Championship Striker? Alex Jones? Smurf On The Radio

[Hagrid]

Its good to see we have a clear, coherent, structured plan for progression.

 

Step 1: Appoint foreign manager who talks of contacts.

Step 2: Give said manager license to sign as many players as he wants from whatever level, without worrying about integration, language barriers, or indeed quality.

Step 3: When it turns out that manager is not very good (which is shocking considering his record) and that the players he has signed are even worse, claim that you've been hoodwinked (a word rarely used outside of Scooby Doo), and blackmail the Man Utd manager into loaning you players.

Step 4: Increase squad size to 276, all foreign or loan, in the hope that you can sell one on, pocket the change, and **** off into the sunset.

 

Smurfies barmie armie

[ELDERBEZZA]

Its good to see we have a clear, coherent, structured plan for progression.

 

Step 1: Appoint foreign manager who talks of contacts.

Step 2: Give said manager license to sign as many players as he wants from whatever level, without worrying about integration, language barriers, or indeed quality.

Step 3: When it turns out that manager is not very good (which is shocking considering his record) and that the players he has signed are even worse, claim that you've been hoodwinked (a word rarely used outside of Scooby Doo), and blackmail the Man Utd manager into loaning you players.

Step 4: Increase squad size to 276, all foreign or loan, in the hope that you can sell one on, pocket the change, and **** off into the sunset.

 

Smurfies barmie armie

 

Step 5.slag off and blame everyone else when all goes wrong:yes:

[Michael]

The most worrying thing is Smurf is pinning all his hopes that Bruno has friends that will loan us quality players for the short term to help a long term project? As we know Smurf wants out the club but he wants his money he's invested too so I think he only has a short term plan and thats to get Vale as high up the table as possible or even promotion to make the package more attractive. How on earth can a manager be employed because of the mates he's got despite his now obvious absolute inability to manage a football team? Does that sound long term?

[Vital Spark]

Why would Bruno's mates loan us players when everyone knows he's just a few games away from the sack anyway.

 

 

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[Like Vale I Do]

This really doesn't make much sense does it, wouldn't loaning players off Bruno's "mates" in football be the first thing to do, not the last?

I want the experiment to work, I don't want Vale to be plunged into yet another era of uncertainty but there can be no excuses after the next 3 games. Walsall and Chesterfield are both on their arses this season and should be there for the taking - last chance Bruno

[valeparklife]

Plan B is to recruit quality players from the leagues above? Why wasn't that Plan A?!

 

To say we "have the fanbase of a midtable League Two team" is a joke. Why does it always boil down to attendances with him? Rochdale, Fleetwood, Southend and Wimbledon seem to be doing just fine on smaller/similar gates.

 

I will wait with bated breath to see who these players are that may or may not come in.

 

But again, regardless of Smurf/Bruno, I shall be supporting the team come kick off!

[valiant_593]

Plan B is to recruit quality players from the leagues above? Why wasn't that Plan A?!

 

To say we "have the fanbase of a midtable League Two team" is a joke. Why does it always boil down to attendances with him? Rochdale, Fleetwood, Southend and Wimbledon seem to be doing just fine on smaller/similar gates.

 

I will wait with bated breath to see who these players are that may or may not come in.

 

But again, regardless of Smurf/Bruno, I shall be supporting the team come kick off!

 

 

Because he wanted to try something different, he's always said it was a gamble and at the minute it's not paying off. At the moment our fan base is that, we have that hardcore number who go every week and that's about it, the reason he goes on about attendances so much I'm guessing is because we're not making nearly enough money to break even off them.

[stupers]

Plan B is to recruit quality players from the leagues above? Why wasn't that Plan A?!

 

To say we "have the fanbase of a midtable League Two team" is a joke. Why does it always boil down to attendances with him? Rochdale, Fleetwood, Southend and Wimbledon seem to be doing just fine on smaller/similar gates.

 

I will wait with bated breath to see who these players are that may or may not come in.

 

But again, regardless of Smurf/Bruno, I shall be supporting the team come kick off!

 

Didn't seem to admit the problem with attendances is solely down to decisions he makes and the manner in which he makes them.

 

Having said that it was as honest as ever. But I still think if we lose the next two Bruno is gone.

[Tubbs]

I had to chuckle when he said he said "Its now time for Mourinho, Karanka and Carvalhal to step up and deliver what they promised"

 

Is he really that thick? I reckon the three of them may have bigger priorities than to help a League one club with a bloke they know in charge.

[valeparklife]

Because he wanted to try something different, he's always said it was a gamble and at the minute it's not paying off. At the moment our fan base is that, we have that hardcore number who go every week and that's about it, the reason he goes on about attendances so much I'm guessing is because we're not making nearly enough money to break even off them.

 

There are calculated gambles and stupid gambles. It's like betting, a calculated gamble would be lets say Chelsea to beat Hull at home. A stupid gamble would be for Leek Town to win the FA Cup.

 

This foreign experiment was a stupid gamble. We ALL knew it and voiced our concerns from the start. We've watched football for years and know what is needed at our level.

 

Appointing Bruno because his mates might lend us some decent players is barmy. How is that a sustainable long term strategy? Would we expect to do this next year too? What if his mates get sacked/move clubs?

 

I like Smurf but he doesn't half lose his mind sometimes and does some crazy things. He needs a lot of help with the football strategy side of things.

 

Please stop blaming/threatening the fans though.

[SFBT]

Far more prosaically, of the young players currently in the first team, there isn't one who I would not keep.

They all look decent players to me.

The problem is lack of experience.

We should only be playing 3 or 4 of the youngsters at a time, not all at the same time.

What is happening is really unfair on them and could shatter their confidence and careers.

[SuperValiant1876]

Didn't seem to admit the problem with attendances is solely down to decisions he makes and the manner in which he makes them.

 

Having said that it was as honest as ever. But I still think if we lose the next two Bruno is gone.

 

 

Attendances are down across the bottom 2 leagues at 90 percent of clubs. Is that Smurfs fault too?

[robf]

My concern would be that Alex Jones doesn't fit the criteria of a SEASONED higher-grade player but technically Martin Paterson does. Just going down one route (of experience) isn't necessarily right... It also means you can end up like Bury where you sign older players on big wages and if things don't go to plan they are tied up on massive contracts and with no re-sale value.

 

So while it's fair to say that the more experienced players Grant, Foley, Taylor and Thomas have all been important to us it's also a quartet of youngsters - Smith, Streete, Alnwick and Jones who have also been important.

 

So, for me I would hope the mix of youth and experience continues. An experienced, high-quality forward AND Alex Jones would be a brilliant January move. One veteran and one promising youngster. I also would not be unhappy to see the overall size of the squad reduced if fringe players can be shipped out.

[TheSage]

I agree with you Rob.

We'll like to see 2-3 better quality players here. That's good news.

But it still worries me that if we persist with things like zonal marking, one up front and an an inability not to start playing with intensity until the second half of games, signing a few more players won't make as big an impact as we hope.

Tactics are as important as personnel in my view.

[robf]

Going for "big news" signings isn't always the best move. I would guess Alex Jones was one of the lowest profile signings this season. At the time lots of people wanted a "name" player such as Adam Le Fondre and were disappointed at this unknown Brum loanee. But actually Jones has turned out to be a gem.

 

So, while, yes, some high-profile players will bring proven class and ability, Vale should not be signing them for their experience and higher league experience alone (arguably they did that with Paterson and how did that work?) but for their abilities regardless of whether they are well known or not.

 

So, I do hope they sign players on ability and not just reputation.

 

p.s It's something Rudgey definitely did. Who had heard anything of Ian Taylor, Robin van der Laan, Andy Jones etc when he signed them...