Sat 11th Apr 2015, Port Vale v Milton Keynes, pre-match, the match itself.

[bookworm]

Will page grew glover be going to M K DON'S for tonight's game against Scunthorpe or will they rely on the D V D disc they will be sent after the game if they do go please sit in different parts of the ground so you can make notes then sit down together to analyse them to work out how best to beat both teams or is that to much trouble.

 

nah!, they'd get lost plus they've only got 1 pen between them,it's the one glover writes his instructions to page with.

[bookworm]

somethings afoot behind the scenes because im convinced the team for Rochdale was set up to lose.

[butt lane vale fan]

Relegation Rob will go:

 

----------------Boot--------------------

 

Neal----Daniel----Dickinson----Lloyd

 

----------Robertson----Duffy----------

 

---Birchall----Johnson----McGivern---

 

-------------Williamson----------------

 

 

**** me that's made me laugh mate. You really can't fault football for bringing out the dark humour at times.

[butt lane vale fan]

somethings afoot behind the scenes because im convinced the team for Rochdale was set up to lose.

 

Well Smurf has thought we will get bigger gates at the top end of L2 than mid table L1. Good lord we might even get the mystery striker if we get 8000 for a top of the table clash

[Cheltenham Valiant]

Regret yet another home defeat, I predict 1-3 with Pope scoring in the last few minutes of the match. Better select your favourite away ground (if any) for League 2 next season.....

[Bernie's evil]

This game has 0-4 or 0-5 to MKD all over it, Vale confidence must be at an all time low, first MKD goal and the Vale faithful will be on the players backs and that will be the end of that.

[paulvaliant]

My team would be :-

 

Neal

Veseli Robertson Collins/Duffy McGivern

Marshall Brown O'Connor Daniel

Campion Coulibaly

 

Useless Rob's team will read something like :-

 

Neal

Yates Veseli Duffy Dickinson

Birchall O'Sullivan O'Connor Marshall

Dodds Williamson

 

Need to get at them with pace which is why I would bring in Daniel and Coulibaly for Birchall and Dodds. And the only reason I would go with Robbo and Collins at the back is for their height at set-plays 'cause they will be the only threats.

[newchapel valiant]

Neal

 

Veseli Robertson Mcgiven

 

Brown

 

Marshall oconner Dodds Couably

 

Pope Campion

[bookworm]

if we play the whole squad I can't see us getting any joy .

[valefan16]

I'd take a point!! Imagine well set up to try and get a 0-0 although after being negative against Colchester, Dale, Crewe he will probably go all out attack here!

[DaneValiant]

I just beg that he tries a different line up and some different style of play. "if at first you don't succeed, try exactly the same thing against relegation fodder each week and maybe something will change somehow".

 

We can't defend for love or money so why sit back and invite pressure onto ourselves? Since Page seems hell-bent on playing Pope and Williamson no matter what, why not play to their strengths?

 

Williamson seems to be at his best running at defences (and hopefully passing it instead of shooting) and Pope gets his goals off headers, so why does the entire team drift forwards while we try and walk it into a packed penalty area and pass it along the ground - neither of which suits Pope or Williamson, the ball gets tangled up in somebody's feet and the opposition break away and usually score.

 

Why not send through balls over the top to Williamson, or put high crosses into the box instead of the usual Marshall/Yates/Marshall/Yates/Marshall/run into box/Williamson loses it or scuffs it straight at the keeper.

[smithie]

Why not send through balls over the top to Williamson,

 

Because it gets us nowhere!!

[Warren]

We need to play with the intensity shown in the last 10 minutes against Colchester. I feel most people have had enough of the build up through midfield which is supposedly a good way to play and reach higher levels. But it isn't because our midfield takes too many touches and goes side to side. Then we finally get the ball in to a crossing position there are insufficient potential scorers in the box or they don't have the presence required. At the back and defensive midfield we make too many mistakes and the carelessness of this is really annoying because it's avoidable. We have got to be more intense and not this sterile, slow, boring team that in the ends loses by mistakes.

[Santa]

MK 2-0 up in the first five minutes v Scunny. Hopefully they're getting that out of their system before they play us.

[Biddulph_PV]

I think we have to persevere with a 4-5-1/4-3-3 combo otherwise if they start running at us from deep we'll really be in the brown stuff. I never thought I'd say this, but I would be tempted to put Birchall, in the absence of any other alternative, alongside Brown as two sitting midfielders, with Dodds or O'Connor in front, and have Marshall and Coulibaly on the flanks cutting in and supporting Campion or possibly even Daniel up front.

 

I think it is important we try and stamp our authority on the game from the off and basically make life as uncomfortable as possible for them and not let the game settle into the usual pattern of us huffing and puffing but getting picked off.

 

I'd also like to see a bit of work on set pieces, especially corners. These are truly infuriating, not only our startling inability to defend them but also the complete lack of threat in an attacking sense in either failing to be the first man or missing out the keeper.

 

That said, I'm still expecting a 0-2 defeat and more hard luck stories.