Preston NE 3 Port Vale 2, FLT, post match comments

[Fosse69]

Belated comments after downtime. Popes return to the goals the only good news?

[Tosh]

How did Zubar play from fans who made the journey?

[Tenement Funster]

First half we were terrible again. We didn't seem comfortable with the system, there was a huge lack of movement across the park and we looked a bit shakey at the back. The goal came through a combination of errors with Zubar perhaps most at fault.

 

After the break though we settled and grew in strength without creating too much. Finally then Pope scores, our tails are up and for a short period I thought we may go on to win. Preston scored somewhat against the run of play then and it killed us going another goal down. The fight back seemed on with a few minutes to go but it would have been harsh on Preston whose keeper was relatively untroubled.

 

We don't look a comfortable side at the moment at either end of the pitch. We huff and puff and have spells in games where we look a very accomplished side, but then we'll not really do anything other than a bit of fancy passing and be untroubled. We don't actually create much in those spells of dominance. The Barnsley game sums that up as we played well but didn't go on to dominate scoreline wise. As we were coming out the ground I said in years gone by most Vale fans would agree on our best eleven... I think there would be a lot of divided opinion now.

 

Dodds deserves a prolonged run in the side, but where? In midfield he's useless, it's not his position. So in the hole? Well that makes sense on most fronts. He'd help out Lines and O'Connor a bit and that would be very beneficial if we brought Moore onto the right. Two wingers and then a 3 man midfield when defending but a 4-5 man attacking force. However we do sometimes lack pace through the middle. When Benji came on last night he immediately injected energy and it seemed to spur us on.

 

Defensively we have problems. Zubar did well and I think he could be an asset but individually I don't think we have bad players. The full backs are far from strong enough it seems at the moment but neither are as bad as some would make out. It doesn't help when they don't have a natural winger in front of them (Dodds / Birchall) as they get exposed. Their delivery also isn't up to scratch but that's full backs for you at this level.

 

Page has a few headaches and this side is too good to be in the bottom 4, however I think new faces may be needed to push on the old guard.

[keeled56]

Can't keep a clean sheet for love nor money, 3 shots on target in the last two games,we've definitely got a relegation battle on our hands that's for sure.The Page honeymoon is over and the rots setting in fast.....Page out!!!

[FATBOYSTEVE]

Can't keep a clean sheet for love nor money, 3 shots on target in the last two games,we've definitely got a relegation battle on our hands that's for sure.The Page honeymoon is over and the rots setting in fast.....Page out!!!

 

2 teams from the same league but entirely different ends of the table and it showed the season keeps going downhill

[valiant_593]

One positive from the game is that popey bagged two, hopefully ups his confidence a bit! Personally it's him and dodds up top for me on Saturday with Moore and Marshall down the flanks.

[wwindsor]

Yet again because of his commitment dicko gets away with it.

1st goal very slack marking by dicko.

2nd goal ball played into garner from their right.

3rd goal their right winger breezed past dicko to cross the ball.

How many more goals are we going to concede from our left back position.

Oh and yatesy did reasonably well against a very quick left winger.

Just my opinion of course.

[valiant_593]

It's always dicko, your right people seem to overlook it, he's comfortably our weakest player IMO.

[Bycarsbill]

Yet again because of his commitment dicko gets away with it.

1st goal very slack marking by dicko.

2nd goal ball played into garner from their right.

3rd goal their right winger breezed past dicko to cross the ball.

How many more goals are we going to concede from our left back position.

Oh and yatesy did reasonably well against a very quick left winger.

Just my opinion of course.

 

Despite his fantastic display on Saturday, Chris Neal was IMO also partly to blame (poor positioning) for their second and 3rd goals.

[Valiant62]

I think sides aren't having to work hard enough to get goals against us, Preston are decent, mind you.

I didn't think Zubar improved matters but you have to make allowances for his first match with new colleagues, I did think he showed decent pace which is something we can struggle for at times.

Hard to take motm away from Pope with two goals but I think Dodds edged him for me and Marshall had his usual good performance, we didn't feed him enough mind you.

Lines was giving the ball away too often for my liking, Brown's less spectacular but a bit more reliable and more likely to find the ball.

[davidatpreston]

Some rather harsh comments here - it's interesting to note that I heard a lot of north end fans saying we were a decent side, one of the better ones they had played and what a good match it was.

 

A great stadium these days, if only Vale park had seats with views like that - I attended with friends who are home fans so sat along the side, best view I've had at a game for a long while. Had a bit of trouble with steep steps as I am still not very mobile, and just to make the night complete slipped and fell after the match. Luckily just a few grazes and some people were very helpful, it was a classic as I got up feeling very self-conscious that one kind soul said 'Never mind, at least we won' (thinking I was a home fan). I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, but decided not to spoil what was intended to be a friendly remark.

It gave my North End companions no end of a laugh too, but it is interesting that they say they can't gloat yet as they think the next match against us (which is their next game, they don't play this weekend) will be difficult and they are not at all sure they will win it.

 

I agree that Vale were ineffective in the first half, seeming to pay PNE a little too much respect, and Marshall was wasted out wide. After the break he moved in a bit, and the subs improved the team too. Great to see Tom Pope back on the scoresheet.

 

I would say our problems were more in the middle in the opening half, and was pleased to see the substitutions made, it didn't seem to work well with Birchall, Lines, brown and Marshall and Dodds played well in spells but I wonder if we could have played the suspended Slew, or Williamson from the start, then maybe we could have been more of an attacking threat.

Not a bad effort overall though, away to the team that are favourites to win the thing, but now comes the most crucial match against Yeovil, a good win here would probably seal Page's bid to stay as manager, and get us out of the bottom four.

I also wouldn't bet on PNE beating Vale in the league match, the improvement after the break bodes well for the rematch back at deepdale on 18th October.

[sheffvale]

It's always dicko, your right people seem to overlook it, he's comfortably our weakest player IMO.

 

Correct, he is a liability.

[Valiant Haze]

If Birchall gets a start following last night, then there's hope for us all and I'll go find some old boots out of the shed! Overweight/unfit, unable to beat a man, guilty of giving away possession countless times and that's being polite.

[TylerB]

Preston are one of the best sides in League One, did anybody really expect us to turn up and win? That's not to say that was beyond the realms of possibility, but they are a good side and it was always going to be difficult away from home.

 

We competed and made a game of it. Sure, we let in goals yet again but against a good side that's going to happen. It's the goals conceded against poor teams like Crewe that really hurt. Pope got back on the score sheet and that should give him some confidence, so hopefully he can now start scoring in the league again which in turn will help us produce results that will see us slowly claw our way back up the table.

[Rudge's Flat Cap]

We don't actually create much in those spells of dominance.

 

The Crewe game is your best example here. Never have I see a side have a less fruitful period of domination. We dominated the whole second half, and created nothing.