Match Thread - FAC1 Port Vale v Sunderland

[For Us All]

Really proud of our boys, great atmosphere, the ground looked great and after the dire 20 minutes we looked like we were on par with Sunderland.

 

Spot on,considering they had a player in their side on £31,000 a week we did alright didn't we despite a terrible referee.

[Mario]

Before the game I spoke to 3 different lads who all said the money coming in from the game would be going into the fat mans back pocket and it was taking the shine off the day because in the past you knew a few bob would have gone towards the improvement of the team,and even if we did have a cup run similar to Lincolns we wouldn't see the benefit,so the attendance is immaterial really,all the money coming in goes to to Smuffwaite,and today was a bonus game for him and him alone.

[Warren]

Had the wrong set up to start for the opposition and how they were playing. Not getting close to the players in possession. Allowed their qualities to shine through. Felt sorry fro Vassell as he has done well in recent weeks and has a lot of promise. But change was needed or we were going to get murdered by a big score.

 

The team didn't let that happen. Really proud of their performance. Stuck in and with a bit of luck could have drawn level.

[Jacko51]

Spot on,considering they had a player in their side on £31,000 a week we did alright didn't we despite a terrible referee.

 

That’s probably equivalent to the total of our wage bill!

 

Following their relegation from the Prem the Mackems have three years of parachute payments. This is the second year and the payment from that source alone is £34 million for this season. That is about 20 times our wage budget for the year. I don’t think they looked 20 times better than us!!

[Doha]

Robbed for that penalty.

[smithie]

Before the game I spoke to 3 different lads who all said the money coming in from the game would be going into the fat mans back pocket and it was taking the shine off the day because in the past you knew a few bob would have gone towards the improvement of the team,and even if we did have a cup run similar to Lincolns we wouldn't see the benefit,so the attendance is immaterial really,all the money coming in goes to to Smuffwaite,and today was a bonus game for him and him alone.

 

We need that complete ******** as far away from the club as possible.

[old sage]

The revenue raised from this game will go towards half of Novembers wage bill.

Sad but very true. The owner thinks any profits made should be used to save him providing anything to his Club or to buy another cheap football club's ground the man is a parasite and Port vale cannot look to the future with any confidence as long as he is in situ!

We all know how the cash made should be use in offering the likes of Manny an extended deal but he most probably was talking to Sunderland's chairman trying to sell him.

[llcoolj]

I believe he'd been looking for a match sponsor last week and was asking £15000!!

[Conrad]

I believe he'd been looking for a match sponsor last week and was asking £15000!!

Tony Fradley was the match sponsor.

[Upfromnowhere]

If only Aspin had a more positive attitude, we could have won that game, certainly got a replay. I applaud him for making an early change, as despite having nine men behind the ball for the first half an hour we were getting mullered, but as yesterday proved, safety first is not always whats it's cracked up to be.

Just watched the match back after night shift, and it certainly gives you a different perspective, and fascinating to hear neutral comments from the pundits who quickly picked up we played with a back five (we've known that for weeks)and they just needed a bit of correction when they suggested how we couldn't get out of our own half for the first 30 mins, it wasn't we couldn't, we didn't want to!

Only when Manny came on did the game change, and he, almost single handedly opened up a channel of creativity for the team, that has been missing for weeks.

But my oh my, before he came on the midfield was as poor as I've seen all season and their shape, positioning and closing down was beyond dire, in fact looking at the goals, it was disasterous.

All that said, whilst not saying we deserved to win,I definitely think the second half performance was more than good enough to give us something from the game especially considering the ref bottled that penalty decision, and actually went to work gutted that we hadn't got at least a replay,

Lets just hope we take the many, many positives from the second 45 minutes and if we do, who knows where it could take us, but more important, get the new contract out for Manny, the heartbeat of our improving team

[PV1973]

Had the wrong set up to start for the opposition and how they were playing. Not getting close to the players in possession. Allowed their qualities to shine through. Felt sorry fro Vassell as he has done well in recent weeks and has a lot of promise. But change was needed or we were going to get murdered by a big score.

 

The team didn't let that happen. Really proud of their performance. Stuck in and with a bit of luck could have drawn level.

As others have said a bit more of a positive outlook from the start and things may have been different. Taking Vassel off was the right thing to do as IMO they were looking to get at the space behind him, (another team targeting our left). As for him showing promise, hes done a job for us, but I don't personally think he has a career as a full back, Aspins playing him out of position. We did well to get back in to it, despite them being relegated twice they aren't that bad a side, and after that first half hour we acquitted ourselves well and arguably should have got something. But as with other games this season our poor start is what killed us in the end.

[valiant_593]

Just wondering what vale fans expect from the officials? The ref had a very good game throughout. Let things go, gave pope free kicks the only debatable decision was the penalty. Which I’m not 100% sure was one anyway.

 

To the game thought other than a horrible first half hour I thought we were excellent. Basically from when manny came on. He pope and legge stood out, Whitfield looked dangerous and Conlon also put a good shift in. Thought we deserved the replay against a very strong outfit but hopefully this will do the lads the world of good in terms of confidence. Can’t see manny being here after this season, he’s not a league 2 player.

[valefan16]

He missed the clear pulling back on Manny as he was about to burst into the area too.

[Howjy04]

He missed the clear pulling back on Manny as he was about to burst into the area too.

 

Correct,right in front of him.The penalty decision should ensure he and the liner will be going to Specsavers today.Thoroughly deserved a replay.

[valiant_593]

He missed the clear pulling back on Manny as he was about to burst into the area too.

 

Strange on that. Looked like he was playing advantage then give nothing. Definite foul though.