26th Dec 2015, Coventry C v Port Vale, pre-match comments and the match itself

[bookworm]

Liverpool aren't doing much better under klopp. We will only see how good page is after he has left for a club with a supportive chairman who understands football and his cheap replacement gets us relegated unfortunately.

 

what a load of ********.

[CambridgeDon]

Playing well and losing is a real problem and all because we have no attacking threat away from home. We've scored fewer goals on the road than any other side in L2 apart from Blackpool (also on 8 - yes, 8 goals in 12 games). We've tried packing the midfield and defence and it just hasn't worked, so why Page leaves two out and out strikers on the bench and doesn't try attacking the opposition is a mystery to me. The same format yields the same result.

 

Relying on our home form to keep us mid table is a real risk because, self-evidently, if we have a bad run, we're potentially on the slide. I keep burying my doubts about Page but every away game we seem to founder and the same excuses keep coming out. I don't think criticising him for this is disloyal - we all want to see the Vale win but, at the moment, he is really testing my loyalty (and a good many others too). It's got to change!

[ClntonBoulton]

That's only the start.

 

Who, in your opinion, should come in to manage and which players should he get rid of? Who then should be brought in to replace those players? Genuine question.

[paulvaliant]

Who, in your opinion, should come in to manage and which players should he get rid of? Who then should be brought in to replace those players? Genuine question.

 

I could name you 7 players we could get rid of, who wouldn't need replacing, but would have left more money in the budget for better quality players. Here goes :- Campion, Deen-Conteh, Brown (off playing budget), Lloyd, Boot, Johnson and Kelly.

 

You could even include some if not all of the 5 scholars who signed up.

 

With all that off the books we could then look at replacing the Yates, Dodds, Daniels and McGiverns.

[soothsayer]

I'm sorry but whether we've been to the game or not isn't the issue, it's the same old fair every game away from home, I could argue some of us have seen the light and don't go because we can see what is going to happen. I'm happy I saved my money today as I nearly went.

 

You don't know what the 'fayre' is if you have seen it. If we were awful I'd say it and in some away games this season we have been but this was not one of them. Coventry were comprehensively outplayed for 60 minutes, yes we lost and yes we're in need of goals but I appreciate the effort the players displayed today.

I'm also glad for you that you saved your money, I'm glad I supported my team!

[Conrad]

As others have said, played well today, unlucky with the shot that hit the post, despite playing well never looked like scoring.whati find strange is, we go a goal down so the first thing page does is, wait for it, take off our top scorer, you couldn't make it up.

[Bucknall Rob]

Who, in your opinion, should come in to manage and which players should he get rid of? Who then should be brought in to replace those players? Genuine question.

 

Too late now but Sean O'Driscoll would have been a good appointment, for me I would love to see Mark Cooper here.

 

Today we didnt play that badly, first half we were the better side but again we have no cutting edge, there's no goals in the team. We look a far better team with Foley playing, cannot believe that we have left him out in recent weeks.

 

Second half they got on top and but for better finishing might well have scored before. As soon as we conceded it was game over, ref let a lot go, thought they should have had a penalty before they scored and then maybe Uche could have had one.

 

Also the idiots were out in force again today, they have had a couple of months off since the Sheffield game, somehow don't think they will turn up when we play Millwall in a few weeks.

[Rudgiesflatcap]

A couple of observations from someone who ummed and erred about going but ultimately felt the final outcome was inevitable......

3. Taking our most dangerous forward off and putting Birchall on.

Did you go?

Birchall did more and was more effective in his first 30 seconds on the pitch than Moore did in the whole of the match.

No deliveries, no challenges for the ball (a 50- 50 ball doesn't exist in his world) you can guarantee the opponent will win it.

At times he had free reign of the pitch, Coventry didn't even bother to mark him.

[Jacko51]

So so predictable.

Page out.

 

Nick, with all due respect and purely in my opinion, you are becoming a pain in the bum.

[Shropshire_Valiant]

You don't know what the 'fayre' is if you have seen it. If we were awful I'd say it and in some away games this season we have been but this was not one of them. Coventry were comprehensively outplayed for 60 minutes, yes we lost and yes we're in need of goals but I appreciate the effort the players displayed today.

I'm also glad for you that you saved your money, I'm glad I supported my team!

 

But what is the use in 'outplaying' the opposition and losing? None whatsoever! You can add it to an ever growing catalogue unfortunately, Bradford, Bury, Burton, Walsall. I suspect it was a similar performance and whether you like it or not that is not 'outplaying' anyone in my book. We lost 1-0 and managed zero in the goals column. That wins you nothing! Fair play to you for going and supporting the team but I simply can't justify watching that dross!

[Papa Lazarou]

Nick, with all due respect and purely in my opinion, you are becoming a pain in the bum.

 

Post of the season.

[valeparklife]

I knew there would be negativity on here. Probably from people who didn't even go.

 

I can accept losses like today, we competed well and passed it around brilliantly. I can't fault the players. I know we didn't score and the stats will say we didn't have many shots, but neither did they. Neither keeper had a save to make. It could've gone either way.

 

Also, the ref refused to give us 3 stonewall penalties (handball from O'Connor's shot, Uche being floored and Dicko getting clattered).

[hereforawhile]

 

Also, the ref refused to give us 3 stonewall penalties (handball from O'Connor's shot, Uche being floored and Dicko getting clattered).

 

If Uche was the guy that was caught just inside the box, then agree - thought that one could have gone against us (but equalled it up for the shove in the back in the pen area up the other end). As far as the O'Connor shot goes, if you took the rose-tinted off you would have seen that it was off the chest. Full marks for the dying swan routine (from "Dicko"?) though - that was hilarious - nearly as funny as Murphy trying to claim a similar pen for us. So, even stevens I'd say.

 

That was easily the worse first half City have played all season: the second half wasn't an awful lot better. All round, a poor game, and a draw probably would have been a fair result.

 

What was the deal with some of your crew picking on a bunch of junior ticket holders in the corner?

[Bucknall Rob]

I knew there would be negativity on here. Probably from people who didn't even go.

 

I can accept losses like today, we competed well and passed it around brilliantly. I can't fault the players. I know we didn't score and the stats will say we didn't have many shots, but neither did they. Neither keeper had a save to make. It could've gone either way.

 

Also, the ref refused to give us 3 stonewall penalties (handball from O'Connor's shot, Uche being floored and Dicko getting clattered).

 

Not sure I saw three stonewall penalties, I thought Uche could easily have been given, the handball was outside the box when it hit him, not sure about the Dicko one, couldn't remember that, thought they had a clear penalty just before they scored.

 

Overall for me it was a better performance but we are clearly lacking in goals, a draw would have been a fair result.

 

It goes to show how bad the league is when you see Walsall, Burton Coventry and Gillingham in the top 4, they are not good sides, this is the poorest league 1 for a long time and it is a season wasted for me.

[Santa]

I thought Uche was fouled outside the box and landed in the box. The handball claim was a blur and Dickinson just seemed to fall over his man at the end.

 

I'd like to see the tackle on Grant right at the end again though.