Opinion: does latest toothless display mean Port Vale made mistakes in the January window?
Rob Fielding looks back at the Valiants’ striker injury crisis and their transfer business during the window and concludes that the club may have lessons to learn.
Rob Fielding writes…
At the moment, things look like a mess and as a result perhaps it’s little wonder that Vale are now on a run of just one win in their last five games…
In some sort of utopian alternative universe, the Valiants could have faced Wycombe Wanderers with Ellis Harrison and James Wilson upfront and Jamie Proctor offering competition and cover from the bench. In this vision, Matty Taylor may not even be at Vale Park because he wouldn’t necessarily be needed. Instead, Danny Butterworth, Mipu Odubeko and Dennis Politic could have been further offensive bench options for the closing stages.
However, what we have is a starting forward line of Politic, Butterworth and Gavin Massey (five League goals between them), with three strikers on the sidelines, with a recovering Jamie Proctor making a late cameo and with a squad containing six (seven if you count the presumably departed Liam McCarron) loanees of which only five can feature in the matchday squad. At the moment, things look like a mess and as a result perhaps it’s little wonder that Vale are now on a run of just one win in their last five games.
So is this situation something where fingers of blame can be pointed or not?
Looking at the argument for the defence… injuries are part and parcel of the game and perhaps this can all be down to bad luck, a heavy Vale Park pitch and the status of the Valiants. Exploring that final point a little bit more… Vale are not in a place to bid for the division’s top players and perhaps that explains why the forwards who have joined have flaws – in terms of poor injury records. It’s also worth noting that football is a marathon and not a sprint. Darrell Clarke has been at pains to stress that Matty Taylor will be fit very soon, that Jamie Proctor is picking up match fitness and that Ellis Harrison isn’t far away. In a few weeks we could have relative riches upfront to select from.
However, the counter argument is how much damage will be done by that point… this toothless Vale team look devoid of confidence right now. It could be said that the damage being done now is such that even if the ‘big name’ forwards come back in, the “striker-less side” is in such worrying poor form that it’s debatable whether the likes of Taylor, Proctor and Harrison can spark them back into life.
The signing of Taylor has also come in for criticism. As one fan put it – “only at Vale can you have three injured forwards and then sign another injured striker on loan!” The injuries to Wilson, Harrison and Proctor were in place when the transfer window opened but after waiting till the very final moments, Vale have added an injured Matt Taylor. It was explained as the club waiting for the right player to arrive and Darrell Clarke’s top target but even if Taylor had been fit, there was a thirty day period where the Valiants could have brought in another player who was fit and who could have given them options upfront.
I guess that ultimately time will tell on Vale’s January business. Clarke continually refers to the longer game, that in what will be a hectic final third of the season, Vale will have three and maybe all four strikers fit and available. It’s a fair point but it doesn’t do anything to ease concern about the club’s poor recent run.
I wonder if when we look back at this window whether fans will judge it as a success? After all, we lost three players permanently, one of which, Connor Hall, was an important figure at the back, and replaced them with two loanees. One of those additions, Aaron Donnelly, appears to be highly rated by his parent club Nottingham Forest, so will he ever come to Burslem permanently? It’s unlikely and that therefore means, just like Jack Stevens in goal, Vale will have to work hard in the summer to bring in permanent replacements for several positions. It’s slightly different with Matty Taylor as he’s older and due to be out of contract. It’s possible this loan spell will lead to a permanent switch but even so, right now, he’s yet another temporary addition to an increasingly loan-heavy Vale squad. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, the Vale recruitment team would concede that an earlier, permanent addition would have helped?
This criticism is taking nothing away from the giant strides the club has made in recent years. We’ve got a talented and successful manager, owners who are both empathetic and who are massively improving the infrastructure, a vastly improved coaching team and academy team and a side now battling in mid-table League One not the depths of League Two. We have much to be thankful for, but these things do not exclude Port Vale from criticism. It’s that old cliché of you can’t stand still and move forward.
There’s an overwhelming feeling of frustration among fans after the poor showing against Wycombe and of course, all of this could change with a strong performance on Tuesday evening. However, right now, on the back of that Wycombe defeat, it looks to many fans like some mis-steps have been made in the window and the club is suffering as a result. Should Darrell Clarke be right and in the long-term it turns out the team is stronger and will come good in the closing then fair enough. However, should it continue to struggle it’s important that the Valiants look back, work out what went wrong and learn from their mistakes ahead of what could be an important summer transfer window.
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