Port Vale 3 - Shrewsbury 1 Post Match Discussions

[Bert Llewellyn]

Ben Williamson also deserves credit and played very well today . I would have brought on hugill for pope and kept willo on.

 

I wouldn't!

[mickyferns]

Crewe will be bricking it for next week, derby games can throw anything up though. Gutted I havent got a ticket, I reckon Crewe should find a way of issuing more tickets, they need the money I reckon!

[Angel of Burslem]

Excellent first half, best of the season so far. Second half we didnt know whether to stick or twist and did neither, hence allowing Shrewsbury the impetus to get back into the game.

Performances of note were Robertson, Duffy, Lines and Williamson. I am a Griff fan but thought he was very poor today. Too far forward and a quick pass easily bypassed him and made him ineffective. Popes general play good but missed two sitters.

All in all a good day. Up the Vale!

[soothsayer]

My ratings:

 

Neal 7

Yates 7

Dickinson 7

Robertson 9

Duffy 8

Loft 8

Lines 9

Griffith 5

Myrie-Williams 8

Pope 7

Williamson 6

 

Subs

 

Birchall 6

Hugill 7

 

How you can give Griff 5 is beyond me - bar one misplaced pass in the 1st half he hardly put a foot wrong. He won more tackles. & won more headers than the rest of our midfield put together.

I know football is a game of opinions but you really need to open your eyes and appreciate who wins most of the 50:50's and does most the closing down and tracking back!!!

[For Us All]

Really enjoyed todays game which was a really open affair.The 3rd goal is always a game changer when one team is winning 2-0 and so it proved,the Shrews had us hanging on towards the end however Hugill's goal sealed a deserved win.Brilliant goal from JMW and special mention to Robertson,Lines,Duffy and Loft who were all outstanding imo.

Onwards and upwards.

[mitchpvfc]

16 games into the season now and i think its fair to say, our side is looking the best it has for years and easily capable of a mid table finish. Whenever we lose, there seems to be a huge amount of negativity but we are never going to win every week and every vale fan should know that. Today for me has really showed what a good side we are and how we could improve to push on even further.

 

On the game itself, the first half we dominated and could of scored 4 or 5 after we created numerous chances to there 1 all half. Robbos goal was typical of our style of play which is to deliver crosses and get on the end of them which the lad ultimately did from a peach of a cross from Lines. And as for Jenos goal, well that was sublime. I also would prefer to see him on the left but when he can produce that on the right, you can see why Micky has a hard decision to make on him...

 

Second half, we started slow as we usually do and gave them too much space in the middle of the park and they exploited that to get there goal. Griff, although he was decent first half was sloppy in possession and was actually too far up the pitch at one stage. He has to play though to allow Lines to venture further forward and provide the creative spark in our team. However, the last 15 minutes or so were end to end and our attacking quality showed with Hugill calmly tucking away his goal. How Popey missed that header before that i will never know either.

 

Overall, every player did there jobs today but Duffy, Robertson, Loft and especially Lines were outstanding! Dicko had a good game also but was caught out of position a few times and Williamson deserves a mention as he gave their centre halves a torrid time with his pace and power.

 

Onto Crwho next then and i for one cant wait!

[Vital Spark]

Smurf needs to get Lines signed on a longer deal, because he could and probably will leave in June. He's class!

 

We'll done to everyone today, great game.

 

26th minute tribute was superb.

 

Floodlights need some attention, the Bycars side of the pitch was seriously gloomy today.

[saintvaliant]

Agree with most on Griff, woeful again. League 1 is certainly a step too far. Pope was little better mind and missed an absolute sitter.

 

Other than that the performance was fine. 2nd half a bit sloppy but still had relatively little to do at the back.

[cheeky]

Well, that was a game of 2 halves (I'm sure I've said that before this season).

 

First half we had them on the ropes, and they looked there for the taking. Lines pass for JMW's goal was sublime, turning defence into attack within the blink of an eye and I really am running out of superlatives for him.

 

Second half we just seemed to sit back and invite pressure, even when we cleared the ball we didn't seem to push out and I did think we were going to throw it away at some point. Nevertheless, Hugill allowed us to breathe more easily with a great finish. Lines was my MOTM, followed by Loft and Dickinson. Duffy played well at centre back and I thought Williamson was unlucky to be subbed.

 

Turning to Griff, I've never been a huge fan, but I have tried to be fair when assessing his performances this season and praising him when he's played well; but those good performances have been few and far between and I just don't think he is good enough. You can't fault his effort and commitment, that's not in doubt, but he spends too much time on his backside.

 

On a side note, we have an abundance of strikers now. Hughesy doesn't get a lot of game time anyway, and I suspect he may well fall further down the pecking order with Hugill making an impact. If Hughes is to be relegated to a bit part player, would it be sensible to free up his wage for someone to partner Lines? Don't get me wrong, I love Hughesy but if he isn't going to play, is it worth having a £3k weekly wage on the bench when we're short in other areas?

[fairportnick]

How you can give Griff 5 is beyond me - bar one misplaced pass in the 1st half he hardly put a foot wrong. He won more tackles. & won more headers than the rest of our midfield put together.

I know football is a game of opinions but you really need to open your eyes and appreciate who wins most of the 50:50's and does most the closing down and tracking back!!!

 

Specsavers for you sir. I have never never ever in my life seen someone miss so many tackles. One day he will catch one of the shadows he keeps chasing .

[Bluedevil]

How you can give Griff 5 is beyond me - bar one misplaced pass in the 1st half he hardly put a foot wrong. He won more tackles. & won more headers than the rest of our midfield put together.

I know football is a game of opinions but you really need to open your eyes and appreciate who wins most of the 50:50's and does most the closing down and tracking back!!!

 

He let his man control the ball and turn completely unchallenged which started the move for their goal. He's a liability with the ball at his feet, and doesn't seem to tackle as much as he used too, so what's the point of his inclusion. We need a better player than Griff to support Lines.

[mbycars]

Very good display from the boys 1st half we could have been 4 or 5 up. 2nd half they were better but we still had several good chances to put them out of sight. Good all round performance and lots of positives all over the pitch.

[old sage]

Question for Old Sage: would JMW have scored that goal had he have been played on his "natural side"? ;)

 

Cracking game. Some top notch performances today. Thought Duffy was superb at centre half.

 

Biggest disappointment for me was Griff. Though he was poor and has been poor for a few weeks now. To say he needs to be dropped is easy. To suggest who to replace him with, as a tough tackling centre midfielder, is not so easy.

George it actually made little difference which wing he was on because he was virtually in the middle of the pitch when he got the pass. That said it was a superb strike but that apart I wasn't very impressed with him on either flank today.

A question for you then Georgey would JMW have scored his goal on Monday had he been on the right wing? It's all swings and roundabouts isn't it. I just wish he would get more crosses in which he never will I'm afraid on the right wing.

Why do I feel I waste my breath?

[Hagrid]

A good win against a poor Shrewsbury team.

 

The game should have been over by half time, and I was disappointed to see them get back into the game for 15-20 mins but they didn't have many clear-cut chances, and that is down to our central defence, who I thought were outstanding today. I still think we've never seen the best of Duffy as he is naturally a centre half and today that was proved, him and Robbo were very solid. Yates and Dicko their usual steady selves, although I was a bit concerned at the amount of space they were getting down our left late on in the game.

 

Lines requires no comments. His ball in for Robbo's goal was perfect. Griff was poor. Myrie scored a fantastic goal, and that'll do for me. Loft was everywhere (as he always is) but I felt a bit let down by his final ball.

 

Pope worked but was a bit pedestrian, Willo didn't give them a moment's peace but didn't create much. Hugill looks a star, quality touch and finish for his goal.

 

All in all, a lot of positives, notably that we look stronger at home this year, and the defence looked good today.

 

We should batter Crewe, but then derby games always throw up surprises. I'll go 2-1 Vale.

[old sage]

 

Great goal by JMW but thought he was poor apart from that, I would rather see good quality balls into the box game in game out as opposed to a goal like that every 10 games.

 

I love you Lefty:wub: Finally someone noticing what I have been droning on about for one and a half seasons.