What do the odds say about Port Vale’s upcoming season?

There does come a time when the euphoria that accompanies promotion eventually begins to morph into a feeling of uneasiness about the season ahead. Indeed, once the party dies down and minds focus, attention then starts to turn to the likelihood of survival in the new league. This is the somewhat sobering reality of being promoted from any division; the task at hand is only going to get more demanding. 

In Port Vale’s case, the 2022 summer has been a richly rewarding one following promotion to League One courtesy of a dream day out at Wembley during the League Two play-off final. In a remarkable example of being unfazed by the big occasion, the Valiants swept aside Mansfield Town by a dominant scoreline of 3-0 to book their spot in the third tier of English football. How though, are Vale tipped to do in League One after a barnstorming promotion in England’s capital?

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The truth is that it depends on who you ask as Vale range anywhere from 11/1 to 16/1 in the outright promotion markets. Of course, every bookmaker has their own way of calculating the probability of promotion, and that can be down to anything to do with the various igaming platform providers they decide to use or indeed the way they interpret the relevant data. Many cutting-edge platforms present a range of data and statistics through a clear and easy-to-use interface, all of which can make it plain to see that Vale is a special case.

As far as Port Vale goes, their promotion odds do represent an unusual spread across the board and similarly indicate that there is a sense of the unknown with Darrell Clarke’s men as far as the upcoming season goes.

This could be down to Vale’s unfinished business in the transfer window given that as of the 22nd of July, the club has only brought in two new players in Funso Ojo and Lewis Cass. Tellingly, the Vale Park faithful may not be as charitable in their assessment of the transfer dealings so far given that Cass has only made his move from Newcastle permanent following a successful loan spell at the club last season. 

With this in mind, it seems logical to assume that Clarke will insist on a few more additions before the end of the transfer window which may, in turn, see Vale’s promotion odds drop. Alternatively, if the club enters the new season with a squad that has not been added to then that promotion price may well climb. 

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You could say that it’s a waiting game before the full picture is revealed at Vale Park but it is still interesting to note that as things stand, the bookies see relegation as a distinct possibility after pricing the club between 2/1 and 11/4 to make an immediate return to League Two. In this sense, there appears to be more of a consensus on going down which will surely bring about the feeling of inevitable apprehension that follows any promotion that was touched on at the top of this piece.

With that being the case and irrespective of those somewhat ominous odds, the encouraging news is that Port Vale still have their destiny in their own hands this season. Answers will undoubtedly be more forthcoming when the transfer window slams shut just before midnight on the 1st of September.