Match Thread - Mansfield Town v Port Vale

[Frank Mustard]

Smurf isn't perfect by any means... but demanding he goes is dangerous.

 

The very fact he’s still here and will remain here is far more dangerous to Port Vale Football club. There’s only one place we’re heading feeding off his scraps. Playing Non-League football in a crumbling run down stadium. We’re on a life support machine and if he remains in control you may as well switch it off.

[Class personified]

in comparison to last season we were brilliant and yet we lost. Mansfield deserved to win but we are clearly a better team this year than last by a country mile. The defence was superb today. Our weakness was the midfield. Oyeleke was rightly sent off and was having a poor game. Joyce couldn’t pass to a white shirt. Conlon and Hannant tried but to no effect. We played too narrow. There was no get out ball to the wings. We appeared to change our formation to fit Manny into it and he failed to deliver and will miss yet another match. The nearly man. The ref gave absolutely no protection for Pope. I’m surprised Popey didn’t smack the pillock. Whitfield sat too far off Pope as did Monty who is clearly not the player we admired in the latter part of last year.

[Jacko51]

1. Subbing our best player today (Conlon)

 

Conlon had been booked so according to the gimp in the toilet that’s why he should have been subbed!!

[Santa]

We were second best today in a game of few chances. Not terrible by any means, a workmanlike performance but in the final third, nothing once again.

[Conrad]

Conlon had been booked so according to the gimp in the toilet that’s why he should have been subbed!!

Conlon was one of the better players today but can understand the substitution, not wanting to risk going down to 9 men.

Personally I thought Legge was motm.

[Jacko51]

Conlon was one of the better players today but can understand the substitution, not wanting to risk going down to 9 men.

Personally I thought Legge was motm.

 

Agree about Legge. He was excellent.

[Paul6754]

Vale played some good stuff especially in the first half, we just lacked some quality and composure on the ball in the last third. Hannant had the ball in some good positions but couldn't find the right quality pass/cross.

 

All Vale players played well but Legge was outstanding, the subs didn't get into the game. Thought Manny was unlucky to be sent off, it wasn't a malicious tackle and Manny didn't seem to have been repeatedly/consistently fouling, it wasn't a dirty game so I thought the ref would have just have a word with him rather than send him off.

 

Montano has great skill but it's rarely seen.

[Santa]

The difference between a yellow card and just a talking to seemed to be dependent on whether you played for the home team or not.

[Paul6754]

Exemplified by the Pontiff, got wrestled and battered all game but the majority of fouls were given against him. I thought the ref was a homer.

[Goal Drought]

For almost first time not even bothered by missing a game. A manager so negative that don’t even know what current squad could achieve.

He wants another striker, every striker or attaching player will fail under Aspin’s dire negative tactics.

[valiantastic]

have good inside info that tranmere looking to snap legge away from us as this is Mcnultys last season. i hope this isn’t true especially as he’s been great for us this season and sounds like he was great again today, also the fact that he talks to Norwood on social media aswell could be a bit of a link. think they are from the same area in sussex

[smithie]

 

Montano has great skill but it's rarely seen.

 

Let's be honest, if he left in January we wouldn't miss him. He's been a very disappointing signing and we've had very little value from him.

[PVFC764]

January window will show what Ambition Smurf actually has for Vale. Does he keep the better players or just asset strips the club when offers come in for them and then keeps the money, like he has done in previous years. Not looking forward to the Jan window opening up this year.

 

Today's game, well some of the players appeared to turn up in the back four, but midfield and attack seemed as tho they ran out of ideas. But then the Ref played his part to perfection and started waving his yellow card around and a lot of the decision went the home teams way. See what the next game brings as they say.

[blackdog]

Not surprised by todays result in fact I expected it,the league table is an accurate reflection of our progress,an average League 2 club.

 

Anyone expecting, hoping for free flowing exciting attacking play from Aspin is going to be disappointed, thats not to say I'm not supporting him at the moment, but going forward I feel we are going to remain an underfunded mediocre league 2 side.

[PV1973]

In comparison we created next to nothing, yes Whitfield and Pope never got into the game-at all, but for the umpteenth time this season,I refuse to even remotely criticise either as they were once again, and by these absurd tactics, feeding of the most meagre of scraps. The only comment I would add is that imo Whits is not a forward, he is a natural winger and out wide is where he spent a lot of the game which left Pope even more isolated than usual.

 

If we have any tactical aspiration beyond boring teams (and supporters) to death Aspo has to show a pair, swallow this 8,9 men behind the ball nonsense and at least try to win football matches. The fact that we only looked dangerous from Legges long throws (and he was also superb today) speaks volumes.

 

We surely have to bin this formation immediately. Yes, clearly we are letting in less goals because of it, but equally clearly it's not only stifling any possibility we have of attacking teams, worse,for any opposition it's quickly become all so predictably easy to defend against, and for that reason alone we have to change.

 

We have decent FB's at the club, but appears we are loathe to use them for fear of dropping one of our CH's. We have natural wide men in the squad but appear loathe to utilise them for fear of having to drop the bosses favourites, and I believe we have some very decent forwards but appear loathe to service them due to the bosses fear of allowing players to leave the safety of our own half.

Rocket science it's not!

I think this post and Hagrids sum up the game well. First half we weren’t too bad, and were holding our own but we weren’t really threatening anything at all. We were playing some nice stuff in spells, but overall it wasn’t enough. Without a cutting edge or a willingness to commit players or play players in their right postitions and give them some licence then we are always going to struggle for creativity and goals I think.

 

I thought Brown did well, Rawlinson, Smith and Legge did too. I didn’t think Clark had a good game or offer too much going forward either, he totally lost his man for the goal and we saw the left hand side exposed again. Did we know how good their right hand side would be? If so why play Conlon out there? I would have thought Hannant playing in his normal position would have been a better way to go. When Conlon plays there he goes narrow rather than wide and it limits our options, even more so when our left back isn’t offering much. On the subject of going forward I wonder if Rawlinson is told to sit in? We have no threat down that side from the full back area. Which all goes back to upfromnowheres good points above.

 

Hannant didn’t do much today, poor crossing and decision making on the ball. Manny was much the same for me too, there’s no complaints about the 2 yellows, the second one was only a matter of time considering the number of fouls he seemed to be conceding second half.

 

Pope didn’t seem himself today, maybe a touch more immobile that usual I’d say. Whitfield did a lot of running round and was unlucky to be subbed in my opinion. It could have been anyone apart from brown, Rawlinson, Smith and Legge for me. The subs were baffling to say the least. Their right hand side were a problem so why not tell Monty to play there and go high to give them something to think about? Instead he puts Dodds there, who struggled today. Then Monty is put up top with Pope, when he’s just not a forward. When those 2 came on it felt like we’d gone 2 men down such was their input. Monty should be embarrassed for pulling out of tackles too.

 

I still don’t think we are at our best even now, we’re constrained by the manager I think and are too cautious. Once we go a goal down it’s hard to change things enough to get back at teams.