Match Thread - Mansfield Town v Port Vale

[sandyford_valiant]

We have not got any tactics at all.

 

For me we play game of lets launch it up and we will try and hope the ball breaks loose for us. Sometimes it drops and we win games and have a few shots and some pressure. More often than not, this will not work and this is why we do not seem to have many shots or score goals.

 

Midfield arent creating enough. We need to see if Snurf will give Aspin some money to sign a player or two of decent calibre with these couple of cup runs which have made us money.

 

As ut stands were going to end up below mid table and you would probably have to settle for that after the two seasons we have had but we need a goalscorer for certain to play with Pope.

 

MIller is not the anwser by the looks of it.

[Paul6754]

Manny had committed another foul between his 1st and 2nd booking. The ref didn't have a choice, the lad was miles off the pace from the first minute.

 

Yep Manny did commit another foul a couple of minutes before the "Sending off" foul but again it wasn't malicious. I could have understood the sending off if the foul was malicious or using excessive force but it wasn't and I can't remember Manny persistently fouling all the game. I just thought it was one foul too early to send him off.

 

We need more players who can carry the ball and can pass through lines. Priority number 1 in the Jan window is either loaning a talented attacking mid in or scouring non-league for some physical midfielders.

 

I thought Vale got into good positions especially in the first half but the quality was lacking in the final ball, Hannant in particular had an off day with his passing. Hence my vote would be for a creative midfield player, a Chris Eagles type or someone like Danny Mayor but I doubt it will happen but can always hope..

[PV1973]

Yep Manny did commit another foul a couple of minutes before the "Sending off" foul but again it wasn't malicious. I could have understood the sending off if the foul was malicious or using excessive force but it wasn't and I can't remember Manny persistently fouling all the game. I just thought it was one foul too early to send him off.

It doesn't matter if they're malicious or not, niggly fouls disrupting the play and I'm sure he did at least 2 in the second half before the one he got sent off for. He was walking a tightrope.

 

I thought Vale got into good positions especially in the first half but the quality was lacking in the final ball, Hannant in particular had an off day with his passing. Hence my vote would be for a creative midfield player, a Chris Eagles type or someone like Danny Mayor but I doubt it will happen but can always hope..

I read Mike Baggaleys lates comments on the game this morning and I think he was really clutching at straws and just shows how far we've fallen if we're accepting of performances like that. Equally reading Aspins post match comments and all he could say was how we kept going til the end! Thats the bare minimum any team should do. Basically we offered nothing.

 

I think Hannants had a handful of games like that this season, he could have been one of many subbed on Saturday. And going back to earlier posts about Aspins blinkered team selections, if that was one of any number of players putting in a performance like Hannants they'd be dropped for the next game.

 

We have not got any tactics at all.

You needn’t have expanded on this statement, because its plain as day that you’re right. If a couple of centre halves are able to deal with Pope then we are knackered, because we’re currently not getting down the side of the teams or going through teams. We’re just hitting it up and hoping. That’s the blessing and the curse of having a player like him who is so good at what he does.

 

Conlon was a deliberate tactic to play in the centre and only went wide when Mansfield managed to play the ball out to the left. We tried to deny the space in the middle as the had good ball players in the middle.

I think that’s Conlons natural game to come narrow, he did it when he played in that position at Forest Green. But if it was a tactic to do that, it didn’t work because there right hand side had a field day with their right wing back linking with the right sided forward. It also didn't free up room for Clark to push on either.

[Wrex]

Watching the highlights it's just two minutes of Mansfield attacking and the referee had no choice but to give Manny a second yellow.

 

Every week we seem to hear that this week's League Two opposition are very good opposition and we did well to compete with them and the referee was biased against us. A pretty depressing time to be a Vale fan.

[Paul6754]

It doesn't matter if they're malicious or not, niggly fouls disrupting the play and I'm sure he did at least 2 in the second half before the one he got sent off for. He was walking a tightrope.

 

If they are not malicious then he had to have been persistently fouling as I said in my post but I don't think that was the case either. I can remember Manny committing a foul 2 or 3 minutes before but even if he committed two as you say I wouldn't class that as persistently forling. I've heard the tv pundits speculate that 3 non malicious fouls after a booking is OK but a fourth and it's yellow card time.

 

I read Mike Baggaleys lates comments on the game this morning and I think he was really clutching at straws and just shows how far we've fallen if we're accepting of performances like that. Equally reading Aspins post match comments and all he could say was how we kept going til the end! Thats the bare minimum any team should do. Basically we offered nothing.

 

I agree that is the bare minimum but I thought we played well at times but just lacked that final quality ball.

 

I think Hannants had a handful of games like that this season, he could have been one of many subbed on Saturday.

 

Yep he could have been subbed, he just had an off day with his passing and it showed 'cause he can deliver quality.

 

If a couple of centre halves are able to deal with Pope then we are knackered, because we’re currently not getting down the side of the teams or going through teams. We’re just hitting it up and hoping. That’s the blessing and the curse of having a player like him who is so good at what he does.

 

I thought their two central defenders consistently manhandled/fouled Popey and he got virtually nothing from the ref, he got frustrated for good reason IMHO. When a center forward is competing physically with a center half I'd anticipate that fouls should be about 50:50 either way or at most 70:30 in favor of defender or attacker but on Saturday for Pope it seemed to be nearer 10:90, ie the defender got most of the calls in his favor.

[PV1973]

If they are not malicious then he had to have been persistently fouling as I said in my post but I don't think that was the case either. I can remember Manny committing a foul 2 or 3 minutes before but even if he committed two as you say I wouldn't class that as persistently forling. I've heard the tv pundits speculate that 3 non malicious fouls after a booking is OK but a fourth and it's yellow card time.

 

I agree that is the bare minimum but I thought we played well at times but just lacked that final quality ball.

 

Yep he could have been subbed, he just had an off day with his passing and it showed 'cause he can deliver quality.

At the time I couldn't make out how close Manny was to the area when he made the foul for the second yellow. Having just watched the highlights if he hadn't brought their lad down he was in to the box with a decent chance of having a shot on goal. I thinks thats a yellow all day there.

 

I love Hannants work rate but I really think his final delivery lacks quality, because he does get himself in to some decent areas. But I thinks its an area we need to work on all over the pitch, not just him. In fact overall I wonder what we do in training in regards to attacking play and how we intend to build up the play when we have possession.

 

Another thing that’s frustrating is how often we switch off from set plays, quick free kicks or throws, for a split second we’re not set and the opposition benefit. Again that intensity and concentration in a game should be second nature throughout the week in everything we do. Clarks a big culprit in that regard, hopefully with experience he improves that side of the game.

 

Browns reaction save was tremendous, but again I didn’t realise that Walker tried to be clever with his finish and flick it in, maybe if he’d gone for it properly he might have been able to smash it in. He got everything he deserved there for trying to be cocky.