Port Vale must learn lessons of summer signings ahead of crucial January window
Signing an injury-prone player as the club’s sole left-footed wingback, adding three strikers who had fitness issues and a string of long-term contracts are just some of the issues that should be addressed ahead of January says Rob Fielding.
Rob Fielding writes…
Port Vale potentially face a huge January transfer window with a left-sided wingback and a centre-forward probably top of their list. But they should also assess their summer business too and learn lessons from it. Here’s some areas they may want to assess:
Length of contract
Conor Grant: two year deal in the summer
It’s commonly thought that Vale will need to move some players on before they bring others in. However, the majority of signings are on longish contracts so it won’t be easy. Injury-hit Conor Grant signed a two year deal in the summer as did Dan Jones. Striker Ryan Loft signed up for two years while veteran Jason Lowe is also here for another season. It means that Vale lack flexibility to wheel and deal in the market while they are saddled (perhaps too harsh a word, but let’s go with it) with some injury-prone players potentially until the end of the 2024-25 campaign. Vale need to weigh contract length against player’s injury records, potential and their chances of being first choice throughout the length of contract.
Injury records
And on a related note, it seems like Vale have taken a step back to the days of Michael Walsh and Lee Matthews – when the side had undoubtedly talented players in it but they were rarely available through injury. Skilful they may be but the likes of Dan Jones (5 appearances out of 31 games), Conor Grant (16 appearances out of 31) and James Wilson (14 appearances out of 31) just aren’t available enough – and two of them are contracted until the end of next season. When you add on the situation with Ryan Loft and Uche Ikpeazu – Vale adding two strikers only for neither of them to be immediately available (Loft was injured and Ikpeazu wasn’t fit), it seems to this fan that there needs to be more consideration paid to injury history. Afterall, speaking to the media after the loss to Stevenage in the FA Cup, Andy Crosby said how he was having to manage Conor Grant’s time carefully and that led to the sub being replaced when Crosby wanted to bring on a player in another position.
The injuries to the likes of Connor Thomas, Mitch Clark and James Plant are one thing – after all players picking up injuries is part and parcel of the game and luck does play a part. It’s the same with Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine whose recent absences are because of their success and the amount of game time they’ve had. However, players picking up knocks is one thing – handing contracts to players with significant injury histories is quite another.
Squad balance
Now we come to the make-up of the squad. The transfer team can bemoan missing out on targets all they want but the bare facts of the matter are that for two seasons in a row we’ve started with a threadbare front-line. There was a lot of talk of targets now playing in the Championship and Vale therefore missing out – if that is the case were they being too ambitious? Surely the transfer process has to be a combination of ambition and reality. It’s no good going for a brilliant player if you’ve no chance of getting him.
As for this season – did the transfer people really think Conor Grant would be available for the majority of the campaign? It’s perhaps worth pointing out they may have been planning for Mitch Clark to cover before Clark himself got injured, but nevertheless Clark is not left-footed and is perhaps better suited to the right. Neither are James Plant, Gavin Massey and Thomas Sang who have all been forced out of position to cover for Grant. Thinking the club could get through a whole season with a sole, injury-prone left-footer was surely wishful thinking.
Patience is running out
Connor Hall: a signing success for the Valiants
The final thing for the transfer people to remember is that Vale fans are losing confidence in the whole system. Yes, we’ve had some good additions such as Connor Hall and Connor Ripley (what’s it with players called “Connor” doing well?) but there have been a host of failures too. One of this summer’s successes has been the loanees but last season’s crop of temporary additions was generally poor. We’ve had a succession of goalkeepers (among them Lucas Covolan, Jack Stevens and Tomas Holy) before finally Ripley arrived. We’ve had forwards who are already injured joining us – Matty Taylor, Ryan Loft to name but two. We’ve had a succession of poor loanees before the summer with several (Liam McCarron, Thierry Small for instance) leaving early having made barely any impact.
Andy Crosby should and will accept blame for what happens during a game. The rookie manager has been subject to much criticism for tactics and substitutions and rightly so. However, Crosby isn’t the person responsible for the transfer moves – that lies with Director of Football David Flitcroft and his team.
Lessons need to be learned.
The transfer market is clearly a complex place but if Vale can remember they need – a balanced squad, players who are available for more than a third of the season and to be careful with the contracts – then I’m sure those rules will at least stand them in good stead for January. Vale fans will hope so.
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