Mark Cullen and Ryan Lloyd sign

[Iron Curtain]

I merely make the point that we are replacing players who didn’t score enough, with different players who don’t score enough.

 

In my opinion, at the bare minimum a forward should be scoring at least 1 in 3. Even that is only around 15 a season. No signing so far meets those requirements, so it looks like that heavy goal scoring burden will yet again fall on Pope’s shoulders.

 

I really hope these lads prove me wrong, but unfortunately leopards rarely change their spots.

 

So you think a player who scored 1 in 3 in league Two will move a) from the team they are playing at, b) reject the money from the moneybags of our league, c) refuse offers from league 1 and d) join the team that finished in the bottom 5 of the entire league with an average budget.

 

Players who scored 1 in 3 for context according to the list of league 2 top scorers (may not be complete as some may have scored 1 in 3 in a small number of games not over the season)

 

Not many of these, if any seem obtainable!!!

 

James Norwood - 30 goals

145 mins per goal

 

Tyler Walker - 22 goals

180 mins per goal

 

Nicky Maynard - 21 goals

140 mins per goal

 

Kieran Agard - 20 goals

169 mins per goal

 

Chuks Aneke - 17 goals

150 mins per goal

 

Jayden Stockley - 16 goals

137 mins per goal

 

Padraig Amond - 15 goals

278 mins per goal (Just sneaks in when factoring in overtime)

 

John Akinde - 15 goals

239 mins per goal

 

Jay O'Shea - 15 goals

247 mins per goal

 

Hallam Hope - 14 goals

250 mins per goal

 

Sammie Szmodics - 14 goals

274 mins per goal (Just sneaks in when factoring in overtime)

 

Ollie Palmer - 14 goals

246 mins per goal

 

Kane Hemmings - 14 goals

193 mins per goal

 

Jamille Matt - 14 goals

241 mins per goal

14 Goals scored

 

Christian Doidge - 14 goals

169 mins per goal

14 Goals scored

 

Luke Varney- 14 goals

186 mins per goal

 

Michael Doughty - 13 goals

170 mins per goal

 

Chris Porter- 13 goals

199 mins per goal

 

Callum Lang - 13 goals

258 mins per goal

 

Andy Williams - 12 goals

200 mins per goal

 

Jamie Devitt - 11 goals

243 mins per goal

 

Kurtis Guthrie - 11 goals

211 mins per goal

[CambridgeDon]

Minutes per goal is a much more accurate way of measuring a striker's performance for the simple reason that games played don't give you any idea of the amount of time a player has been on the pitch.

 

Cullen has played in just 31 games in the last two seasons largely because of injury and scored just 4 goals in that time. If we look at his record in L2, however, it's pretty good. In his last season there, 2016-17, he scored 13 in 3920 minutes, which averages out at one every 3.35 games. In his other recent season in L2, 2014-15, he scored 14 goals in 4873 minutes on the pitch, which averages out at one every 3.86 games.

 

(http://www.tablesleague.com/teams/carlisle1/mark_cullen_anglia/ - which includes cup games as well as league.)

 

So, when fully fit and playing in L2, he's averaged 13 to 14 games a season. If we can keep him fit and get him and Pope working well together, they should be able to get 28-30 goals between them, which would be much better than last season.

 

It's true that Cullen isn't a prolific striker but he's a pretty big improvement on what we've had to put up with in the last few seasons. We also don't know who else Arthur has lined up to sign. If he manages to land a decent winger, for example, David Amoo who still hasn't found a club having turned down a new offer from Cambridge, we would have a very potent front three (or front two with a decent supply line from the wing).

 

So, it's looking better. Having said that, my big concern is midfield where we need someone with a bit of steel who can get box to box. We still haven't solved this problem, a big, big problem from last season. So the sooner we can free up some space in the wages bill and get someone in, the better.

[connor hackett]

Constantly seeing on social media people moaning about Ryan lloyd. Not only arent they giving the lad a chance, I dont reckon they've actually seen him play. Solid performance again on Tuesday, linked play well, neat and tidy. A couple of stray passes and people were on his back. All the players were guilty of that at some point but it seems popular to lambast young Ryan for it. I already prefer him to Hannant, reliable left footed utility player, who is an asset to the squad. People should watch his work rate and form their own opinions on him rather than singling him out for abuse. He is a vale player after all.

[JRC]

1 hour ago, connor hackett said:

Constantly seeing on social media people moaning about Ryan lloyd. Not only arent they giving the lad a chance, I dont reckon they've actually seen him play. Solid performance again on Tuesday, linked play well, neat and tidy. A couple of stray passes and people were on his back. All the players were guilty of that at some point but it seems popular to lambast young Ryan for it. I already prefer him to Hannant, reliable left footed utility player, who is an asset to the squad. People should watch his work rate and form their own opinions on him rather than singling him out for abuse. He is a vale player after all.

He was awful at Grimsby but was much better on Tuesday, particularly second half. I spend a lot of time abroad and watch a lot of games on iPlayer. It's noticeable that a lot of the negative comments about Crookes and (on Tuesday) Lloyd are posted online just after the radio stoke commentary says they missed a pass or tackle. Lloyd built a reputation post Vale in midfield. Must be honest in a more advanced role I'd go for Hannat. Think Lloyd does deserve a fair crack at the midfield role and I don't think he was less effective on Tuesday than Hannat was the odd time he played in that role. I don't think he's going to become a legend and I'm guessing he's 6th choice for a midfield role but he did look like he was functional at this level.

I've had a few ex Vale players work for me. I remember two telling me early on in their careers Roy Sproston warning them Vale had a small number of load mouthed fans with little knowledge about football who went to matches to abuse players. His advice was ignore them and worry about what he said in the changing room. I remember two idiots in the Railway making monkey noises at Mark Chamberlain on his debut when I was young. There always has been a small element at the club who seem to want someone to boo. Fortunately the silent majority are generally a lot more even-minded. 

[Rampant Zebra]

Hannant showed exactly why we were right let him go when he played for Cambridge last week.

[PV1973]

10 hours ago, JRC said:

He was awful at Grimsby but was much better on Tuesday, particularly second half. I spend a lot of time abroad and watch a lot of games on iPlayer. It's noticeable that a lot of the negative comments about Crookes and (on Tuesday) Lloyd are posted online just after the radio stoke commentary says they missed a pass or tackle. Lloyd built a reputation post Vale in midfield. Must be honest in a more advanced role I'd go for Hannat. Think Lloyd does deserve a fair crack at the midfield role and I don't think he was less effective on Tuesday than Hannat was the odd time he played in that role. I don't think he's going to become a legend and I'm guessing he's 6th choice for a midfield role but he did look like he was functional at this level.

I've had a few ex Vale players work for me. I remember two telling me early on in their careers Roy Sproston warning them Vale had a small number of load mouthed fans with little knowledge about football who went to matches to abuse players. His advice was ignore them and worry about what he said in the changing room. I remember two idiots in the Railway making monkey noises at Mark Chamberlain on his debut when I was young. There always has been a small element at the club who seem to want someone to boo. Fortunately the silent majority are generally a lot more even-minded. 

Honestly I sometimes think that some people haven’t got a clue what theyre watching at times and have unrealistic expectations too. No player is going to go through a game without making some kind of mistake but some of the reactions you hear to a mistake or something that doesn’t come off m are so over the top. I really think some of our fans are a tough crowd at times and too harsh. I used to follow the 2 big Facebook groups for Vale but the comments became so ridiculous I stopped following them. So much abuse for players, based on a radio stoke commentary too! At the moment Mike Baggaley has put a sentinel thing on FB about the players who’ve done well so far and even reading through some of the replies on there and you can see some fans are clueless about what a players job is.

[robf]

14 minutes ago, PV1973 said:

No player is going to go through a game without making some kind of mistake but some of the reactions you hear to a mistake or something that doesn’t come off m are so over the top.

I couldn't agree more.

Due to geography/work I can't get to midweek games and listening on Tuesday I think this is even seeping into commentary. On Tuesday, Tom Pope started - and here's me thinking he's not started a few games and is perhaps a bit lacking in match fitness (and it was a good idea to get him some time on Tuesday) but on the commentary they were pretty much saying he was finished and "wasn't the same player" - all that on the evidence of 90 mins of a FLT tie. 

I do think people are so quick to rush to judgement. It's early in the season I find it baffling that people are rushing to write-off players. Even in the world away from football, you may take a while to get used to a new job - some of these players have moved homes, are getting used to a new coaching system, to new tactics, to new playing colleagues. They may need time to settle.

Just like I hope people give the managers at Vale time, they need to do the same with the players. For me, Christmas time is the time when we will really be able to accurately say which signings have come off and which haven't.

[valiant_593]

40 minutes ago, Rampant Zebra said:

Hannant showed exactly why we were right let him go when he played for Cambridge last week.

Thought he had a decent game personally 

[SFBT]

And the reason the more moderate majority becomes silent is because it becomes obvious that you are wasting your breath arguing with them.

Makes much more sense to ignore them and continue to make measured, thoughtful statements that you believe in.

The notion of wind up merchants only exists if people allow themselves to be wound up.

You have choices.

[JRC]

1 hour ago, robf said:

I couldn't agree more.

Due to geography/work I can't get to midweek games and listening on Tuesday I think this is even seeping into commentary. On Tuesday, Tom Pope started - and here's me thinking he's not started a few games and is perhaps a bit lacking in match fitness (and it was a good idea to get him some time on Tuesday) but on the commentary they were pretty much saying he was finished and "wasn't the same player" - all that on the evidence of 90 mins of a FLT tie. 

I do think people are so quick to rush to judgement. It's early in the season I find it baffling that people are rushing to write-off players. Even in the world away from football, you may take a while to get used to a new job - some of these players have moved homes, are getting used to a new coaching system, to new tactics, to new playing colleagues. They may need time to settle.

Just like I hope people give the managers at Vale time, they need to do the same with the players. For me, Christmas time is the time when we will really be able to accurately say which signings have come off and which haven't.

Pope is the best in the league at what Pope does and has a big part to play still. He never had pace but works very hard and defences always know they've had a battle. He's got competition now. He's nowhere near as mobile as the other 3 but he's far the best in the air and at holding the ball up. I'm not advocating playing him today but he'll play and win games for us this season. Maybe better suited to smaller pitches away from home now. 

[Rampant Zebra]

2 hours ago, SFBT said:

And the reason the more moderate majority becomes silent is because it becomes obvious that you are wasting your breath arguing with them.

Makes much more sense to ignore them and continue to make measured, thoughtful statements that you believe in.

The notion of wind up merchants only exists if people allow themselves to be wound up.

You have choices.

I can't decide if you are calling me a wind up merchant. I hope not as I do not intend to be. I think we were right to get rid of Luke Hannant. I didn't think he showed anything special against us and his current manager obviously agreed since he was subbed. 

[cheshirevaliant]

So far there is nobody who we released over the summer who has done anything to prove Askey wrong. I appreciate it is early days. 

[SFBT]

1 hour ago, Rampant Zebra said:

I can't decide if you are calling me a wind up merchant. I hope not as I do not intend to be. I think we were right to get rid of Luke Hannant. I didn't think he showed anything special against us and his current manager obviously agreed since he was subbed. 

No, not at all.

Sorry if you thought that.

I was referring more broadly to JRCs story about Roy Sproson and the small section of people who just moan.