Rob Fielding shares his thoughts after Port Vale end their poor run in some form on Saturday afternoon.
Agree or disagree? Post a comment at the end of the article to share your thoughts too
Full-backs’ forward thinking pays dividends
With the exception of an in-form loanee Mitch Clark, the pairing of James Gibbons and Cristian Montano is Port Vale’s most attacking full-back pairing of the season. On Saturday, the pair were finally fit to enough both start the game. The duo proved their worth in the first-half on Saturday as the pair provided plenty of forward threat. Montano helped set up David Worrall’s goal while Gibbons’ winding run set up Devante Rodney’s second. The difference in the Vale display when the pair were replaced was noticeable and fans will be desperate that neither of them have picked up another knock.
Rodney shows his huge promise again
Arguably it was only a 45 minute display as Devante Rodney failed to build on his first-half performance in the second period and perhaps that shows he’s still a work in progress. The forward did enough in the first-half to drive the Southend defence to despair. His long range shooting, pace and power caused multiple problems and two goals was the least he deserved. He’s clearly still got to add consistency to his game but if he can put that sort of display for a full ninety minutes, Vale will have some player on their hands.
Hard working Guthrie deserved better
Kurtis Guthrie may never be the most skilful forward seen at Vale Park but he’s hard working and effective which are certainly positives. The big man worked the channels, battled in the air and his link-up play was good. All that was missing was a goal. Looking at his record, Guthrie seems to be something of streaky striker (he netted seven in five at the end of 2018-19 and five in ten in 2019-20) so who knows what a first goal in Vale colours can produce. His hard working performance on Saturday certainly warranted one.
A word for the unsung heroes
Continuing the theme of unsung players, a word of praise for Adam Crookes, who didn’t do much wrong after coming on for Shaun Brisley. A first goal for the club and a largely assured performance in central defence could have secured his place in the starting line-up for the next few games at least. Crookes’ former Nottingham Forest teammate Jake Taylor has had a quiet start to his second spell at Vale Park but this was a much better performance from the recent signing. He may not have caught the eye in the way colleague Tom Conlon has been doing but Taylor did well linking up attacks on the right-hand side. Luke Joyce went about his business in his usual manner and put on an assured display while the much maligned Nathan Smith barely put a foot wrong.
A disclaimer
Before we all get too carried away with the Vale win, let’s get one thing in perspective. Opponents Southend were awful. A nervous wreck at the back and barely any threat upfront, their League status looks in serious doubt. So, it will never be the most difficult opponents Vale will face this season. Having said that, Vale still needed to perform to get the win and they did everything that could be expected of them. Perhaps the only negative was a failure of centre-halves Nathan Smith and Adam Crookes to keep a clean sheet.
Food for thought for the new manager
Whether it’s David Flitcroft, John McGreal or AN Other, if the new Port Vale manager was watching that game, it should have given him plenty to consider. There were plenty of positives such as Rodney, Conlon and an improved performance from Jake Taylor. The two veterans Joyce and Brown also did little wrong. And there’s one of the issues for the new man to consider. Vale have an ageing core in Pope, Joyce, Legge and Brown. Who, if any, should be there next season? There’s now some shortages in key areas – up front, central defence, full-back – who does he bring in there? However, if Vale can continue to put on performances like this one, there’s going to be more positives than negatives for the new person to consider.
A few thank yous
With the new manager seemingly on the way, it’s worth a word of thanks to interim boss Danny Pugh. It’s possibly his last game in charge of the first-team. He came in a tricky period and had to manage a period of self isolation but he’s still managed to produce two crucial home victories. Pugh appears to have the respect of the squad and so deserves a place in the new manager’s coaching team. Also, a thank you to the club for a fitting pre-match tribute to John Jeffers and the three Port Vale supporters who had sadly passed away.
Agree or disagree? Post a comment at the end of the article to share your thoughts too
Fingers crossed Monty and Gibbo stay fit. We look a different side with them there.
I do wonder if Nathan Smith is ‘much maligned’ or if it is just a handful of posters on this site who delight in blaming him for everything
Brian, I heard Phil Sproson on the commentary saying his recent form was poor so, to be fair, it’s not just users on here. However, it will be interesting to see if any of Nathan Smith’s fiercest critics have anything to add after that performance? Will they now praise him or just stay silent? I personally, thought he was much improved – possibly due to the full-back changes relieving the pressure on the central two in defence. I hope his improved performance continues.
The difference was the whole team fought for every ball to a man , with passion which as been missing over the last month.
We started with our best team with both full backs pushing forward on every opportunity making it difficult for any team in this league to handle .
I agree when we had to make changes we where not as powerful , however 5-1 is our best result of the season , if we can play with this started 11 we will push up the league with the rest of the season looking positive
Well do guys keep it up.
James
The result was always going to be more important than the performance, that having been said after what Port Vale fans have suffered lately the first half was a rare treat. Rodney and co ran riot against a very poor Southend team and at half time I would imagine they considered throwing the towel in. Second half wasn’t quite so convincing and it served to demonstrate the limitations of the Vale squad, with Mills and Fitzpatrick replacing Gibbo and Monty our options were restricted and it swiftly reminded us why we have struggled this season when we have had to play our second choice players. But let’s remain optimistic, with Gibbo, Monty and Manny fit we should be able to push on, let’s see who takes the Manager’s job and who if anyone comes in before the transfer window closes. It is fair to say with teams as poor as Southend and Grimsby in the league we should be safe, we need to get rid of at least 6 players who are at best National League but importantly we need to find a striker that will bag 20 goals plus for next season. Keep the faith, let’s hope we can put out the same starting 11 next Saturday and climb the table.
Fantastic but don’t want to put the mockers on it Southend weren’t all that good .Next Saturday will give us a better test against Tranmere to see if we have really improved but will gladly enjoy this one
That was much like it we never stopped getting about them, where’s this performance being hiding? Is it due to the excellent Gibbons returning and the magnificent Montano and our best player before he got injured Rodney of course it is. As for Nathan Smith he had a terrific game the level we expect from him and the level what will if he performs like that consistently fetch Vale a few quid in the future hopefully. Lovely win lets see if they can back it up with winning at Tranmere then we might salvage a bit of pride from this season. 18 games left 18 wins should be the target we have players in the squad we just need to defend properly. Guthrie is a player I am enjoying watching hope the lad gets a goal soon to further give him the confidence lead the Vale to consecutive wins well 18 if they believe in themselves UTV
We looked the buisness in the first half, against a very poor side,the second half was, just as before, looked disjointed, a better side would have punished us,it was points, and the goals ratio,is what we needed,let’s hope we can start the next game,with the same 11 that started against Southend.
A good win against a poor side but win they did. First half definitely showed the value of having both Monty and Gibbons in the side. Rodney has the potential to be a 20 goals a season player and decent performances from some of the acknowledged all round good guys in the Vale side. Smithy on form is as good as any player in League 2 and played well. You can’t even begin to write off a player who in two previous seasons was the regular ‘man of the match’. I think Conlon has a lot going for him in both his play and leadership qualities. In saying this though I am not writing off Legge because like Smithy he is a very good player on form and in recent times has tried too hard because of the poor play of some of the men up front – resulting in him having to commit some silly fouls. We all know that Vale have the basis to become a really good side and any new Manager will see this and hopefully work on it.
We must all be so grateful for the contribution made by Danny Pugh and he should be rewarded with a good coaching job with the Vale and the full respect of the management of the Club.