Match Thread - Stevenage v Port Vale

[CambridgeDon]

All fair points.

 

Just would be nice to see us attack a bit more, and score a few more.

 

Its damn boring at the moment and we're marooned in 16th. I'd take that position if there was an ounce of enjoyment in the football.

 

Hopefully the return of Manny/Monty will make us more of a threat.

 

Happy with the stabilising the past 2 games. Aspin really needs to figure out how to make us create chances though, as we've struggled all season. Whitfield has become a glorified full back.

 

Thinking that mesen, yewth - once we get Monty and Manny back, we'll have much more threat going forward. Aspo's having to put right our shocking away record plus the dreadful defensive performance at home to Lincoln with a depleted squad and he seems to be turning it round. If we can grind out some decent away games like the last two and improve our home form, we'll be OK. We might even start to play a bit of entertaining football.

[Upfromnowhere]

Whilst a point, and after our recent mauling, consecutive clean sheets is a very decent return, it means unfortunately, we are going to be continually forced to endure the same problem week in week out, and that is a total lack of any offensive ambition and for the umpteenth time we just appear incapable of creating anything, certainly anything clear cut, and that, dress it up how you like, is alas, down to the extremely negative tactics Neil insists on pursuing.

 

Apart from the Checkatrade games (where Pope's absence forces us to play differently) and one little scramble apart, both Saturday and tonight, we have created zilch, sweet FA, and particularly in this day and age, this surely, is not the way football is meant to be played, certainly football that people will pay hard earned money to watch, and most certainly not the way to win football matches and isn't that what football is meant to be about?

[billys biscuit tin]

Some folks need to close there eyes and think back to the desperate situation we we're in last season. We survived by 1 point and we could have so so easily gone into to the abyss. I'd bet Chesterfield with their 3 wins out of 16 in the conference would be more than happy to swap with us.

 

We'd all have loved to have seen Aspin go out in the summer and recruit a load of players that hit the ground running and propel us into promotion contenders, but it doesn't work that way very often and instead we have moderately improved. I think its way too early to say how Aspins tenure will pan out, but after the Lincoln tonking to then go to 2 successive away games and keep clean sheets is a decent improvement and shows some character. There's definitely some promising signs in some of these new players.

 

We're a work in progress and I cant see we have much other option to back Aspin and the players and to see if over time we can start to compete at the top end of the table, though I think its going to take some more transfer windows before that could be possible.

[onestepatatime]

Just got home. 1st half our defence gave away so many diabolical, suicidal back passes I was amazed none were resultant in a goal. Stevenage were so poor they only looked half reasonable when we played ourselves into trouble. Miller on 2nd half and although yes he is selfish and greedy he at least " has a go". Pope spent the whole of the 2nd half shaking his head and mouthing it off at Ricky. Well from my point of view at least Miller tries to go towards the opposition goal. Pope would not have scored if he had still been playing now , just after midnight. A point yes but Christ we ought to be crucifying for opposition as poor as them. Suppose Aspin will be happy with an away point but I have to admit after a long journey I am still very, very concerned with our apparent lack of creativity in the squad. Most of us wanted security after last season, but not at the total absence of attacking flair. Some will say we are heading for a better points haul this season and others will want more to cheer in the way of entertainment. I suppose that's football,eh?

[The_godfather]

I think any away point is a decent point to be honest. Generally teams travel poorly, and the solidity is welcome.

 

In general, while I don't disagree at all with either Caselord or BillysBiscuitTin's sentiments, what I would say is that of tonight's team, who was here under Brown? Smith, from the youth team, Pope, our most important player, and Whitfield, who was on loan. Everyone else is an 'Aspin' player. So it can't be argued that it is not Aspin's team.

 

Lower league football management is a strange thing. You have to pull together a ragtag of youth team graduates, loans from the upper echelons, half of which don't work at all, veterans & lower league journeyman, plus the occasional unpolished gem or standout performer that will go onto bigger things, into a coherent unit, ASAP. Half of managers don't do it, and finish in the bottom half of the table. And often, you have to do it all over again the next year, as the loans have gone back, your best players have been cherrypicked, others are out of contract. You've got 2-3 years to do something, or you are generally sacked due to lack of progress. Often, you'll get another gig to do the same thing again for another couple of years.

 

My point is, Aspin doesn't really have time. How patient can the club, the supporters, Norman, afford to be? How can you 'build' a side knowing that half of them likely won't be around next season? As a club that should be regarding 12th in League 1 as an average season, how long can we afford to plumb the depths of League 2? Crowds and enjoyment are already lower than they were and every season stuck down where we are won't bring fans back, or new ones through the door.

 

That all sounds negative, but that's not the intention, just recognising that it is a tricky situation. Last season is gone, and I don't think it's helpful to use it as an excuse for this season, with a different set of players. While they will undoubtedly make a difference, hanging our hat on Manny & Cristian, with their recent injury records, is probably not going to be helpful in the long run.

[PV1973]

Wasn’t there tonight and would have settled for a 0-0 before kick off. The BBC sport stats show we had 52% of the possession, 11 attempts on goal (1 less than the home team) and 2 attempts on target (same as the home team).

This doesn’t exactly sound like we were outplayed and sat back all game.

Just shows that stats don’t mean a great deal in terms of what those efforts were like. Neither keeper had to make a decent save of note. Most efforts on goal from us were wide or tame at the keeper. Popey probably had the best chance from a scramble after a corner where Legge had a header off the line.

 

First half we were second best and should have been behind, within the first few minutes someone got free at the back post and should have hit the target at least, but he put it over. The backpass was a gift they should have scored too, it didn’t look that tight an angle when he hit the post but I’ll take that.

 

With us only having pope on his own for most of that first half they were pushing their fullbacks really high up the pitch and were penning us in. When it’s like that we are absolutely caning pope by launching the ball at him time and time again and he’s on his own with no one near him. Second half to be fair I thought miller made more of a difference when he replaced Whitfield. At least when any balls came in from the left he was in or around the box with Pope and we were managing to keep their full backs a bit quieter than the first half.

 

It’s a very good point and the clean sheet is very welxome too. 4 points from 6 is an excellent return. But I’ll agree with the last few posts that we are creating nothing. It’s all scraps and fighting for loose balls and long balls. It’s terrible to watch. I thought the quality of our crossing was really poor again. Think of the great crosses Popey used to get himself on the end of and all’s we’re doing at the moment is hanging hopeful balls up in the air. We aren’t seeing full backs linking with wingers or midfielders threading balls through. It’s like players have got to try and do something on their own, there’s just no pattern of play at all. I don’t know what our tactics are or what our forward play actually is other than hopeful long balls. We’ve got a better squad than last year too and we’ve still got a centre half playing left wing back which again meant for the majority of the game we had nothing coming from that side.

 

Some have said Stevenage were poor. At least you could see what they were trying to do, they were constantly trying to keep the ball, switching it all the time, to try and free up either their full backs running in behind or the forwards making diagonal runs in to the box. If only they had a decent striker.

 

Interesting to see no Worrall in the squad at all. He should be one of our big players.

[Realism]

Just got home - we played pretty well I thought and created a few chances. We made the odd mistake but good defensively overall.

 

I’m not sure what game some people on here watched going by the comments.

[geosname]

A draw away is never a bad thing, it's not necessarily a good thing, but never bad.

The question I would ask is.... did we get a draw because of our abilities..... or because of their inabilities?

[vale victory]

Very negative first half , second half a lot better but still no cutting edge . We seem very one dimensional play up to pope get around him feed off scraps . In my opinion we are desperate for some creativity from wide areas as we are so static and ridged as a team it’s untrue . we are a better side than last year and it’s going to take time I think we all know that but the football at the moment is very frustratingly boring to watch

[sheffield61]

After the Lincoln game you would have got massive odds on us conceding zero goals in the next two matches on the road. How many points did we have at the same stage last season, am sure it would have been around half of the current total......

[PV1973]

A draw away is never a bad thing, it's not necessarily a good thing, but never bad.

The question I would ask is.... did we get a draw because of our abilities..... or because of their inabilities?

Probably a mixture of both, like Oldham last Saturday without the ball we were getting everyone behind the ball except Pope, so when we won it back it was launched up and lost. You can't expect Pope to be playing on his own like that. But that tactic of men behind the ball was frustrating them and really their 2 best chances first half came from our mistakes, they certainly should have scored the open goal. To be fair I thought Stevenage were a tidy footballing side, always looking to free up space behind for fullbakcs and wingers, but like many teams in this league they're missing a good striker. Second half Miller was getting closer to Pope, as was Hannant and it was a bit better in terms of supporting Popey, but we created very little and the quality of our attacking play was still really bad.

 

We've looked better attacking wise this season in the home games v Cambridge, Newport and Northampton. In those games we were more free flowing with full backs pushing on and overlapping, linking with wingers and midfielders getting on the ball and driving forward. This last 2 games Aspins defintiely gone for a shut up shop tactic of stifling the opposition and hope something drops when we hit it long or get a set piece. We're turning in to an Allardyce or Pulis team with constant long balls and trying to use Legges long throw and also leaving no men up when we defend corners. Its got the desired outcome in the last 2 games, but I can't see the home faithful being accepting of this style of football at home.

[Emile]

After the Lincoln game you would have got massive odds on us conceding zero goals in the next two matches on the road. How many points did we have at the same stage last season, am sure it would have been around half of the current total......

 

Last season played 15 Pts 14

This season played 15 pts 18

[valefan16]

Last season played 15 Pts 14

This season played 15 pts 18

 

We'd just won three in a row hadn't we, we now have the same amount of points as we did prior to the Cambridge game on the 9th December.

 

Still got Notts Count, Cheltenham, Morecambe and Macc Town of the strugglers to face so hopefully rack up a few points come the half way point.

[BIRCHES HEAD WHITES]

It amazes me that people think a draw away from home against Stevenage is poor ?

 

We are at best a mid table side . Our squad is wafer thin on any quality , there is no investment financially in the squad . Of those played How many of the top 8 have we beaten ?

 

Yes aspo is negative all to often and yes his selection sometimes baffles but you cannot polish a turd . We are miles away from the autos and probably 3 quality players away from the play offs . Let’s get real .

 

I will be happy to finish 10/12 points clear of the relegation places and dream that smurf sells up in the summer . Ps I know he won’t he luv de munay .

[onestepatatime]

Probably a mixture of both, like Oldham last Saturday without the ball we were getting everyone behind the ball except Pope, so when we won it back it was launched up and lost. You can't expect Pope to be playing on his own like that. But that tactic of men behind the ball was frustrating them and really their 2 best chances first half came from our mistakes, they certainly should have scored the open goal. To be fair I thought Stevenage were a tidy footballing side, always looking to free up space behind for fullbakcs and wingers, but like many teams in this league they're missing a good striker. Second half Miller was getting closer to Pope, as was Hannant and it was a bit better in terms of supporting Popey, but we created very little and the quality of our attacking play was still really bad.

 

We've looked better attacking wise this season in the home games v Cambridge, Newport and Northampton. In those games we were more free flowing with full backs pushing on and overlapping, linking with wingers and midfielders getting on the ball and driving forward. This last 2 games Aspins defintiely gone for a shut up shop tactic of stifling the opposition and hope something drops when we hit it long or get a set piece. We're turning in to an Allardyce or Pulis team with constant long balls and trying to use Legges long throw and also leaving no men up when we defend corners. Its got the desired outcome in the last 2 games, but I can't see the home faithful being accepting of this style of football at home.

 

Got to agree mate. We are definitely a better squad than last season but the tactics and set ups are killing any sort of creativity and it's actually tremendously boring to watch Vale at present.

 

 

I get it that Aspin needs to see us safe and not experience the threat of going out of the League....BUT with these players surely we could offer more, home and away?

 

 

At Vale Park now we appear to be down to bare bones of circa 3,500 and the away hardy fans are showing their contempt by staying away too. The analogy of Pulis and Allardyce is true. We are seemingly not caring about entertainment at all but concentrating solely on negative, dour performances to literally grind out draws or sneak a win.

 

 

We need the support of the fans as we are the Club but unless something changes soon the drifting away of the life culture of the Club will continue and we will end up playing infront of the crowds that turn up to watch the likes of Stevenage.