Retained list?.

[carpetman123]

As Norman has stated though they all have been offered a contract of sorts and probably quite a few will not sign looking for a better deal elsewhere just hope its the lower contract players that wont sign and move on!!

 

Its a cowards way of going about it in my eyes and could bite you on the bum if they accept and the higher earners also decide to move on

 

What Page sees in training and on the pitch is obviously a different player to what the fans see!!! we all cant be wrong!!

[geosname]

Hi

I am not blaming the fans but were do l draw the line

i crave the success that you do

Having agreed 200k with MA it then went to 700k

Without that addition there would be no OConnor or Marshall and some not worth stating

l cannot keep spending hoping there will be a response

So this season will be different as stated

 

Purely from a personal perspective.....

I wouldnt want you to just throw money at the Vale, I appreciate it may be a temptation but it wont solve the problem but living within a reasonable budget is by far the better option... some fans just see success or failure without knowing of the consequences of either.

I have no problem with the season being different from a financial perspective but I hope its different from an entertainment perspective, I believe you hope the same too.

Most fans want hope, something tomorrow, maybe this season. Even in failure they will cling to that and come like Lazarus from the grave to see the team rise again.

 

PS... I think my reputation is getting damaged agreeing with you :)

[PureVale]

Those talks never ended when Ryan went back

I am going to last home game at CP as guest of Chairman to discuss terms

 

If we were to succeed in getting Ryan Inniss back that would be fantastic.

 

I think most fans would much rather see a smaller squad (with some of the fringe players who are never going to improve, move on to other clubs) which has a bit more quality than a larger squad with hangers on.

 

The thing I take heart from on these message boards is the passion of all those involved. Yes, we may have differing views on how to see the club progress - but none the less the passion is clearly there. We just need to channel it.

 

Smaller squad with better quality please.

[kevin_struggles]

Purely from a personal perspective.....

I wouldnt want you to just throw money at the Vale, I appreciate it may be a temptation but it wont solve the problem but living within a reasonable budget is by far the better option... some fans just see success or failure without knowing of the consequences of either.

I have no problem with the season being different from a financial perspective but I hope its different from an entertainment perspective, I believe you hope the same too.

Most fans want hope, something tomorrow, maybe this season. Even in failure they will cling to that and come like Lazarus from the grave to see the team rise again.

 

PS... I think my reputation is getting damaged agreeing with you :)

 

What reputation? :D

[kevin_struggles]

Hi

I am not blaming the fans but were do l draw the line

i crave the success that you do

Having agreed 200k with MA it then went to 700k

Without that addition there would be no OConnor or Marshall and some not worth stating

l cannot keep spending hoping there will be a response

So this season will be different as stated

 

Thats all fair enough Smurf and I respect that.

 

However, an inexperienced manager with a reduced budget is a gamble in my opinion.

 

To get the fans back we need a spark. That could be either a big cup game ending successfully, a believable promotion push (being honest none of us were covinced last season because we knew we were in a false position) or a major signal from you that we are going for it. It could be many things but wahtever we need that spark from somehwere.

 

Can Page deliver? lets see.

[geosname]

What reputation? :D

 

:cry:..................

[PV1993]

I have no problem with Smurf balancing the books by reducing big money terms to, for example, Tom Pope. I for one wouldn't want to see us live beyond our means. So I think I'd rather see him invest more money when we were pushing for promotion then at the start of the season where, as we saw last year, it might be wasted on crap.

 

My only worry is the fact that a lot of the budget so far is used on the old guard that are crap.

 

Smurf: the 400k that you allocated was left, does this include getting new coaching staff or is that separate? And, if it is separate, seens as there is so much left, from only effectively releasing two players that you were paying + reducing Popey's contract, does this mean other players (i.e. Birchall, Willo etc.) have been offered less too?

[kevin_struggles]

:cry:..................

 

Only joking Geo save the tears, you may need them later in the season

[geosname]

Only joking Geo

 

:woot:

[JRC]

My gut reaction is oh my god ... too many squad players you wouldn't feel unhappy being in the team covering for injuries but not enough quality for the starting 11. On reflection I do feel that 5 decent quality players added to the current squad and we would have been pushing for the playoffs. The comparison with Fleetwood is spurious as they are making wholesale changes to trim their wage bill. We don't know what wages the like of Birchall and Yates have been offered. Worried in many ways but wouldn't pass judgement until the end of August.

[melv]

Those talks never ended when Ryan went back

I am going to last home game at CP as guest of Chairman to discuss terms

 

Nice one.

[Rich Farrell]

Norman, I don't think it matters whether he is asking you as either a fan or the chairman, ultimately, there are no positives in the retained list regardless of the hat you have on.

 

As a fan, would you be happy to see all but one member of the first team squad from last season retained? A squad that in one period lost six games in a row and in another period, won one in 11 matches. Over 17 matches cumulatively, the fans witnessed one win. One win, in 17 games, more than a third of the season. At home, we were treated to 8 wins in 23 games.

 

We now have the same squad more or less signed up. Look at the stats, will fans want to witness again next year what they have this season? Football fans are expectant, and sometimes unrealistically so, but I don't expect you to go out and spend £1m on a player, I don't expect automatic promotion, I don't really expect to be in a play-off position; we have no divine right to any of the aforementioned but, there is one thing a football fan does need, one thing that being a football fan is built on; hope!

 

Whilst we can't expect, we can hope. We can hope we wont end up in a relegation battle, we can hope for a top ten finish, we can even hope (realistically if the budget is to be believed in the top 6 in the league) to flirt with the play-offs. Any hope however, on my part at least, has been extinguished by the retained list. How can I hope that any of the above can happen with the squad of players signed up almost relegated the club and exposed us to the dismal football we saw last season? How can I have hope when the manager appears to believe in this squad? How can I have hope when we lead to believe there would be changes, and ultimately, there haven't been? The answer is I have no hope, and with no hope there is no passion, and without passion no inclination to go to matches.

 

Now, look at it with you Chairman hat on. Yes, the make up of the squad may save you money initially, but long term it's economic suicide. The lifeline for lower league clubs in pre-season is season ticket sales. Taking what I've said about what being a fan is about, above, how many season tickets do you expect to sell over the coming month? My money is on a lot less than last season. And once the early bird deal expires, that will be it for a lot of people. Yes, they might pay on the gate, but you've seen first hand yourself this season (and commented on) the attendances; we don't have a lot of walk ups.

 

So what happens next? You lose income from season ticket sales, this will lead I presume to a reduced playing budget and the chances of signing players to excite fans reduces. With a squad proven to have failed at this level, the performances next season won't be any better. We'll flirt with relegation, crowds will decrease, so will income (not just gate receipts but the extras they introduce, food/merchandise etc) and before you no it, we'll be back in League 2. And that's just after year one of Pages contract. It then becomes a vicious circle, less fans --> less income --> poorer squad, and it's hard to stop the rot.

 

That all may sound negative, I appreciate that, but that is how the announcement of the retained list made me feel this morning. The problem for you is that I don't think I'm alone in feeling like this. Not just on here, but have a look at twitter, facebook etc there are a lot of fans saying the same sort of thing.

 

How you reverse this, I don't know, but I hope you can.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. The retained list fills me with dread.

[billbee33]

Those talks never ended when Ryan went back

I am going to last home game at CP as guest of Chairman to discuss terms

 

Norman, I for one hope you can get him, I'm all for young hungry players, getting first team football with our great club, having said that, we have got some cracking young players of our own, that need to be given a chance, we have a excellent prospect in Birgin centre back, just the type of player we are looking for, so why are we looking to other clubs, to lend us there youngsters.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Norman, I for one hope you can get him, I'm all for young hungry players, getting first team football with our great club, having said that, we have got some cracking young players of our own, that need to be given a chance, we have a excellent prospect in Birgin centre back, just the type of player we are looking for, so why are we looking to other clubs, to lend us there youngsters.

 

Because we need players who are ready now, imagine if we threw these kids in and they failed like Lawrie, Glover, Davidson, Prosser, Anyon, Martin et al did, they would get crucified.

[aspins-revenge]

In all reality, probably only about one-half of the retained list will sign, as a result of better offers elsewhere or moves for family reasons etc.

 

The ones that stay will be on relatively low wages in League One terms.

 

To this end, I would expect an additional seven or eight new players in over the summer.

 

It's way too early for all this depression at this stage of the new season.

 

Personally, I like to save my depression until at least 15 minutes before kick off of the first game, when I get to watch Ben Williamson rifle several warm up shots into the Bycars, see Chris Birchall sweating like a fat man in a cake shop after some shuttle sprints, and realise the Railway Stand tea bar has run out of food and drink.