robf

Probably my fault for leaving a crucial word out... Nor were the FAN participants selected by the club Apologies if that caused confusion. This was in response to a claim Carol instigated the meeting. I was told the fans requested it.

If you read my reply - I merely said that they called the meeting. They didn't pick the club attendees.

Entirely agree. I think it's good the club and fans groups are meeting and talking frankly. For what it's worth, my opinion piece on it is here - https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2024/03/opinion-its-good-to-talk-so-port-vale-owners-listening-to-fans-can-only-be-a-good-thing/

Can I just come back on this... I've been contacted by a participant in the meeting who wants to point out that is factually incorrect. Supporters asked for the meeting and contacted the club to arrange it. It wasn't organised by the club nor were the participants selected by the club.

You're not going to solve all the problems with one meeting. However, if that meeting clears the air and opens up communication channels, gives the owners food for thought etc that surely has to be a good start.

They've nicked my image cheeky beggars!

Nope - but the fact they have agreed to meet and that all parties, by dint of the joint statement were happy with how it went is an indication that it was needed. I think the owners needed to hear what the fans group thought face-to-face and vice versa. There's been too much of a silo mentality at the club recently and having this sort of dialogue can only help that to stop and for the club's relationship with the fans to hopefully start get back to how it was at the start of their time in charge.

In my opinion, that's a welcome move. I think the vast majority of fans are still very much behind the owners, it perhaps just needs an open and frank discussion like this just for all to get back on track with things like communication and so on. It's not going to solve the football issues, but a conversation never was, but it hopefully does start to reset the relationship between fans and owners.

I personally always thought Benning got some unfair flack. However, I could see the logic in him going if he was to be replaced with a better player. The problem is - as others have pointed out - he hasn't been replaced with anyone better.

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I hope to produce some more of these. The idea is to have a pool of participants so it's not the same people each time but it's rotated to allow for a range of views. I think it's nice to have a wider range of views so it's not just me wittering on about the same things! If you want to take part (and it should take more than 10-15 mins to answer the questions) please drop me a message. Thanks!

Very true although you missed Director of Football out...

I wondered where that was on the official site? I was on there yesterday and there was no sign of it, so perhaps someone forgot to press publish till today? Better late than never, I guess.

Gary Monk in at Cambridge... Garry Monk appointed new Head Coach - News - Cambridge United WWW.CAMBRIDGEUNITED.COM

Oh and I've pinned this thread too!

Hi @BenAMCStoke and welcome. I think that's a really valuable post so thanks a lot for taking the time to post. Please do feel free to come back and nudge people's memories if you wish - it sounds like a really, really valuable service. I'm going to move it to Off-Topic but as you've probably seen, Port Vale Present is the most popular forum section. So, I'll keep a prominent link to your post from Port Vale present as well (so people notice it). Thanks, Rob UTV

Even if you think it's a good idea (which I don't) it can't happen anyway. Doesn't the free agent rule apply across the board including non-league? Pope is contracted to Witton, he's not a free agent.

This is the thread for everything concerning the home game against Shrewsbury...

There are but like a lot of free agents, he hasn't played for months (last game Sept) and is recovering from injury. I suspect Pompey have added him to provide competition/depth and are not desperate for 90 mins from him. The difference with our situation is that since the window closed we've needed players who can start right away and most free agents are short of match fitness. It's a chicken and egg situation - if you've got a well balanced squad like Pompey you can afford to take on a free agent "chancer" to potentially boost your squad. If you've got a threadbare squad like Vale then free agents aren't really much use as most of them will need some time to get fit and by then the season is going to be nearly over. It's why the decision to not bring in any sort of striker (and LWB) in the window was complete madness and showed the club hasn't learnt at all from their previous transfer window failings.

I wonder if Foyle would be of help on the scouting front? It's some years back but he was responsible for spotting Brooker (Horton was the manager but Foyle spotted him) and also bringing in Constantine and Sodje so, back in the day at least, he knew the odd decent striker when he saw one.

That's my worry too.

I would agree @Playa Amodores - I'm frustrated too and really surprised that something hasn't been done. My concern isn't just for this season, which I think we'll be very fortunate to escape relegation, but the next one too. Due to the crazy contract situation we're either saddled with the same squad or it will cost a fortune to agree mutual terminations of contracts. Even if we do manage a clear out, then does anyone have any faith we'll recruit widely or will we miss out again and be telling a Podcast about all the amazing players that didn't sign for Port Vale?

Can I add to that last paragraph? He also didn't step up, as the only person with managerial experience after we had removed Crosby, and take charge in the dugout as caretaker.

Even if you thought that was a good move how do you do that - force him? He's got a football agency to run. I can't imagine it's a role where you can just say to your dozen players or whatever - oh well, I'm not your agent anymore as Port Vale need me... If they do want a DoF having a proper interview process with candidates would be a good start, rather than just appointing the first person through the door who mentions it.

Those are my thoughts too. Make him Head of Football Development and Infrastructure or something like that and then just let the manager get on with signings.