Contract Offers, Deadlines & Leadership

[JRC]

Barry,unless I'm going senile Page was offered the job on the understanding that the players at the club weren't his players and so he wanted to assemble his own team keeping within the limits of the budget so immediately he retained all the players who we all thought would be released,thats the reason I still think it's a false premis but Page lives or dies by his own hand so to speak as football managers are like any other close knit group so if he cocks it up he will be virtually unemployable, what is going on in his mind is open to speculation as nothing said or done by him makes any sense whatsoever, if I'm wrong then good for the man, and if I'm right i'll be on a downer like everyone else.

 

I don't believe Page didn't agree the retained list without Surthwaite's approval. Like most fans I was/am a little disappointed with it. However I have read all Page's comments and he did say he intended to bring in 5 additional quality players. I think Smurf and Page must also have planned on losing Pope, Smurf was always openly unhappy about his last contract and as he became the best paid player at the club even when Hughes was here (we took over his Notts County contract which was allegedly over 5 grand a week) that contract must have been for a lot of money. They must also have known Marshall and O'Connor were likely to prefer a location closer to home, I don't know Marshall's family circumstances but O'Connor's wife doesn't want to move and his kids are in school so its fair enough that he would take a job closer to home if offered. Marshall is 29 so as a winger probably only has one more contract in him and I can also understand him wanting to be closer to home if possible. Worst case scenario that leaves us needing to bring in 8 new players over the next month (probably 9 as I guess we would let Lines go if he can find a replacement).

If you look at match day squad of 18 and allowing for injuries we need a squad of around 22 - 24. My rereading of what Page said is that he has offered fringe players terms to be .... fringe players. I think there is an acceptance that the likes of Williamson, Birchall or Yates may move on as they have clearly not been offered life changing contracts, but he would rather have fringe players about who he knows strengths and weakness rather than having to pull in an additional 4 or 5 players on low wages about who he knows very little when he was already looking to bed in 5 to 8 players. I'm not wholly sure I would have done it but I can see the logic to it as trying to bed 13 new players in, make sure they are settled in the area etc would be a big ask for a club the size of Vale. Page will be judged on who starts in August and how well he establishes his team over the first few months of next season. Of the present squad the likely starters are Neal, one of 3 left backs and Moore. Dodds would at least be on the bench, as will one of Johnson or Boot and McGovern or Dicko if they aren't starting, probably Duffy as well as he can cover rightback, centrehalf and at a push defensive midfield. Apart from that I think its currently anyone guess.

[bookworm]

I don't think page on his own has the gonads to manage, probably with bodin who has a wealth of experience in higher divisions he'll get by,i hope so as his failure would see the club back in league 2 and struggling .

[TheSage]

Blimey, fair chunk of text for my old eyes to read, JRC!

But you are right I think.

 

What a lot need to understand is that there is a difference between the first XI and squad players. Many of the names banded about on here would be squad players, because, as you rightly say, we have been told that 5 new ones will be first teamers, and if you add the possibility of up to 4 more going (TP, CL, MO & MM) that is the majority of the first XI.

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Dodds and Dicko along with Neal and Moore in our team come August, but that's only 4 players out of 11, so a lot needs to be done before then to attract the right players and create a collective team.

[JRC]

Blimey, fair chunk of text for my old eyes to read, JRC!

But you are right I think.

 

What a lot need to understand is that there is a difference between the first XI and squad players. Many of the names banded about on here would be squad players, because, as you rightly say, we have been told that 5 new ones will be first teamers, and if you add the possibility of up to 4 more going (TP, CL, MO & MM) that is the majority of the first XI.

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Dodds and Dicko along with Neal and Moore in our team come August, but that's only 4 players out of 11, so a lot needs to be done before then to attract the right players and create a collective team.

 

Amazing what you can write when you're bored at work with nothing to do. I think Dicko and Dodds are OK with the right players alongside. If we sign one or two relatively quick centrehalves I'm happy with Dicko and I'm happy with Dodds in the hole behind a striker, although he does need to improve the number of goals he scores in that position to make it his own.