A little FA Cup perspective.....

[smithie]

After the doom and gloom of our FA Cup victory, it's worth seeing tonight's results for a reminder of how we could have been far worse off than we are.

 

Crewe - thrashed by lowly Cheltenham

 

Swindon - embarrassed by Eastleigh

 

Bury - pasted 5-0 at Wimbledon

 

Bristol Rovers - unable to see off Crawley in 180 minutes so far

 

Newport County being held by Alfreton

 

Fleetwood - now needing extra time to try and beat Southport.

 

Ask Swindon, Bury or Crewe if they'd rather still be in the Cup or out of it!!

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Ah but are they playing well?

[Spunk Trumpet]

I don't think anyone had doom and gloom about still being in the cup. They were questioning the manner of the performance against a lowly league 2 side, who should have won the game. I think that was justified.

If we play that bad against Hartlepool our luck may not hold out.

That was people's point I guess rather than being unhappy we have progressed!

[rsb]

radio stoke said that crewe's gate was there lowest for a f a cup home game only 1700 turned up.

[Mario]

I don't anyone who has complained about beating Stevenage,I know a lot who are complaining about the performances and the boredom of watching the Vale especialy away from home.

 

The attendances prove I am right.

[smithie]

radio stoke said that crewe's gate was there lowest for a f a cup home game only 1700 turned up.

 

I'm afraid it's the chickens coming home to roost after years of tinkering with something that wasn't broken.

 

Kick-off times & days all over the shop instead of 3pm Saturday.

 

The terrible, terrible decision to stage and now keep the semi-finals at Wembley.

 

The total overkill and hype around the Premier League.

 

The indifference shown by top-flight clubs towards it, which is clearly filterind down.

 

The 10-day rule for replays to take place.

 

The new TV-driven kick-off time of 5pm for the final.

 

It's a real shame what they've done to it.

[NellyTheValiant]

Ah but are they playing well?

 

TBF I don't care about anyone else the fact of the matter is that we are not and have been very lucky in most of the games this season, even including Saturday vs Fleetwood. You came out with the old cliche about playing poorly and winning being a good thing, taken in isolation over a game or 2 I'd say that's probably right but only if their form actually improves. It means absolutely nothing if poor games are constant, eventually your luck will out.

[smithie]

TBF I don't care about anyone else the fact of the matter is that we are not and have been very lucky in most of the games this season, even including Saturday vs Fleetwood. You came out with the old cliche about playing poorly and winning being a good thing, taken in isolation over a game or 2 I'd say that's probably right but only if their form actually improves. It means absolutely nothing if poor games are constant, eventually your luck will out.

 

But surely if we are 7th after 17 games, the teams around us must be equally lucky? Are all the sides below us just damned unlucky?

 

I don't think anyone is kidding themselves we've reached the early-season highs lately, but any side with Smith, Streete, Grant and Jones has potential.

 

I just don't get the negativity!!

[Like Vale I Do]

The nagativity smithie is cause it's not good to watch us at the moment is it? Stevenage was utter dross and we were so lucky to win , the Fleetwood game was pure *****, the early games we did well and I did start to get a bit excited but dunno what happened.

[NellyTheValiant]

But surely if we are 7th after 17 games, the teams around us must be equally lucky? Are all the sides below us just damned unlucky?

 

I don't think anyone is kidding themselves we've reached the early-season highs lately, but any side with Smith, Streete, Grant and Jones has potential.

 

I just don't get the negativity!!

 

Agreed, I can't believe it either, I'm walking away from most games wondering that myself, how the hell did we get a point from that! All teams have luck, I just don't remember us being so bad and being outplayed but getting away with it so often and IMHO we've rode our luck massively. I think that the negativity comes from the fact that most can see it, we've also had some spectacular hammerings and also struggled at home against teams that we probably shouldn't have. We do have some decent players, I'd add Alnwick to your list but add to that some rather average players, odd positions, formations, tactics and I think that you have your answer.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

TBF I don't care about anyone else the fact of the matter is that we are not and have been very lucky in most of the games this season, even including Saturday vs Fleetwood. You came out with the old cliche about playing poorly and winning being a good thing, taken in isolation over a game or 2 I'd say that's probably right but only if their form actually improves. It means absolutely nothing if poor games are constant, eventually your luck will out.

 

My thoughts are shared by Adam Yates.

 

In addition both he and Alex Jones have commented on the strength of the dressing room in recent days which is a positive sign.

[For Us All]

I'm afraid it's the chickens coming home to roost after years of tinkering with something that wasn't broken.

 

Kick-off times & days all over the shop instead of 3pm Saturday.

 

The terrible, terrible decision to stage and now keep the semi-finals at Wembley.

 

The total overkill and hype around the Premier League.

 

The indifference shown by top-flight clubs towards it, which is clearly filterind down.

 

The 10-day rule for replays to take place.

 

The new TV-driven kick-off time of 5pm for the final.

 

It's a real shame what they've done to it.

 

Spot on.

Everything these days seems designed to favour the PL.

[stupers]

My thoughts are shared by Adam Yates.

 

In addition both he and Alex Jones have commented on the strength of the dressing room in recent days which is a positive sign.

 

They are hardly going to say anything else are they? Somebody at the club has seen something on social media, and put statements out through players that relate to that. Something isn't right in that dressing room. You would expect the team to have gelled at this point, but they look like a bunch of strangers at times. My belief is that the problem is a certain member of the coaching staff.

[smithie]

The nagativity smithie is cause it's not good to watch us at the moment is it? Stevenage was utter dross and we were so lucky to win , the Fleetwood game was pure *****, the early games we did well and I did start to get a bit excited but dunno what happened.

 

Was the Fleetwood game that bad, really?

 

3 goals in the game (unlike most of these Champions League 0-0 bore draws), we came from behind to win it, Fleetwood in all fairness came and attacked, and our midfielder went berserk!

 

As for Stevenage, we got through and 40 other teams who went out would swap with us. We banked £18k plus 45% of the gate money. Now we're at home to Fourth Division Hartlepool. The draw so far has been really kind to us.

[Guest]

V Stevenage i wasannoyed with the way they won the game V Fleetwood i was delighted with the way they won thegame .

Second best in both games yet a important league victory ,and onto the second round of the cup with the big boys coming in round 3 .

I just somehow hope our level of performance improves significantly because if we continue the way we r playing with 5 out of the 11 turning up then it can only end in tears no matter who our future opponents r.