Congrats Tom

[bogie boom years]

Not taking anything away from Tom well deserved he should hold the trophy high and in the changing room and say team of the month trophy not just mine long may we win good luck tonight lads come on vale

 

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[Doha]

Amazing what Stoptober can do.

 

You just can’t help yourself can you?

[valiant_593]

Well done pope. I was critical earlier in the season when we were struggling but since brown left hes been immense. Long may it continue

[PVFC764]

Well done and hope there are many more to come. New shelf for Pope.

[tunna]

Well done Tom , really !!!

I've just had you to finish as the leagues top scorer , which is more than achievable for you and the Vale to finish top 7 , which is a little more doubtful but you never know eh .

Very generous 100/1 at Skybet..

Printing money 😀.

Again , well done and many more to come .

[Bea Smith]

A massive well done to Tom Pope who most of us knew and said would come good and be a key player for Vale again.

 

Also a genuine and not patronising well done for those who were big enough to admit they were wrong about what they posted previously and have posted on here to say so - the other few in the 'should Pope start?' camp need no comment from me.

[smithie]

A massive well done to Tom Pope who most of us knew and said would come good and be a key player for Vale again.

 

Also a genuine and not patronising well done for those who were big enough to admit they were wrong about what they posted previously and have posted on here to say so - the other few in the 'should Pope start?' camp need no comment from me.

 

Of course it was a valid question as to whether Tom Pope should start, because he wasn't doing anything useful. He wasn't scoring, didn't look like scoring, and waved his arms around in frustration at his team-mates (a very public criticism of them by the way through body language).

 

We're now playing to his many strengths, and he looks a yard faster. It's fantastic to see and who knows...maybe he needed to read a bit of criticism to know how some fans felt he was (under)-performing.

 

Tom's a sports nut with an interest in several sports judging by his Sentinel articles and other media.

 

I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to voice his opinions on why his favourite golfer was consistently over-par, or why his favourite boxer was failing to land punches. He's a big lad, he can take it as well as giving it.

 

Let's face it, if Tom Pope wasn't a local hero he'd have ben hard-pushed to justify staying in the team so long without scoring.

 

Long may Tom Pope keep scoring. I'm sure he'll also be an excellent addition to our backroom staff in years to come.

[bomber]

Well done Tom ! The difference when you have a manager with some idea of how to manage!

[ancient mariner]

Of course it was a valid question as to whether Tom Pope should start, because he wasn't doing anything useful. He wasn't scoring, didn't look like scoring, and waved his arms around in frustration at his team-mates (a very public criticism of them by the way through body language).

 

We're now playing to his many strengths, and he looks a yard faster. It's fantastic to see and who knows...maybe he needed to read a bit of criticism to know how some fans felt he was (under)-performing.

 

Tom's a sports nut with an interest in several sports judging by his Sentinel articles and other media.

 

I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to voice his opinions on why his favourite golfer was consistently over-par, or why his favourite boxer was failing to land punches. He's a big lad, he can take it as well as giving it.

 

Let's face it, if Tom Pope wasn't a local hero he'd have ben hard-pushed to justify staying in the team so long without scoring.

 

Long may Tom Pope keep scoring. I'm sure he'll also be an excellent addition to our backroom staff in years to come.

 

 

 

On that basis their should have been 11 threads going on the same subject. Their is no way one person in a squad as large as ours should have been singled out for the treatment it received. Fair enough if he was the only player under performing but he was far from it. And to be quite honest some of the comments on that post were well over the top and took on a personal slating of Tom.

[Martino Knockavelli]

Not bad Tom

 

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[Bea Smith]

Of course it was a valid question as to whether Tom Pope should start, because he wasn't doing anything useful. He wasn't scoring, didn't look like scoring, and waved his arms around in frustration at his team-mates (a very public criticism of them by the way through body language).

 

We're now playing to his many strengths, and he looks a yard faster. It's fantastic to see and who knows...maybe he needed to read a bit of criticism to know how some fans felt he was (under)-performing.

 

Tom's a sports nut with an interest in several sports judging by his Sentinel articles and other media.

 

I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to voice his opinions on why his favourite golfer was consistently over-par, or why his favourite boxer was failing to land punches. He's a big lad, he can take it as well as giving it.

 

Let's face it, if Tom Pope wasn't a local hero he'd have ben hard-pushed to justify staying in the team so long without scoring.

 

Long may Tom Pope keep scoring. I'm sure he'll also be an excellent addition to our backroom staff in years to come.

 

 

 

I see your point about it being a valid question by some, but as stated in another post the thread was used as a 'Pope bashing' exercise by some - all in the past now.

 

There will be times when strikers don't score and confidence dips, it may happen to Tom again later this season, but he will also come back from it. In our promotion season there was a spell after Christmas where he didn't score for 8 or 9 games I think, but then when one went in he helped us over the line and ended up with his massive total.

 

I think we can hope for 17-20 goals from Tom this season, possibly more, but his overall contribution is incredibly valuable to the team whether he is scoring or not.

 

I hope you are right about Tom having a role at the club after his playing days are over too, and agree that would be a very good thing.

[Paul6754]

Of course it was a valid question as to whether Tom Pope should start, because he wasn't doing anything useful. He wasn't scoring, didn't look like scoring, and waved his arms around in frustration at his team-mates (a very public criticism of them by the way through body language).

 

We're now playing to his many strengths, and he looks a yard faster. It's fantastic to see and who knows...maybe he needed to read a bit of criticism to know how some fans felt he was (under)-performing.

 

Tom's a sports nut with an interest in several sports judging by his Sentinel articles and other media.

 

I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to voice his opinions on why his favourite golfer was consistently over-par, or why his favourite boxer was failing to land punches. He's a big lad, he can take it as well as giving it.

 

Let's face it, if Tom Pope wasn't a local hero he'd have ben hard-pushed to justify staying in the team so long without scoring.

 

Long may Tom Pope keep scoring. I'm sure he'll also be an excellent addition to our backroom staff in years to come.

 

Yep Smithie it was a valid question 'cause we all have our opinions no matter what the sport but as Ancient Mariner says below, some of the posts on Tom Pope were bordering on the personal and insulting and some showed a total lack of understanding of the game of football.

 

IMHO before Popey started to score goals he was playing well, putting a shift in, laying the ball off as he normally does etc etc, the games against Crewe and Notts demonstrated this. A striker is judged on goals scored but a striker like Top Pope brings so much more to the team as many people point out.

 

Tom Pope is the talisman of Port Vale FC and even if he isn't in a rich vein of scoring form I would have in in the team for the "Je ne sais quoi" he brings. Well done Tom Pope.

[bycars bootboy]

I see your point about it being a valid question by some, but as stated in another post the thread was used as a 'Pope bashing' exercise by some - all in the past now.

 

There will be times when strikers don't score and confidence dips, it may happen to Tom again later this season, but he will also come back from it. In our promotion season there was a spell after Christmas where he didn't score for 8 or 9 games I think, but then when one went in he helped us over the line and ended up with his massive total.

 

I think we can hope for 17-20 goals from Tom this season, possibly more, but his overall contribution is incredibly valuable to the team whether he is scoring or not.

 

I hope you are right about Tom having a role at the club after his playing days are over too, and agree that would be a very good thing.

 

This post is the right way to discuss a players performances,(so credit to you bea),unlike Smithie, who is having great trouble eating his humble pie.

[Bert Llewellyn]

Well done Tom once again you have shown what a great striker you are. It's also good to see so many posters acknowledging their errors in criticisms of him under Brown. Sorry to sound 'I told you so about this' but you really didn't need a great deal of football nous to see that he was running himself into the ground for the team but the tactics employed by Brown were totally wrong for a striker like Tom.

 

It would be pleasing to see some of the more vitriolic posters who rubbished him on previous threads hold their hands up.

 

Needless to say I'm not holding my breath

 

 

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[pensioner]

Well done pope. I was critical earlier in the season when we were struggling but since brown left hes been immense. Long may it continue

 

SNAP - My thoughts exactly