don’t envy Carol her job, but I am sure that she will say “enough is enough” at some point, and straighten it all out. The pandemic has no doubt played a big part in the physical ,and particularly the mental state of everyone, but this is unacceptable. Last night was the worst game of football I have ever seen from the Vale, even if it was the Football League Trophy. Fans paid money to watch that rubbish, for many it’s money that they can ill afford . Shame on those players who are only playing for their pay packet. It will come back to bite you all eventually. Carol Shanahan put a huge amount of money in to save Port Vale, and you lot throw your toys out of the pram, and then apologize to her? It’s John Askey you should be apologizing to , to begin with. There is a cancer at the Vale now, one that needs to be rid of. That’s the truth of the matter.

  4. Geoff Ainsworth
    13th January 2021 @ 9:15 pm

    I agree with Phil Smith re prioritising which competition we want to excel in as we simply haven’t got enough good players to do well in both the P.J. cup and the 4th division.On Dec 5th we thrashed Bolton 6-3 and our midfield was brilliant. Monty was a revalation & Oyleke ,Conlon,& Worral were also top class. Four days later (Dec 8th ) they were all put into the P.J. cup match vs Wolves u 21s. Since then they have all been out injured (except Tom who was self isolating ) and as you know our form has been diabolical..Last week 3 of the 4 were playing again and our standard of play was almost back to it’s best.So it’s obvious, we have not got enough good players to do well in both

  5. Keith Dawson
    13th January 2021 @ 10:03 pm

    The display against Sunderland was feeble at best, so much so that Vale didn’t have an attempt on goal in the first 45 minutes. Sadly the formation of 4,5,1 meant that Robinson was Vale’s loan forward which actually meant we played with no one up top!!! Robinson, Amoo and Whitehead were by far our worst performers, I think that they should find another career because they can’t be serious about being a professional footballers, their performance was embarrassingly poor. Sunderland played the ball around us like we weren’t there, how we got to the break only one nil down remains a mystery. Second half commenced and we didn’t look any better, failing to get anywhere near them as they moved the ball around with ease, sadly it took Alex Hurst to get injured for Monty to take to the field before we showed any sign of putting up a fight, things got slightly better when he was joined by Pope, Cullen and Taylor but we still couldn’t get anywhere near them. Slight excitement when Cullen seemed to be pulled to the floor in the penalty area but the ref simply wasn’t interested and to add insult to injury Sunderland went straight down our end and were awarded a penalty, game over, their goalkeeper put his strip straight back in the clean kit bag given that it was unused. So Forest Green beckons, come on Vale, get 2 up top and give it a go, I am sure that we can still turn this season around but it needs a collective effort to do so!!!

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