Port Vale 0 - Walsall 5 Post Match Comments

[colin]

I didn't hear it because the PA system doesn't work in the Bycars.

 

Well I'm happy with the 0-0 against walsall according to the scoreboard

[Guest TommyMac]

We were never going to beat Walsall with 7 players and let's be ******* honest, Purkiss, Streete, O'Connor and Hooper should all be ashamed to pick up their wages after strolling through that game.

 

Alnwick kept the score down, Duffy was ok, Dicko was his usual wasteful self, McGivern was our best defender by a mile, Foley was very good first half and then faded, Brown improved as the game went on, AJ kept trying but was feeding off scraps with nothing to show for his endeavour.

 

I like Kelly but today he was that bad I think he needs to be sent out on loan to the Conference in the hope it shakes him up because that's where he is likely to end up.

[elav trop 1876]

I think the results against the top 3 - if you exclude Wigan it home when they were still clearly re-building, played 5, lost 5, scored 0 and conceded 16.

 

All seemed to go wrong in a mad 5 minutes. Firstly, AJLS....why go near post instead of smashing it across goal when clear through? Secondly, a combination of events which lead to their opener, which took the pressure of them, and was a total horror show.

 

Firstly, how the ref/ linesman couldn't see the blatant shove on Duffy that resulted in the corner was beyond me. But up steps Ryan McGivern...who else?......to make a bad situation worse with the type of scuffed clearance that would embarrass a pub player, and their guy smashes a shot in that Alnwick could only parry to their centre half who was clearly 2 yards offside we he nodded in.

 

At that point it needed calm heads just to steady things, but typical Vale get caught on the break from their own set play, make a real hash of clearing and boom 0-2.

 

Worse still, having already been given numerous warnings, including them hitting the bar once and Alnwick saving at least 3 times from distance, we continue to stand off despite the five man midfield and in goes the third. Game over.

 

I wouldn't say any the defence covered themselves in glory but it was obvious further goals would follow when Streete was replaced by Yates.

 

Yes they were a better team than us and it obviously helped they had something to play for, but this was a really poor end to what has been a reasonable season. Again, even in the last game with nothing (for us) at stake Page shows himself to be too cautious. A 3-5-2 was never going to work today against a side that had to score 3...that was obvious after 30 secs when Bradshaw run clear but skied it over. And we seem really slow to learn certain lessons, today's being not to let them line up shots from distance, fat lot of good having 5 in midfield did there.

 

For me, Folely is the only one to emerge with any credit from today, and to be honest, I'm not disappointed to see MoC go as I think Folely is missed in the middle when he's pushed out wide. We certainly missed Granty today. I certainly hope that's the last we see of McGivern...absolute liability. AJLS was a massive frustration today, just doesn't have a goal scorers instincts. Squad player at best for me. Why oh why didn't we go for Bradshaw when we had the chance?

 

Not sure I understand where this criticism of Alnwick has come from all of a sudden.

 

Agree with this

[Guest]

Thank goodness Burton got promoted ,no thanks to our shambles of a team .

Been buzzing all week about this game xause i though because they were bringin great support Vale would be wanting it big style .

What a joke it turned out be ,how the hell do u convince fans pay for a season ticket when they cannot (players) motivate themselves in front of the best crowd of the season .

It was pathetic

[soothsayer]

Strange game. Could and should have been in front before they scored. Their first looked offside but you can't capitulate as easy as we did and expect any praise from fans. Sawyers looks a real class act for them and if they don't go up this time I'm sure he move to a bigger club.

Streete was awful and cannot head a ball to save his life. O'Connor was woeful and obviously didnt want to get injured before a move away from Vale.

Why did McGivern go off when he was our best defender? Duffy was not up to the pace of the game but to be fair their midfield just ran through us putting pressure on the back lads. I thought we really missed Granty today.

I still think we have improved though from last season but we are a good centre half, goal scoring midfielder, another wide man and 20 goal striker short of challenging for promotion.

Oh and finally we must get out of the habit of not turning up for the important games - Exeter, Barnsley, Chesterfield, today........

[Erniemossrules]

Hope today has been a wake up call for Page of how far he needs to go to be competitive in this division. We need some hungry players not the bench warmers like Yates,Birchall and Moore.Hope he has got a recognised goal scorer ,combative midfielder and big centre half on top of his wanted list.

If we have got a goalkeeping coach can he show Alnick that he has to come for crosses into the box and not dither on the goal line hoping the centre backs clear the ball.

[hamilboy]

I'd take him as well and we certainly missed him today. I just want him ot improve that part of his game. How many other players in our division have reached 15 bookings??

 

How many players in the division have our back four to protect thought i was watching bob delgardo again at centre half who would think that page played there in his career .

[For Us All]

Motivation personified in another scoreline Wigan 1 Barnsley 4,in front of over 18,000 fans.

[Portvalefan]

It was Foley vs Walsall today.

An absolute shambles. What did we try to play? A 3-4-3? I haven't regretted going to a match for a long time today was literally disgusting and huge changes are needed. The first? a NEW centre half pairing. Oh and a striker.

 

Page, i'll drive you up to Cardiff mate! I dunna have a license but its a risk i'd take!

[For Us All]

I want Vale to win EVERY game, if I didn't I wouldn't be on here. Whereas you seem to delight in a defeat as it means you can churn out the same inane childish joke of spelling someones name wrongly. I bet you have been giggling for hours.

 

Never giggle when Vale lose,ask the Mrs?

[Cahoots]

I blame myself for that game, said to the person next to me around 19 minutes into the game "don't look like a team gunning for promotion do they Walsall."

 

Seriously not sure what happened to Vale today, looked really good at the start and then fell apart. Definitely not put me off buying a season ticket but I'm hoping they can buy a player in the summer who is a solid goalscorer.

[fairportnick]

Never giggle when Vale lose,ask the Mrs?

 

Do you make snide comments to her too, or do you just call her Gerald?

[Class personified]

Please to see in the programme that Doddsie is here for another season. Thank you Yatesy and Birchall but time to go along with McGivern, Theo.

[For Us All]

Do you make snide comments to her too, or do you just call her Gerald?

 

No,Mona Lott.

[ValeYouth04]

If we'd won 5-0 I reckon this thread would only be about 3 pages long. Disappointed with the result today but overall it's been a decent season and I look forward to August.