Opinion – four possible reasons for Port Vale’s poor start and three reasons for optimism

Rob Fielding offers his own opinion on why Vale have got off to a disappointing start in League One this season.

Rob Fielding writes…

It could be seen as a sign of increasing frustration or even desperation that the Valiants have relied so much on the loan market this summer…

It’s not been the strongest of starts for Port Vale this season. Darrell Clarke did say over the summer that the side may start slowly but nevertheless a home draw with Cheltenham Town is a major disappointment. With due respect to the Robins, the Valiants also have to play opponents of the size of Derby, Ipswich and Portsmouth, so Saturday’s game was one the Vale really need to take three points from if they are to stay up.

So, what factors have played a part? It’s pretty clear that the current problems stem from the summer. In order I think the issues have been…

Firstly, that memorable play-off final win could now be seen as a doubled-edged sword. Yes, Vale went up (and surely no-one can be upset about that) but it did mean the club had to quickly rip up their League Two recruitment plans and try to bring in League One quality players. All this while other clubs had a couple of weeks head start as the play-off campaign still unfolded.

Secondly, were Vale’s first choice targets too ambitious? After the close of the window, Clarke said “We missed out on a hell of a lot of players that have gone to Championship clubs.” That’s good in the respect that Vale wanted to improve their squad’s quality but bad in the sense that those players went elsewhere despite, presumably, Vale spending time trying to persuade them to join. Was that a great use of resources during what was a short summer break? Were sights set unrealistically high?

Thirdly, it could be seen as a sign of increasing frustration or even desperation that the Valiants have relied so much on the loan market this summer. Clarke admitted as much saying “I ideally have liked a few more permanent signings? Yes, but the market didn’t open for us in that way for loads of different reasons.” The issue with loan signings is clearly that many players from higher level clubs are not the finished article so there’s the issue of the lack of consistency when they play.

With three of the loanees arriving on deadline day, it’s clearly going to take a little time for them to acclimatise to the squad and get up to speed. Not only that but Vale now have six loanees and can only include five in their matchday squad. What will the parent club of the loanee to miss out think of that?

Fourthly, the Robbie Williams concert, through no real fault of anyone, turned out to be poorly timed. Delayed because of Covid, it took place a week after the play-off success with the result that Vale held no friendlies at Vale Park. Indeed, that lack of friendlies has played its part in one of the issues in the matches so far this season – that of match fitness and squad rotation. With so few friendlies played plus a number of late summer additions, the Valiants have been regularly rotating in recent matches and that can’t help the starting XI get some continuity and understanding.

So, there’s at least four factors which have combined to make it a challenging summer for the Vale. However, it’s not this site’s remit to be overwhelmingly negative so here’s some reasons to still be cheerful…

Firstly, Darrell Clarke has consistently said that a slow start could be on the cards. Last season he said that his teams always tend to start slowly so this season is no exception. With that in mind, it’s logical to expect that once the team gel, get match fit and the rotation policy ends, that the club’s form will improve. It happened last season – at this stage, Vale were only one point better off in a lower division (and remember how that season turned out) – so there’s every chance Vale’s form could still pick up as the season progresses.

Secondly, there’s the return of two key players. The presence of James Wilson on Saturday is arguably massive. No pressure James, but the difference between the striker staying fit and hitting form and picking up injuries could well define the success or otherwise of this campaign. Ellis Harrison has looked the signing of the summer and a partnership of Harrison and Wilson could be hugely exciting. Add to that the exciting return of Dennis Politic, probably as a game-changing bench option, and Vale’s attacking resources suddenly look a whole lot brighter.

Thirdly, there’s other players in this squad who are yet to hit top form. Clarke said Gavin Massey was short of match fitness and if he starts to pick up form he could make a difference. Likewise, Tom Conlon is coming back from a long-term injury and needs a few more games to find form. Both players could play a big role in reversing Vale’s poor recent form.

So, what’s the conclusion? There’s no sugar-coating the fact that a difficult summer has resulted in a less than stellar start to the season. The club will no doubt learn from it but that doesn’t help things in the immediate term.

However, there are still reasons to be cautiously optimistic, albeit with crossed fingers. Once everyone is fit, rotation can end and a consistent starting eleven could emerge. The form and fitness of James Wilson also appears to be key and Vale may need to wrap him in cotton wool between now and May.