Casual Fan - shocked

[tobert1985]

Here to be shot at that I know, I am nothing more than a causal fan who attended Vale on Saturday and have to say I was shocked by a few things from my last visit.

 

1. The level of performance from the Players (no longer look hungry)

2. The style of play seems to have gone

3. The crowd and atmosphere was the worst I have ever known

 

Some things that remain

 

1. Clueless uninspired subs at times where the effect on the match will be nil

2. A manager who needs to be bolder and braver when chasing a win

3. seemingly playing to draw

 

On the evidence in front of me I feel it may be a long time before i go again, are the Vale now fair weather players, do the crowd no longer want to inspire the team and would the last person to care shut the door...... I know circumstances are not great but the product for me has gone rapidly stale lets hope Wallsall don't like the wet and cold as much as us.

[valiant_593]

Crowd and atmosphere were certainly justified given the weeks events IMO.

[old sage]

The leadership at the club is abysmal and so the fans morale is on the floor. Supporters need to be given hope and the current owner quite simply could write on the back of a fag packet what he knows about running a half decent football club. I just hope he has a shred of decency and offers the club to any potential purchaser at a realistic price but I aren't at all confident about this because as most regulars know I aren't a lover of Mr Smurthwaite and haven't been one for a long time now.

[tonyh]

The football this season has been light years ahead of recent seasons.

Personally, I think we play more fluently with Foley and Grant in the middle, but the manager clearly disagrees.

As is frequently said on MOTD the strikers need to be closer together. Too frequently, we have one up front with no support. Very few players, Birchall excepted, make any effort to burst into the box from deep.

Some of the crosses on Saturday were begging for someone like Pope, but we had no-one on the end of them.

[whotobeakiller]

The leadership at the club is abysmal and so the fans morale is on the floor. Supporters need to be given hope and the current owner quite simply could write on the back of a fag packet what he knows about running a half decent football club. I just hope he has a shred of decency and offers the club to any potential purchaser at a realistic price but I aren't at all confident about this because as most regulars know I aren't a lover of Mr Smurthwaite and haven't been one for a long time now.

 

Just remember it was NS that was instrumental in bringing players that have propelled Vale into a top half of the table side...that is decent progress whether you like it or not. Can you say the same about the previous bunch of misfits??

 

Norman Smurfwaite has a love hate relationship with the fans...As did Bill Bell and Bratt before him. The leadership could be better...but NS tries his best but at the end of the day he has to run the football club like a business

[old sage]

Just remember it was NS that was instrumental in bringing players that have propelled Vale into a top half of the table side...that is decent progress whether you like it or not. Can you say the same about the previous bunch of misfits??

 

Norman Smurfwaite has a love hate relationship with the fans...As did Bill Bell and Bratt before him. The leadership could be better...but NS tries his best but at the end of the day he has to run the football club like a business

He is running it so well that the fans are deserting at an alarming rate.

[robf]

3. seemingly playing to draw

 

I think that's a bit harsh. O'Connor's free kick hit the bar and McGivern had a piledriver saved. Both of which came from a period of sustained pressure. It wasn't quite "throw caution to the wind" but to me it looked like Vale wanted to win it.

 

I guess that you could argue whether Vale have the quality/attributes to get the win but I didn't see any sitting back in the final stages. And to be fair it was awful weather conditions that didn't help either side to be honest...

[tisdeano]

The leadership could be better...but NS tries his best but at the end of the day he has to run the football club like a business

 

He should have, he didnt, was his choice

[Santa]

We looked at our best early season when we pressed teams in their half. With Uche dropped, Andoh injured, and one or two other tweaks, we can't play like that.

 

Grant also seems to be not quite there. I don't know if the soft pitches don't suit his game this time of year, or if he's struggling with an injury, but he's definitely lost the edge to his game.

[robf]

We looked at our best early season when we pressed teams in their half. With Uche dropped, Andoh injured, and one or two other tweaks, we can't play like that.

 

Grant also seems to be not quite there. I don't know if the soft pitches don't suit his game this time of year, or if he's struggling with an injury, but he's definitely lost the edge to his game.

 

I would agree 100% with that.

 

One encouraging thing I felt in the second half on Saturday was the emergence of O'Connor. He's been quiet since he returned (not his fault if he's missed so much time through injury) but for a few spells on Saturday he looked back to last season's form.

 

I don't quite get the fellas who get on Birchall's back - he tries and did get a few crosses in but I think we always look more dangerous with pace on two flanks. However, with Andoh and Moore both out, we only really had Kelly as the "tricky" winger (and though he impressed in spells, he's still learning the game really).

[Hagrid]

Just remember it was NS that was instrumental in bringing players that have propelled Vale into a top half of the table side...that is decent progress whether you like it or not. Can you say the same about the previous bunch of misfits??

 

Norman Smurfwaite has a love hate relationship with the fans...As did Bill Bell and Bratt before him. The leadership could be better...but NS tries his best but at the end of the day he has to run the football club like a business

 

A Love-Hate relationship with Bill Bratt?

[Seamus O'Wye]

"Grant also seems to be not quite there. I don't know if the soft pitches don't suit his game this time of year, or if he's struggling with an injury, but he's definitely lost the edge to his game." ( Santa)

 

...Is this because he no longer has Foley alongside him? When he was at his best, he had a definite role - to sit in front of the back 4 and protect it, and not venturing over the half way line. It was Foley's job to get forward. which he did. However, O'Connor also likes to sit in; I think this confuses Grant about when to sit and when he has to go forward, resulting in him not doing either job as well as he might. Just my theory - feel free to disagree!

[ELDERBEZZA]

Crowd and atmosphere were certainly justified given the weeks events IMO.

 

I agree,but barring a couple of games ,its been the same since August.We need a bit more vocal support to encourage the team.It's a good job they didn't ditch "Glad all over" as its the only time there's been singing:laugh:

[Rudge's Flat Cap]

If the opening poster is a casual fan I'd hazard a guess most football he sees is on the TV and is holding Vale against the standards of the premier league and champions league. Vale did okay on Saturday, controlled the majority of the game and we're unlucky not to win it.

 

As for Old Sage slating Smurf... When you put £3m of your own money in I'll listen to you. Smurthwaite has been fantastic for Vale on the whole. I fear comments like that will only serve to drive him out and leave us in real trouble.

 

Yes Smurf has his moments, and the comments about JFH were disastrous, but he's the man who has propped us up. You can't blame him for low attendances, they've been low all season despite winning and scoring goals at home.

[barry]

If the opening poster is a casual fan I'd hazard a guess most football he sees is on the TV and is holding Vale against the standards of the premier league and champions league. Vale did okay on Saturday, controlled the majority of the game and we're unlucky not to win it.

 

As for Old Sage slating Smurf... When you put £3m of your own money in I'll listen to you. Smurthwaite has been fantastic for Vale on the whole. I fear comments like that will only serve to drive him out and leave us in real trouble.

 

Yes Smurf has his moments, and the comments about JFH were disastrous, but he's the man who has propped us up. You can't blame him for low attendances, they've been low all season despite winning and scoring goals at home.

 

He hasn't put £3m in though has he. He's racked up £3m pounds worth of debt and also stripped us of our home.