Match Thread - Port Vale v Bury

[Rampant Zebra]

I put "port vale top scorers 2018" into google and I am sure I heard someone laugh....

[Bimbleabout]

Pointless playing the Pontiff,wether fit or not ,with no proper service

[valefan16]

To be fair if we are too open tomorrow we will get hammered, Bury are in good form and scoring and creating for fun. This will be a very tough game and a point would be ok (they havent lost in the league since August I believe)

[onestepatatime]

To be fair if we are too open tomorrow we will get hammered, Bury are in good form and scoring and creating for fun. This will be a very tough game and a point would be ok (they havent lost in the league since August I believe)

 

I'm sorry mate but that sort of indifferent attitude is not what we really need. At home against Bury we ought to be attack minded and go for it, especially as you say they can score for fun, so why oh why try and defend a point?

[philmpv]

Pointless playing the Pontiff,wether fit or not ,with no proper service

 

Completely agree. Aspin has said that he will be looking for a goalscorer in January, but that completely misses the point for me - It's not the current players that are the issue, it's the service. We could have Harry Kane and Messi up front, but still wouldn't score as we play at the moment.

[philmpv]

Remind me, how many have our strikers scored this season? I bet he would have cost less than the signing on fee plus wages for Miller.

 

No doubt, but if he was playing for us he wouldn't have scored and more than Miller, as our service is bloody awful. Pope hasn't scored in open play since the 01/09/2018, and he's one of the best strikers in the division!

[man in the pub]

They didn't need to break the bank to get him

 

If it was a bank we were breaking suggest it was only the Piggy variety. Would play Pope and Miller upfront and leave the rest of the team unchanged.

[sheffield61]

Vale as big as 3/1 the home win and 17/20 not to loose....Same odds as when we played Lincoln but value as Bury are no Lincoln....

[Upfromnowhere]

With the way we play, coupled with so few chances created, I'm struggling as to why anyone want's to criticise our forwards?

With Whits and Kanu more at home as wingers than forwards but who have both played up front, we still really have four, two of which Aspo doesn't see as starters, so yes, we definitely need another come January even if means some will have to be moved on to accommodate such a signing.

But the manager would be totally kidding himself and worse, fooling us, if he could possibly think signing, even a marquee CF (which ain't going to happen) would cover up either our offensive inabilities or the defensive way he sets them up to play.

Many a better striker than Pope and Miller would struggle to score with the absence of any creation.

If the opposition don't pepper our goal with shots on target, Brown would never get to make a save, but it wouldn't make him a bad keeper. Similarly with forwards, not just our forwards, but any forwards and none can be expected to knock in goals every game if they don't get the service that allows them to do so.

But because we push so few forward, and consistently sit too deep regardless of opposition or venue, Pope in particular is surrounded by opposition defenders every time he goes up for a header, as too is whoever is playing up front with him when trying to shoot or pass. It's little wonder we are resorting to 'snap shots' from anywhere, resolve this and am sure goals will follow

[Santa]

I hope Bury bring the right colour shorts and socks this year.

 

Last time we played them they came with their all black away kit and forced us to change.

[valefan16]

Vale as big as 3/1 the home win and 17/20 not to loose....Same odds as when we played Lincoln but value as Bury are no Lincoln....

 

Bury are second best in the league over the last ten games to be fair!

[valefan16]

I hope Bury bring the right colour shorts and socks this year.

 

Last time we played them they came with their all black away kit and forced us to change.

 

Took the **** that as they didn't change when our black kit allegedly clashed with their Brown and Blue halves shirts in 2010!

 

Oddly went there in 2008 when we got done 3-0 and we both wore white, them with Blue Sleeves, us with Black Sleeves and Stripes but from the back both shirts looked similar!

[JRC]

I'm not that sure any sides are scoring much from open play in this league. Most teams are pretty well organised defensively and the odd game where teams have scored a lot have been when a team has been chasing the game. It's also not a big shock we are struggling a bit going forward as we've often had 9 players on the pitch who weren't here last season. The understanding of where a player wants a ball played when going forward takes a lot more time to develop than a lot of the defensive positioning. You can't build that understanding and attacking cohesion the top teams have in 4 months ... apart from possibly on a PlayStation.

[soothsayer]

Vale as big as 3/1 the home win and 17/20 not to loose....Same odds as when we played Lincoln but value as Bury are no Lincoln....

 

Bury have only lost once in ten games so can't see a Vale win without Manny. Going for a 1-1 draw.

[valefan16]

Draw would be good. After tomorrow our nine league fixtures left of 2018 look very good on paper, all teams below or within a couple of points of us. Mansfield Away the only real tough one but they don’t win often just draw a lot!!

 

A point heading into:

 

Home

 

Notts County

Swindon Town

Cheltenham

Grimsby

Oldham

 

Away

 

Mansfield

Yeovil

Morecambe

Macclesfield

 

Would set us up nicely. Plenty of points to be had if we can perform to standard especially with Manny likely back after Notts County.