Port Vale fans panel on “League Two ready” Port Vale and who they think the “main culprit” is…
We ask three Vale supporters for their views on the Port Vale season. This week it’s the turn of Steve, Paul and Ian as they discuss the possibility of relegation, who’s to blame and what needs to happen in the summer…
The Fans
This week we have:
- Steve from Clayton, a Port Vale fan since the early 80’s
- Paul from Bradwell, a Port Vale fan since 1980
- Ian from Weston Coyney, a Port Vale fan since the late 1950’s
The questions
Will Vale get relegated?
Steve: Unfortunately I think we are going down as we are League Two ready rather than Championship ready. I have watched enough lower league football to recognise a good team and a poor team. It’s obvious what we are currently watching.
Paul: Vale will get relegated. It’s inevitable. When you have no striking options, a midfield with no legs and a defence that concede for fun, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Ian: Yes. Basically because we don’t score enough goals and concede far too many, due to dreadful recruitment.
Who is to blame if they do?
Steve: To use Carol’s own words David Flitcroft is responsible for everything the ball touches. We almost got relegated last season, the warning signs were there. To repeat the same mistakes this season and put us back in the same situation is inept. Not to sign a much needed quality striker over three transfer windows is what I call a dereliction of duty. I know a lot of fans blame Carol in particular for our current predicament and she has to shoulder part of the blame. Personally I view it like Stoke fans criticising the Coates family. All they have done is plough money into the club with admitted limited football knowledge and relied on advice from the wrong person.
Paul: The main culprit is David Flitcroft. The recruitment has declined rapidly over three windows. To not bring in a recognised striker, over 18 months, is unforgivable. His footballing “philosophy” has turned us into a non-contact under-23 side.
Ian: With the club being less informative than North Korea, it’s a difficult one. Has Carol asked Flitcroft to run the club on a shoestring budget? Or has Flitcroft won the admiration of Carol by sweet talking her into believing that his extraordinary knowledge of football and unbelievable contacts within the game will bring in a continuous supply of world class academy players and all this will be self financing through his genius in the transfer market? Personally I’d opt for the latter. The writing was on the wall when Forrester was sold to Bolton and we still went into the season with no forwards and a third of the squad made up of young loanees and kids from the academy. (In Flitcroft’s own words). “I am in charge of all football related matters” The Buck Stops there!
What does the club need to do in the summer to turn it around?
Steve: We need a clear out not just on the pitch but at director of football level too. If you study performance indicators our DoF looks likely to have failed on his key objective, keeping us in League One. We are going backwards in that our promotion side is stronger than this one. As regards the manager he at least deserves time to recruit his own players and be judged on that rather than the ‘hospital pass’ of a team he currently has. I am a firm believer that it is his responsibility to sign the right players as it will be the manager who will be judged to have succeeded or failed by these decisions and not the DoF who seems untouchable.
How successful he will be in the Summer depends on funds available to him and any unwanted interference he receives from above. Regrettably I can see the players we want to keep like Ripley, Garrity and Chislett attracting unwanted attention from other clubs whilst the players we want to move on, but under contract, going nowhere.
Paul: This can’t be sorted in one summer. We have 90% of this squad under contract and most aren’t good enough. Who will take them? A start will be for Carol to stop “trusting the process”. Rip it up. It hasn’t worked. If she wants to continue to employ David Flitcroft then fine, but he shouldn’t be given footballing control and certainly not another transfer window. She needs to get the fans back on side. That would be a start. Along with a striker!
Ian: I’m dreading next season. If Flitcroft and Moore are still here it would just be more of the same. Our only hope is to rid ourselves of both and bring in a strong minded individual who will manage as well as choose his own scouting setup. With the money saved from Flitcroft and Moore leaving, in my dreams I would love Neil Warnock he’s a proven track record at every level.
Any other business?
Steve: I think Carol has a decision to make between backing a DoF who is failing in the eyes of the vast majority of supporters or backing the fans. I was never convinced that a club of Vale’s size needs a DoF but if we are having one we need a person of integrity. A respected Colin Garlick type figure receiving sage advice from Sir John perhaps?
Paul: Carol has done wonders for this club. The club is in wonderful shape from when she bought it. But the open letter defending Flitcroft and not taking any responsibilities or putting any responsibility on him for the obvious failures on the pitch did her no favours. Moore has to be backed and he should have the most say on transfers. Crosby was more or less thrown under the bus. And the academy lads need to ply their trade in non-league for the time being. They aren’t good enough for league football yet. Here’s hoping something changes. The door is wide open for League Two and if we make the same mistakes in August and next January, our league status could be massively under threat. We’re still alive in League One. Just. So, while there is hope we have to believe but I’m afraid my head is ruling my heart and it tells me it’s Crawley, Accrington and Newport next season. What a mess!
Ian: I’ve been dreadfully disappointed recently, I think the treatment of Crosby by the club was poor as was that of Steve Speed. Carol’s open letter to the fans was seen by many as condescending and this was followed shortly afterwards by something similar by CEO Matt Hancock. Season ticket holders on the Bycars End were effectively thrown out of their seats. We’ve been treated so poorly with the Railway Paddock facilities we have, while the cucumber sandwich lot opposite are looked after like kings!
Take Part
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Vale fan
5th March 2024 @ 11:54 am
The Fans Article it says it all but more politely than I would say it, Now send it to Carole and Flitcroft and ask them to reply to it.Times are hard for working class,and Flitcroft and Carol are taking the $!$$.She pontificates and he takes a salary for nothing and yes they partly killed the Vale fans when they took the Bycars away.
Terence Moore
5th March 2024 @ 12:30 pm
Alot of the players are just not good enoug
h , recruitment not good enough, more invest needed, and I believe a scout for the national league s would be a sound investment, there are many y jems to be had, just look at Peterborough who have made millions.
Not sure D Moore was the right choice for Manager, someone with more experience of league one on tight budget who is an excellent motivator would have been better, a no in my opinion to give D Moore a 5 and half yr deal is absolute madness.
Richard
5th March 2024 @ 12:33 pm
We are not good enough for non league football this is by far the worst Vale side I can remember big changes needed at the end of the season I would start by clearing the decks and start with new players because the team we have got haven’t got a clue
Allen Eardley
5th March 2024 @ 2:01 pm
we r not down yet so why r people r so negative
Alan Beaumont
5th March 2024 @ 2:11 pm
I am a Huddersfield Town fan and since Moores appointment with your good selves I have been looking into the goings on in your club. I think from reading the articles so far it can be summed up as follows. You have a great owner (and supporter ) who should remain just that. David Flitcroft should go and you should recruit someone who is pro active in the transfer market. And the appoinment
of Darren Moore on a five and a half year contract just sums up the stupidity of the game at the moment. Although he is a genuinely nice guy he has no man management skills and is tactically inept. 3 wins out of 22 for us should have rung warning bells. But I wish you all the best in your efforts to stay up.
Allen Eardley
5th March 2024 @ 2:24 pm
hamil end is Mutch better than bycars
Mt M A Chapman
5th March 2024 @ 3:08 pm
Think looks like league 2 but remember we are small club . Never know we might just survive let’s keep the faith valients
The French Connection
5th March 2024 @ 4:11 pm
I think it’s pretty clear we are going down. I’m worried there will be little or no reaction at the top. Great to see the Fans Forum introduced, Rob.
Can we repeat it before each game as part of the pre-match ritual please?
Anthony Cheetham
5th March 2024 @ 4:12 pm
Well Carol see how many season tickets you sell during the summer if you keep that inapt Director of Football Flitcroft & to give Moore a 5 & a half year contract was just madness, if you want the fans to back you & the club you need to take action NOW, we can all see div 2 on the horizon don’t wait until you can.
Marilyn Smith
5th March 2024 @ 6:36 pm
What right do you have to say that Steve from Clayton Paul Ian . Don’t know what they are talking about . I totally agree with them . We are all vale fan and we are all have our Differences and opinions . Vale will be going down if they don’t start to Win games or score a lot of goals . It would be wonderful if vale can keep the vale in the first division . It’s totally up now to the vale played and more . Carol and Flitcroft .
David Brown
5th March 2024 @ 8:41 pm
Good valid comments from the panel, but I have an (as yet) unanswered question about Flitcroft’s financial impact and contribution to the club. Since Flitcroft arrived, how much money has he generated for the club through player sales including that of exited Academy talent, and how does that compare with home league game gate receipts ? It’s probably difficult to fact check / answer this question due to transfer sales being “undisclosed”, but I suspect it may be a higher than most expect. It could be a big reason why he has the owners support. If Flitcroft has been successful with this and the club is relegated, we might see sales of Ripley, Chislett, Garrity to finance a squad restructure. And, if Flitcroft is retained, I expect to see a change to recruitment with Moore taking the lead role.
Barry Sides
6th March 2024 @ 2:51 pm
Im a young Vale fan since the 1950s living in the south east so i go to more away games than home games …..i personally think were in good hands ,im not a bandwagon guy like some, so i believe if we do go down we will come back even stronger …..but i dont believe we will go down and we will be stronger next season.
Lets be honest if we do stay up then weve had a good season then we build with more experience throughout the club hopefully with a stronger squad and less injuries.
Im backing Carol ,mr Moore and mr Flitcroft ….Come on the Vale.
William
6th March 2024 @ 5:04 pm
I think relegation is probably 95% certain. That being the case everything hinges on the setup for next season. Moore should and almost certainly will have the chance to show what he can do with more time and more input into player arrivals and departures. If Carol continues to be all starry eyed over flitcroft, perhaps she could retain him to clean the new railway paddock toilets, that would be much more in line with his capabilities than director of football.