Mr Brightside

Im hoping that Carol stays and looks at different ways to increase the budgets both short (could we have a stadium sponsor e.g. The Autonet stadium and a different shirt sponsor), mid (could shares be sold?) and long term (current long term plan proposal, potential extra investors or is there a potential buyer for the club?). With her limited personal and company disposable cash the long term plan is much needed and hopefully will reap the rewards, however its the short and mid term where we need to fill gaps ASAP, as even with a well known manager we will struggle to attract the players we need to progress with a bottom 6 budget in league 1 or playing in league 2. Ref DOF, we have an inexperienced/first time DOF, probably also a cheaper option as probably all that Carol could/can afford, in my opinion Carol has 3 options, (1) Get rid and share responsibilities of role at end of season (would we even need a DOF in league 2 if we were to go down?) (2) Back the DOF with a better budget and see if things improve (3) Bring in an experienced DOF and see if can be more savvy with the budget

On here in previous posts in previous forum chats the most up to date accounts for Vale and Synectics solutions were posted, these showed over £10m via investment and loans, this figure included the purchase of the club and yearly investment. Also at the fans forum Matt Hancock mentioned that Carol is investing every year and will continue to do so. Ref 'Where the money the club is generating is going' this was discussed at the forums and in other interviews e.g. Radio Stoke and The Valiant and will be evidenced in previous accounts and future accounts to a degree.

This was addressed on the podcast, he also not long before Crosbys sacking did interviews with them and answered all questions directed at him at the fans forums and previously done the Ale and Vale podcast, personally I don't think he is someone who is trying to 'avoid the media'. As he also said he's also happy to talk to anyone. As this is his first time as DOF perhaps fans need to cut him some slack or speak to him in person to better understand both sides, after all we are all human and no one is perfect.

You are right that it is a chicken and egg scenario, that probably needs a 'best compromise' between the 2 options mentioned. If you solely went with option 2 and ignored option 1, then once you've attracted say the extra 2,000 fans but then need to further increase wages, bring in better players and need to improve the then further neglected infrastructure to progress, where will that money come from? Option 1 requires time, option 2 possibly requires richer owners. A 3rd possible option is taking the priorities and/or quick wins from option 1 and looking at other ways to contribute towards the playing side and infrastructure development e.g. Stadium name sponsor, different shirt sponsorers or like Stevenage owner, selling a stake in the club. I'm glad I'm not the one having to make these decisions.

Stevenage are also bankrolled by Phil Wallace who is worth £100m and for all Evans making out that they are poor are believed to have a decent players budget (which we won't know until accounts are released) and with a fit for purpose stadium built 23 years ago dont have a lot of our overheads. There aren't many clubs now league 1 and above who don't have DOF, I don't know the facts or the pros and cons of having a DOF, so can't really comment on if best for a club or not.

I agree. I guess this year's footballing budget for first team may have been impacted by the pitch and extra academy investment and next seasons may he impacted if we need to sort out training pitches, however the next seasons and season after transfer activity and league positions we should see if any improvements/advancements are being made to being League 1 steady.

It may not be much consolation but looking at the clubs from 12th down and looking at their fans reactions and the player incoming and outgoings on different sites, the following 6 (excluding us) also look weaker after the Jan transfer window: Fleetwood/ Cheltenham/ Reading/ Burton/ Shrewsbury and Wigan. This seems to be reflected in the bookies odds who have the following teams in front of Vale for the drop: Fleetwood/Carlisle/Cheltenham/Reading/Shrewsbury/Burton and Cambridge With us same odds as Wigan and Wycombe to go down. Obviouy It all means nothing if we don't win our games, so let's get behind the team and push them on. On a side note there's been a lot of critiscm about amount of loan players we've bought in (4 both window), looking at teams in league 1 majority have bought in 5, some 6. UTV

In reference to Vale players being injury prone, when you look at the perm players in the squad only Wilson and Grant have a bad history for injuries before joining the Vale. From what was said in previous interviews the different injuries are reviewed and action taken, however players have had a variety of injuries this season e.g. Calves, Shoulders, hamstrings, back, stomach and most have occured during games not training, which I guess is harder to control.

In reference to Vales player budget, in the latest 'Valiant' Baggers believes its now about 18th. Outside of the club we won't know until the relevant accounts are released what it actually is. Looking at clubs around us who are doing transfer business, the busiest seem to be clubs who have sold players on for good fees and obviously Carlisle who have new rich backers. Let's keep our fingers and legs crossed we have a good finish to the window and we can also get players back fit (and keep them fit) sooner rather than later.