Is it ever too early to panic?
It’s fair to say the opening day of the League One season couldn’t have gone much worse. A 7-0 thrashing at Barnsley certainly wasn’t in the script and you have to feel for the Vale fans that paid to watch their team capitulate in such dramatic fashion.
The reaction from betting sites has been minimal thus far, with Your Bonus Code confirming Vale are 10/3 to suffer relegation, compared to 7/2 before the weekend – in percentage terms, that’s just a 1% increase to 23%.
Manager Andy Crosby’s post-match soundbites included pleas for patience from fans, and promises that much would be learnt from the chastening afternoon at Oakwell, but is there genuine hope that things can be turned around quickly? Only time will tell, but we’re certainly not looking at a lost cause just yet.
While picking positives out of a 7-0 defeat may appear foolish, stats from the season opener suggest the game wasn’t entirely one-sided. Indeed, Port Vale enjoyed more shots, possession and corners than Barnsley, offering hope that the final result should prove the exception rather than the rule over the course of the season.
Matches will come quick and fast, and Vale must be content with their opponents on Saturday, given Reading haven’t tasted victory in the league since way back in February. Their winless streak away from home stretches back into 2022 while their fans are more concerned with financial difficulties off the pitch than the ongoing problems on it. Port Vale are indeed favourites to pick up their first league win of the season, with odds of 6/4 equating to a 40% chance of securing all three points.
Even if the Reading result goes against the Valiants, the transfer window remains open for some time yet, so the possibility of securing shrewd late deals remains.
So, no, sometimes early panic can act as a timely wake up call, but there remain enough reasons to believe the season won’t develop into a relegation dogfight just yet.