Match Thread: Stevenage v Port Vale

[JRC]

4 hours ago, Mario said:

Thoughts..............

 

Thought it was well done. Just looked at their squad.

1 they have some good players

2 they are tall

3 they have an awful lot of players

Love or loathe him I suspect he'll now have them much more organised and they'll be hard to beat. We'll need to move the ball quickly and be energetic to get a win. Stay strong at the back under the high ball. Their squad isn't a relegation squad.

[vale victory]

I don’t rate conlon , I think he has gone backwards and I can see why stevange released him , he doesn’t effect the game enough and slows everything down . He needs to be released in the summer

[Joe B]

Conlon is 23 years old, and a decent League 2 midfielder in my view.

Good work rate, one of the few midfielders we have who can get stuck in, and a great left foot. A 6.5/10 League 2 player.

He is very one-footed and conservative in his passing but he's a reasonable all-rounder for this level. If he gets a run of games he'll be fine.

[valefan16]

If we get Manny fit and keep Taylor we have

Oyeleke
Taylor
Joyce
Burgess
Conlon
Atkinson

Competing for the central midfield 3 spots, pretty happy with that compared to Pugh, Tonge etc who had been past their time.

[Jacko51]

Horrible accident on the A1(M) near Stevenage. Road shut on both directions to allow air ambulance to land. Hope the fans make it to the match. 

[Joe B]

55 minutes ago, valefan16 said:

If we get Manny fit and keep Taylor we have

Oyeleke
Taylor
Joyce
Burgess
Conlon
Atkinson

Competing for the central midfield 3 spots, pretty happy with that compared to Pugh, Tonge etc who had been past their time.

In our clubs long and depressing history, the period of time when Aspin insisted on playing 5 at the back with 2 sitting holding midfielders in the form of Joyce and Kay is right up there with the most horrific.

[Mario]

Can't see anything but a defeat I'm afraid, we always seem to catch teams on the up and we are the ones to cop it,please prove me wrong.

[Joe B]

Its me again, here to wind everyone over the age of 16 up on here with another post about stats;

Our xG stats are worryingly bad. 18th best in the League. Significant decline in how many good chances we're creating. We've only won 1 in 8 and that was courtesy of two wonder goals against Swindon, which you simply can't rely on long-term. Defensively we're still reasonable.

Would be lovely to put that to bed today with some goals. Anything less than 4 points from the next 2 would likely signal the end of any ambitions this year and the season then becames a building exercise for next year.

Any before people start on me for being negative, I'm massively optimistic about this club, more than I have been for years. Just think this season is likely to fizzle out into mid-table, which is completely fine.

I usually get these things wrong, too.

[Joe B]

Conlon in for the injured Taylor.

Presumably the desire for the cliched 'grit' in what promises to be a game of low-quality.

[vale victory]

Conlon is 23 years old, and a decent League 2 midfielder in my view.
Good work rate, one of the few midfielders we have who can get stuck in, and a great left foot. A 6.5/10 League 2 player.
He is very one-footed and conservative in his passing but he's a reasonable all-rounder for this level. If he gets a run of games he'll be fine.

What does he offer ? Getting stuck in wow that’s gone well this season for him and his left foot isn’t that good . I’m sorry but if we want to push on next season he has to be replaced , not just keeping him because he’s local and cheap

[Biddulph_PV]

Any team news yet??

[Joe B]

Just now, Biddulph_PV said:

Any team news yet??

Same team as City bar Conlon in for the injured Taylor.

[Joe B]

11 minutes ago, vale victory said:

What does he offer ? Getting stuck in wow that’s gone well this season for him and his left foot isn’t that good . I’m sorry but if we want to push on next season he has to be replaced , not just keeping him because he’s local and cheap

He's a very reasonable rotational midfielder at this level, and is at the age where he could improve.

[Biddulph_PV]

Just now, Joe B said:

Same team as City bar Conlon in for the injured Taylor.

TBH I thought Conlon looked ok against City, though he should have worked the keeper with that header at least. 

[Doha]

Could, should be 1-0. Burgess free header, headed down at the ground which is good as it is unpredictable for the keeper but the angle was wrong, headed it down too close to himself rather than towards the keeper so it just killed the pace in the ball and allowed the keeper the extra time to catch harmlessly. Chance missed but promising as these look vulnerable down the left.