Michael Brown hoping to stay and prove he can be a success

[Pops]

His signing of Walker and Guy was good but both got injured.

[darren1810]

His signing of Walker and Guy was good but both got injured.

 

Walker had one good game ( Bury ) .

The game he got injured he was dropped and came on as a sub, was not setting the world alight.

[valeparklife]

The Norman Defence League are trying to deflect the blame away from Smurf and onto Brown.

 

What is a manager supposed to do when they lose the league's best keeper + the team's top scorer in January?

 

If you don't like Brown, that's fine, but we need a manager next year so I'd like to hear people's suggestions...

[Mark W]

His signing of Walker and Guy was good but both got injured.

 

Out of interest, Ray, how much responsibility do you think Brown should take for our desperate injury record, so many of which have happened on his watch?

It's been a very handy excuse/reason for him to hide behind but, even if you put injuries to Bruno's players down to a poor pre-season, that can't explain those to Brown's signings. Many on here have talked of 'over-training' - is that possible?

[darren1810]

The Norman Defence League are trying to deflect the blame away from Smurf and onto Brown.

 

What is a manager supposed to do when they lose the league's best keeper + the team's top scorer in January?

 

If you don't like Brown, that's fine, but we need a manager next year so I'd like to hear people's suggestions...

 

Alex Jones last played for us at Wimbledon, December 20th ..Rangers were in for Alnwick way before the last day of the transfer window, it was common knowledge and both in the press and on the internet.

 

My suggestion is as previously posted

 

Nigel Adkins

Steve Cotterill

Billy Davies

 

Probably all pie in the sky and we have not got a prayer.

 

I stand by my statement that we have only had 3 managers in 15 years.

Horton

Adams

Gannon

 

2 good appointments and one absolute car crash.

 

The rest have been in house cheap appointments to save money.

Sinnot was never given a chance as he was stabbed in the back by the appointment of Glover as assistant who was initially overlooked for the job.

 

The 3 i mention have all had failures on their CV as have 99% of available managers, but they have all done the rounds.

We need a manager with nous and acumen, assets Brown does not possess.

 

I am certainly not in the NDL the man is a buffoon.

[blackdog]

He didn't refuse to finance the deal, he matched what Bradford offered.

 

Brown should simply have tied him down earlier.

 

You refuse to criticise Smurthwaite, even though the evidence is overwhelming.

[Yukon]

Why do you consistently refuse to accept Smurthwaites lack of support during the transfer window ?

 

Why wont you accept Brown had his hands tied and was left with the dregs ?

 

Because he knew what he was getting into and with wholm, but did it anyway. He's out of his depth but waded in anyway, which us at best naive.

 

People say he deserves a chance, I don't see why. If he signed for us as a player my guess is there wasn't a lot of competition, we did him a favour as much as he did us one.

 

I'm amazed that some people are still behind him with the utter cack he's served up. He's a ******* disaster and the sooner he's gone, the better. I'm not saying we'll get much better but it can't get any worse.

[Andyregs]

In fairness I don't think many people could argue too much with what he has said. The real issue is what happens on the pitch. There is no doubt his record to date is truly dreadful but we have to take account of all the factors around his management stint so far. He could hardly have had a more challenging situation.

 

Sir Bobby Robson's record in his first managerial job at Fulham was even worse than Michael Brown's so far at Port Vale. Sir Bobby went on to become quite a decent manager you know. Let's not bee too quick to react.

 

It is a tough call, much would depend on the freedom he would be given to do the job and how he intended the team to play. If he goes I will thank him for his efforts, but would expect him to be replaced by someone with a good track record, which could only mean a lower level manager coming to us as a bigger job, in the way we recruited Lee Sinnot.

 

Sinnot was jettisoned too early I feel. Most of his signings in his only close season were pretty decent (Dodds, Taylor, McCombe, Stockley, Griffith, Collins). He inherited a squad with lots of deadwood and he was not given time to sort it out. He had an eye for a player all his pre-season signings were pretty decent for our level.

 

So on balance, perhaps Michael should be given a chance, tough call.

 

Sinnott was the worst manager I've seen at vale until Bruno. I'll never forget how the first home game back in league 2, and how all hope went after seeing we had slater at centre half who got megged by an old man.

[SourceOfTheTrent]

Sinnott was the worst manager I've seen at vale until Bruno. I'll never forget how the first home game back in league 2, and how all hope went after seeing we had slater at centre half who got megged by an old man.

 

Sinnott was / is barking, just ask anyone who has played for him. However, when he first came I was taken in by him, he came from Farsley with a good record and pedigree in the game and when he spoke he came across as thoughtful and bright with fresh ideas. How wrong I was! It was staggering how his reaction to the Chasetown defeat - as if it wasn't bad enough - was to sign Perry and Slater, although, ironically, Kyle Perry was probably better than quite a few we have in the current squad!!

[SourceOfTheTrent]

BTW, the worst manager EVER, even including Ivor Powell's abysmal record, has to be Gibbering Jim Gannon. An utter basket case who most of us dreaded being appointed but who got the job anyway from the most incompetent bunch of self interested goons ever to run the club, Smurf included.

[Andyregs]

BTW, the worst manager EVER, even including Ivor Powell's abysmal record, has to be Gibbering Jim Gannon. An utter basket case who most of us dreaded being appointed but who got the job anyway from the most incompetent bunch of self interested goons ever to run the club, Smurf included.

 

I think gannon was knowledgable and had good ideas as to how he wanted us to play. He just didnt have the (social) skills to put them into practice within the culture of a football club.

[JRC]

He didn't refuse to finance the deal, he matched what Bradford offered.

 

Brown should simply have tied him down earlier.

 

I believe he matched their offer to Birmingham not the wages. Jones made a sensible career decision, join a club likely to get promoted and play in the championship or join the Vale. The lad would have been completely stupid to stay here. Vale probably lost the 3 players most likely to keep them in the league during the window. That and the run of injuries pretty much doomed us. Hard to see what could be done in terms of formations for a lot of games when you look at the players fit and sitting on the bench.

[Erniemossrules]

I believe he matched their offer to Birmingham not the wages. Jones made a sensible career decision, join a club likely to get promoted and play in the championship or join the Vale. The lad would have been completely stupid to stay here. Vale probably lost the 3 players most likely to keep them in the league during the window. That and the run of injuries pretty much doomed us. Hard to see what could be done in terms of formations for a lot of games when you look at the players fit and sitting on the bench.

Can't believe Jamie Proctor and Nicky Jose were at the Vale which showed they were interested and Brown couldn't persuade them to sign or Norman wouldn't open his sweetie jar that already had 300k in. Also think Norman thought he could get Jones on the cheap and left it too late and he was gazumped by Bradford.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

JJ Hooper?

 

If you think that clown wants to play for Port Vale given where you used to play Ray your eyes must be going.

 

Turner, Hooper, Cicilia. Tough choice when you want to play 2 up front. You have all the answers. Make your choice REP.

 

One up front with Eagles in behind is where we have looked most dangerous. Or better still don't sign crap and sign a striker.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Out of interest, Ray, how much responsibility do you think Brown should take for our desperate injury record, so many of which have happened on his watch?

It's been a very handy excuse/reason for him to hide behind but, even if you put injuries to Bruno's players down to a poor pre-season, that can't explain those to Brown's signings. Many on here have talked of 'over-training' - is that possible?

 

My thoughts too especially given the number of muscle injuries.