Match Thread - Port Vale v Grimsby Town

[Howjy04]

Pope needs to adapt and we need to keep the pill on the deck.We have some quick players who are watching the ball sail over their heads.Tom is not the same player of 6 years ago.I think we should drop him back to defensive midfield.League goals ,without pens,this season are 5.His assists.....one.To say he doesn’t enjoy playing lumpball Is rediculous.His career has been based on that.I do not think that we should be bringing in 2 wingers and another striker into the club,as keeps getting suggested to accomodate one player.

[pete vale]

Being a vale legend counts for nothing in the managers stakes Sproson,Glover Foyle were all legends of the vale all got the sack with better records than Aspin.I'm sorry to say this about him but he is totally inept with his tactics we have some good players but they are either played out of position or told to do something that they cannot do or not even selected.The man himself is out of his depth as a manager just like the owner of our club mistake after mistake is being made to the detriment of our wonderful loyal fans which i can never forgive them for all i can ask is give us something to be proud off instead of the dross that is being served up by both at the head of the club.

 

Good post, sadly until Smuthwaite is gone this is where we are - or possibly even trawling further depths of mire. Aspin a true legend but I don't see things changing positively to take this club forward in view of his management style. What a mess this club is in. Most people have and can see it but sadly what can we do? It would be hard for me to walk away. Vale has been and will continue to hold a piece of my heart for ever.

[man in the pub]

We were warned by Gateshead fans that we will be a mid table, negative, boring team. Aspin- does exactly what it says on the tin.

[valiant_593]

i find it hard to believe some are still defending aspin on here and at games. If he wasn’t a vale legend he would’ve been sacked long ago. I don’t trust him in January, will just sign more centre backs and play them wherever. Needs to go ASAP otherwise it’s just going to be more and more drivel served up week in week out. He may as well pick the keeper a back 8 and a front 2 with his bloody hoof ball tactics.

 

I remember when he joined he said he was here to entertain and didn’t want to stand there and be bored. Well what the hell has happened? I don’t think I’ve been entertained once this season. Depressing and predictable. Nothing will change. Whitfield will be stuck on the bench and rawlinson will come back in for quigley when fit.

[Heatwave]

At the end of the game I saw some abuse of Aspin in Lorne Street.

 

Perhaps he'll move the home dugout back to Lorne Street Hamil.

[PV1973]

Hagrid makes a good point, which may seem trivial to some. Their subs were being warmed up properly with routines. Ours usually spend the half time messing about. A small detail, but it’s something that IMO is symptomatic of the whole set up and lack of coaching that our players are getting overall.

 

I wasn't saying that but the change to a more attacking set up leaves a team more vulnerable at the back. We didn't take our chances and they did. Until Norman realises that the whole point of the game is to score goals and pays the going rate for some players capable of doing it regularly we are always going to struggle.

Bit of a contradictory post there. The reason they scored was because Clark was out of position. If he’d done his job properly then it wouldn’t have happened, that’s got nothing to do with whitfield being on the pitch. It sounds like you have the same mindset as Aspin, but then in the same breath you say we need to score goals, which is why whitfield was brought on, so that we were more attacking from midfield.

[Erniemossrules]

Clark is a good player, but I think he’s definitely going though a bad patch this last couple of months. I thought the goal came from him being too high again, not the first time either this season he’s been caught in his positioning and they were able to play in behind, but it was a great finish to be fair. I said last week that if he goes it’s not the end of the world as we already have Gibbons in the squad. He’s done little wrong for me when called on, but like Clark and any young player they’ll make mistakes, Gibbons is his ball retention sometimes but even so he hasn’t cost us goals with bad mistakes. Clark today really did have another bad game, especially in the second half. Players have been dropped for less than that this season. Maybe he needs a rest.

 

Apart from probably a ten minute spell in the first half and similar in the second half we didn’t play well at all. Quigley just isn’t the answer for me. Whitfield added something different that they struggled to cope with and we were unlucky not to score, but once they scored it totally killed us. Vassell did nothing again, (how long are we going to allow Clark and Vassell to put in performances like this, we are desperate for a proper left back IMO). The midfield were anonymous in the main, players 2 months ago who people were crying out to offer new deals too. We got very little in terms of decent delivery to Pope who was poor himself today. I thought Smith battled well today though. Maybe against popular opinion but I thought Dodds tried something different too when he came on, some clever reverse balls down the right for Whitfield and Clark, I’d much prefer to see him over Quigley as the second striker because his link up play is better.

 

Aspin was giving some stick out to a fan that moaned at him in the second half. Not nice to see that.

 

 

I agree that it looks like we do no work at all on patterns of play. It’s like Sunday league, go out and launch it and see what drops. But then again we change formation and personnel so often then it’s no wonder we don’t seem settled. It’s like pot luck every week. However these recent performances really make me wonder how much the players want to play for him.

 

When did Dodds do the reverse balls to Whitfield and Clark must have blinked and missed it.

Did diddly squat when he came on.

Should be sent back to Chesterfield in January to make room for a better player.

[Rampant Zebra]

Clark was obviously trying to join the attack. Which Whitfield was encouraging.

[Upfromnowhere]

Can we play you every week?

As i saw it there was one team at least trying to play football and not doing it as well as they have. And there was one team hoofing it up to Pope and not doing it particuarly well either. Vale are absolutely reminiscent of Gateshead when Aspin was in charge and i use to hate going there knowing his tactics. With an average age of 23 and 5 key injuries in our side i know we can get and play better as our current form suggests. After seeing Vale 4 times in two seasons i dont think you can until something radically changes.

 

And there you have it, and if oppo supporters can see how obvious our failings are, how easy, and more so with 90 minutes of nearly all games being available do people think it is for other managers to see the same failings?

 

One dimensional doesn't even get close

[TylerB]

If Aspin wasn't a brilliant player for this club years ago he would be getting crucified here by many more for his tactics and dire football. I've asked this question before to the pro Aspin brigade and have never got one answer. If Aspin was to leave Port Vale tomorrow would any other club in the whole of the football league scramble for his signature? I know the answer already, and that's a significant no. The chairman is a melt, some of our players aren't good enough (Hardcastle, Dodds, Quigley, Miller, Kanu) but the manager is completely out of his depth. I could call asleep listening to him talk for just a few minutes so **** knows what the players must be thinking in the dressing room.

[Upfromnowhere]

I wasn't saying that but the change to a more attacking set up leaves a team more vulnerable at the back. We didn't take our chances and they did. Until Norman realises that the whole point of the game is to score goals and pays the going rate for some players capable of doing it regularly we are always going to struggle.

 

I rather think you're missing thee point Zebra, we're vulnerable at the back because we are not organised enough, not because we bring on a winger. Players clearly are not aware, or more likely not sufficiently drilled on either their individual or collective responsibilities, particularly defensively.

With CH's playing as FB's thats always going to happen, and a good point to highlight, because it happens in nearly all matches is that sometimes we have a line of five across the back, two or three midfield players just in front of them and with just three or four opposition players to pick up, yet somehow they are invariably in space, how the hell does that happen?

I still think the balance and shape of the team is utterly shambolic and worse I feel we have the players, not so much to take us to the play offs, but certainly and quite comfortably into the top half of the table, and again feel, even with the same players, another manager would make a lot of them than is currently the case

[PV1973]

Clark was obviously trying to join the attack. Which Whitfield was encouraging.

It’s not encouraging when he’s left space behind him and it’s not as if the ball was down his side of the pitch either, it was on the opposite side and one of the basics of full back defending is when that happens he shouldn’t be so high.

[Warren]

i find it hard to believe some are still defending aspin on here and at games. If he wasn’t a vale legend he would’ve been sacked long ago. I don’t trust him in January, will just sign more centre backs and play them wherever. Needs to go ASAP otherwise it’s just going to be more and more drivel served up week in week out. He may as well pick the keeper a back 8 and a front 2 with his bloody hoof ball tactics.

 

I remember when he joined he said he was here to entertain and didn’t want to stand there and be bored. Well what the hell has happened? I don’t think I’ve been entertained once this season. Depressing and predictable. Nothing will change. Whitfield will be stuck on the bench and rawlinson will come back in for quigley when fit.

 

I was nearly entertained in the second half. I would have been entertained if we had scored one of our 17 shots during the game. I thought our momentum was destroyed by them scoring after we just missed an open goal. I agree the first half was unacceptable.

 

I think Aspin will be best judged at the end of the season. I would say success is finishing 11th and in the top half. A place to build for next year. I was nearly entertained in the second half. I would have been entertained if we had scored one of our 17 shots during the game. I thought our momentum was destroyed by them scoring after we just missed an open goal. I agree the first half was unacceptable.

 

I think Aspin will be best judged at the end of the season. I would say success is finishing 11th and in the top half. A place to build for next year.

[For Us All]

I was nearly entertained in the second half. I would have been entertained if we had scored one of our 17 shots during the game. I thought our momentum was destroyed by them scoring after we just missed an open goal. I agree the first half was unacceptable.

 

I think Aspin will be best judged at the end of the season. I would say success is finishing 11th and in the top half. A place to build for next year. I was nearly entertained in the second half. I would have been entertained if we had scored one of our 17 shots during the game. I thought our momentum was destroyed by them scoring after we just missed an open goal. I agree the first half was unacceptable.

 

I think Aspin will be best judged at the end of the season. I would say success is finishing 11th and in the top half. A place to build for next year.

 

Things can suddenly change in this league,Artell was on the verge of a sacking after a run of defeats at Crwho but he makes a couple of team changes and gets a coupon buster against Lincoln.

Just seen Danny Cowley's post match interview where he says that Crwho's performance was the best they had come up against this season.

[dantheman]

Whole club is infested with tinpottery.

 

The subs play a bit of keepy up at half time to 'warm up'. The PA system doesn't work in half the ground (despite the big song and dance post Stoke). Complete and utter silence for the 90.

 

Was politely (aggressively) told 'not to come again' if I was going to boo yesterday's performance (after witnessing Macc, Cheltenham etc).

 

Aspin is a symptom of much bigger problems at the club; the cheap, out of his depth option (extend that to coaches, players). He can go but what do we have to look forward to then? Norm's 5th managerial appointment.

 

Just struggling to really care anymore. I want what is best for the Vale but if I'm going to be confronted for booing then the fans deserve the club its getting, passively observing and accepting the tripe we've been served up for the past 2.5 years.

 

We've won 30 of our last 116 league games. One in four. 25%.

 

We're a non-league club with a League 1 keeper. Polite applause at the end lads.

 

Lot of this going on sadly. My dad was abused for booing and showing some passion about the situation. Ironic thing is he was told to support the team, a team we have watched Home and away and have given us nothing to support. Bloke who was kicking off only watches the home games!!