TJHValiant

Would be excellent if that’s the case!

Agreed. Plus we had two seasons in league 2 where we nearly dropped out of the football league when we had a whole troupe of non league level nobodies. Rawlinson should never, ever have pulled a Vale shirt on but we had nobody better in the dark, dim days of Smurfwaite killing us off. While I liked Manny, none of those guys would see us stay in league 1 now. They were sad, desperate times and we signed non league players because that’s all we could afford. We even had a non league manager in Aspin. Non league players are for non league clubs. Not for a club looking to push on in League 1. I’ve supported Vale for long enough to know the only man who could deliver rough diamonds was Rudge. That’s what made him great. A unique, great man who deserves respect for that. Nobody could do what he did, so don’t expect Flitcroft and Crosby to.

Gambling with non league players has been done far too much at Vale and has never worked. It has never been done properly and it seems we poorly scout for league standard players so god help our efforts to find non league gems. There are enough players at Vale already who should be playing non league, we don’t need to invite more. What Peterborough do is that they have a small number of top class pros on very good wages who encourage and raise the standard of their side. They also have a massive catchment area with Cambridge United miles away and the likes of Norwich and Ipswich equally so.

The best Vale signings were not part time footballers stepping up to the football league but unwanted, talented guys from the big clubs. Reading through Rudgie’s book, it is remarkable how many of our greats like Guppy, Aspo, Robbie Earle, Glover, Mills, Ainsworth, Foyle etc etc all shared a history of having been on the books of big clubs before coming to us. The number of non league legends is actually very very small. Even today, our best signings like Wilson, Chislett (Southampton), Garrity (Blackpool) had a history of being coveted for their talent by bigger clubs. Our most likely route of success is to look to the big clubs. Look at the talent in those u23 paint trophy games and look for rough diamonds there to improve. As the standard of Premier and Championship has moved far away from league 1, so has non league from the league 1 and 2. Don’t be fooled by a few strong clubs in the national league, the standard is worse than ever down there.

Rudgie’s book highlights that we regularly bought players in the 80s for £30-50,000 which adjusted for inflation, that’s £140,000 today. It makes you realise that tight old Billy Bell wasn’t so miserly compared to our modern era. Of course we also have the the Bosman ruling to contend with now so good players rarely command big money in the lower leagues and the best guys remain well out of reach.

Conlon gone to Oldham. A great signing for them and has been a real pro for us. Despite a few duff games I still admired a lot of his skill and ability. Stunned he is not still in the Football League.

Very similar to Garrity on paper, even having had the experience at Blackpool.

I think we need to do proper business in January. Charlton will probably go and get promoted now they have Clarke Harris. We do have some games in hand over teams above us. Lincoln for example. If we do get dragged in, it will be due to a poor Jan window.

I agree but sadly ultimately the club that owns the player calls the shots. I’m not a fan of clubs having to use loans at all, except for when a first teamer is injured.

Depends on his wages. No doubt if he went for nothing in June clubs would then do battle to push up his wages.

That’s actually a bargain. Rovers had agreed 800k odd in August. I see we are looking at unproven league 2 chancers as usual. You sometimes get the impression from the club that they preferred being in league 2.

Totally agree with you about Yak, but we have a lot of sub league 1 guys who are out of their depth.

The research is vital totally agree. However given that this year we have looked clearly short up front and have been wanting across midfield and defense since October, you’d think it has been clear and obvious that it needed to be done and done well. Last season I sort of understand why we didn’t bother too much as we had exceeded expectations and were doing so well until the slump. This year, no excuses. We need quality to keep us in the division.

Very true. In fact, even if Mansfield or Notts Counry go up, you can’t see them doing as badly as the weakest lot this season in league 1.

You are totally right that it is bizarre that we have this technical style but two lumps up front. I think the reason it is disjointed is that I don’t think there is joined up thinking on signings. Flitcroft definitely drives transfers, after all, we were after Loft pre Crosby and were told that he had been after him all summer. Crosby if he had a big say would never have gone for loft with the style of football he wanted. My view is, I don’t think from what I can see that Crosby is doing actual management. I think he is basically a coach but everything coming out of the club to me suggests the big calls on personnel are made with Flitcroft driving the decision making .

I agree. I think the cold, hard reality is we have a league 2 budget. I would actually argue the budget we have is the weakest link of the club. The problem we have as a club is that we confuse having great owners with rich ones. They are maximizing all we have and that’s why we are in league 1. Wealth wise I doubt there is probably much more of a budget except maybe a few hundred extra thousand going in than we had under Smurfwaite in his league 1 era.

I’ve heard Exeter and Rovers. Believe he wants to go back to the South West.

Possibly Rob. Although increasingly you don’t see many of the old stagers who are any good dropping down the leagues. Unless you are a big name who can be appealed to with money. He won’t come for a couple of grand or so a week unless he was desperate. The only reason anyone would go to Saudi in the first place is Sun and cash, not the love of the game or the people or the football. I actually think his windfall will increase his demands, as why carry on? He has the cash. What can we offer him to carry on? Love of the game? Might as well play for Congleton Town without the pressure of thousands of fans. When you’ve made your money, yes you can do something out of love. I just feel it is hard to love the prospect of playing for a struggling league 1 side up north, for relative peanuts, in the cold, in Burslem, for boring old Crosby.

Not desperate for a huge weekly wage? He won’t be coming to Vale for charity and if he is any good will have to compete with other clubs. If he is crap then we might have a chance because no one else will want him. That’s been the Vale problem for years since the Bosman ruling meant any good players we have had can walk away at the end of a contract. Back under Rudgie, you signed for a club and that was it unless money came calling. It rewarded good scouting and management. Today? Football is basically glorified EBay. Highest bidder wins.

I don’t think it would matter where we were in the league as long as we give Peterborough 800k. They were meant to be in financial peril. Never looked like it to me.

Unfit? Had a few injuries? Sounds like he fits the matrix beautifully. We need space for a new benchwarmer if Wilson leaves in Jan.

Maybe she should threaten to put the club in admin…Smurfwaite certainly made a few quid out of that random/hostage demand.

I think a lot of it comes down to the attitude and personality of the player. Ricky Millar was certainly technically good enough to be a fine league player but he didn’t have a professional attitude which any fan could see a mile off. Those kind of guys never make it and we have a signed a few like that.

I live in Arlesey, Bedfordshire these days and about 10 years ago at the end of his career, Leon played for Arlesey Town a few times, incredibly on one occasion at least with Ricky Millar up front, who also played for us. Asked him to sign and old Vale shirt from his era, which he did and cheerily said it was the best period of his career, rated Foyle highly, but basically felt we were a club full of old whigners as fans. Even so, it wasn’t a bitter exchange and seemed like a pretty normal guy. I agree with him having a bit of an ego, but felt he enjoyed his time at Vale but was aware of a certain amount of backlash, which he seemed amused about rather than actually resentful to the club.

If it’s consistency you are waiting for, then nobody would be starting, except maybe Loft who is incredibly consistent. Consistently crap.