Loggerheads Sage

Thanks Rob, always a pleasure to see us beating Stoke!! Don't know why the commentator was surprised at the sending off, high and late, was only a second yellow, not a straight red. Aspo and Glover were absolute class weren't they - every game we watch. Nice.

Is there any chance of Huddersfield away? What a game/day that was!!

Has that last FA charge with Pope gone away now, or is it still lurking in the background - could he even start the new season (whenever that might be) with a lengthy ban?

You may well be right, but I would make the point that Wimbledon are hardly neutral or fair in this. They like Hull in the Championship, are desperate for the season to be cancelled to avoid a possible relegation. Lose that match to a revitalised Tranmere and they may well go down. they have been very vocal on this , this could just be another attempt to influence other clubs.

Does anyone know what the situation is with new strips this summer? Obviously the shop is shut atm, but when allowed to open social distancing should be failrly easy. Furlough may come into play. I owe my grandson a new strip for his recent birthday. Might all have been put on to hold of course. Thanks.

Ditto, many were hanging on by their finger tips as it was.

Personally I think Carol has played a blinder - the vast majority of clubs didn't want to / financially couldn't, finish the season. ( would we if we weren't so close to the PO's) PO's are a 1 in 4 chance (and we were what 50: 50 to get into them), so it's not like we have been robbed of promotion. As it is, the club has come out of it with enormous nationwide credit. The only difference is the vote would have been 23 : 1 - or 2 if Bradford had followed suit. In the end perhaps we have paid the price of all those points dropped to poor teams and late late goals. We should have been in the top 3! PO's will be interesting, Cheltenham asking for compo for reaching them, Colchester severely weakened ( league integrity anyone), Will they change the rules and competing clubs keep all the Sky tv money I wonder. No relegation is an absolute disgrace, if ever a club deserved to go down it is Stevenage - 3 games won all season, only close cos of Macc having a Normanesqe owner. Personally I don't think we have heard the last of this. What if L1 do likewise and vote for no relegation? Haven't the FA said they will not allow no relegation - or is that just the Prem? All could depend on the Prem anyway. If they don't have relegation it all goes t@@s up anyway. Very complicated. If next season starts without fans, what become of ST's? How can any club survive? Well, without huge owner input ala Stoke and Salford. So many questions. Personally, gutted, promotions don't come very often, or potential days out at Wembley, but this is a once in a lifetime event, (hopefully!!! I'm 63 next month and have never witnessed owt like this). Thinking of Old Sage perhaps you get some perspective on it all. Stay safe fellow Valiants - hope to see you all soon. UTV.

Absolutely gutted to hear this terrible news. Came to know Mike during the v2001 protests, was outside at the infamous Crawley match with him and his sons. If you had cut Mike he would have bled black and white. Guess who brought the eggs along when the main building got egged! Didn't seem it at the time, but happy days. He loved Popey! RIP Old Sage - hope you were proud of your great club again.

Yes thanks Rob, another enjoyable Monday evening. Totally forgotten that match, 2 beauties. Nice to see the Bycars fairly full. Some things strike me every game so far - what a good team we had! Some lovely football again,, even on a bad pitch, how honest the players were in those days, hardly any cheating, acting etc and the refs were much better, good understated reffing. Apart from the Stoke ref being too lenient i suppose. Maybe he made allowances for the occasion, pitch/weather. I don;t know if anyone else has this but the sound is 6 - 7 seconds in front of the pictures for me?

You are right about his dad. I remember him brandishing imaginary cards and berating the officials in an attempt to get him sent off. maybe he should have a good read of this article, and consider what affects his actions had on his son? He said something at the time along the lines of, " it's football, not personnel, i was being professional for my club". Looks good now eh Steve? MA was dead right to take him off, he would definitely have been sent off. Agreed re good refereeing.

Blimey, spoilt for choice here. Going to have to think about this one!

My prayers are with you mike, you have done and achieved so much for our beloved club, fight and beat this dreadful disease mate.

Did anyone spot that Bristol Rovers player rep, reporting back to the team, someone recorded it and has leaked it!! On the BBC website. Basically it seemed to say that the feeling among the football authorities, EFL, PL, PFA etc is that there would not be fans inside stadiums until 2021 at the earliest. Not really surprised, with no vaccine available, probably until ,what, mid next year? I can see social distancing continuing for some time ( and pubs not reopening any time soon in all probability sadly). Plus, as mentioned above, will fans return anyway and sit touching other fans in crammed seats - I don't think they will in numbers - especially with our aging fan base. A bigger worry is, if the above does come to pass ( and this appears to be current thinking - not just a rumour), what on earth happens to season ticket sales? I would assume that very few tickets will be sold currently and fans will make a judgement at the end of June. Hopefully for the Vale's sake most fans will be in a position to write off this seasons missed games ( although some understandably will not ), But next season is becoming increasingly worrying, financially. Will 3000+ fans part with £300ish with a good chance they will be banned from a chunk of the season? All of this assumes of course that the players will want to play at all. ( Aguerro comment) As someone commented , was it Rob?, it is easy to see 1 player contacting it, squad has to isolate and it all grinds to a halt. Sorry to be such a pessimistic bugger - must be the lockdown getting to me slowly!!

Rob, I know you said you did not have the ninety minutes v spurs, and presumably the idea is a two hour event, but could you put highlights/clips of that cup run together to make an event? Extended highlights of spurs and Watford, plus goals from Macclesfield etc. Sure it would be popular. Appreciate it might be too much work/time. Loved these Monday night games myself. Thanks.

Boy, that was enjoyable!! Thanks Rob, terrific stuff. So many memories. I was that tense I sat with my legs tucked under the seat, next morning I could hardly walk, looked like my legs had been knifed, the seat had cut in to them that badly, never noticed during the match. JJ down the tunnel, lol. how stoke kept 11 on the pitch God knows , some disgraceful "tackles". Some magnificent performances, porter, cross, swanny, glover, taylor etc. A bad memory though was the scum hurling bricks from behind the Hami, through the night sky, on to Vale fans leaving the Paddock - saw an OAP hit on the head and collapse, terrible scenes - sadly all too typical of stoke fans, Thanks again Rob.