leedsvaliant

He's not good enough mate. He may have had a purple patch last season but I've seen enough of him to think that he'll be lucky to have a career in non league.

Whilst I totally agree with you, unfortunately there will always be floating fans who will usually only go when the team is doing well. These are the people we need to attend regularly if we want to incrementally increase our fan base. They need to have reason to spend their hard earned with the club....the club can't just rely on the blind loyalty of the hardcore support.

Feel like it needs some imagination from a marketing perspective. When Mike Aldridge was commercial manager a few years ago, when we were really crap, the Target 5000 thing really worked. I know Mike and he now owns his own very successful business, so clearly has solid business ideas. Do we have a marketing director or work with an agency? It just feels like the whole marketing of the club is quite haphazard and ad hoc rather than joined up thinking. I just think freezing prices is a bit lazy and isn't really going to entice people after this season.

I don't want a single statement when we sign someone in the summer to say anything along the lines of 'he's a lovely lad'. We need some horrible gits who are willing to call players out if they are not doing it. We need someone sitting on the referee, constantly in their ear. We're too cosy, too pampered. These players need to earn any treats that are bestowed upon them. This is their job, not a holiday camp. Earn the money before anything else, like we all have to. I'm pretty confident Moore will have identified this.

I think we both agree that she's made unnecessary mistakes which will have cost her serious money. She needs to learn from them...quickly.

I used to work for a guy who did give people a chance, particularly sales people. And he was also pretty friendly with some of them. But he wasn't afraid to get rid of them if they weren't performing for his business. Unfortunately, to be successful, you have to be ruthless at times. Even if you personally like the people.

I don't think I suggested that she's less of a supporter than anyone else. I was responding to the fact that she's some sort of lifelong fan, she isn't. She's from South Staffordshire isn't she? Hardly Burslem born and bred. Let's not pretend she's a born Vale fan. She might be just as committed but let's not rewrite history. I totally agree that she has basically thrown away money and we're going to be back where we started. She desperately needs to learn where she went wrong because I don't think she can afford to throw away another 10 million.

Even when we got promoted, our team was so nice. Remember the Bristol Rovers game, where their captain virtually refereed the game? It feels like we value nice people over winners. The best teams we have played this season have, without fail, had someone who is horrible, winds the opposition up and is in the refs ear constantly. It's a side I don't like but if you can't beat em, join em!

I think she is a fan but she's pretty new in relative terms. I sat on a table with her and her mate a few years ago when the company i worked for sponsored a game. She had only just started attending games and I think part of it was from a networking point. She's a nice lady and I genuinely believe that she has the best of intentions. But let's not pretend she's a lifelong supporter. I think she's trying to run the club like a corporate business. They're so different. I still don't think she gets that.

I'm struggling to see the misogyny in my post to be honest. I'm simply suggesting that she might enjoy the prestige of being one of the few female owners in football a little too much. That's no reflection on her as a person, or as a woman. In fact, I think it's great that we have a female owner. Jeez, why does everyone try and find offense in everything these days?

Mmmm....I'm simply suggesting that there are not many females in authority in the football world. I think she is certainly playing on it. No misogyny.

Some people have said that Carol is only in it for financial gain. That's utter rubbish....nobody with any financial ambitions would run a 3rd division football club. You're literally throwing money away. Even Smurthwaite realised that there's nothing to be made from a football club and was extremely lucky that the Shanahans paid way over the odds. I do think, however, that she enjoys the prestige of being a female chairwoman a little too much. I admire the charity stuff but I think the 'legacy' ambition has taken over from sensible decisions. There seems to be an ambition to run a football club in a corporate entity style, with a high level of Corporate Social responsibility. Unfortunately, football just doesn't work like Synectics. You can spend all the money you like on staff and 'projects' but ultimately the biggest outlay should be the team. It's a football club. The clue is in the title. Stevenage have got a <ovf censored> ground, almost certainly a smaller corporate side than us, yet they're pushing for the playoffs because they spent big in the summer on their team. Somebody with football business acumen needs to get in there before she spadges more up the wall on vanity projects. If it were me, I'd have looked a long time ago about creating a smaller, fit for purpose stadium on the same footprint. I'm sure our old, decrepit ground, that in spite of serious investment still looks old and decrepit is a millstone round our neck. We still haven't got a finished stadium after 25 years for instance.

I'm of a train of thought that maybe we need to go back down. It feels we're completely under equipped for this division. We've had a succession of bang average teams come here, and as soon as they put any pressure on us, we crumble. The lack of time wasting, disrupting their flow, giving away cheap fouls, was really evident second half. We're too nice and accommodating. Any team that's done well this season has a couple of horribles who are constantly in the refs ear. Wednesday night showed us how far we are away. We need to get relegated, rip it up entirely and start again. What a complete waste all that winning on penalties against Swindon was. Mansfield will be replacing us next year and will be better prepared. Funny how things come full circle isn't it?

0 shots on target at home in a must win game is awful. We'd be going nuts!

Four changes smacks a bit of Clarke mucking it up and now rolling the dice.

Yep, me too. They spent the last few minutes just passing it along the back line.

In technical terms, one of our better technical footballers. But a forward should be judged on goals and assists, of which he has done nowhere near enough in the past 2 seasons. He looks like he has all the ability in the world, but if you don't utilise it effectively then you're a waste of a player. He seems to have lost the drive that he had with us in league 2. Maybe injuries and low confidence have played a part? Whatever the reason, we need 2, maybe 3 forwards who have a significant impact on either assists or goals. We just can't carry him anymore.

I agree. Thought he was faultless today. Thought the Yak was good too...they both kept it simple...head it and kick it away when necessary. Thought Sang had one of his best games for us...everything that we did that was good seemed to come through him.

I think 48 will do it this year, possibly 47. So 3 wins and 2 or 3 draws, or 4 wins. A win on Friday would be massive ahead of away games. If we could sneak a win out of one of Northampton or Wigan, both teams with not much to play for, that would leave us with trying to win 2 of our last 4. Not impossible but our form has to change dramatically.

Rovers fans are saying they've been dreadful this season but yet they're still comfortable in mid table, so they must have something about them. They've got very little to play for, which in some ways makes them more dangerous. Hopefully a bit of confidence and belief will finally seep into us.

I actually thought he did everything right with that chance in the first half. Keeper got in a good position to narrow down the angle, just unfortunate that he couldn't squeeze it inside the post.

I thought Moore said in his interview that he might be involved today?

If we have got one of the lowest budgets in the league, then the question must be why? We must be turning over bigger sums than a lot of the clubs above us, our corporate side and club shop appears to be doing well, shirt sales are up, bigger attendances than for a few years.... so what is draining our resources? Have we got too many staff? Are the owners not pumping in as much as other owners? Are we getting enough from sponsors? Should we be letting others sponsor our shirt/stadium? Is the ground swallowing up too much money? Are we allocating too much of the budget to vanity projects? If we can't compete with Exeter, Burton, Cambridge, Stevenage, Shrewsbury, Northampton, even Bristol Rovers and Leyton Orient, we might as well pack up and turn the lights off now. What's the point?

I know it's not always an indicator but my mate saw him play against his son for a school and he said he was absolutely brilliant. The best player on the pitch by miles and everyone watching him applauded him off the pitch! My mate is not a Vale fan but he could tell this lad was brilliant. I think once he fills out a bit he'll be a real talent.

Neil McKenzie gave my all time worst Vale performance away at Bury. He was like a 6 year old playing against adults.... absolutely dreadful.