League Two play-off portrait poses positive omens for Port Vale ahead of 2021/22
The future looks bright for Port Vale after a positive end to the 2020/21 campaign, with Darrell Clarke reviving expectations ahead of his first full term at the helm.
An opinion piece by a guest columnist
A return of eight wins from their last 11 games wasn’t sufficient to secure a place in the playoffs after a nightmarish middle third of the campaign. However, a look at those teams still in the hunt for promotion is enough to inspire Clarke that his club isn’t far from that standard.
According to William Hill odds, fourth-place finishers Morecambe are 5/2 joint-favourites to go up ahead of their playoff semi-final against seventh-place Tranmere Rovers. Newport County are the other team highly tipped for promotion after going unbeaten in their last five games, with the Welsh club poised to face Forest Green Rovers in a clash between fifth and sixth, respectively.
In their eight games against those four clubs this season, Port Vale lost four and won two (they drew against Forest Green Rovers home and away). The omens are particularly positive considering both of those victories came under Clarke when the club went on a six-win streak across March and April, their best run of results in some 25 years.
Following a slow start with The Valiants, one-time Vale loanee Clarke put together an end-of-season run to lift aspirations for what’s to come under his reign. The 43-year-old has experience getting out of League Two after he guided Bristol Rovers to third in 2015/16, somewhat unfortunate to miss out on back-to-back promotions the following campaign.
The squad that competes during the 2021/22 campaign will be a transformed one after OneValeFan confirmed the 15 out-of-contract players set to be released at the end of the current season. Fan favourites Tom Pope and Luke Joyce are among that number, serving as proof the manager isn’t pulling any punches in his efforts to shape the team in his vision.
Vale reporter Mike Baggaley predicted an equal rush of talent coming into the squad this summer:
There are 13 weeks to the start of the new League Two season. I reckon Port Vale will sign around 15 players. It's going to be an interesting summer! #pvfc #portvale pic.twitter.com/RLPAYVmGph
— Mike Baggaley (@MBaggers37) May 11, 2021
The BBC also reported striker Theo Robinson has been transfer-listed alongside midfielders Danny Whitehead and Scott Burgess as Clarke looks to make his own imprint at Burslem.
The manager commented on some of the “very tough decisions” he’s had to make in ridding the club of deadwood, though he’s also given the sense he’s happy to clear some spaces in the dressing room:
“Some of them were very tough decisions. It’s never easy for a manager at the end of the season when you do your retained list and when you are unemploying people. Some of those boys have given me everything and done really well for me.
“(It is) a time to move on and put a line under it. I wish them all the very best. It’s never easy releasing a club legend like Tom Pope (but) my gut instinct tells me it was the right time to make wholesale changes.”
Such a hefty turnover in playing personnel could go one of several ways for the boss after ending up in 13th this term. Clarke already has considerable connections at this level, but after four seasons in England’s fourth tier, the focus now is identifying players capable of moving to a higher rung in the EFL ladder.
Port Vale still boasts a sturdy core comprising some of those who impressed during the run-in, with club captain Tom Conlon, David Worrall and Nathan Smith among the most valuable assets. Those players will form part of the crux for Clarke’s 2021/22 charge, having each figured prominently during the nine-game unbeaten run that pushed the team to a mid-table finish.
The barren run of three wins from 25 games that preceded it is more forgettable, but it will hearten fans that four of their final eight wins this season came against teams who finished above them—two of whom are part of the play-off push.