Spunk Trumpet

It’s not an “old chestnut” though is it? It’s still raw considering it was only one year ago. The point being that from that point, give or take a few weeks, the club has been sinking like a ship ever since. Good people at this club have been tossed aside like yesterdays news. Colin being one. I said all along Carol was being gaslighted by Flitcroft. I’ll stand by that forever and a day. And it’s not an easy thing to come to terms with once you realise it. Her relationship with Colin always seemed strong. And especially Clarke. It was a sad end and the start of our ultimate demise unless an absolute miracle happens on Saturday.

“We would like to place on record our sincere appreciation to Colin for his support and commitment, especially in the early days when we purchased the club, during which time his football administration knowledge, understanding of the industry and experience was invaluable to us. “Colin is a good man, a friend and somebody we will always be grateful to for his advice and guidance when we became custodians in 2019. Colin and his family will always be welcome back at Vale Park and we wish both Colin and his family well in the future. “I am really excited about the leadership team we have built and the plans we have in place, initially in the short-term in what will be our first full close season since we became custodians, and then also in the longer-term as we continue to grow and improve to fulfil the objective of becoming a Championship ready club, on and off the pitch. “We will communicate further details on the new leadership group in the coming days and weeks. Clearly, it was important to us that we showed our gratitude to Colin and informed Vale supporters of the changes before Colin leaves us.” On behalf of the staff and supporters, Port Vale Football Club would like to place on record its appreciation to Colin for his contribution and service to the club. We wish him and his family all the very best for the future. Colin will also leave his role as a Trustee of the Port Vale Foundation. This weekend, Colin will be at Vale Park for his final match at the club in an official capacity and will be on the pitch at half-time to receive thanks from staff and supporters for his dedication during his time at the club. ………………………………………………………… This was announced on Friday 31st March last year. The man had 24 hours to then say a goodbye. No notice. Just basically get gone. That was the statement. This was two weeks before sacking Darrell Clarke as well. 13 months down the line and it’s been a catastrophic error of judgement, or just a sheer power trip. You don’t do 7 years service at a football club, get advertised you’re gone on the Friday, say your goodbyes on the Saturday and never to be heard of again. Make of it all what you will but critical think these things. It’s why “we are where we are”.

Calm yourself down. You don’t seem to grasp the bigger picture. Im off bed now but I’ll pick you up on two points. Under Crosby it was utter garbage. The pattern they played to was to pass the ball sidewards and backwards for 4 hours and do nothing. It sent me to sleep. His record was atrocious. And finally, if there are a certain amount of players that don’t want Moore there, then <ovf censored> them off out of the club if they can’t be bothered to put a shift on for the badge, for the fans, for themselves. How dare they on thousands a week. He’s the boss. They were garbage under the previous one. There’s your pattern.

Why should I enjoy El Presidente? I’ve already stated that’s a farce! Moore, before Huddersfield, where he walked into another shower, had a superb record in management. You can’t deny that. Im just being level headed in stating that if Darren Moore, a man who has inherited an awful squad, a man who this time last season was on 90 odd points in this league with his own squad, a man who has been here for 9 weeks or so, has killed your passion for Port Vale then you’ve obviously only just started to support the club. Because you must rate managers like Bruno, Brown, Glover, Sinnott, Gannon, all higher than him. The first 4 had their own squad and the latter walked into a promotion ready squad and bombed it. Yes. He may not be the right man. I get that. But if he’s the man who is killing your passion for the club then I worry for your sanity.

If a man who came here 2 months ago, having inherited an absolute amount of on field crap, has killed your passion for Port Vale, then quite frankly, you can’t see the bigger mistakes that have been made at this club for 18 months or so. You could have had Darren Moore in charge for the first half of the season and Andy Crosby in charge for the second half of the season and got the same result. Relegation. A but silly to put all the blame on Moore. In fact it’s borderline insanity to even say he’s the reason he’s killed your passion.

Crosby got sacked because the football was crap and we were plummeting to relegation. There hasn’t been a manager bounce because the football is crap we are plummeting to relegation. Crosby had Alfie and Ollie. Moore has had to make do with the rest of the garbage on their own. You can put Pep in charge of this lot and you’d get nothing back. They’re crap. Apart from the odd one or two.

I’m not sure. Like I’ve already said, if he resigns I wouldn’t be shocked or upset. If he gets sacked then that would frighten the life out of me considering the 5 and a half year contract. Regardless of any get out clause, if you give a manager that long a contract then you back him. But she’s already done it with Clarke I suppose, although there were circumstances. What should have happened, when Flitcroft sacked Crosby, was Flitcroft going into the dugout. A man with 500 odd efl games as manager under his belt, but he wouldn’t do that until the end of the season because he knew he’d assembled a shower of a squad. And so maybe Moore would have been his next fall guy? Darren has been naive. In my opinion. He walked into the club reading off pre written crap about Dave this and Dave that. Just to try and get the club onside. Then the fans turned even more on Flitcroft and he’s suddenly found himself a dear in the headlights with an absolute dreadful squad. The problem now is that if we look at it sensibly you’d say it’s not his squad. But I don’t see any structure. So do you stick or twist? Stick. He’s probably got 10-12 games at the start of next season. No honeymoon period. If that fails pressure will be on by fans for his head. Twist. You sack a man 3 months into a 66 month contract! What does that say with how even more shambolic the football side is being run? My honest thoughts now are that when we are inevitably relegated, he resigns. That’s best for both parties. Then there is a hell of a lot of work to do from April 28th, to make sure this club has a structure in place with recruitment and a manager the fans can connect with again. Structure and connection must be up there as two of the most important things for next season. We ain’t had either this season.

One final thing….. That first 6 minutes. <ovf censored> me. I know fans can exaggerate at times but honestly, a pub side would have been at least one up. I actually thought that crap professional footballers had been replaced for 6 minutes by blokes who’d won a raffle. Shameful. For thousands of pounds a week, it was utter shameful.

He lost to both Burton and Cheltenham at home. Cheltenham being as bad a 90 minutes I’ve ever seen. It’s all ifs and buts. The one thing that is absolute factual is that David Flitcroft is the main culprit of everyone Carol has ever employed, with the squad he has assembled.

No way we would lose 10 from 15 with Crosby in charge? His mess got us in this situation. Lets not rewrite history. From September 19th to November 28th with Ollie and Alfie I’ll add, under Crosby, he lost 8 out of 11. Lets not make out he would have kept us up.

Adam Yates hit the nail on the head. When you’ve got players on 100k+ a year like we have, who are under contract for next season, and not just a small amount of players either, then you’ve got to find clubs for them. And when those clubs offer them 50k a year, they will stay here and take their wage! And I don’t blame the player. Flitcrofts mess that Carol couldn’t see. So there’s a huge chance we could go into next season with the majority of this squad and the kids (who won’t be physically good enough for league two). So, I have to say, the timing of todays announcement regarding STs was very strange. Because if people are going to fork out over 300 quid to watch this shower of <ovf censored>, then they must be on another planet or just want to virtue signal because they’ve bought a season ticket. There should have been thought and a proper marketing plan after the <ovf censored> of a season but they’ve even got that wrong! Good luck with selling 2500. Plus almost empty away ends week in week out.

For perspective. I’m not sure what more he could have done with the players available? He’s walked into a car crash. Most of those players don’t want to be here. Yes, I will admit we looked a side with no structure. It was just players running everywhere. But I’m not sure there are enough braincells in that squad to implement anything more than a national league north side.

We have had Uche and Loft on for almost all of the match and all I’ve seen from them is be deep or trying to win headers. Not one of them have sat on the last man. The defence is dreadful. You know Debrah and Iacovitti are bad when they’re worse than Nathan Smith. The midfield are clueless. Garrity apart. The tactics and formation, well I honestly couldn’t tell you what it was. No focal point up front. Garbage at the back. No quality in the middle. No structure. No fight. No hope. When our relegation is confirmed on Saturday, it’s gonna take a strange kind of human to turn up against Cambridge, at 12.30 on a Saturday, to watch the most hopeless, inept, gutless, pathetic, clueless, classless, dreadful, Port Vale we have had for arguably decades. Carol should sit down tonight and re read her open letter. Fans are rarely wrong. Money spunked in the wrong areas. Cheap appointment in Crosby. Stupidly holding on to Flitcroft for way too long. Signing “nice” guys and kids. Signing a squad with no balance. Trust the process crap. And unbelievably we keep employing more and more staff to areas of the club which, quite frankly, fans could give two twats about. An absolute <ovf censored> show a “football” club. Football being the operative word. Because that’s ultimately all that the fans care about. The football. And Carol alignment with David has caused this absolute shower. League 2 awaits and with this shower and no leadership, god only knows where we will be this time next season. Shambolic.

I’m watching it at work pal. Just so you know. If that’s ok with you?

Ten years of Nathan Smith. Never seen a football player go sidewards and backwards year on year and still play! I don’t think there is a lack of effort out there but good god it’s Sunday morning stuff.

To be fair, if you’re at the game and posting on your phone, it just shows how exciting it is. Come on. Get behind the lads! Isn’t that what your type shout every week! It only took 34 seconds for boos to ring around the gaff. Garbage on the pitch. Garbage in the stands.

Nobody doubts the good you’ve done. The whole point is that the on field state of affairs is an absolute shambles with the worst squad I’ve seen in years, under a 4th manager in less than 4 years, staring down the barrel of league 2. That’s pretty much what the average fan cares about. Not the other stuff. They want to turn up for two hours and have a team to be proud of. We’ve got far from that. And has for you sacking the man the fans blamed…….. by that I take it you still don’t think he was to blame? And even if you do it was at least one transfer window too late. To let him go through January and THEN sack Crosby, who should have been long gone before Christmas, and then let Flitcroft carry on until “fans blamed him” well, it was all a bit of a calamity. And I hope the management team works. I really do. And I really hope there is some get out clause in his contract because a 5 and a half year deal is huge. Especially with performances and results. But, like I’ve said before, this is not his squad. It’s the squad that Dave built. The worst footballing squad in many a year. That Dave made. But good old Dave. Look at all the things he did right yeah? Again. Fans only really care about three points and 100% effort week in week out.

Nobody is giving any “vile stuff” to her. Fans are merely critical at the way she handled things. You, however…… You’re a rogue and a crook and a piece of human scum. Kindly <ovf censored> off.

Can’t be arsed reading it. But felt you needed comment. Its called a forum. It’s called debate. If you can’t be arsed to listen to everyone’s debate then get off the forum. Simple as that.

Not necessarily. If we go down and Moore wants out, he quits in two weeks.

Does that make it right? Why follow the trend? Why waste a wage? Do yourself a favour, if you’re employed by OUR football club, and listen to Tony Pulis on Undr The Cosh. He touches on how the manager should be buying the players and it doesn’t work when someone else buys the players. It’s absolutely scandalous that this was allowed to happen here at Vale. Where a DOF bought the players. A DOF told the manager how to play. A DOF told the manager what formation we will use. A DOF told the manager we are playing our own kids to make money and taking on other teams kids on loan to build relationships. Flitcroft may as well just sat in the dugout every Saturday with the influence and input he was having! And people say “even Forest Green have one”. Yeah. Look where they are. If it’s Moore or whoever. Let that man identify the targets HE wants and nobody else. Let him have the say in contract length. It worked for over 100 years. We are about to go into the 4th division. We’ve already got a ridiculous amount of staff employed at this club. I’ve always said in the lower leagues managers can complicate football with their modern day coaching ideas. I will also say that owners can also complicate football with a DOF, multiple football scientists, other staff who we really don’t need. Just keep it simple. In the last two decades we’ve had Micky Adams and Darrell Clarke who have achieved real success. Clarke probably won’t give us time of day anymore but somebody at the club should be going cap in hand to Micky Adams. Asking for his advice. Even swallow the (what seems to be from the outside) the pompous attitude and go to Popey, Yatesy, Duffy, Hughesy, Birchall, Griff, Dicko, and others and get their advice. What would be an absolute catastrophe is signing “nice lads”, putting little videos out of them basically being told what to say when they sign, hiring a DOF who says I’m signing the players, we will play tippy tappy crap, not put in a tackle, and our formation will be 3-5-2 every week. Been there. Done that. It’s been more of an on field circus this year than under Smurthwaite and I never ever thought I’d say that. Keep it simple. Manager. His targets. His players. Leave him to manage. Stay away from a DOF. Surround ourselves with good old ex pros who love the club who can offer a touch of advice here and there as we go and let’s get back to being Port Vale Football Club again instead of Port Vale Corporate business. All the fans care about is the football. That’s the biggest learning curve that’s needed.

If Moore wants to leave at the end of the season then so be it. I think if he doesn’t want to be here then a parting of the ways is needed for both parties. If he is to get sacked then that would be a damning indictment on how the club is being run, as that would mean we would be looking for our 5th manager in less than 3 and a half years. Personally I’d like to see what he can do with a squad that HE can build. If it’s the case he doesn’t want to be here then get someone in who does. I would turn to Ainsworth because of his proven pedigree at building a project. And before anyone he says his football was crap, as long as it’s winning football I couldn’t care less. I’ve been bored enough this last 18 months.

I’ve addressed that. Read the thread.

It’s painfully obvious that a few don’t want to be here. Take Ojo as an example. A nice 3500 quid a week. Under contract. He knows if we go down he will get a move to another league 1 club on similar money or better AND a lovely little signing on fee in his back pocket. I don’t blame him for downing tools so I’d just drop him entirely. He’s got clear talent but has packed in. So he can just clear off now for me. As for others who think they’ll get a move if we go down, they will, into non league. Because they are garbage in the main. So if they don’t want to do it for Port Vale Football Club, then those that do get picked, at least do it for your own pride and families. Without doubt this is the most separated squad from the fans in terms of a connection. So has for my team….. First name on the team sheet would be Ben Garrity. 2nd name would be Chizzy. 3rd would be Dipepa, who has been improving hugely in ridiculous circumstances for the kid. 4th Ripley. I don’t think he’s the best but he’s over worked every single game!! And quite frankly anyone else I couldn’t care less about. The other young kids aren’t good enough and the rest of that squad can all leave as far as I’m concerned. Apart from those 4 I’d say can any of the other players look themselves in the mirror and say they’ve given their all and are good enough for league football. It’s hugely debatable. The sad thing is we say the same thing week after week and I’m 100% certain the players read these sites and they hear the critics. They listen to the podcast. They hear the fans in the ground slagging them off. And it’s all justified! And how do they answer back???? With more pathetic gutless displays! Are they real men? Are they going to stand up and be counted in last chance saloon on Tuesday? Or will they carry on with their pathetic, crawl in their shell displays, like we have been used to, collectively and individually. Stick that as your team talk Darren and see how many want it and how many have the grapefruits to make the supporters eat humble pie and make the supporters believe that they care and can perform a miracle.

I already stated in my opening post that she shouldn’t sell. Unless she wants to of course. What I mean by that is she gets very protected as an owner because of how she saved the club. And let’s get this right, nobody can deny she did that. And every Vale fan should be forever grateful…… however….. whilst the fans can moan about Crosby, Flitcroft and now Moore, and certainly justified with Flitcroft and Crosby because of the recruitment and Crosbys football was so drab i stopped going because I was glued to my seat in boredom, it’s about time she took the majority of the blame and held up her hands. She’s very quick to come and take the plaudits when things are going well. And very quick to hide when they aren’t. She needs to make a huge apology to the fanbase. She needs to let the fanbase know where we go from here. Do we back Darren? Will he have the window? Will a DOF have the window? How does it all affect our recruitment policy? Explain just how the club is unsustainable. Will mistakes be rectified? Basically what’s the plan? Because the previous “process” has been a monumental catastrophe. We are in a huge mess because of her decisions and very much her lack of decisions in rectifying situations she employed.