56 minutes ago, valefan16 said:

Think some fans are overly negative tonight, it’s a great result against a side that’s easily the best in the league on paper.

Had this game taken place how it did after the Exeter performance fans would be purring about how solid we were and how we beat Salford etc but feel some are viewing in the context of the current form of the past two or three games. These are not Morecambe, Carlisle or Harrogate and have won 6 of 8 away in 2020 including today’s game... both they failed at Vale Park.

Henderson and Wilson were in the main kept very quiet.

We are superb defensively, 4 clean sheets in 6 and look to be very strong there, we just need to find the balance and confidence up front. We had some good positions such as Smith blazing over and Henderson had 2 or 3 and just seemed to panic over them.

Chuffed for Monty though, he was clearly hurting in his interview last weekend so great for him to rifle that one in.

As for the penalty feels a bit of a case of karma for us after last weeks miss which changed that game so will take it!

On a side note best wishes to Gibson, player who has had many injuries that has seen his career drop from playing at the very top (sure I was at old Trafford when he played for United in the Champions League against Bayern Munich), looked a horror one which sadly it as bad as it looks at his age may end his playing career.

Gibson pissed his career away to a large extent because he can't keep a beer out of his hands outside of football. Also once tried to get out of community service by insisting he was "too busy" for it. A weapon of the highest order really.

Another close game with the Vale on the right side of the 3 points this time. Thought Rodney put a shift in up front , he is a mobile and a physical presence. As my Stockport mate said the defence never know what Rodney is going to do next, unfortunately neither does Rodney. 

Ultimately as a striker you get judged on goals but feel that if we play one striker then Rodney is the man.

But hey what do I know I was telling my mate we need to take Monty off , 2 mins later he scores a belter. I 'll get my coat. 

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by The man in the pub

11 minutes ago, The man in the pub said:

 

But hey what do I know I was telling my mate we need to take Monty off , 2 mins later he scores a belter. I 'll get my coat. 

Thought the same. But that is Monty for you. Which is why we love him.

2 hours ago, SFBT said:

I get your point, but we were not battered today.

They had a couple of periods of dominance, but so did we. 

We battled and got the breaks, and as you say, this was the opposite of e.g. Morecambe.

We are much better against teams who play.

It's the one's who sit in that are the problem.

We have an excellent work ethic, which was evident today even though it wasn't gelling. Confidence and finesse will come from this base.

It could have gone either way.

Their keeper made some good saves.

They missed a penalty. We scored.

Opposite of last week.

 

Not saying we were battered by them today.  It was a game where I could only see one team scoring a single goal to nick the points and that was them as the game went on.  Glad it was us that got the 3 points today as the players gave everything.  

They came out and played some nice football from what I heard on the radio.  Some of their players fell over easily as well by the sounds of it too.  This allowed spaces for our players to run into.  

The work ethic is great at Vale and they don't give in.  But confidence does seem a bit low in the last 3rd of the pitch by the looks of it and they are possibly trying to hard and taking that extra touch, thereby allowing the defenders to nip in and get the ball away.  Or they feel the shot is not quite on and look for another player to take the shot.  Again giving the defenders that bit of time to get the ball away.  It will come back no doubt and god help the team when it does. 

I have seen games were we have had over 60% of the game, shots on goal over 15 on target, but their goalie has played out of his skin and saved them so many times.  They get one shot at goal and score.

JA and Co seem to make quite a few changes to the line up just recently, yes some enforced due to injuries and some to give players game time.  Is this affecting them - you would think not as most have played together last season, but you start to wonder.

10 minutes ago, toyahw said:

Thought the same. But that is Monty for you. Which is why we love him.

Monty is a top bloke always got time for a chat a thoroughly decent lad, he makes mistakes, he wins games.

2 hours ago, soothsayer said:

I think Rodney needs a rest tbh and I’d replace him with Robinson who did well when he came on. That’s our best back four so I’d leave that alone so the only other change I’d consider would be Burgess for Whitehead.

if we get three or four points from the next two games it would be a good return.

It is hard when you are the single striker and find yourself marked by 2 defenders who seem happy to take lumps out of you.  Todays defender tried to rip Rodney's shirt off him as he went past and the Ref did not do anything.  Not as if there was not proof - one ripped shirt and Rodney being pulled back - poor ref decision that one.

Robinson needs some match time and has showed he has an eye for goal, so could be a very good call.  Hopefully he would get the service from the wings and ghost into the box like he has shown he is capable of.

6 minutes ago, blackdog said:

Monty is a top bloke always got time for a chat a thoroughly decent lad, he makes mistakes, he wins games.

He's a much better player than he gets credit for in my opinion. 

2 hours ago, valefan16 said:

Think some fans are overly negative tonight, it’s a great result against a side that’s easily the best in the league on paper.

Had this game taken place how it did after the Exeter performance fans would be purring about how solid we were and how we beat Salford etc but feel some are viewing in the context of the current form of the past two or three games. These are not Morecambe, Carlisle or Harrogate and have won 6 of 8 away in 2020 including today’s game... both they failed at Vale Park.

Henderson and Wilson were in the main kept very quiet.

We are superb defensively, 4 clean sheets in 6 and look to be very strong there, we just need to find the balance and confidence up front. We had some good positions such as Smith blazing over and Henderson had 2 or 3 and just seemed to panic over them.

Chuffed for Monty though, he was clearly hurting in his interview last weekend so great for him to rifle that one in.

As for the penalty feels a bit of a case of karma for us after last weeks miss which changed that game so will take it!

On a side note best wishes to Gibson, player who has had many injuries that has seen his career drop from playing at the very top (sure I was at old Trafford when he played for United in the Champions League against Bayern Munich), looked a horror one which sadly it as bad as it looks at his age may end his playing career.

Great post

9 minutes ago, toyahw said:

He's a much better player than he gets credit for in my opinion. 

I think he's one of the best finishers at the club.

Watch the goal again in slow motion and look at his body shape. A lot of players would have leaned back on that.

1 hour ago, toyahw said:

To be fair mate, it was quickly appreciated that Whitehead had nothing to do with it, It was just an unfortunate slip by their player. Whitehead had a poor game though.

I am going to come to the defence of Whitehead - having massacred him last week. I think he was steady. He seemed to make sensible if conservative decisions on the ball. But he needs thinking time and that's his main limitation. Would need a 50-75% reduction in that to play at a higher level. So its a curious game. I thought Montano was typically over ambitious in everything he did and their defender had him on toast all afternoon, but then he scored!

The injury seemed to come from twisting limb in turf and nothing ridiculous or particularly unusual about challenge.

24 minutes ago, Warren said:

The injury seemed to come from twisting limb in turf and nothing ridiculous or particularly unusual about challenge.

You wonder if the pitch could have some bearing on Vale player injuries. 

Great result today. The back five produced an absolute masterclass to restrict the most expensive attack in the league to very few clear-cut chances. Good to see Joyce and Conlon back, even though Tom had one of his quieter games. Whitehead looked a bit better than his dire showing last week. Still not convinced though. Wozza produced a decent display once again and who’d have thought he could jump that high! Monty was kept quiet, but there was no stopping that rocket; it really was a fantastic finish. I think Rodney needs a spell out of the side, he’s been poor now for a few weeks. 

Good performance by the Vale, we more than matched the big spenders. Salford looked a decent side, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get promoted. 

I’ve seen numerous posts about Vale today which have basically how poor we were. Have some people been watching a different game? Yes, we struggled to create, but I thought as a whole we produced a solid performance. It was far, far better than the dross of the past three weeks. 

I understand why people could be concerned with the lack of chances we are creating, but just remember we are still without Manny, McKirdy, Cullen and Amoo who will without a doubt add much needed creativity. 

 

3 hours ago, toyahw said:

To be fair mate, it was quickly appreciated that Whitehead had nothing to do with it, It was just an unfortunate slip by their player.

It’s a pity the RS commentary team didn’t see it in the same way! The manner they kept yawping on about what a poor challenge it was and whether our player would receive a yellow or a red card was very disappointing.

They later tried to say that it was quite a way from they - after Vale fans got in touch - but if this was the case just keep quiet!!! 

3 hours ago, Diego Maradona said:

I think that he needs to practise his shooting but was he ‘poor?’ He’s getting himself into shooting positions, hopefully he’ll start to find the net! 

I thought we did ok, overall. As I said, solid and created a few chances. 

He was better than last week but still awful. Has to be dropped next game. Certainly wasn’t solid.