Old School

DM not only has 5 years left on his contract but an unknown length of time on the contracts of the staff he brought in, so "getting rid" would be ruinously expensive. Like others on here I was really pleased at DM's appointment but have been massively underwhelmed by his tactics, substitutions and inability to inject any fight into the players. However and again like others I think he has to be given a chance to bring his own players in over 2 windows then we will see what he's got. The jury is still out but he has it all to do.

Well, we are down, but my overriding feeling is, thank ***k it's finally over. I do have to say that this has been my least enjoyable season ever, with a truly stunning lack of the most basic footballing skills and a yellow streak a yard wide down their backs. There are a couple, but only a couple of exceptions, I am amazed that any one club could let alone would, assemble such a huge pile of dross. There is no chance that it can be rectified in just one close season, we are facing a long hard slog. Next season has got to be survival until the January window then hopefully getting a few more players in to complement those brought in during the close season. Maybe just maybe we will finish above halfway, giving a platform to push on in 25/26. The players may think they are ready for a break, but by golly nowhere near as much as us fans.

As most have already commented, the retained list has got to be minimal. There are as always differing opinions but the general consensus is keep Ripley, Chis, Garrity and the young'uns, all the rest ought to be binned. I fully accept that some of the players were never L1 standard which some on here have put forward the argument that they will do a job in L2. I understand that point of view but personally disagree with it. This season my biggest frustration by far has not been the players ability, or lack of, it has been the fact that that they are quite simply serial bottle jobs. In match after match this season they have shamed themselves and the badge with pathetic, gutless performances against opposition that was there for the taking if only they had shown some fight. This cowardice got worse as the season unfolded and was at it's worst in all those must win games that they never once broke sweat or put a foot in where it hurts. Lack of ability I can accept. Lack of bottle I just cannot. Get rid, start again.

We can go on and on and round and round with pro and anti Carol posts. It will not change a thing, Carol will still be the owner/chairwoman and Darren Moore will still be the manager, unless there is another multi millionaire ready to buy a club haemmoraging £65k a week. Accordingly I will give Carol the benefit of the doubt regarding her latest missive and watch with interest to see if it manifests into positive actions. I have had a few rants about results, performances and attitudes, but as a lifelong Vale fan I will be there next Saturday and next season supporting the team I love. Hopefully the majority of you will be right there with me.

Is Carol by any chance a property developer? You could certainly make a good case for it, just another couple of seasons trusting the process and bish bash bosh, 1,000 brand spanking new homes where that team Port Vale used to play before they went out of business.

As was alluded to in an earlier post, please do not waste £2 on a lottery ticket as you will win far more putting the £2 on the Vale to win. With very generous odds of 270,887,923 to 1 it's a steal. Of £2.

For preparation to play in L2 how about some players that are fit, playing in their right positions. Preferably these players will not be bottle jobs who give up 34 seconds in after yet another team strolls through our static defence for a gift of a goal. Also, how about cutting the non playing staff down to a level commensurate with a L2 club. How about getting the toilets fixed . Maybe trying not to be patronising to your supporters and perhaps actually communicating when things are not going well, instead of disappearing without trace. Give the supporters a little bit of hope and a team that looks like they are trying and you never know, we may just end up in a virtuous rather than a vicious circle. Here's hoping.

I like many others on here believe that Darren Moore has to be given some slack until such time as he has players to work with that he has had some input into their signing. Admittedly Darren has not done himself any favours with his selections and tactics, but look at what he is working with. I really wish someone would have a word with him about interview techniques as his yeah no erm monologues drive me up the wall.

Oh well, the pubs in Burslem will be able to serve us quicker next season.

I did not get a season ticket this time due to the useless computer system at Vale. Instead I joined the 1876 club which actually works out better for me as I do like lots of long weekend holidays. I do generally spend a fair bit in the club shop so I make up that way what may be lost from a season ticket. Hopefully we will get shut of most if not all of the deadwood and have a team to make us want to watch them. Enjoy not endure would be a lovely change.

I have been away for a short break so I don't know where the Darren Moore to resign if we are relegated has come from. Is it official or a friend of a friend of a friend "heard" it?

I remember hitchhiking to Wrexham in 1969 when I was a young lad (yes it was safe in those days) in our promotion year. I think the crowd was 19,000 and it seemed that the majority were Vale fans. Back then it was 80% standing with no or very little segregation of fans and absolutely no thought of a crowd limit. As a result thousands upon thousands of Vale fans crammed into a section of the ground that was way way too small to accommodate such numbers. The situation was almost catastrophic with people all around me gasping for breath due to the crush. Luckily the worst did not happen as many hundreds climbed out of the terraces and on to the pitchside to disperse into other areas of the ground. A very close call indeed. The result was 1-1 with Tommy Mac scoring for the Vale and Johnny James getting sent off. All in all quite a memorable day.

Good post, very sensible. It was enormously frustrating watching Carol loyally defending flitcroft when 86% of us had seen through him and wanted him out. As faults go being overly loyal is far from the worst one to have and certainly better than being a backstabbing faithless so and so. I think we must accept the fact that Carol was taken in but did have the best of intentions throughout, so is entitled to learn and move on. Next season is going to be tough enough without disunity resulting in making a bad situation even worse. League 2 is bad enough, let's not catapult ourselves down and out of the league completely with protests, boycotts etc.

What the heck is going on? 2-0 up at half time at home in a game we absolutely have to win and we lose 4-2!!!!!!! We all know that the squad is hardly league 2 standard but to throw away a game in such a gutless way is quite simply beyond belief. I don't care who has got a contact or for how long that contract is, but every single one of the "bottlers" has to go, by any means necessary. I have steadfastly supported DM but from all that I have read about his selections and substitutions today he has not done himself any favours at all. Desperately disappointed and really really angry about the performance and result, I repeat, what the heck is going on?

Right, it's time to get out the crystal ball to see what the future may hold. We don't know yet whether we will be in L1 or L2 next season, but what we do know is that there has to be fundamental changes in some areas of the club. Carol has to be asking herself just how she swallowed the fantasies peddled by Flitcroft hook, line and sinker like a naive young girl, rather than giving him short shrift like the experienced successful businesswoman she actually is. Will Flitcrofts role be filled as is or will there be a critical review to determine exactly what is required? Whilst it has to be said that the infrastructure has improved since the Shanahans arrival there are many (myself included) that believe the balance between money spent on infrastructure and money spent on the football side of things was not right. It very much seems to be the case that Carol and Kevin do not have the money to fully fund everything at the club, so is it time for discreet enquiries to explore all the available options? It is far better to convince someone to come and join you, when you are keeping a large financial investment in the club, than it is to convince someone to take it off your hands when you are bailing out. One thing is for sure, even if we do manage to stay up but there are no changes we will almost certainly make it 3rd time unlucky by going down next season. Food for thought.

Seeing as pretty much nobody expects anything from the game it must surely be the right one to go for it 100%. Peterborough certainly won't be expecting it, so throw caution to the winds and go for the jugular right from the whistle. The downside of course is that we could end up with a tonking that could be decisive in the final reckoning. Risk versus reward, the oldest conundrum of all. Personally I would take the risk, faint heart never won fair lady.

I will be more than happy if we get to the Cambridge game needing a win to keep us up. My missus and sons all Man U fans say they will come to the game if that is the case. We are where we are due to all that has happened this season up to the last couple of weeks. To still be in with a chance of stopping up is nothing short of miraculous and we can only hope and pray that we do not lapse back into our bad old ways. We're not dead yet, come on Vale............

Football is an emotive and emotional game and long may it continue to be so. Us fans like nothing better than a vigorous "discussion" about the successes, failures, highlights, lowlights and quite literally anything and everything about our and every other club. It's fantastic. For the club itself however, all the emotion has to be put to one side and decisions made on analysis and logic. There must be good people making the right decisions for the right reasons, not the psycho babble we have been subjected to these last few seasons with "trust the process". You would think/hope that behind the scenes pragmatic decisions are being looked at on the basis that we will be in league 2 next season. Hopefully we will by kick off time have a balanced, fit and competitive squad (wouldn't that be nice) for us to get behind. There will inevitably be hard decisions made and players released for a variety of reasons. I personally have very fond memories of Willo scoring at Wembley in the playoff final, but do accept that unfortunately for him his body is letting him down. There will be other fans favourites leaving, but hey ho, maybe balanced by future fans favourites arriving. I wish all those leaving well and welcome the new arrivals to our promotion campaign. Who wants to argue that? Everyone? Fantastic, let's go.

My rose tinted glasses indicate a massive 2-1 win for the mighty Whites. Obviously this depends on us getting the first goal as I am struggling to think of us coming back from a goal down all season.

Good luck to the lads, just keep doing exactly what you have been doing the last 3 games.

This run of form has its drawbacks as I discovered today. I had my usual pre match 3 pints of Titanic plum porter. The guys I was drinking with said that we should meet up after the game for a celebratory beer should we win. That celebratory beer became 3 or 4 by which time I had to shoot off to get a bite to eat and a quick bath before going out for my usual Friday night session. As a result I have had a thick head most of the day. The trials and tribulations of being a Vale fan eh?

I couldn't say who might or might not be coming in but I should imagine that the last 3 performances have muddied the water in terms of who will be leaving. Some players who looked nailed on to be discarded are suddenly looking half decent and maybe worth persevering with. Who'd be a football manager eh?

Can't understand the negativity after a performance and result like today. I thought it was the best performance of the season. We looked like a proper team and what a difference that made. I said in the pub after the game that DIpepa's goal reminded me of Michael Owen's goal against Argentina, so it's nice to see that others thought that too. Ben Garrity's goal booked better on the replay as he calmly sat the keeper down before slotting it past him. I have to admit that in many games this season I have been gone before the final whistle but today I along with most of the fans stayed to applaud the lads. It was obvious that something has fundementaly changed and that there is now a togetherness that has not been there all season. I did predict a 2-0 scoreline but to put it in context I always predict a Vale win but this is the first time this season that I have got it right. Tonight Matthew, I am a happy Vale fan.

Just watched DM's pre match press conference and unless I'm much mistaken he had an animation I have not seen before. The squad have obviously taken great heart and pride not only on the win against Burton, but maybe even more so the performance. I am feeling a lot more confident about tomorrow but not getting carried away, it really is a case of get a win and its game on. Lose and it's game over. My prediction for what it's worth is 2-0 to the mighty whites.

I'll settle for a 98th minute winner going in off Lofty's bum.