Paul6754

The points we "Conceded" in the recent games to Cheltenham, Fleetwood and Carlisle are gonna be magnified from now on in.

Vale much the better side in the 2nd half and deserved the win. Massive effort on display and the players' celebration of the goal said it all. Well done Ryan Loft, you deserved that goal from persistence alone.

45 Mins of kick and run due to the conditions but how have Vale not managed to score. Shoot on sight from anywhere in the 2nd half, the ball is "knuckle balling" all over the shop and their goalie will spill a few, ripe for a Vale player following in.

My posted view has been that DF should go, Carol should stay and she would deal with the DF situation when the time was right and today's news suggests that's happened not that I played any part. I honestly don't know why Clarke was sacked after Vale had rightly supported him so it's a matter of wait and see how things pan out to say whether it was a stop backwards or not to sack him, but it's not looking too good at the moment. Whether Clarke could have influenced DF to sign certain players over others I have no idea, although he could have got his way in bringing in Matty Taylor last season which helped Vale's plight.

There's another interpretation of that letter which is that Carol was setting the stage for his dismissal/resignation, giving him some face to walk away with, which ever it was. Countless times a football owner has heaped praise on an employee and then administered the chop. Given the situation It's the right ending as DF didn't do a good job in the most important task/goal in his job description, ie recruitment and over a period of time, ca 4 windows. Vale need a change, probably in the whole DoF/manager/recruitment process and it needs to be got right. DF has gone, hopefully Carol will remain at the helm, there is no need for an immediate apology from Carol as I'm sure the story will come out over time, she's much more astute and savvy than the fans give her credit for.

If Robbie Williams was seriously interested in being the owner of Vale he would have likely become the owner in the relatively recent past. IMHO Anyone would be crazy to want to own a football club, if events don't go as well as some fans perceive then the "Mob" comes out in force, dissing not only the owner but members of their family. Football clubs are not always on an upward trajectory in a straight line, there are hiccups on the way, set backs, sometimes a step backwards to go forwards. IMHO Continuity under the current ownership is the way forward for PVFC.

True Darren and with all the Vale players contained within the 6 yd box.

I agree and as you say I also expected a tad better, particularly organization/defending. Eg, the two goals vs Oxford were schoolboy errors, especially the second, and why from set pieces there is not one or two Vale defenders around the D to defend any ball that's headed/cleared out is beyond me, all Vale's defenders seem to be clustered around the 6-yard box. Cheltenham's equalizer in 1st half injury (a tad unfair as it was Moore's 1st game in charge) time and the mis-hit shot from the edge of the D that went straight to a Shrewsbury defender for their 2nd goal come immediately to mind, both second balls would/should have been cleared by Vale players with better organization. Vale were poor at defending set pieces under Crosby, certainly no better under Moore.

I hope ur right KR but my hope started to dissipate a few weeks ago.

I see effort out there HV from all the players, the problem is collectively and individually most are not good enough for Lge 1, as a result their confidence is absolutely shot. Look at Wilson yesterday, a player who's been accused by some fans many times for not trying, he tried to get the crowd going on multiple occasions and put himself about, at times he looked so frustrated he tried to "go it alone" and take the situation by the scruff of the neck..

At the time he sold PVFC wasn't a success, it was scrapping it out at the bottom of Lge 2. He was extremely lucky that there were local people around who wanted to buy the club, had the money and had plans for it. The Shanahans have shown they can be ruthless at PVFC.

I'm disappointed with the football side of things dished out by PVFC at the moment but success is always a work in progress. I'll be buying an iFollow subscription next year and will plan any UK trips around seeing the Vale. Vale is in my blood and heart and no person(s) will ever change that.

MPVGA Make Port Vale Great Again.....lol.

TJH, Smurthwaite wasn't ruthless he was stupid, he tore the playing fabric out of PVFC and diminished the value of the club, his asset, when it was relegated to Lge 2. Flitcroft hasn't intentionally screwed up recruitment, it's just been poor for whatever reasons. If Smurthwaite had done what he threatened and put Vale into admin and the conference, the value of his asset would have decreased even more. He was incredibly lucky in that the Shanahan's were around to buy the club, if they hadn't have done so, PVFC would have likely ended up in the conference, he would have either let it rot or if he had any decency in him, sold it for peanuts and cut his losses. IMHO he would have done the former out of spite, he is likely laughing now that some fans are turning on the Shanahans, people who saved the club from likely ruin.

It will happen, it has to happen. No one can be so bad at the most important task (Recruitment) in their job description and it not go unnoticed and there be no consequences.

Yates or Bowers hit the nail on the head when one of 'em said, "This oxford team have 5 or 6 players that could play in the Championship", Vale currently don't seem to have any. Add to that the school boy errors of not attacking the ball in the area (1st goal) and having one Vale player going out to two Oxford players at a corner (2nd gal) and it's easy to see why Vale concede/give away "easy" goals.

Absolute shambles, a huge gulf in quality and organization between those two teams. The concern is the organization, shape and tactics on the pitch look worse under DM than under Crosby. How can two Oxford players stand over a corner and only one Vale comes out to them and they score, it's school boy stuff, awful defending. Can Vale declare now.

That was game between a team of footballers against a team of "I don't know what's". DM could have taken anyone off, Mitch Clark isn't fit and any full back is gonna struggle one on one against Oxford's two wingers, Dale and Murphy. Heaven knows how it's still only 1-0 and one goal or one good moment from Vale could change the whole tone of the game. How the hell did their payer have so much time to turn and thump the ball into the net without any challenge from a host of vale players.

Can only hope!!!

Because we have to win I'd have Garrity alongside Ojo, Lowe to the bench and Chislett in Garrity's place. Nothing to lose now. Chislett doesn't appear to play as well/get in the game when he comes on as a sub. Is Weir injured.

Hope he hasn't got the yips.

Melv, That's my point, it's more than very likely she knows but is likely waiting for the right time to act, perhaps someone is doing some work to find a replacement on the QT. Nothing concrete can be done at the moment beside signing an out of contract player and that doesn't look likely now. I obviously don't know what's in Carol's mind, I'm just speculating. I do hope she does something if only to freshen the recruitment process up at PVFC. Vale have to improve recruitment and the timing of it, no question. The old adage, "Pick your time and place to fight the battles" is a wise one.

Where did he get the info from?

How do you know Carol can't see what's happening and knows the reasons it's happened. She only has to look at the Lge table to find out what's happening. What carol says and what she thinks and is planning maybe two different things, it's quite common in football for the Chairperson to give a vote of confidence and then someone is let go soon afterwards. Only Carol, Flitcroft and a few close others know the real reasons why recruitment has been poor and none of them are going to spill the beans. The one thing that has to happen is lessons must be learned to ensure good recruitment in a timely manner in the future, it's a must, no ifs or buts. The one thing that must not happen at this point in time is for Carol to put the club up for sale.

Point is a point but in the circumstances most probably not enough. Just can't foresee enough wins in the remaining 10 games.