PV1993

Right, I’ve slept on it now… I’m still fuming but hopefully I’m a little more rational. Let’s start with the positives - first half we did and a job and we’re okay (nothing more though) - Dipepa did well on his first start. - Lopata was solid, and the Yak did well coming back from the wilderness. Debrah, despite his mistake, was decent that aside too That’s all I can really think of, so here’s the rant. Darren Moore both won and lost that game. First half tactics were spot on. Then he didn’t react AT ALL to their half time subs. They put two out wide and in some cases they had 3 on 1 against Sang down our right. He just changed it like for like which didn’t help at all and if anything hindered us as the players who came On were dreadful. We couldn’t keep hold of the ball second half. Say what you want about Crosby, and I’m not saying I want him back at all, but at two nil up we would have been able to hold onto the ball and not give them a sniff, even if we could break them down going forwards. Last night we hoofed it forward and it just came straight back. The goals were inevitable. Mighten is in no way a striker and needs to get stronger. I don’t think I saw Loft in a forward position apart from the one tame effort he had. Lowe shouldn’t be playing in the middle. When they made their subs at half time we should have switched back to a back four and gone 4-5-1 to help out the full backs but we didn’t. We just let them keep pummelling us hoping it’d be okay. Not good enough. Some of those players have no fight whatsoever. You know who they are because instead of coming to applaud the fans, they walk straight down the tunnel and <ovf censored> off. Loft and Massey are the two biggest culprits of that. It’s no wonder they get pelters. This whole mess is DF’s fault. You don’t need me to tell you that. It’s not the one bad January, it’s the fact he did it last year as well. Or sold our top goalscorer in August and didn’t replace. Call it incompetence, negligence, or just not being very good: he’s had his chance now. Get him gone. He might have done well in other areas but the most important area, on the pitch, he has failed. I’m all for a DoF, I think Carol needs one, but we need someone who is actually able to do the job, not just someone who sweet talked his way into it.

Woah, Super Darren Moore Woah, his cock touches the floor… …I’ll get me coat

The problem we’re going to have now is our squad. It’s threadbare. The players we need are injured, and the ones we have are either not good enough, inexperienced, or have no fight or care. Who would want to come into that? Of the managers mentioned: Some are above our level: Gary Rowett Some are our level but have reputations that are too good to waste on our squad: Michael Duff Some are doing well at their own clubs so why come here? Steve Evans, Pete Wild None of them would want to work with our squad. That leaves inexperienced coaches which, sadly, won’t get us out of this position. I would like Darren Moore until the end of the season for some fight - but I can’t see it. John Eustace long term… again can’t see it. we’re in real trouble.

The club is still here and that is because of Carol. i don’t want the club to be relegated and want us to succeed. But succeeding for me, at the moment, is actually having a club to support

Taylor liked a double 16 finish. Gerwyn Price likes a double 12… any Prices knocking about? 😅

Denver Hulme gone to Grimsby. thought we were rumoured to be in for him in the summer but couldn’t agree terms?

We have a more the. Capable first XI. The problem is they’re all either injured, or injury prone. As I and others have said, to not bring in a striker and a left wing back this window is disgusting. I’m not one to usually call for heads but Flitcroft has to pay for such a dismal window. Please lay off Carol though. She saved us, and had made me proud of our club off the pitch. She hires people to run it on it that she trusts because she’s not a football person. They’re the ones who need to answer the questions

I don’t know how true or realistic the Wyke rumours are but… At the start of January everyone knew we needed a left wing back and a striker. If we end up with neither then it’s a shocking window

Would be fuming if that happened. Going to championship fair enough. But same league?! No no no

Right, got the worst kept secret in History with Gore finally over the line! what’s the next rumour? If we hear it now we might just get it done by the end of the window!

Agree: he is so so important to how we play. It’s no surprise that we’re now starting to score more goals, and how good we were at the start of the season. what we need now is a back up for him. Someone who we can rotate or bring on so we can manage Wilson’s fitness and not struggle when or if he goes off. There must be a young lad with good pedigree in the England youth set up who can do this? Someone we can take on loan like Alfie or Ollie

I’d agree, if he was a bit younger. 25 is maybe a little too old to make such a massive step up

Personally I’d have Gibbo back - but it would a 6 month loan to see how he does. He was great in League 2 so we’d have to assess for ourselves if he can fit into the team at this level. It works in his favour that he can cover both wing back positions - an area we have struggled with in terms of injuries. I also hope DJ can come back and stay fit. Much better than Iacovitti for me on that left side. Of the players we have, I would be looking to move on Loft, and send Balmer back. I actually really rate Cass on the right of a back three, especially in games where we should be attacking more (like Carlisle), but it seems Crosby doesn’t. Same with Conlon, so I expect both to leave. We all know we desperately need a striker (or two depending on Thomas) and a load of wing backs. I would want one on both sides minimum - a pacy left sided player (like Mitch) and maybe a loan cover for Mitch - who despite his injuries I still think should be one of the first names on that team sheet.

We’ve gone from having a really strong midfield to who the hell do we play there?! Thanks for everything Ollie, I will be watching out for your career and you will always be welcome at Vale. Got to hope Devine can dig in and do that job now. Based on his excellent display 2nd half on Boxing Day he can! My only issue is he can drift in and out of games a little. He needs an Ojo alongside him… let’s hope he comes back soon. Losing our two best players has shown how poor the rest of them are. Walters is a good prospect but nowhere near the standard yet. Sign that contract so we can loan you out to Chesterfield or someone of that ilk. I would love to see Sang play in the middle, and Grant! I think they’d both be suited there. Let’s have some proper wingbacks in and hope Mitch recovers soon so we can make it a reality

As has been stated by ourselves and Flitcroft, a few need to leave so that we can get fresh faces in. The goalkeepers are sorted, no issues there. I would say we have an abundance of centre halves On the right we can play Cass or Lowe On the left we can play Jones or Iacovitti That leaves Smith, Debrah and Balmer all vying for that ‘no-nonsense’ position. I don’t think we need all free, so maybe Balmer will go back? That said, I think it’s more likely we will see Cass leave, although I do like him on the right. Holding midfielders we have Ojo, Arblaster and Walters. I’d argue Sang too although he has been pushed out wide due to our severe lack of wing backs. Lowe can also cover there (although I’d rather he didn’t). Conlon also fits here although out of favour. We also have a number of no.10s - Devine, Garrity, Chislett, Massey… even Grant before he became a LWB (admittedly before he joined us). My main concern is the lack of natural full backs. As I have stated on previous posts, we only have Mitch Clark as an out-and-out natural wing back. We need a pacey LWB and one more on either side as back up. Then maybe we can stop playing people out of position. As much as we all would love a striker, we are so over stocked in some areas, and under in others. Wing back has to be our priority