Warren

Yes, this was so disgraceful I was seriously considering walking out. It was so bad, I contemplated if the left side defence had taken a bribe. But fair play, the team finally got going and deserved better than a loss.

Darren Moore hasn't been able to arrest the free fall he inherited. Part of that was taking over amongst a series of games where there was no time to reset. But I don't really know what he can do with a defence that flushes games down the toilet with gross mistakes. As per Saturday and tonight. But I can see he is a good manager and I'm ready to stand by him next season.

The defending down the left hand side at the start of the game was awful. After a few near misses it cost a goal. Their second goal looked well offside. But I need to see if there is something at the origin of the ball that changes that. The linesman in front of Lorne Street got a number of things wrong including a throw in that was obviously PV given to Wycombe. Unfortunately we could have done with the lady from last Saturday running the line in this one. The team tried with all its might and created chances in the first half in particular. But really Wycombe were a better team and Vale needed to huff and puff to get anything. I think the whole defence needs sacking off. When we needed a tight ship in the last two home games they've been anything but. I thought we looked L1 level going forward. But it looks too late now.

13 shots, 3 on target. Keep the back door shut, there is still hope. However, Burton are beating Cheltenham 1-0.

Defence 0 out of 10. Doing OK going forward but need to take chances.

It looks like an up and under team to me. At leasst the defence will give the ball a punt when they give it away. To be fair Loft will put himself about and Uche played well on Saturday until he gassed.

I like Darren Moore. I think we have also put in place a good coaching team around him. We haven't sorted out the scouting side of the organisation post Flitcroft. For many supporters like me, the Exeter second half was the final straw with many in this squad of players. It wasn't Darren Moore's fault. Nor was, for example, Smith kicking the ball to the opposition striker soon after kickoff whilst Ripley is out of goal as happened in his first home game. Tonight is a critical moment. If we can somehow stay up, then the approach to next season is different than going down. But fundamentally I believe if Darren Moore has a good set of players for either L1 or L2 he will get some good results. I can see he can coach and he handles public relations well.

The team was ok first half v Exeter with Uche leading the line and holding the ball up. We looked threatening going forward and were adequate in defence. But second half, Uche obviously exhausted and taken off, the team had nothing going forward or in defence. I will say Ojo is decent midfield player. The problem is other players can't play. Give the ball to Chilslett, he's often too deep and is easily knocked over and dispossessed. Garrity is useful in forward areas, but not central midfield. Our wing backs are dreadful defenders. Why was Weir signed? I'm seeing Natuonal League with him. Our youngsters, Dipepe aside, are not L1 level yet - maybe never. But we just have to give it max effort and hope we have a bit of luck. It's a confidence game and we must hope Wycombe don't score first or the wheels may come off big time.

The fat lady has picked up the mic. But she hasn't sung yet. So we just have to give it everything and hope on Tuesday. It is handy Burton are playing Cheltenham.

To me, in the Lorne Street, Uche looked completely knackered. No surprise given his time off with injury. He was deservedly man of the match with his hold up play and carrying of the ball first half. He is why we were competitive with Exeter first half. After he went off we lost our means of going forward. We had nothing else. Exeter are a good side and they just pushed up and pressed the whole second half. Our defence is not good enough and a team that move the ball well, press well and cause defensive mistakes easily prevailed. I looked at the faces of the Vale players after the first Exeter goal, confidence completely drained from them. Not being able to bring Loft on was a problem. He would have caused a threat in behind and provided a target. Instead we had nothing up front. Dipepa is a goal scoring forward when he's facing forward and able to run at defences. But he's not a target man who can be played through / off.

I felt Crosby was stuck with the ball going back and forth at the back. Moore has got PV to have a structure and play forward. But our players are not good enough. A good defence yesterday would have soaked up Exeter second half and hit on the break. We just looked like conceding goal after goal and did against a side that moved the ball well.

Reflecting a day on. Uche was very important because first half we were able to play target man football. But he was spent by half time - coming back from injury. Without his effectiveness Exeter, who improved second half, just pushed up and pressed. We were not good enough to play through midfield and our defence wasn't good enough. Clearly Loft doesn't have the skill of Uche and Moore preferred to bring on others. But there is no way Weir is a good replacement for Uche.

Exeter most definitely weren't on the beach and they're a good side. If we moved the whole of this team to L2, it would be pushing for promotion. But there is a big gulf from there to L1 we haven't bridged. I think the backroom team including manager are now much better. But we likely do need to sign / bring through better players. I don't understand why you can't see that it's the players we have signed before Moore got here is the issue. They're not good enough. There clearly has been marked improvement at Exeter. They looked faster and more skillful everywhere. Could do with changing their keeper perhaps.

Uche did his best. But was spent after 50 mins. Ojo is at the requiree level but needs others round him. The whole defence is not good enough in or out of possession. Hoping Dipepe can do it up front on his own wasn't going to work. Weir is not L1 level in my book. I hate to say this but Loft should have come on. At least he'd have made their pushed up defence think more. They addressed our other main threats in Garrity and Chilslett by pushing up and pressing.

Yes, I've a lot of empathy with that. Exeter solved their problems and now have a very good side. I don't see what more can be done by Moore. In the second half only Ojo is at Exeter's level aside from Dipepe perhaps. They pushed up the pitch and countered Chislett, Garitty and the whole defence couldn't play out. To play against good teams our players have to be able to move the ball in coordination at pace under pressure. They can't. Also the wing backs can be got at on the deck.

Uche was absolutely shattered when he went off. He should have gone off earlier in my opinion, possibly at half time. I don't accept Moore did much wrong. Exeter were a much better side than us. The players have to go out and perform and they were simply outplayed by a better team. To be honest I watched Exeter warm up and thought we were in for a difficult game. We did well to be ahead at half time, but were no match second half.

Moore sent out a well organised team. It played well first half when Exeter were not. But Exeter can play much better than that and they did. Upped the pace and played well together. I'm afraid we were shown up as not being at a good L1 level. We've got individuals who can excite but the team can't play at pace and can't defend well as a unit. At least we scored. Miracles do happen if we beat Wycombe and Burton lose at home to Cheltenham. But our odds of surviving look very bad.

They're a good well organised side. When they started to play well at pace and with controlled physicality, we couldn't play at that level. Oh, dear.

In the modern game, with foreign players allowed, the Premier League is the strongest in the world or right up there with La Liga et al. But also the strongest going back in time for the same reason - large numbers of foreign players. And good for that of course. So I think keeping players who could play higher is confined to the difference between L2 and L1 and the difference between L1 and the Championship. I think we only have one player good enough to play at Championship level and thats Ripley. But clearly he should have got there by now and therefore maybe I'm just wrong about that.

I think another phenomenon at clubs like Port Vale is that some players stick around who could play at higher level. There can be different reasons for that, albeit I'm saying only a few players have been like that. My take on Shuker was that he was a fraction of the player I remember at Tranmere. Right at the very end of his career.

This Fursty Ferret has been Double Tangled. But should be ready for kick off. I'm hoping I'm not a Hopping Hare at 5pm.

This is the game thread. At least I'm pleased to see the manager make positive comments on player fitness. Playing on Tuesday will require the squad to not only win this game but be ready to go again. Two difficult opponents, but at least their own lives in the division are not on the line.

Flitcroft as a company director is a residual issue to tidy up. In principle if he's not getting paid, he won't be active. There may be termination issues and payments to work through etc.

I have noticed that many teams seem to be playing on artificial turf. I really don't like artificial turf. But I also think it directly affects games. I went to Montrose 4 Alloa 3 in Scottish L1 recently. Montrose also use an artificial pitch. The thing I really noticed is that it's hard to defend on it and seemed to give the attacking team an advantage. In particular, the defenders are far less likely to launch themselves into blocking shots by way of sliding. With my subscriptions I have TV access to all the top European leagues except La Liga (annoyingly). The stuff over the pond is a decent standard but obviously nowhere near the level of the European leagues. So even though I can watch it, I don't. Rest home for great players coming to the end as well - e.g. Messi.

In the modern game, all his matches in the US and Canada can be accessed and watched. Plus modern analysis can give objective statistics on how he performed. I'm also conscious he's likely to have trained at PV. We've had full back and wing back issues all season. Including that those issues cause our midfielders and young players to fill in there weakening other parts of the team. We are outside the transfer window and brought an available player in. His record is credible even if I've never seen him. This is not Smurthwaite world. We have got ourselves in a pickle but its not underpinned by eccentricity and / or dishonesty.