After Plymouth party, focus now moves to Gibbo as Vale prepare to face former defender
The Valiants have bounced back strongly after their thumping loss to Oxford in mid-November and now their focus turns to the Horfield district of Bristol as they prepare to take on Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers.
Rob Fielding writes…
Wins over Charlton Athletic, Barnsley (in the Football League Trophy) and away at Plymouth mean it’s three straight wins for the Valiants and Darrell Clarke’s side will be hoping to make it four on Saturday.
Barton is enough of a divisive figure to hog the headlines by himself, while Darrell Clarke still has many West Country admirers after a double promotion winning spell at Rovers. However, for Vale fans, much of the attention will focus on who lines up as right wingback for the home side.
It’s fair to say James Gibbons’ departure from the club this summer was a controversial one. While the official word on both sides was that it was on good terms and that the defender simply accepted a longer and more lucrative contract, rumours abounded that the defender left under a cloud when he was (according to the social media rumour mill) offered one of the lowest contract packages despite having spent thirteen years with the club.
Despite many predicting that Vale would rue the departure of “one of our own” and a terrace favourite, to be fair to Darrell Clarke et al, Vale have coped fairly comfortably. Sam Robinson has emerged as a young prospect very much in the Gibbo vein – full of energetic forward runs – and so far, with the added bonus of not having Gibbons’ fitness concerns. However, the other alternative, David Worrall, has suffered with injury this season, but when fit he has proved to be a potent source of assists on the right flank.
As for Gibbons, his season at Filton Avenue has been a bit of a stop-start affair so far. He’s made fifteen appearances – but just eight League starts. He’s been on the bench for the last two Rovers games but he will no doubt be desperate to play against his former club.
If he does, I hope he gets a great round of applause from the Vale travelling faithful. Whatever happened in the summer, he never put in less than 100% effort on the pitch and thoroughly deserves our respect and appreciation.
James Gibbons at Vale Park…
Joined: signed when he was eleven years old
Debut: December 2016, aged 18
Games: 138
Goals: 3
Honours: Promotion 2022