Advert
Advert
MBE
-
Posts
4,231 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
9
Posts posted by MBE
-
-
Just now, Devine intervention said:
Fantastic match today loved it
A much deserved win
Thank you mate . I was not going to bother today, I was so fed up of it but I talked the other half into as well this morning after reading your rally call post.
Fantastic game.
-
5
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
Best we have played this season by a mile. I thought we got the ball in the box a bit quicker and we had 3 or 4 players in the box most attacks which was similar to Tuesday. Crosby has clearly changed it after 6 goals in 2 games.
We probably should have been out of sight 1st half and I still think a striker with presence would have had a few tap ins today.
Players clearly playing for Crosby and they showed a lot of <ovf censored> to go again after conceding 2 poor goals.
Chizzy gets the headlines but Devine and Blaster I keep watching thinking how on earth have we got them? Both were was unplayable today. Massey picked up where he left off on Tuesday with another impressive performance and please I’d like to see more of this Ryan Loft.
I just need Crosby stops talking nonsense trying to pull the wool over supporters eyes. Amazing the recover powers of our players. I don’t think he will make that mistake again!
-
13
-
7 minutes ago, Fosse69 said:
Or substituted so they would be fit for today? End of game management cost us the game? Always more than one opinion.
So why doesn’t he say that?
Instead he comes out with all sorts of <ovf censored>.
-
Amazing the powers of recovery from our players.
Any bets on Sang coming on at halftime?
-
2
-
-
7 minutes ago, JoeB2 said:
Football doesn't work like that in that a new owner won't have the funds, or football doesn't work like that in that having more funds won't get us into the Championship?
The romance of Carol selling, making a nice return on profit for herself and family then attending as a fan watching the club move on to better things.
-
14 minutes ago, JoeB2 said:
For a while, I have held the controversial view that things are only likely to get worse for the Shanahans from here - I think mid-table League 1 is about our ceiling as a self-sufficient club, which is what we're trying to be. Anything sustained beyond that requires external investment with no guarantee of return. We hit the exact same bump when Smurthwaite wouldn't fund us to the next level in 2014-15, which precipitated him trying to go outside the box with the Bruno experiment and failing spectacularly because he was offensively unintelligent.
The work the Shanahans have done, with a few bumps on the way, has been very successful and we're 10x the club we were when they took over.
If I was advising Carol, and thank God I'm not, I'd tell her to leave on a high, retain a seat on the board, make most (if not all) of her money back, and depart as a legend of PVFC with something named after her. She'd be kept on as a valuable source of information, be able to enjoy hospitality as a fan, and goes down as saving PVFC and turning us around. Not many would object to the Shanhan Suite, or the training ground being Shanahan Park - and I'd personally go as far as renaming the Hamil End the Shanahan Stand. There simply wouldn't be PVFC without her. We'd be in the 10th tier as AFC Burslem Vale, Norman laughing his socks off.
I do fear that the longer she stays though, the more difficult it will be to marry progression with cost-cutting, and fans will start to (as you say) grow disappointed at what they felt was another false dawn. This isn't me wanting her gone, and I'll back her till the day she goes, but it's just my honest take about what the next few years will look like.
Of course, this is all contingent on there being buyers.
That’s a very romantic notion predicated on a new owner having the funds required to be successful to get into Champ.
Football doesn’t work like that.
-
50 minutes ago, Bycarsbill said:
That's so kind of you, thanks. But it also explains why I have no hair!!
He’s got no hair but we don’t care Bycars BycarsBill😀
-
2
-
2
-
-
15 hours ago, Bycarsbill said:
I don't mean this as a boast, but I've clocked-up even more years than you-this is my 70th year of attending Vale Park. I say that only to give context to why I empathise so much with what old school has said. And yes, I too will be at the game tomorrow. What is it they say?...............Through thick & thin.....UTV!
Congratulations on your 70th anniversary.👏👏👏👏
Respect that. I feel new to the club now.
-
6
-
-
I don’t see why we would extend Wilson.
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, PV1993 said:
As has been stated by ourselves and Flitcroft, a few need to leave so that we can get fresh faces in.
The goalkeepers are sorted, no issues there.
I would say we have an abundance of centre halves
On the right we can play Cass or Lowe
On the left we can play Jones or Iacovitti
That leaves Smith, Debrah and Balmer all vying for that ‘no-nonsense’ position. I don’t think we need all free, so maybe Balmer will go back? That said, I think it’s more likely we will see Cass leave, although I do like him on the right.
Holding midfielders we have Ojo, Arblaster and Walters. I’d argue Sang too although he has been pushed out wide due to our severe lack of wing backs. Lowe can also cover there (although I’d rather he didn’t). Conlon also fits here although out of favour.
We also have a number of no.10s - Devine, Garrity, Chislett, Massey… even Grant before he became a LWB (admittedly before he joined us).
My main concern is the lack of natural full backs. As I have stated on previous posts, we only have Mitch Clark as an out-and-out natural wing back. We need a pacey LWB and one more on either side as back up. Then maybe we can stop playing people out of position.
As much as we all would love a striker, we are so over stocked in some areas, and under in others. Wing back has to be our priority
Interesting your idea returning Balmer. I’d not thought of that but if it frees up a wage to help get players in areas we need then it’s a good shout.
Conlon and Cass you’d expect to leave as they can’t even make the bench.
I think we need pace at both WB positions and a Striker. Using the same logic with Balmer I’d return Thomas if it helped to free up cash for a 1st choice Striker.
-
5 minutes ago, Granville said:
An open question - what genuinely do most of us think is a realistic target for us this season.
I've been a supporter of Crosby but his recent record is hard to defend.
That said, are we pretty much where we should be given our second season at this level, our budget, our transfer activity, size of fanbase?
My own personal opinion is that I think we are slightly beneath where we should be, but talk of top half finishes and play off pushes etc aren't realistic.
I'm just interested in what others expectations are?
Has to be comfortable mid table which would be progress against last year.
If we finished the season now , I would say it’s been a poor season taking into account our budget, permanent and loan signings.
My caveat to midtable is to have a team which is more interesting to watch who can get you up out of your seat. I’m really envious of teams like Peterborough who have pacey players who have skill to beat a man with a we are going to score more goals than you attitude.
-
5
-
-
41 minutes ago, Osh said:
In other words… these are <ovf censored> no excuses 😂
He said we shouldn’t be where we are when he looks at our team. Something we can all agree on.
-
15 minutes ago, Fosse69 said:
Just normal for most teams to lose one or both games against the promoted teams, however Vale include relegated teams also.
Indeed which is why it’s not a defence of the record.
I will be fair though and say away from home we have generally been OK all season, aside a few individual errors which can happen.
Its the home games were I think we’ve been poor not helped by the manager. I think it’s 5 home defeats on the bounce now, I found it amusing when Crosby said this week we haven’t played as many home matches as others. I felt he was insinuating we would be higher in the league but clearly our home form tells us something different.
Thats my main issue with him, I feel like he’s trying to pull the wool over supporters eyes with his comments about stats etc. and it’s clearly <ovf censored>.
-
1
-
-
9 minutes ago, Fosse69 said:
How many of the teams will be in the Championship next season?
Probably the same number of teams who will be in L2 next season.. sorry thats not a justification for how awful we have been.
-
1
-
-
Just going to leave it here as a reminder.
Last 10 league matches:
1 Win - Exeter ( the only team worst than us statistically over the last 10 matches)
2 Draws : Lincoln, Stevenage
7 Defeats Derby, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Peterboro, Portsmouth, BRovers, Bolton
4 Goals Scored
13 Conceded
Over the season:
Average Posession : 50.7%. Have we dominated possession over the season?
XG 19.5 Goals Scored 15. For context Carlise, Shrewsbury and Cheltenham have a worst record
-
6
-
-
8 minutes ago, WV said:
Have just been informed that the last 4 payments to a much needed matchday service have bounced. Straight from the horses mouth too. Also, a big announcement is going to be made in January. My guess is Carol is going to sell to Dono finally and he is going to get Robbie involved. If my guess is true I think that means that we are stuck with Crosby regardless of results until any announcement is made. Also, the work on the toilets has been delayed because she is trying to get the council to pay for the work.
You must have good contacts.
As I understand it, as with all football clubs at our level it’s a cash flow issue. I believe we had the same issues this time last year which is the time we had all sorts of ridiculous rumours going around.
Do you know if the club is going to be sold in Jan, new owners will want to appoint their manager, I understand why Crosby is still in charge and we have had a wall of silence from Carol and Flicker.
Pure speculation from me…. A new owner would need to get rid of Flicker and Crosby to appoint a manager who has full control. I think a DOF role has been too confusing for fans..we don’t truly know who to blame for the squad 😂😀
-
1
-
-
3 minutes ago, Fosse69 said:
Probably cant cope with the increased rainfall this season, will not have the same standard of drainage that the Main pitch has. now Ideally both areas would be similar, but isn't the training area council owned?
I think Vale lease it ( could be wrong) but the training pitches look to be in very good condition.
It was only churned up because the ground staff wouldn’t have addressed it yet ready for tomorrow.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Vale1995 said:
Been told on good authority that the work flickers authorised on the training pitchs has left the training pitch unusable and that the players aren't training atm as they have nowhere to train. Also been told that when flickers denied his construction company has done any work thats been carried out that was a lie and it has. Been also told that carol is running out of cash and its hardly at the club anymore. I know I’ll get <ovf censored> for this post but just what ive been told .
On the money side I think it’s managing budgets more strictly rather than running out of cash. The cup game will help because that wasn’t budgeted to go behind the opening round.
At training each week since October more often than not a cryogenic truck is parked up outside the T zone after a midweek match. It was there today.
The daily rental of these trucks is very expensive, that’s not the action of a club struggling for cash.
The simple fact is Carol is giving Crosby as much time as possible to turn things around.
-
2 hours ago, Vale1995 said:
Is anyone local and can confirm if they have or not been training
I have not walked past during training times these past 2 weeks but they have definitely been training on the grass. When I walked past this afternoon the pitch was churned up in areas where we do our passing drills. Crosby has said himself training had been reduced down to manage the players.
Smells like BS mate.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, TJHValiant said:
I think, for whatever reason, our budget has plunged dramatically based on our recruitment on and off the pitch. I mean, there were decent managers around pre Crosby and any owner with any money would have sort out an experienced head first instead of going with the assistant who was part of the group that led to the decline in form in the first place.
I disagree the playing budget has been cut , even if it had , we still have an extremely competitive.
If you look at some of our signings they will be on good money for the division i.e Ripley,Sang , Ojo new contract, Uche, Loft, Grant
Have we spent it wisely? Obviously not up front.
If anything a surplus manager budget was probably put to other use which could explain why Crosby still has a job.
-
2
-
-
15 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:
Again, with everything I say on here I would be very much in the minority (probably on my own) but I would love see a Steve Evans being the next Vale manager.
He get's his teams promoted. He get's them fit, playing exciting football (see Tuesday night) and takes no prisoners.
We would easily finish in the top half of the table and maybe the top 6 with him at the helm.
He's one of those people that people <ovf censored> hate him unless he's part of your team
He wouldn’t be top of my list but I agree he is a good manager. He has winning mentality rather than our nice team mentality.
Million % upgrade on Crosby as manager and maybe wouldn’t need DOF as well with that type of manager.
-
1
-
-
16 minutes ago, PVFC FAN said:
Yes we do have a squad that at first site you would say should be doing better. But like the other bloke said we don't have it up top, so how do you expect a squad lacking in such a key area to be doing any better than it is now? both uche and loft haven't been performing at 100% (hopefully they will be very soon). Crosby has a average league 1 side with nothing up top. So what do you expect?
I believe that loft and uche may be able to get a few goals before January. When loft signed for Bristol rovers he was ridiculed for a bad touch etc. Eventually he established himself in the squad as a target man and scored some important goals. Uche is big, powerful, good on the ball and like loft he is a target man. I would expect him to get his first goal like loft very soon.
I think Crosby should have a chance. If we carry on like this though I'm afraid as optimistic as I am he will need to go.
The strikers have not worked out so far but we aren’t exactly playing to help them either. Surely it’s up to the manager to pick a game plan to find an alternative way. That’s what he gets paid for. I’m more concerned about our defence. They have been pretty poor. You don’t need to score lots of goals if you can keep clean sheets to pick up points.
If we stopped overplaying in wide areas before getting the ball in the box it would give either striker a chance to gamble on crosses.Get more players in the box. It’s rare we have more than 2 players in the box .
Play with a variation if tempo rather than constant walking pace. Waiting for opposition to just get back in position in numbers is not a good tactic. How many times do we get to a wide area near the penalty area and we go back to the halfway line?If you were Carol how long would you give it before making the change?
-
1
-
-
27 minutes ago, ValeForever. said:
Not that this thread should be seen as any kind of indication of our overall fan base, but if you look at my original post, there's far more people in support of that view than those thinking it's total cuckoo.
There's been some booing. Some called for & some uncalled for, but I certainly don't believe he's a manager on the edge at the moment.
It's all about opinions & only time will tell. Hopefully we can get behind the manager & the team over the next few busy weeks.
Are you referring to your post to CambridgeDon?
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
2 hours ago, ValeForever. said:For me @CambridgeDon you can't look at our form over the full 12 month period & pin that on Crosby's record. He wasn't in charge & it wasn't his squad of players.
Again just offering an alternative view, but look at his record for the games he can be fully accountable for.
This season including all League & Cup games:
Total games played = 31.
This is a ridiculous amount of games for us to have played by the second week of December. Our relative success in the cups has definitely had an impact on our squad, not only in terms of injuries but also recovery time & the amount of time they've been able to actually work on things on the grass. Cup runs are great, but they do have a knock on effect especially at our level. You've got to have a big squad to cope & we simply don't have that as a league 1 side. I'd say it's a pretty fair assumption to conclude that had we gone out at the 1st chance in all cups, we'd more than likely have a few more league points in the bag.
Wins = 11
Draws = 9 (Won 2 & lost 1 on pens)
Loses = 11
We've also had two very winnable home games cancelled due to internationals. Fleetwood who were dead on their feet at the time, & Orient.
Hear me out now. If you convert that form over Crosby's time in full charge, it leaves you with 62 points across a full 46 game season. Now some of you will correctly point out that 3 of those games have been against L2 opposition & you'd be right. Free scoring Crewe who are in the top 4 of L2, Mansfield away from home who were unbeaten in 20 games across a 4 month period, & then bottom of the league Sutton, who we beat. It also includes Newcastle under 21s as well (which I've counted as a draw on the stats)
We've only been beaten by more than a 1 x goal margin on 4 x occasions in 31 games. Barnsley opening day. Bristol Rovers away when we played an hour + with 10 men. Unbeaten Pompey away, where we feasibly could've & should have been out of site at half time. Bolton away in the trophy game last week.
I stick to my guns that this season is far from as bad as ppl would have you believe. If you'd have told me we'd be looking at mid table in the league & a QF in one of the 2 x major cup comps, I'd have snapped your hand off & so would most sensible Vale fans.
Could & should we be higher up the league? Yes absolutely, I think we're probably about 6 points shy of where we could & should be. Are we lacking up top? Yes we are, Crosby will know this, he isn't thick. He will be doing everything within his power to rectify that. Please give the bloke a break. I think he's the right guy at this current time & deserves more credit & time with the squad he has put together.I agree we should only judge Crosby since he took the job which is why his time should be up.
We’ve had 31 games to judge Crosby. It’s not a ridiculous number of games. It’s just another stat Crosby has thrown out to justify his <ovf censored> selection and in game subs. Just like the nonsense spouted about performing above XG like Barnsley and 1st contact in the box.
4 of those 31 games have been for BSM. We played a team of kids in every BSM game and the league cup we played largely squad players expect Mansfield, plus as you point out we have 3 had weekend breaks. You’d have thought Burton and Cheltenham were 2 very winnable matches but it doesn’t work like that.
It’s a red herring thrown out to cover up his deficiencies and a squad lacking balance.
To say we are in games is saying we are competitive. Yes we are unless the opposition score 1st.
To extrapolate the form over the rest of the season is a bit daft. If you’d have done that at the end of August we would have been top. Do that over the last 15 league matches and we will be relegated.
We nearly broke the record for a goal drought and had one of the worst opening day defeats. Pretty damning.
Enough is enough. This squad should be performing comfortably mid table but the manager and his coaching team are not up to the task.
-
14
1954
in Port Vale present
Posted
Based on the potential money generated to reach a 2 leg semi final against a PL team its right up there with any game in our recent history.
What that could do for us as a club on and off the pitch could be incredible and propel us forward many years.
Huge huge game. Could be a real defining moment like the classic win vs Spurs which allowed Rudgie to start spending and buying generational talented players for the club.