Alan Vit

DazFred, We can begin to judge sensibly next season, when Darren and his staff have had the chance to bring in and work with their own choice of players.

Get theself darn there, youth. 🙂

If you look back to the posts which started this discussion, I said - “The best guess I can come up with, based on various unofficial sources on the net, is that Vale's budget comes in around 18th-19th of the 24 clubs in this season's EFL 1. So, if that is accurate, then by definition it would be a League 1 budget.” It’s just guesswork for the purpose of discussing whether or not Vale had a “League 1 budget” for this season. (Spoiler alert - They did. 🙂) But I think it likely that Mike Baggaley’s assessment has its basis in official club information, even if provided off the record.

WV valeparklife posted Mike Baggaley’s Valiant piece a couple of posts after you asked. Here’s another one - /static/images/photos/capology-social-league-one.jpg 2023-2024 League One Payrolls WWW.CAPOLOGY.COM There are more sites which reckon to know, if you search.

Spot on. I still think back fondly to players like David Healy and Chris Killen and earlier still Neville Southall who graced the Vale shirt on loan.

You are not correct about Uche - he would not have come to Vale for a contract that wasn't above £100K p.a. And you seem to be mixing up two different things. 1. The standard of the players who were signed to make up the squad - on this we are agreed; a number of them weren't good enough and got us relegated, when even a fractionally better performance overall would have kept us up, in a season when the safety mark was low. 2. The budget for the players who were signed to make up the squad - on this we are not agreed; neither of us knows the actual budget figure, or how it compares to other clubs in League 1. The best guess I can come up with, based on various unofficial sources on the net, is that Vale's budget comes in around 18th-19th of the 24 clubs in this season's EFL 1. So, if that is accurate, then by definition it would be a League 1 budget.

TJH, You have previously claimed this about the budget, and previously been unable to provide any evidence for your claim when challenged. After the squad had already been put together for the start of this League 1 season, the boat was pushed out further last October to sign Uche Ikpeazu. I'm not arguing about the standard of achievement of the squad which was assembled but, with respect, I think you are mistaken to claim that a League 2 budget was provided when it was clearly a League 1 budget.

@Doha this is a thread about next season, 2024-2025. If Darren and his staff do as expected in signings for next season, then there will be new strikers leading the line. But Ryan Loft will, on the balance of probability, still be a paid member of the squad throughout the season. So it makes financial and sporting sense, in the context of a 55-game season, to make the most of what Loft can contribute, as and when necessary due to squad rotation and injury.

There's already a need for two new senior strikers to add to the squad at significant cost, more than £200K p.a. (plus any transfer fees). You're suggesting spending a further £100K+ to pay up an existing striker. And then spending a further £100K+ wages (plus any transfer fee) to sign a third new striker. Not a sensible use of a finite budget when other areas of the squad are also in need of renewing.

Agreed. Ryan Loft is in contract for another season and will in all probability be here throughout next season. Whatever other failings he may have, he never gave less than 100% commitment while on the pitch. I'm looking forward to seeing what a long close-season of working with Lee Bradbury on his technical skills and awareness, followed by playing against League 2 standard defences, may do for Loft's confidence and goal return.

True. On the other hand, hopefully winning a lot more games and competing in the top half of the table should be a lot more entertaining than this season's fare has been.

OK, Brian, your standards are clear to see.

@Brian Johnson In fact, it’s not even necessary to be hypothetical about would-be owners of football clubs being self-serving low-lifes. Take an hour and do some reading about the actions of some people who, in the last 30 years or so, actually managed to take over some clubs. Here are some club names to get you started - Rochdale Blackpool Mansfield Crystal Palace Bury Wigan Coventry Hartlepool Cardiff Portsmouth Chester Wrexham

By applying common sense analysis to the facts. Firstly, a would-be owner has to have wealth of at least £10 million or so in order to be able to put in an offer to buy and then run the club. Secondly, that owner has to be prepared to take on a loss-making business which they will have to subsidise to the tune of £1 million or more each year. Such people who would do so for genuine reasons of wanting to build up the club are very rare. That doesn’t mean that none at all exist, for instance Ian Donaldson the insurance bloke always comes across as very genuine, if Carol and he ever in future come to any sort of working agreement. But they are the exception rather than the rule. So back to my original point, we are very lucky to have someone genuine like Carol owning our club.

Brian, your exact words - “Also, you can not make a statement like "I don't see many people banging on the door to buy this place" why would you? Are you the owner or CEO of Port Vale? No, of course you are not. So you will not have any knowledge if anybody wants to buy or invest in the football club.” I don’t misquote people, instead I always try to debate honestly. That’s a direct quote of what you said - the owner or CEO would know about any interest in buying the club but would not share that knowledge with the supporters. I also don’t direct abuse at fellow Vale supporters, as you are very given to doing. You have already had my answer to your latest attack - I have never worked at the club and never will, because I work elsewhere. I have also never met any of the Shanahans or Matt Hancock or anyone else on the board or management of the club. I’d be obliged if you would accept those facts.