Match Thread - Port Vale v Carlisle United

[Quebec_Valiant]

We are well and truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

Aspin should have gone in December to give whoever the new manager was a chance to assess the squad then he could have gone into this difficult transfer window with a bit of knowledge.

 

Now even if Aspin did go which I dont think he will, either sacked or he walks, the new bloke will have no chance to strengthen the side and he will be stuck with Aspins misfits.

 

This all boils down to Smurthwaites poor running of the club.

 

Agreed, Aspin is a problem but probably not the problem at the moment. Would perhaps have been interesting to see what Aspin could do if properly backed.

 

someone commented earlier that Kay should only be a back up player. While this is probably true we seem to lose our shape when we play without him. THis looks like an example of where Aspin's hands are tied because we don't have a better, more mobile player in that role. That said playing with 2 defensive mids is probably a little OTT.

[Sandyford_Lion]

The majority opinion of those who sit around me say that

A. The current team is an improvement on last year, without exception.

B. We rarely look like we are going to score, with the exception of a few late flurry’s when chasing a game.

The method of play is way too negative.

 

Today for most of the first half we had Joyce and Kay sitting pretty much alongside Smith and Rawlinson.

Seemed like we were trying to play it out from the back but with everyone sitting so deep, the ball just kept going sideways with the inevitable lump it up when someone got closed down. Manny was trying to hold the ball up but Kay and Joyce were rarely high enough to help.

Set pieces are still dire, Including throw ins. Try going forward lads.

 

We have an idiot of an owner that has to go.

We have a poor manager, whose only saving grace is the money available from the owner not enough.

Aspin still is an awful manager.

The team :

 

Brown is brilliant.

 

We then play 3 4 2 1

 

Back 3

Nothing exceptional there at all

The new lad today looked as good as anything we hace seen this season. This is not saying he is brilliant, more that our players are poor.

No skill on the ball and they offer no threat to score from set pieces.

 

Defensive midfield 4

Yes we play with a defensive 7

Kay and Joyce do one mans job.

Kay, even at his age, looks decent compared to the rest but should never be needed to play.

Both offer little going forward but are there to protect the back line.

Gibbons and Clarke, young and energetic but sorry offer very little going forward and show very little , if any, quality.

 

Attacking midfield 2

Massive problem this one.

Hannant " the nearly man " will never score enough goals and will never create enough chances for the team.

Manny " hard worker " but like Hannant very few goals and very little creativity.

The problem is both these players deserve to be in the starting eleven but this is our major problem area. No goals and no creativity/quality all season.

 

Forget the 1 up front

We never get the ball there to threaten enough.

Pope is Popey and yes he will score more than anyone else with some service

Miller had two good chances today but never looks confident to score.

His effort at Crawley should have been buried but he luckily got a chance from a rebound

Now we have no one up front !!!

 

What makes it even worse than all the above is when i look at the players on the bench or in the dressing room, i see nothing nay different any better any hope.

 

Aspin continues to play dull, negative, terrible football. By the way we still struggled today when trying to pass our way through and after several attempts we reverted to hoof ball. So its not Pope

insisting on this at all.

 

Next Sunday, after two more games without a win, Smurthwaite may well sack Aspin with the following :

 

Aspin had money avalable but chose not to spend

I have a new manager lined up but unfortunately

the transfer window closed and he cannot spend my money.

 

We are set for relegation for certain

This was easily seen 6 months ago and January offered us the only chance to get out of the mess but we have not taken this chance.

 

Smurthwaite - GO NOW

 

Aspin - has to go now to give us any chance

[CambridgeDon]

We need 17-18 points from 17 games. You can do that with a 30% win ratio provided you pick up some points here and there from draws. Actually if we draw every game then we could probably be safe with 0% win ratio.

 

I'm not saying that things are not bleak, just that they are not quite as bleak as that just yet. Give it a few more weeks and I'll publish "the run in" and we will all be on the fishy boards relegation calculator. Something I was hoping to avoid up until our run in December-January.

 

Let's do it a different way. So far this season, we achieved just over a point a game (1.1035 to be precise), so extrapolating for the rest of the season would give us a further 18.76, say 19, points. That's 51 points, theoretically enough for survival. But will we do it under Aspin? Perhaps, though I doubt it because our recent form is so bad. Since our last home win against Bury, we've managed just 0.85 points per game, which unfortunately would result in a final tally of 46 points, not enough to guarantee safety and probably low enough to see us relegated.

 

I've already posted about our run in, earlier in this thread. The bottom line is that unless we can take points in what is, on paper at least, our relatively easier run of fixtures in February and March, the odds of recovering enough points to stay up start to become vanishingly thin, because of the quality of the opposition.

 

Which simply adds to the main point I made that Aspin has to go. Our results are deteriorating not improving and his win ratio (as a proxy for his ability to garner points) is insufficient to guarantee us the points we need. At our present rate we are heading for the trapdoor and I doubt whether Aspin has got the ability to turn it around. Possible but unlikely.

[CambridgeDon]

Can someone please show on here the simple stat of how many league games we have played under Aspo, the number of wins and that win percentage.

 

This season: 29 league games, 8 wins = win ratio (or should I say ration) 27.59%

[Quebec_Valiant]

Let's do it a different way. So far this season, we achieved just over a point a game (1.1035 to be precise), so extrapolating for the rest of the season would give us a further 18.76, say 19, points. That's 51 points, theoretically enough for survival. But will we do it under Aspin? Perhaps, though I doubt it because our recent form is so bad. Since our last home win against Bury, we've managed just 0.85 points per game, which unfortunately would result in a final tally of 46 points, not enough to guarantee safety and probably low enough to see us relegated.

 

I've already posted about our run in, earlier in this thread. The bottom line is that unless we can take points in what is, on paper at least, our relatively easier run of fixtures in February and March, the odds of recovering enough points to stay up start to become vanishingly thin, because of the quality of the opposition.

 

Which simply adds to the main point I made that Aspin has to go. Our results are deteriorating not improving and his win ratio (as a proxy for his ability to garner points) is insufficient to guarantee us the points we need. At our present rate we are heading for the trapdoor and I doubt whether Aspin has got the ability to turn it around. Possible but unlikely.

 

Your initial argument was that Aspin was not the man to generate the 35% win ration that we need to avoid relegation.

 

All I'm saying was that argument was flawed as you get points for draws as well as wins.

 

Now you seem to be changing your argument a little.

 

Like I said I'm not saying that things are great, far from it, and I had hoped for more than a carbon copy of last years dog fight this year but it looks as though that is where we are headed.

 

My concern as much as anything is who would we bring in, probably another internal appointment so once again no experience.

[Sandyford_Lion]

Your initial argument was that Aspin was not the man to generate the 35% win ration that we need to avoid relegation.

 

All I'm saying was that argument was flawed as you get points for draws as well as wins.

 

Now you seem to be changing your argument a little.

 

Like I said I'm not saying that things are great, far from it, and I had hoped for more than a carbon copy of last years dog fight this year but it looks as though that is where we are headed.

 

My concern as much as anything is who would we bring in, probably another internal appointment so once again no experience.

 

Just have a look at what we are seeing on the pitch for the last 3 months.

 

There is nothing to convince me that things are set to change for the better.

 

Home form is absolute garbage and the performances too

[pjg1876]

Can someone please show on here the simple stat of how many league games we have played under Aspo, the number of wins and that win percentage.

 

Last season we won 11 games in total so Aspin won 10 out of 35 games (28.6%) This season we have won 8 out of 29 (27.6%).

 

That makes 18 wins out of 64 games = 28.1%

[TylerB]

In Aspo I still trust.

 

And you'll be no doubt spouting the same crap when we're in the Conference under him next season.

 

Carlisle were woeful today and yet still won the game. We wouldn't have scored a goal if we'd still been playing now and with 11 men.

[Walter]

Aspin out. Get someone in who's positive and not scared have a go.

 

**** NORMAN

[Sandyford_Lion]

I do, either via Ifollow or being at the game whenever I can get back to the UK. Last time I was back was for the Cheltenham game. For some reason I decided to enhance the experience by walking to VP from Tunstall, in the freezing rain.

 

At no point have i argued that things are satisfactory. All I've said is that we don't need a 35% win ratio and I have real reservations re. the chairman's ability to select a successor who will be any better than Aspin.

 

I think that getting rid of Aspin would be dealing with the symptom rather than the disease that is killing our club.

 

Think we both agree

 

We are in a mess

[Loggerheads Sage]

Radio sjoke at it again asking questions to Aspin to get a reaction,,they don't do that to Stoke managers to busy kissing there ass.

 

I found it an embarrassing interview, terrible questioning, eg will you be here on Monday, how can he answer that? Aspin eventually loses it and gets aggressive back. Sandos goes quiet, realising that he has overdone it, but it's no problem cos his mate in the studio just says great interview from Matt that - no, it was awful! Tos###s! It's the same if someone rings in with a point they don't like, they cut him off and make a snide comment - which of course they can't reply to. Did they ever ask Rowett if he would be sacked the next day?

[PV1973]

Obviously as fans were sometimes overly negative about our own players, it’s the norm on any forum, go on and ask about player A, and you’ll be met with negativity about what they can’t do. Football is an easy game to be negative about. Personally I think we have some good individuals and I hear a lot from people that I know within the club and they often mention how we’ve got some players highly rated not only within, but who are also coveted and being watched regularly by scouts and agents. And sometimes during and after games I look at the opposition team and think that as individuals are they really that much better than us? How many opposition players have stood out at VP? Off the top of my head I’d probably only pick out Danny Mayor and the Swindon right back as being stand outs this season at our place. But for me I think for the majority of teams I’ve watched that this league is a much of a muchness, the big difference I would say is other sides look to have a way of playing and a system, I’d say we don’t seem settled at all and I am convinced that Aspin still doesn’t know his best side or the best way to play and that’s worrying with only 3 months left of the season. I’m also convinced we aren’t getting the best out of this squad, week in week out we see some good individual performances, but not too often a good team performance. There must be someone out there who can do better with them.

[Walter]

Yeah **** smurf

[Class personified]

I thought Harris was even better 😂

 

Whoops 😀

[Quebec_Valiant]

Think we both agree

 

We are in a mess

 

Yes mate, we're in some real pretty **** for sure. I love the vale but like many I miss the days when it was fun. For the most part we were all just happy to watch the football back then, very little politics.