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kevin_struggles
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Posts posted by kevin_struggles
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2 hours ago, ValeFanInBrum said:
All sounds fairly positive.
I was chatting to a mate who's an Albion fan, and he said they still love Big Dave.
I mentioned about the number of Vale fans saying "erm" all the time, and he (and I) both thought that it's perhaps because he's a Brummie that he doesn't come across well.
Not everyone can be a good public speaker. What matters is him getting the players organised and motivated to win matches and get us promoted.
As far as I am concerned the people making those childish "erm" comments are merely advertising their immaturity and ignorance. I am embarrassed for them.
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50 minutes ago, MBE said:
Big claim so to test to it and just for fun rank these fullbacks in order …1st the worst.
Dan Jones
Adam Crookes
Zak Mills
David Fitzpatrick
Zak Jules ( under Aspin)
Laurie Wilson.
1 Jones
2 Jones
3 Jones
4 Jones
5 All the others
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1 hour ago, Shropshire_Valiant said:
I can't see how anyone would keep Jones over Iacovitti and Cass!? Swap those around in someway and you're not far off what I'd be looking to do either! Jones can't pass, head or tackle, poor injury record and wasn't very good in league two last time! Get rid, a true liability of a footballer!
Tbh none of our defenders last season particularly covered themselves with glory so Smith is a lucky boy he's contracted as well imo but he wasn't bad in league two previously so that probably just saves him.
Wynne we can't really judge as we've not seen him play but we need an out and out left back so would make sense in someways to give him a chance. Uche I can see the physicality side of his game being useful but we can't afford 2 forwards who don't score(him and Loft) so that's my issue there. Loft simply has to be moved on if Uche stays.
I agree with all of that.
After seeing how many players we still have under contract I have had to resign myself to the fact that some of the players I would like us to offload will probably still be here next season but my non negotiable is Jones, he is absolute garbage. I will be unhappy if lowe, grant and one or two others are still her but if Jones is still here I will cry real tears 😁
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On 27/04/2024 at 15:58, Osh said:
That's because that's not the way he plays. Someone posted on here some time ago that Gasheads said he's best playing on the break with the ball played down the chanell and trying to turn players. Think he did this against us before.
We're just not using him at what he's best at. Sounds a common theme at Vale Park right now.
Also, I'm with @Brian Johnson I think (from what I've heard Moore is going to be given a lot more to play with in the budget.
First we'll know if Monday when the retained list comes out, eh...
IF Carol does want us straight back up then, like Wrexham and Stockport, we'll need to splash the cash
UTV
He didn't do anything at Bristol either to be fair. I can't see him having the pace to run the channels effectively but my main issue with him is that he went to pieces most of the time when he received the ball at his feet in or around the box and fell over it more times than he got his shot off which says to me that he lacks composure. I can accept that confidence plays a big part there but I don't see him as first choice up top I think we need to bring in proven goal scorers, carol owes us that after the past two seasons, so I don't see him gaining any confidence sitting on the bench. I'd rather we had two half decent main strikers with dipepa and buah as two hungry youngsters with pace on the bench and maybe Uche to throw on to cause a bit of mayhem. Whichever way I look at it loft just hasn't shown enough to be first choice and I don't see what he offers from the bench. I want us to be at least challenging at the top end not seeking mid table safety and I think the lofts of this world are mid table at best.
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On 25/04/2024 at 14:43, TJHValiant said:
Not necessarily. Our ability to create those chances to score goals has been as poor as I can remember. Sang is awful at crossing and getting the ball into the box. Our biggest miss is Worrall who was good at that. I think Loft may have had more with him around.
Ive seen every game loft has played and I haven't seen him get anywhere near any crosses, he doesn't strike me as that type of player.
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On 25/04/2024 at 17:02, Paul6754 said:
But there were a few posters on OVF who wanted to sign him as Rob says so it wasn't just hindsight. When he was at Vale Taylor was like a wasp, in your face, he was just trouble for the opposition and a goal scorer. To be balanced Vale could also have done with keeping a few out at the other end!! It's all water under the bridge now.
I said I don't think there were many people who wanted to sign him because I think most people were expecting us to sign a couple of decent younger strikers because it was clear to everyone, except our recruitment team, manager and dof as it turned out, that strikers were a priority and I didn't want them spending that money on Taylor. I'm not saying nobody wanted to sign him I just think most people were like me and thought we would sign better. Turned out we signed nobody then sold the only fit striker we had but who saw that coming? Its like Carol wanted us to get relegated.
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20 hours ago, Paul6754 said:
The galling thing about this particular relegation is that Vale only needed one of our strikers to get another ca 4-6 goals or have signed a Matty Taylor like striker who could well have done the same and those few ca 4-6 goals could have well translated into another 6-10 points and Vale could well be safe now or at least have a chance of safety in the last match.
It's likely that 2 or 3 Clubs are going to stay up with less than 50 points.
Matty Taylor scored 4 in 14 for us last season, has scored 6 in 12 for Cheltenham this season, why on earth did Vale not sign him in 2023/24, lots of Vale fans including me hoped the club would sign him for these very reasons. As long as the legs are still there then natural goal scoring ability trumps age any day.
Lets put it this way Matty Taylors goals total since January is higher than any of our strikers have managed since the start of the season, including willo who has only scored 8 in two seasons. I don't think many of us wanted us to sign him last season but with the benefit of hindsight we would have been far better off signing Taylor than anyone we did sign which just goes to show how poor our recruitment has been.
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5 hours ago, ValeGez said:
People need to brace themselves for the release of the initial retained list .
The Club can’t just ‘bin off’ players under contract so they’ll be shown as ‘retained’ .
The work will come after when some will either be transfer listed or told they’re surplus to requirements and can find themselves another Club . Others may enter into negotiations to be released by mutual agreement.
Lots of work ahead for Moore and his team over the Summer months, hopefully this will lead to a much better squad in place for the start of the season .
Patience needs to be shown and no use getting all worked up over the initial announcement , it won’t be the end product , give them a chance to put it right .
Here’s to looking forward to a brighter future come August .
UTV
You may well be right but I hope not, we did that last season and ended up losing players like benning and harrison late on with no time to replace them whilst we kept dross like jones and massey this time Carol has to bite the bullet this is as much her fault as anyone else's so if she has to pay them off she needs to do so the dead wood has to be cut out early doors.
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Loft - panics in front of goal
Sang - decent crosser of the ball but no pace and weak, weak, weak.
Lowe - has been
Grant - has been
Massey - headless chicken
Jones - calamity jones nuff said
Clark - sicknote
willo - can't hold the ball up, has no pace, doesn't score enough goals the odd party trick pass doesn't make up for the rest of it.
ojo - went missing when we needed him so I question his character.
I can't see us offering Uche a contract but I recognise what he brings to a team and I think chizzie and garrity will be snapped up quickly by other teams
Debrah has potential but jumping two divisions proved too much I thnk he will be ok as a squad player next season
Iacovitti will thrive in league two as will smith
Not bothered if we keep ripley or not but if we do we need to stop pretending he is a ball player he isnt he's a shot stopper but if I had a choice I would prefer a keeper who dominates his box better coming out and taking catches to take the pressure off etc.
There are probably one or two I have forgotten about lurking around who we can offload
Dipepa, walters, shorrock, plant and lomax will be great assets if we can keep them and we should be building around them.
All the loan players will be gone anyway so not worth mentioning but I will say I wouldn't keep any of them even if I could.
Wouldn't be averse to offering worrall and pett one year contracts if they become available but only because they would be terrific squad members to come in as needed. Certainly better than the likes of lowe grant and massey.
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4 hours ago, JoeB2 said:
Was John Rudge ‘passionate’ in interviews? Does it really matter if they win games?
Im not bothered how Moore sounds or what he says. I remember fans kicking off at Clarke’s abrasiveness towards Bowers when he didn’t win for 7. We came to love it.
If Moore wins games, “um no yeah” will become endearing.
I get the impression that some people had their view of DM coloured by the Huddersfield fans without a life who came on FB slagging him off every day for what seemed to be an endless period that's definitely where the people got the childish "erm" criticism from. I have never been a sheep myself I prefer to make up my own mind rather than prove I don't have one by aping fools.
You are absolutely right Sir John was not overtly passionate he was softly spoken and a real gentleman on every occasion I met him. Running around, jumping up and down and verbal diarrhea aren't indications of whether someone is passionate though, or indicative of how good a manager they are. Sir John was passionate but he took a more considered approach, plus he had Pejic for the fiery stuff and they made a great team. I have seen plenty of poor managers who were very passionate but completely lacking in tactical nous.
My opinion is that AC and DF (I see those two as a double act as they were both very much on the same page) brought in weak minded show ponies who got shown up when we needed to scrap for points and they also failed to bring in the kind of proven goal scorers who can turn a scrappy game into a win. DM simply didn't have the right tools and didn't have a transfer window to even attempt to address our many issues so I will reserve judgement until he has been given something to work with. We were falling apart from winning positions, struggling to score goals and failing to respond when going behind long before he got here, none of that is on him.
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Be honest we are not going down because of DM we are going down because we deserve to the players are nowhere near good enough. 2-0 up at half time and people actually think that we threw it away because of something DM said at half time? Lets get real we lost it because we conceded a sloppy goal and then our fragile weak minded players panicked and went to pieces like they always do. There was nobody on the bench who would have made the slightest difference subs haven't made a difference in any game, we go behind we lose its been an issue all season.
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On 13/04/2024 at 18:19, Vtid said:
You start by replacing Uche with like for like so loft not weir. Why on earth was he even playing weir up front he’s a midfielder & a poor one too. When they made their subs & started to boss the game we all knew a goal was coming. That is where a good manager earns his coin & reacts to it. So yes that is down tactics & in game management it’s not the first time he’s done it this is becoming a regular occurrence. Take nothing away from the players tho they lost their fight & as you said needed to show more character but they simply don’t have it in them
Loft was carrying an injury but I think you make my point about the inadequacy of our squad when you suggest that loft would have made a difference. DM doesn't have anyone to bring on who would make a difference, be honest. I don't know if he will work out or not but I think we need to give him a fair shake before we blame him for not turning AC's unfit, weak minded, bunch of crap into decent players.
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5 minutes ago, Lornelounger said:
Look at our history Doha - that is the point I was trying to make. We have done this down the years time after time. If you have followed us over any length of time, you must know that. I'm not belittling your support of the Vale, I'm saying that if you lose your rag over getting relegated, or being under the threat of relegation, or being crap over a period of games, or collapsing after being ahead, then you you you've forgotten what it is like to be a Vale fan - because we do that a lot of the time. That's all. No need for going off on one and using the words you did. But I understand you are upset too, and if that makes me sanctimonious, I'll wear it, I'm not that bothered.
Some of that is true but I don't think I have ever started a season knowing we were in trouble before a ball was kicked and Ive been supporting them since 1973. I was moaning from the moment ac released the retained list which he got badly wrong and it went downhill from there. It has been a long and difficult season with very few bright spots 10 wins out of 43 games and a minus 30 goal difference is hard to spin as anything but an abysmal season. Its been a slog for all of us so its not surprising that people are struggling to be positive.
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7 minutes ago, valiant_593 said:
I don’t and aren’t suggesting I do. Just seems a bit of a coincidence to do it against Fleetwood, start that way against Peterborough and then with a much changed side do it again today. If it wasn’t his instructions, why stand around and let it happen? We could all see what was happening and going to happen.
I'm not sure he had anyone on the bench who would have made a difference it wasn't tactics that cost us that game it was character, or rather lack of it, and I'm not sure how Moore can change the character of a team without being able to bring any different players in. I'm not saying he is a good manager I have no idea but I don't think we can judge him at the moment because of the dross he has available to him. There are maybe 4/5 players in our entire squad who are league one standard the rest simply aren't good enough whoever manages them you can't bring out what isn't there.
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2 minutes ago, valiant_593 said:
Against the manager’s instructions?
How do you know what the managers instructions were? This lot didn't play for the last manager either. The players we have available aren't good enough its that simple.
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Be honest, did any of you feel confident that we would hold on to that lead? I know I didn't.
It has been the story all season as a group they have no bottle and no character.
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On 12/04/2024 at 08:53, JRC said:
He hasn't but he's had a foot injury for a few games. Forest have played him as a forward. I don't think Moore rates him and played him at wingback at Wednesday. He's not a prolific goal scorer but as a defender I'd rather face Massey. Moore seems to prefer Massey's industry to Mighton's flare, or Chislett. At some point Moore has got to try something to get us more on the front foot. I still think we need to win the next 3 games.
Playing 2 strikers ( loosely speaking) isn't making us more productive in terms of goals. I think with the players we have 2 tens get more goals in the team. A lot depends on Ojo being fit as we'll get overpowered in central midfield with any of the other possible pairings. In the ideal world the 2 10s would be Garrity and Chislett. One, or maybe both, will be in central midfield on Saturday. Mighton and Weir can both play as 10s and I don't think either is less likely to score than Massey.
The fact that he seems to favour massey over chislett is worrying
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16 minutes ago, Vtid said:
Sang will be rwb 💯 he’s never been played further up even tho we can all see he’s useless at the back
They are both useless at the back, as we all know, just wondered if DM had watched the northampton game back and realised that sang was at fault for both goals but my gut does say sang and plant as full backs.
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sang smith yak plant across the back or is he putting massey back there with sang further up? We don't have many options I guess so all we can do is hope for the best.
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1 hour ago, TJHValiant said:
At his best he was capable of creating chances and we did look on the whole as a more dangerous side. He wasn’t some Haarland esque goal hog who simply scored goals, he could run with the ball, pass and open up defenses for others. You just wonder if he wasn’t so fragile if he would have been better used as a Danny Sonner style playmaker opening up chances for others as his football intelligence is very high.
Even so, I won’t dispute that he has been injured far too often and his best has been distant memories for most of this season. Yes, he should have been released in the summer, but he rejoined but was only on the basis that Flitcroft could find nobody else.
I dread to think who the alternative was if he had not because Flitcroft thought Loft was worth chasing all summer. It has been a bit like chasing the hot girl in the park all summer but when you get a chance of a date you find out she has a penis.
I am aware that there are different types of striker and maybe at his best as you say he is capable of the things you mention but having watched almost every game this season I don't think he has been doing much of anything apart from maybe linking well with devine and arblaster when we were tip tapping it around and not creating any chances earlier in the season. He hasn't been effective in terms of scoring or creating. Being honest, and not exactly being a fan of loft, but I honestly believe loft would have scored more than 4 goals if we had got him in at the start instead of signing wilson. Willo is living on his reputation for me.
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On 03/04/2024 at 13:56, Raveninblack said:
I watched the game against Northampton and we were lifeless in my opinion and this is now a must win game but I expect sicknote Wilson to be missing which means we rely on Loft and what appears to be an extremely unfit ikpaezo
I got the impression we were tired. Uche wont be match fit yet he is a big lad who needs to be playing to stay fit so his recent injury problems haven't left him in the best place but he is still capable of tying defenders up and is strong enough to hold the ball up its up to our midfielders to get around him and pick up the bits.
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5 hours ago, Paul6754 said:
I'd love to know exactly what the process was, that's assuming there was a process.
I suspect the process was so convoluted it didn't leave any time for action. DF over complicated everything all style and no substance. By the time we have analysed all the stats and held meetings to identify who we want someone else has already signed them.
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Lets face facts he has the odd decent touch plays the occasional flashy diagonal pass and if his body wasn't made of tissue paper he might have been a good player but in reality he is an injury prone striker with no pace and no strength who doesn't score enough goals. Two of our midfield players have outscored him this season and another one has equalled his total. He has only got into double figures once in his entire career and that was two seasons ago at a lower level. I am sorry but I don't get why people think we are more of a threat when he plays he isn't much of a threat full stop and his record proves that. If we signed a new striker with his stats people would be going mental.
We should have let him go last season 8 goals in two seasons at this level is a joke and he is part of the reason why we are in the bottom four.
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Im not sure of the contract situations on some of these I'm pretty sure a couple of them are still going to be under contract but personally I would be looking to get Jones, Massey, Clark, wilson, grant, loft and lowe out of the door and I suspect if we go down we will lose garrity and chislett. Willo may be controversial but he doesn't score enough goals for me and we need to nail the striker positions next season and ideally thats strikers with pace and strength and wilson has neither. Loft is working hard and putting himself about but he has no composure in front of goal which isn't ideal for a striker. Possibly down to confidence but I haven't seen enough to want to keep him so if someone enquired about him I would snatch their hand off.
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An evening with DM & Matt Hancock - Thurs 2nd May
in Port Vale present
Posted
I never wanted AC as manager because there is no substitute for experience, especially when the going gets tough. I don't like giving managers their first job and apart from the exception that was Sir John every other period of relative success in my time as a supporter was with an experienced manager at the helm. When I watched his interviews in pre season last year my opinion of AC remained the same i.e. negative.
Having just sat through the replay of last nights meeting I am feeling much more positive than last season. I think DM has a clear idea of what he wants from his players and, more importantly, a clear idea of how to achieve it. AC had the first but lacked the latter. That's the difference experience makes.
I look forward to a busy closed season of ins and outs and I am feeling confident that we will at least make a fight of it next season.