Paul6754

Good player is Arblaster, hope he goes from strength to strength, at least Vale played a small part in his development. On the other side of the coin it's surprising how little effect Gore, Weir, Mighten and Lopata had on Vale's fortunes since January. Injury played some part but Gore and Mighten looked good on paper but footie isn't played on paper, Weir had played 40 odd games in Lge 1 for Morecambe and scored 10 goals, he looked a player at times but wasn't consistent, similar for Lopata.

But there were a few posters on OVF who wanted to sign him as Rob says so it wasn't just hindsight. When he was at Vale Taylor was like a wasp, in your face, he was just trouble for the opposition and a goal scorer. To be balanced Vale could also have done with keeping a few out at the other end!! It's all water under the bridge now.

The galling thing about this particular relegation is that Vale only needed one of our strikers to get another ca 4-6 goals or have signed a Matty Taylor like striker who could well have done the same and those few ca 4-6 goals could have well translated into another 6-10 points and Vale could well be safe now or at least have a chance of safety in the last match. It's likely that 2 or 3 Clubs are going to stay up with less than 50 points. Matty Taylor scored 4 in 14 for us last season, has scored 6 in 12 for Cheltenham this season, why on earth did Vale not sign him in 2023/24, lots of Vale fans including me hoped the club would sign him for these very reasons. As long as the legs are still there then natural goal scoring ability trumps age any day.

I replied to the e-mail and said I hadn't cancelled anything and plz let my subscription renew. I received a reply from someone named Dean (Dice Support) saying; Hi paul, Thank you for contacting iFollow Support. Please be assured that your current access to the service will not be affected and you will be able to use your subscription until the end of the season. You will receive further correspondence regarding subscriptions for the 2024/25 season shortly. Please let us know if you would like further information or assistance at this time. Best regards, Dean iFollow Support I'll just await further details, you just never know a truth or a con these days.

Anyone received an e-mail from EFL digital saying their Membership has been cancelled (Mine from 1st July 2024). I've not cancelled anything or contacted the EFL or iFollow. Normally my iFollow membership is automatically renewed each season. Maybe it has something to do with the changes to iFollow in the pipeline but it stated in theiFollow communication that iFollow will still be available to overseas users/subscribers. I'm curious.

You appear to conveniently forget recent history. When the club was owned/run by Bratt/Deakin and Co and then Smurthwaite I can't remember any wealthy people with a genuine interest in and desire to own PVFC clamoring to buy the club, just the opposite in fact, so what makes you think anything has changed. I remember a plastic turf man from mid west USA, a pie in the sky rumor that a hedge fund from Boston, USA was interested, a mystery man with a bag of cash who paid for a pre-season trip and quickly buggered off. Fans knew all about these prospective purchasers and more, there are likely no Shanahan equivalents lying low waiting to pounce or the fans would know. My first game at Vale Park was Port Vale 2 QPR 3 in the early 60's, PVFC is in my blood, I'm from Kickrew, I love oatcakes and Stoke-on-Trent but if I ever came into a large amount of money I wouldn't want to own the Vale, I'd gift the club money and let Carol run it. Who would put their family in the firing line and be on the receiving end of bilge the moment something adverse happened.

And that's the point Osh. I'm all for free speech and fair criticism but some fans take it a too far and should just think a little more as to who and what is posted about the Shanahan family on all forms of social media. Vale fans wonder why one wealthy Vale fan in particular doesn't get more involved, perhaps the answer lies in some of the posts directed at the Shanahan family.

At the moment to some fans Carol is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't no matter what she says or does. What do some fans want, Carol in the "Stocks" outside the main entrance to Vale Park on Monday morning at 10 00am? Relegation has happened and it hurts and it's obvious to everyone connected with the club why it has happened and as long as lessons are learned and these mistakes not repeated then the Vale will bounce back. PVFC is in much safer hands than it was the last time it was relegated from Lge 1. Although I'm gutted about relegation, it isn't gonna change my allegiance and commitment to PVFC.

I'm with Phil Sproson on this point. When you play half your games on such a big pitch as Vale Park then playing 3 players at the back is a risky business and you have to have the "perfect" players to play that system. You can perhaps get away with it in Lge 2 as the players are not as skillful but in Lge 1 and above it's too easy for opposition skillful players to exploit the space down the wings. I hope Vale play a 4-3-3 or some version of it next season, two big central defenders with a ball winning midfielder in front of them, two attacking full backs, two skillful outside midfield players and up front, one or two strikers together with a fast winger. 4-3-3 When attacking which could morph into 4-5-1 without the ball. In effect John Askey's formation and tactics.

There is if you live overseas.

Gutted but I'll be renewing my iFollow subscription no matter what the cost.

That day was when the alarm bells started to ring.

Fat lady clearing her throat.

Scrapping FA Cup replays sucks bigtime, some of my most memorable moments supporting Vale are from FA Cup replays. It seems like the decision was made "Solely between the FA and the Premier League" and if so should be overturned and reviewed and overturned. Statements like, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his responsibility is to "protect our players" show a lack of knowledge about the FA Cup and English football history. The answer is simple for EPL clubs involved in Europe, put out your 2nd string payers, FFS you horde enough of them or even don't enter the competition. What happened to the saying, "Football is all about the fans". https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68856480

Great suggestion but is it not in place already via the Port Vale Supporters Club. If it isn't it should be and my vote would be to do this via The Chairman of the Port Vale Supporters Club and one or two of the Supporters Club committee if there is one.

Is there any hard evidence that stuff like the OP has posted has contributed to the likely relegation of the Vale or is it just some fans perceptions.

What will placate you so you'll shut up about the Shanahan family?

Surely there's a question mark over Wycombe's winning goal. Cone who receives the ball direct from their goal keeper's kick may not have been offside but there was a Wycombe player who was coming back from an offside position in the center of the field/on the same line as Cone who was active in the play and was surely yards behind/beyond Vale's last defender and hence should have been given offside. I realize it's usual for the officials not to blow for offside 'til the player touches the ball but their player who was running back from Vale's goal had to be a mile offside and active in the play when their keeper kicked the ball. I haven't checked the rules on this but I guess the motto is play to the whistle.

Yep there is a risk of a downward spiral but by the end of November after Moore has bought in "His" players and shaped "His" squad if Vale are in the bottom half of Lge 2 or in the bottom 6 of Lge 1 then his time should be up. I hope the "Pay ceiling" that was reported to be in place during the promo season has been well and truly discarded as Vale have to pay what it takes to obtain a striker or two who can score at least 10 goals a season else we're just not gonna win enough games to challenge in the top half of any table.

I for one was pleased when we signed Weir on loan, principally because he'd already had a season in Lge 1 and scored 10 goals. He started the abandoned game against Reading and looked really good for the brief time the game lasted but since then he's been average at best. It's a mystery to me why he's not done well and prospered at Vale as there's a player in there and he's been given every chance. It must be down to chemistry and style of play.

Crosby wouldn't have kept us up and Moore won't either. Puccini couldn't get a tune out of this squad, it's so unbalanced, has no leaders and so many players are not good enough technically for this level, however it's not DM's squad. The Exeter and Wycombe games clearly demonstrated the deficiencies. DM is not going anywhere so the funds have to be provided so he can identify and recruit the necessary players to put an end to this footballing downward spiral or else the real unthinkable will happen.

The table doesn't lie after 44 games. All over bar the shouting.

That half just confirms the recruitment has been poor and Vale are not good enough.

Still numb after Saturday.

I lived in Nottingham at the time of the Hillsborough disaster and remember going out for a Ruby on the Saturday evening with my wife and a number of Forest fans. We were all so shocked at the events of that day and found it hard to come to terms with the scale of loss of life at a game of football.