Port Vale 1-3 Plymouth reaction – it’s a big summer
Reaction to the final game of the season s the Valiants lose 3-1 at home to title-winning Plymouth Argyle.
James Plant scored the Vale’s opener before the visitors came back to secure the win.
Interim manager Andy Crosby
On the managerial position:
Do I think I’m ready? Do I think I’m prepared for it? Absolutely. Someone needs to give the opportunity to go and showcase the talents and the qualities that you think you’ve got. There’s no guarantee on any appointment for a football club, there’s always risk. Let’s see what happens.
On the return to League One:
We were that play-off winning team who had a great first half to the season. We still had the momentum and the winning feeling, we lost games – and a few games heavily – but were really competitive in the first-half of the season.
But maybe we plateaued a bit, and the signs have been there, the signs are obvious to everyone. It is a big summer for a variety of reasons – recruiting players to play the way we want to play is vital. My future will become clearer as the players’ future becomes clearer over the next couple of days.
Port Vale chair Carol Shanahan
First of all, congratulations to Plymouth Argyle. You have been absolutely phenomenal this season. When I was asked last week if there was an EFL club that inspires me, it was you guys. So, well done, enjoy the Championship and we hope to join you before too long. Well done.
Thank you to the Vale. In our first year in League One, we stayed up which is brilliant. We have a great basis on which to grow. Because, before too long, we want to be doing that (emulating Plymouth). That is our inspiration. Thank you all for this season, thank you to the players and the staff and everybody at the Vale. But thank you to the Valiants, you are brilliant. Up the Vale!
Plymouth manager Steven Schumacher
So many times this season we’ve gone behind. We’ve had adversity, but the players have showed unbelievable character. I think the staff have been so calm, not to lose our rag and lose focus, just keep trying to move forwards and we’ve done enough. In my humble opinion, I feel as though we deserve to be crowned champions today.
Conceding the goal in the first two minutes of the game, I thought: ‘oh no – another big day where all our fans are here, the occasion,’ but I feel like we learned from that experience at Wembley.
We didn’t panic. We shouted on to the lads to try to stay calm and just stay a little bit more compact. Don’t let the game go away from us because at 2-0 then it’s a mountain to climb. We weathered the storm for 10 minutes – I thought Port Vale were very good – and then once we settled into the game, we managed to find some quality to get the important goals that have won us the league.