Bring him home!

[George]

The only Vale legend since the Rudgie era.

 

100% agree.

[Bycarsbill]

100% agree.

 

Agree, but that doesn't make a good case for bringing him back. It's now 3 seasons on and as the saying goes.......time and tide etc. Good luck to the lad, but IMO a backward step (literally) to bring him back.

[P.E. ST6]

I believe that Tom lost his motivation from the day that he was pushed out of Port Vale. I simply can't believe the short memories that many on here have of Tom.

Yes he was brought back too soon after his injury and his performances suffered but as well as his goal tally when he was fit I remember the guy who constantly ran himself into the ground to keep the Vale in L1 especially when he almost singlehandedly got us the point against a good Preston team that for me gave the team the momentum to crawl to safety.

Surely if we can bring him home for reasonable wages then it could be a great move for both parties. No disrespect but Tom was never going to bust a gut after being forced out of the club. For the cynics out there who said that he could of stayed at the Vale I ask would you work on for a 60% pay cut with the owners barbed comments ringing very loudly in your ears?

60% pay cut? I remember a pay cut mentioned not sure it was 60% though I might be wrong. I do remember smurf saying that even with the paycut he was still going be the highest earner at the club. Why do people say he was pushed out? His form wasn't good, he was suffering from injuries and was past his best, every club do that not just the vale. Do you think man Utd will offer Rooney a better contract than he has now? No. They will offer him less money because he is no longer the player that he was.

 

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[Guppy 4 England]

He wasn't pushed , I for one am glad we didn't pay him what bury are otherwise we would all be moaning about the budget cuts again and how we are skint , smurf puts loans in etc.

[George]

60% pay cut? I remember a pay cut mentioned not sure it was 60% though I might be wrong. I do remember smurf saying that even with the paycut he was still going be the highest earner at the club. Why do people say he was pushed out? His form wasn't good, he was suffering from injuries and was past his best, every club do that not just the vale. Do you think man Utd will offer Rooney a better contract than he has now? No. They will offer him less money because he is no longer the player that he was.

 

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Pope said it was a 60% paycut in the Sentinel. I recall him saying he had no problems taking a pay cut, and would have accepted a 20%, 30% and maybe even 40% cut but 60% was just too much when he has a young family. And if someone was willing to offer him the same (or even more) than he was on at Vale then no one can blame him for leaving when he did.

[stupers]

I believe that Tom lost his motivation from the day that he was pushed out of Port Vale. I simply can't believe the short memories that many on here have of Tom.

Yes he was brought back too soon after his injury and his performances suffered but as well as his goal tally when he was fit I remember the guy who constantly ran himself into the ground to keep the Vale in L1 especially when he almost singlehandedly got us the point against a good Preston team that for me gave the team the momentum to crawl to safety.

Surely if we can bring him home for reasonable wages then it could be a great move for both parties. No disrespect but Tom was never going to bust a gut after being forced out of the club. For the cynics out there who said that he could of stayed at the Vale I ask would you work on for a 60% pay cut with the owners barbed comments ringing very loudly in your ears?

 

The 1st sentence of your last paragraph is right. I think in the main, people recognise his massive contribution to the club last time he was here. But also that times have moved on and his legs ain't what they used to be. We should make an offer according to that, along with the fact he'd be a character in the dressing room that would be a great example to the new players (Smoking and drinking aside).

[TheSage]

The two reasons why I said I'd welcome him back are (1) we don't have a forward who is as good as he is in the air and can hold up the ball as well. As old sage said, he single handedly dragged us back into the Preston game with a 45 minute cameo, despite being half fit. And (2) having lost Dicko and signed loads of inexperienced foreign players, a solid experienced pro who knows the Club would be a huge asset.

 

I don't know if he's "past his best", "on his last legs", "not fit", etc etc, which are accusations thrown at him on here, but he has had a few injury problems and not played as regularly in the last 18 months. Yet he's only just the wrong side 30. He isn't 35. He's got an affinity for the Club. He scored 70 goals here and knows the League inside out. And he might just add a bit of magic dust to the forward line as did Futcher and Hughes who were both much older.

 

He would give us something different up front. In any case, the jury has voted, the democratic will of the people prevails and the fans want him back!

[Howjy04]

No thanks.Thanks for the memories Tom.If you came back and didn't perform those memories would rapidly fade.Moaning about travelling also seems a bit strange.

[Walka003]

Tom left as a true Port Vale legend after the promotion season. Since which he has gone downhill, I'd rather he stayed a legend than came back and tarnished his legacy

 

 

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[Jinkin John Jeffers]

If Tom did come back we know at least one poster on here who would definitely have is very own premature American pie moment

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Even if he wants to come back, whatever it wil cost, whatever the mgmt. feel etc etc IMo it would be backward step and taking him on is only being advocated by some cos of his connections with the club/area and what he did last time..it's based on some romantic notion of the return of the prodigal son rather than anything else

[davidatpreston]

Even if he wants to come back, whatever it wil cost, whatever the mgmt. feel etc etc IMo it would be backward step and taking him on is only being advocated by some cos of his connections with the club/area and what he did last time..it's based on some romantic notion of the return of the prodigal son rather than anything else

 

Very valid points, but I think we also have to add in what Old Sage and others above have said - that provided he meets a number of critical criteria, he would add some balance and leadership to a squad that is fascinating and has enormous potential, but could be a tad light on hard English soccer experience.

 

The fact that Tom knows the club, the chairman, the fans and the area gives him an advantage over any other mature English brought in.

 

In my own humble outsider view, that swings things, as long as Bruno and his management team are not upset and at all costs any deal should and must not be done above the managers head, even if the intention is good and honorable.

[Rampant Zebra]

Very valid points, but I think we also have to add in what Old Sage and others above have said - that provided he meets a number of critical criteria, he would add some balance and leadership to a squad that is fascinating and has enormous potential, but could be a tad light on hard English soccer experience.[/b]

 

I think "a tad light on hard English experience" is very much an understatement

[davidatpreston]

I think "a tad light on hard English experience" is very much an understatement

 

Sometimes polite understatement can provoke thought and consideration of a point, where a bull in a chinashop approach will just make people run away to avoid being gored.

 

Feel free to quote, at least until the above appears in the next revision of Bartlett's Quotations.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

I think "a tad light on hard English experience" is very much an understatement

 

I'm not saying we don't need his type of player nor someone with solid experience of the English game at this level..just don't advocate him cos of his connections with the club/area and what he did previously. It's a new era, a new dawn, too much has changed at the club for his previous time at VP to mean anything....without those connections and what happened before would people be suggesting him as what we need? Seen it all before with people advocating former players as manager/coach based on their previous association with the club and where has that got us.