TonyD

Of course it will have a break clause just like Clarkes did. However, I very much doubt we can get rid of Moore for less than £250K, plus all of his backroom team too.

This debate can be twisted however you want and make a compelling case. Moore has inherited a disaster of a squad, however the facts remain he has won just 2 games since joining. That's poor however you want to look at it. The flip side is that he wasn't involved in any way with the recruitment of these players. His record at Huddersfield was also abysmal but again he wasn't around for the summer recruitment and was sacked at the end of the Jan transfer window... I don't know what business they did during that window. Edit: He brought 4 players in during January, none of which have made many appearances so it suggests the new manager got a better tune out of the squad than Moore. He doesn't inspire during his interviews. He never seems to use subs to effect the game positively, although he doesn't seem to use them in a reactive way either as he never seems to react very quickly to opposition changes. I really don't know if he will come good given free reign over recruitment. 5 years is looking as silly as the 5 years they gave Clarke right now though isn't it. However, how the head of recruitment is still in position, is a bit of a mystery.

I haven't read the whole thread so apologies for that. If I put myself into Carols position right now, I would be really struggling emotionally and mentally. Carol had total trust in Dave Flitcroft and he has only been gone for a very short time. I would imagine there is some sort of grieving process she is going through. The video that was recorded of her in the Valiant Suite and then put online has effected her trust in how things are perceived. She will feel that everything she says will be used against her and that leaves her in a very isolated and difficult position when it comes to communication. It was very naïve of her to do what she did in front of paying fans, they are not trusted friends. However, publishing a video of somebody clearly distressed is a pretty awful thing to do and most of us would have been absolutely devastated by it. We feel like we do about the situation as fans, imagine having invested millions and ending up back at square one, how would you feel? Yes there is plenty that Carol herself has done wrong, not least trusting the former DoF, but even if it is her fault she is still a person who needs to come to terms with it all. I am prepared to give her next season. The Shanahan's have the very best interests of the club at heart, even if they are getting it wrong at the moment in various areas. Lets just remember that whilst its ok to criticise what's happened, its not ok to criticise Carol as a person. She probably needs more support right now than ever before.

That's fine but there was a small group last night who made there way to a prominent position so they could boo the players and give then some verbals... incredibly stupid at this point. We were completely outclassed last night by the best team I have seen us play this season. We already know we aren't very good. Everyone knows we aren't very good, including the players. However whilst we have a chance we have to support them.

I also clapped the players at the end and I am quite astounded at the mentality of some of our fans. I didn't clap because they were good, they weren't. I didn't clap because I was happy, I wasn't. I clapped because they are all we have and we need them on Saturday and giving them a round of verbals at this stage is staggeringly backwards. We still have a really good shot at staying in the league, we have just had 3 away games on the bounce and we are only in the relegation zone on goal difference. At the start of March I said if we are still in the hunt going into the last 4 games we have a great chance... If you want to boo them and tell them they are <ovf censored>, then please stay away for now because that ship sailed long ago. We have to back them unconditionally until we know our fate.

Just take a look around at other clubs and the ownership problems they have. Port Vale is not a club in danger due to rogue owners. Yes they have made some decisions that we haven't agreed with but they remain commited to the club and will ultimately stump up the money needed to right the wrongs should we be relegated.

Yesterday was a good day at Port Vale. David Flitcroft has overseen a disastrous 18 months on the pitch, failing in 3 transfer windows to adequately recruit and has now, finally, been held accountable. We have superb owners in the Shannahans and we should remember that. I have every confidence that without the influence of yesterday's man, they can now work with the fans and together we can go from strength to strength, together. The clubs CEO, Matt Hancock has been absolutely brilliant during the last few months of turmoil. He has met and spoken with countless fans and listened, sometimes whilst being lambasted. He has been absolutely pivotal in getting those voices heard at the very heart of the club. They knew we didn't want Flitcroft anymore but they didn't understand the depth of feeling. Matt worked tirelessly to ensure that message was delivered for us. We owe it to Matt to get behind any initiatives he has to improve communication and to engage fans. I know that some are still angry that the club let it get this far. However, let's draw a line under that now and try to move forward, even if we end up going backwards this season, we still have the opportunity to build it better going forward. UTV.

Whilst your words are very much appreciated, we have to acknowledge the role played by Matt Hancock. It's fair to say that he has had the brunt of alot of our frustration during the time he has engaged us and he has been absolutely instrumental in getting our voices heard at the very heart of the club. Without his patience and determination to listen to fans, I do not believe we would have had our chance to communicate the depth of feeling directly to Carol and Paddy. Now we just need to win a couple of games... UTV.

Yesterday saw Mal Benning playing against us and having a decent game. Nothing barn storming but steady. That highlights exactly why we are in this mess. Moving Mal on wasn't a problem, not replacing him with somebody better is. You can draw a list of players we have moved on since Jan 2023 and you won't find many have been upgraded on. We are here for one reason alone, recruitment or rather the failure of recruitment. To my mind, David Flitcroft is responsible for these things and has to carry the can.

I dont have much to add that Bede and Mellor haven't already said however I would like to say something about my own experience of Monday and the few days since. I am as guilty as anybody of bashing out my opinion on the Internet without any regard for the people I am talking about. Many people give the impression that they would love to have the opportunity to "put the owners right" on a few things. It was not pleasant seeing first hand just how much the situation is affecting Carol. I think we all forget sometimes that the people we lambast are just that, people. We often think its OK to scream all sorts of things into the Internet but it really isn't. I have had a very strange week, where I have seen people take a statement and add their own conotations to it and talk about them like they are fact. I have seen the absolute worst of people on all SM platforms, screaming all sorts of made up theories into the ether. I understand the clamour for detail and there was alot of debate behind the scenes over what, if anything we should say further. We have been under alot of pressure to get this right. One part of the official joint statement that seemed to attract alot of critism was the part about urging fans to put aside frustration to help give the players and management a boost. I will hold my hands up and say that I wrote that part and not the club. It was never meant to insinuate that fans hadn't been supportive and was only intended as it was written. It was simply asking people to but it on the back burner to deal with later whilst we try to slavage league one status. I felt that there was pertinence in acknowledging we are in a relegation battle and also in acknowledging there is fan frustration. I got that wrong, so please don't bash the club for my misjudgement. Some of the critism we faced was too much. As I have said, I have been massively guilty of this myself and after this week, I must be better in future because I now know first hand that things we say on the Internet do effect people personally. Meeting Carol under these circumstances has reassured me that the whole family are absolutely the right people to look after the best interests of the club. I have not changed my mind about David Flitcroft, I am still of the opinion that he cannot come back from this. I wanted to just calrify and apologise for my part in the statement and also to appeal to people to think a bit more before they sit at a keyboard. I can't see how we stay up but one thing I will say from Monday is that Carol and Paddy have an absolute belief in Darren Moore, so until the fat lady sings, I'll be crossing my fingers that we are still a league one side next season. I would say, let's get behind them on Saturday and see if we can't get 3 points to put us back in the race... but perhaps not.