Pope to Donnie?

[beasty77]

Neal, Innis, OConnor and Pope should be our Spine for next season, and build around them..

[Lyrical Tea]

Pope would be a great loss.

It strikes me as odd that people think we'll play better football without him. Do we have the personnel to do so? I know it's only 45 minutes of a game and therefore not entirely indicative of our capabilities, but think about the first half against Preston. Pope wasn't playing but we certainly persisted in lumping it up. It was often the case that we only managed about three or four passes before having to hoof it because the necessary movement and confidence wasn't there.

He remains a game changer and given that we're not ripping the squad apart and starting again, he's a lynchpin.

[Trentham Lakes Valiant]

Popey, imho, hasn't been fully fit all season. Will he ever be again? Might be best for all concerned.

[Rampant Zebra]

Doncaster obvioulsy think so

[Family Stand Terrier]

To be clear, the story says Tom is in talks with Doncaster, not that he has signed for them. I would assume he is also in talks with Vale. I would hope to god that the latter prove more fruitful than the fomer because if we are to operate on a reduced budget next season, Tom Pope is the sort of player we will struggle to do without. And to those who think we will do fine without him, remember, a prophet is often without honour in his own land - we take our own for granted and crave something new. Remember Rudgie! Sometimes you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone!

 

This.

 

I can't believe how naive some people on here are. It's as though every pre-season they forget how contract negotiations take place. Player is offered a new deal, player talks to other clubs, players agent gets better offers, player and agent go back to the club to show what player can get elsewhere.

 

Remember Marc Richards when he was in talks with Cheltenham? It's all part of negotiation, yet some people have already packed him off to Doncaster. Pope is IN TALKS with Doncaster, no more, no less.

 

In his sentinel article at the weekend he pretty much said as much would happen. He'll look at the offer, then come back to negotiate. This is all simply part of that process.

 

I'd be very surprised if he left us.

[valiant_593]

I don't see why it would relate to O'Connor and Marshall do long as we offered them good money and longer terms as they have muted.

 

The key thing is we sign those two and if Pope does leave replace him with a more regular goal scorer.

 

Since his sensational season he has been on a gradual decline and maybe it is an opportunity for him to seek a new challenge and for us to progress with other players.

 

Completely agree

[Trampilot]

I quite agree with above... in talks is just that.

 

A month or so ago a recruitment person contacted me through Linkedin and wanted to offer me a position. I called them. We TALKED. But it wasn't me for. I am very happy where I work but am always open to new opportunities.

 

I'd but more worried if he'd decided to train with them over the summer!

[Jinkin John Jeffers]

Retract the offers made to Lloyd Williamson and birchall and use this money to negotiate with Tom.

[cheshirevaliant]

Retract the offers made to Lloyd Williamson and birchall and use this money to negotiate with Tom.

 

Why? There is £400k to play with even if they all accept their contract offers, which it sounds like they won't. Use some of that if that is what RP decides to do.

[valeparklife]

The grass isn't always greener, regardless of a bigger wage packet. Just ask Jennison Myrie-Williams.

[valiant_593]

Why? There is £400k to play with even if they all accept their contract offers, which it sounds like they won't. Use some of that if that is what RP decides to do.

 

What calibre of player do you want us to sign? Keeping pope shouldn't affect the rest of the signings.

[Tiny p]

Tom played in games he should not have last season due to niggling injuries if he has a full pre season he is well worth keeping and in my opinion well worth paying the same wage as he is on now as it could be the differance between been in the top half with gates of 5500 or near the bottom with gates of 4500 but this is MY opinion only so Tom has KLF song goes " Please Don't go " .

[bookworm]

It makes you wonder why we couldnt use the money saved by not making derogatory offers to players we dont want to up the offer.... or attract someone else

 

Thanks to Page we are stuck with what we've got and you can't blame any player for trying to get the best deal possible,the tale of ,(we know how vale play,they just lump it up to popey) might be over but the club will survive and there are some very handy forwards being released so we shall see.I still think Page is deluded and talks out of his ****** but the hysteria has all but died down so all we can do is wait and see how his grand plan unfolds.

[cheshirevaliant]

What calibre of player do you want us to sign? Keeping pope shouldn't affect the rest of the signings.

 

I've no idea, as I've no idea how much money will be left once all our current players have decided. Now Page is full time manager, I'm happy to wait and see as long as it is his decision. Ultimately, he will be the one who stands and falls by who he signs this summer.

[valiant_593]

What calibre of player do you want us to sign? Keeping pope shouldn't affect the rest of the signings.

 

Ok so minus 2 for saying that keeping pope shouldn't affect our transfer budget. What planet are people on. Pope should stay but only if the money is correct for vale , we can't go out offering him loads and then ending up having almost nothing left for signings. Pope struggled all season and although I want him to sign we certainly shouldn't break the bank to do so. I do think releasing the likes of Lloyd birchall and Williamson would have been wise to contribute to keeping a few of the key players but it's madness to use what little budget we have left on one player.