Opinion: patience and faith in the process required as Port Vale rework their squad

Rob Fielding says that he hopes there is some patience and faith in the process as Port Vale look to rework their squad for League One football.

Rob Fielding writes…

I can appreciate some fans’ concerns that (at time of writing) the club have added two players while losing six and I can only say that I think patience and faith in the management team is required.

Yes, it would be ideal to bring players in early and perhaps calm the nerves of fans – but this management don’t strike me as doing things for the fans’ benefit – they are doing what they think is best for the club…

At a different point last summer, Vale have allowed FIFTEEN players to go and yet the club went on, as we all know, to win promotion. That’s because, football seasons are not played in the summer months. Yes, it would be ideal to bring players in early and perhaps calm the nerves of fans – but this management don’t strike me as doing things for the fans’ benefit – they are doing what they think is best for the club.

I would imagine that the club are not doing this deliberately – I guess circumstances have just fallen this way so that it has meant the order has been to clear the decks first (and alarming some fans in the process) before strengthening.

Some supporters feel players need to be brought in early to “bond” but I would argue that isn’t always the case. Take Kian Harratt and Ryan Edmondson, who both earned much praise for their passion for Port Vale during their stays. They didn’t have the benefit of a pre-season to “bond” as they both came during a busy January window. We’ve also got an established core of players who have been here for over a season now – it’s not like 2021 when twelve new faces arrived in July and the entire new-look squad had to gel.

Perhaps the biggest blow of the season so far is the departure of James Gibbons. As a fan, I won’t gloss over the point and try and downplay Gibbo’s influence. For me, he was one of my personal favourites and I felt he always gave his all for the cause. He will be a big loss, I don’t think there’s any sugarcoating it as anything else. However, Vale have survived the loss of key players before and at least Lewis Cass, who looks the obvious replacement, has been brought in early to replace him.

However, as for the other departures… while the likes of Alex Hurst, Lucas Covolan, Aaron Martin and Jake Taylor have all had some good moments in a Vale shirt if we should end up with upgrades on those players, then I strongly suspect all the summer criticism will evaporate overnight.

I know this has been said time and time again but… I do think the time to judge the strength of this squad is when the transfer window ends, not in mid-summer. I appreciate that to reach that point, some patience and faith in the process are required. I accept that supporters have the right to criticise and to have strong opinions on all club matters. However, I do hope that most Vale fans have that patience to hold off the criticism and will wait to see what the squad looks like at the end of August.