Matchday Thread: Port Vale v Peterborough Utd

[werstayinup]

He is far from the finished article but I was surprised that Brown didn't change the front two to give them something different to worry about. Walker and JJ were very ineffective from the word go. Cecilia has done ok in his short cameo appearances and would have done no worse than the other two up there.

 

He brought on Eagles again but for me he doesn't look match fit at all and struggles to beat his man. I'm not sure what he brings off the bench but in his three very brief appearances he hasn't looked the part. He ends up on the wing a lot but just hasn't got any pace.

 

We are sinking and have a lot of young lads, most of whom are not our players. Not a good position to position to be in when the chips are down. Perhaps it is time to try 3.5.2. We've mentioned it before but our first priority has to be to stop shipping goals.

 

I would of thought that the young French lad would of been more direct and have more pace than Eagles

[SourceOfTheTrent]

We've mentioned it before but our first priority has to be to stop shipping goals.

 

Therin lies the problem.

 

Yesterday was the most depressing display I've seen in ages and that includes Wimbledon away. We were weak all over the pitch and Peterborough won without having to get out of second gear. Having escaped giving away a penalty we instantly gifted them a goal by sloppily losing the ball in midfield and then letting Maddison run that far unchallenged he probably had a shot because he was too knackered to run any farther!

 

The midfield was so soft it was frightening, apart from the returning Foley it was like having three Sam Kelly's in there, not a tackle between them. Both full backs were hopeless too, especially Ben Purkiss; what's up with him? He's nowhere near the player he was last season. As for up front what is expected of Hooper? Either play him as a proper striker or don't bother picking him, he's not a wide man / drifting winger / whatever and never will be. Tyler Walker is typical of a young lad making the step up, he's obviously got an eye for a finish but outside that his contribution is virtually nil, he doesn't hold it up well, doesn't pick out particularly good passes and doesn't track back or tackle. If he wants a professional career he needs to improve all those aspects of his game big time, hopefully he will and quickly.

 

Of the last 6 goals we've conceded 4 of them we have gifted to the opposition, one was a penalty gifted by the referee to Scunny and one was a decent move by Scunny. Purkiss gifted Scunthorpe their second with a woeful header and yesterday all three were gifts. Plus, although I wouldn't blame the keeper for any of Posh's goals I think he could have done better and I think Alnwick would have saved one or two of them. Academic really but I think it demonstrates we've been a bit spoiled with Alnwick in gosl.

 

Brown has my full sympathy. As I've said before his task is mammoth and, unfortunately, it seems he missed a lot of his targets in the transfer window so had to bring in who he could. He'll know what's wrong but can he fix it in time? He has to take a bit of the Mickey Adams approach now and firstly make us hard to beat, maybe go 5 at the back and use Purkiss and maybe Kiko as wing backs? Kiko offers something going forward but, to me, is suspect defensively which is why Brown probably hasn't picked him but things could be different in a back 5. Midfield has to be much, much stronger and it's great news that Foley is back. Maybe bring in Amoros and Pugh to make a midfield three with some tackling ability? Or maybe go 5-4-1 away with DeFreitas wide left as I think he's most effective there.

 

All things said and done we are now reaping the rewards of Norman's madcap summer scheme and he must have wasted a fortune in getting us into a relegation scrap. Over 40 players through the squad this season so far and we still can't assemble a mid table side!

[TheSage]

Excellent, thoughtful post.

 

The worry is we don't really have any of these hardened physical players who we so badly need when the chips are down.

I've said before in the face of much criticism on here that we miss the likes of Dicko, Pope and O'Connor. And as you say we can now add Alnwick to that list and Grant, who didn't need a shower yesterday as it was all so comfortable for him.

I honestly don't know why Purkiss is the captain. He doesn't seem very vocal to me and he doesn't really lead by example. Oh for a player like Aspin, Hazell or Swan the moment! Only Nathan Smith and Foley will run through a brick wall for us.

 

Just as an aside it seems from the brief comments from Purkiss yesterday that the players haven't been fit all season long and are playing catch-up in January. Perhaps that explains why many of the imports are not getting a look in under Brown.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04rwwvs

[CambridgeDon]

The most disappointing thing was that we failed to test their keeper. It was like turning the clock back 3-4 weeks. We did manage to put a lot of pressure on them after half time but there was no end product.

 

Nothing changes in football. The basics are that you have to win your personal battles, have most of the team giving an 8/10 performance at least and take your opportunities when they come round.

 

We did none of those things today. They aren't excuses but I think they were a little lucky with the penalty decision and the ref gave us nowt. The ball never dropped for us all game. But we looked short on ideas and for me, as I say, it was men against boys overall. Their experience and game management and physicality was far superior to what our youngsters produced.

 

Never mind, only Gillingham and Millwall away now!

 

Yes, Gills and Millwall next! Oxford did us a massive favour today by beating Swindon 1-2 away, after being 1-0 down. This leaves Swindon on the same points as Vale but they have now played two games more. So, it's largely in our hands and we need to pick up points while we can. On yesterday's performance, I don't envy Brown one little bit.

[Macc Lad]

Actually, CambridgeDon, Swindon remain three points behind Vale after losing to Oxford this afternoon. So yes, your rival varsity town did us a big favour.

[Emile]

Having watched highlights we weren't too far off but lost a few goals with tiredness at the end. Walker can be potent but I'm not sure on him on his own feeding off scraps. Need that goal threat, don't feel as bad though from watching that

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using the onevalefan mobile app

[Mario]

Having watched highlights we weren't too far off but lost a few goals with tiredness at the end. Walker can be potent but I'm not sure on him on his own feeding off scraps. Need that goal threat, don't feel as bad though from watching that

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using the onevalefan mobile app

 

We need to tighten up the defence and quick, not enough clean sheets I hoped Brown would have strengthened mid field and defence.

 

When you consider we had a quality keeper and two highly rated centre halves we have let a lot of goals in

[The French Connection]

Therin lies the problem.

 

Yesterday was the most depressing display I've seen in ages and that includes Wimbledon away. We were weak all over the pitch and Peterborough won without having to get out of second gear. Having escaped giving away a penalty we instantly gifted them a goal by sloppily losing the ball in midfield and then letting Maddison run that far unchallenged he probably had a shot because he was too knackered to run any farther!

 

The midfield was so soft it was frightening, apart from the returning Foley it was like having three Sam Kelly's in there, not a tackle between them. Both full backs were hopeless too, especially Ben Purkiss; what's up with him? He's nowhere near the player he was last season. As for up front what is expected of Hooper? Either play him as a proper striker or don't bother picking him, he's not a wide man / drifting winger / whatever and never will be. Tyler Walker is typical of a young lad making the step up, he's obviously got an eye for a finish but outside that his contribution is virtually nil, he doesn't hold it up well, doesn't pick out particularly good passes and doesn't track back or tackle. If he wants a professional career he needs to improve all those aspects of his game big time, hopefully he will and quickly.

 

Of the last 6 goals we've conceded 4 of them we have gifted to the opposition, one was a penalty gifted by the referee to Scunny and one was a decent move by Scunny. Purkiss gifted Scunthorpe their second with a woeful header and yesterday all three were gifts. Plus, although I wouldn't blame the keeper for any of Posh's goals I think he could have done better and I think Alnwick would have saved one or two of them. Academic really but I think it demonstrates we've been a bit spoiled with Alnwick in gosl.

 

Brown has my full sympathy. As I've said before his task is mammoth and, unfortunately, it seems he missed a lot of his targets in the transfer window so had to bring in who he could. He'll know what's wrong but can he fix it in time? He has to take a bit of the Mickey Adams approach now and firstly make us hard to beat, maybe go 5 at the back and use Purkiss and maybe Kiko as wing backs? Kiko offers something going forward but, to me, is suspect defensively which is why Brown probably hasn't picked him but things could be different in a back 5. Midfield has to be much, much stronger and it's great news that Foley is back. Maybe bring in Amoros and Pugh to make a midfield three with some tackling ability? Or maybe go 5-4-1 away with DeFreitas wide left as I think he's most effective there.

 

All things said and done we are now reaping the rewards of Norman's madcap summer scheme and he must have wasted a fortune in getting us into a relegation scrap. Over 40 players through the squad this season so far and we still can't assemble a mid table side!

 

Browns problem is he hasn't got the time to make mistakes, he's got to get it right NOW. Difficult.

 

I agree about the keeper, feel he should have got a hand on their first and should have pushed the third away from goal. Let's hope he's a quick learner!

[Ben]

You have to have a spine of experienced players that we havent got because the chairmen has messed about with a plan which from the start was a loser and signing players with no football league games played.

And now we have a team of young players which need older heads to guide them which we have not got in the positions that are needed its going to be a nail biting end to the season, Michael Brown will need all the luck going and listening to him he knows that as well.

[darren1810]

haven,t trawled through the other pages so if i repeat anything i apologise.

Utterly abject performance. We could not of hand picked a better opponent, last 3 games they been hammered by Bury, Oldham and MK.

The side looked what it is, a team of strangers.

I have to question some of the recruitment as sheer panic.

Tanser , what is that all about? Can anyone hand on heart say he is better than Knopps or Kiko, looks like he needs a good meal down him, weaker than Sam Kelly.

The 2nd QPR lad clearly will not feature , we have a mish mash of untried youngsters and journeymen like Pugh and Eagles, though in fairness Pugh looks a quality passer of the ball.

3-0 flattered them due to the 2 late goals, but the pressure in the 2nd half was just huffing and puffing and a few scrambles. No concrete efforts on goal to test the keeper.

I really really fear, Shrews have 11 points from 15 , Oldham won 3 of last 5 since Sheridan came back. These teams have momentum, we have had nothing since the Coventry defeat and are in freefall.

One last point after all the flack ( rightly so ) that Bruno got, i was baffled to see Hooper so deep or on the wing, him and Walker were never hardly a pair during the whole game. Garbage Brown.