OVF feature: Five best John Askey signings for Port Vale

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Five best John Askey signings? His transfer policy was somewhat hit and miss but we want to highlight five successes. Agree or disagree with our five best John Askey signings? Post a comment at the end of the article. A few ground rules: we are only talking about permanent signings (so Jake Taylor’s first spell […]

The post Five best John Askey signings for Port Vale appeared first on onevalefan.co.uk.

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[valiant_593]

This article clearly shows just how bad askey was in the transfer market. 

[Playa Amodores]

Rodney has only been with us half a season, but having said that he’ll probably be player of the season. The goals he scored so far are really good goals but more of what I’d expect from an attacking midfielder not a centre forward. I hope he continues to thrive with us.

[Santa]

I think this is the full list, have I missed anyone?

Bennett

Burgess

Crookes (permanent)

Cullen

Kennedy

Lloyd

Amoo

Evans

Browne

Maddison

Hurst

Brisley

Taylor (loan)

Archer

Atkinson

Clark (loan #2)

Rodney

Mills

Whitehead

Robinson

Fitzpatrick

Visser

McKirdy

Clark (loan #3)

 

 

[Joe B]

30 minutes ago, Santa said:

I think this is the full list, have I missed anyone?

Bennett

Burgess

Crookes (permanent)

Cullen

Kennedy

Lloyd

Amoo

Evans

Browne

Maddison

Hurst

Brisley

Taylor (loan)

Archer

Atkinson

Clark (loan #2)

Rodney

Mills

Whitehead

Robinson

Fitzpatrick

Visser

McKirdy

Clark (loan #3)

Bold and underlined - excellent signings (3, 2 on loan)

Bold - good (3)

Italics - decent considering role/outlay (4)

No change - poor-rubbish/zero impact

We could quibble on semantics but it's hard to argue that at least 50-60% of the signings were poor across a 2 year spell, with only 6 making any real concrete improvement to the side (2 of those temporarily). 

Its no wonder why we're in the position we are. The decline was inevitable. Big job in the summer, which is why I argue for the club making a decision before then and sticking it with.

If that's Pugh, then sure, whatever. Just don't meander to the summer and then bring a new guy in and expect him to undo 2 years of poor recruitment, with a salary cap against him, without having seen/met the players, established his way of working, and without any meetings with the recruitment team. Next season becomes another 'transition season' if we wait till June to make a decision. We can't afford that many seasons where we don't challenge in this league.

Either commit to Pugh and allow him to prepare (less preferable) or get a new man in and give him the time to prepare (more preferable). I really cannot grasp this 'wait and see in the summer' approach. Time is of the essence.

[robf]

25 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Bold and underlined - excellent signings (3, 2 on loan)

Just to clarify - the article only considers permanent signings not loans but I agree two of his better signings have been loans.

It's part of a series of "five of the best" articles so the total had to be five, but to be honest I thought it was pretty tricky to name a decent fifth permanent signing which perhaps shows how poor the recruitment was. 

[Joe B]

11 minutes ago, robf said:

Just to clarify - the article only considers permanent signings not loans but I agree two of his better signings have been loans.

It's part of a series of "five of the best" articles so the total had to be five, but to be honest I thought it was pretty tricky to name a decent fifth permanent signing which perhaps shows how poor the recruitment was. 

Without wanting to cause further, tired debate, this is why many fans rationally came to the conclusion that it was time for Askey to go.

4 permanent good signings (only 1 truly excellent) out of 20 has really damaged the club. We need to rebuild.

Just feel like its an important point to address; some elements of the fanbase were painted as knee-jerkers, panicking over a poor run, when really the poor run was a symptom of a poorly equipped squad, handicapped by substandard recruitment, reliant on declining veterans, with no evidence to suggest it would improve.

Whoever the new manager is; Pugh, Flitcroft, or otherwise, there needs to be a systematic review into who, and what processes, decided that the signings mentioned above were a wise investment of Carol + the fans' money. Its set us back a year, which cannot continue if we want this club to sustainably grow. 

[robf]

@Joe B I agree. Speaking personally, I think when I looked at the squad just before Xmas and realised barely any of the summer signings had made an impact then that was the point for me. Perhaps later than some but it was a point for me where I could see that it just hadn't worked in terms of signings etc.

When writing the article it brought back just how many of the signings were duds. That's not to say that John Askey didn't come across as a nice man, committed to the club, but it just wasn't good enough sadly.

[dishydave]

Rodney and Taylor are his only 2 signings that are quality. Clarke was Aspins.

[Bald Eagle]

To be honest I would only class Devante as quality currently.  

Taylor did well first time round, and has the potential to be quality.  Hopefully his 2nd spell will not be a disappointment like Clark’s loan earlier this season.

The 3 B’s (Burgess/Brisley/Bennett) all ok in spells, and the latter did at least generate a transfer fee.

Amoo has made good contributions but has struggled with injuries and consistency this time around, Hurst has worked hard but with no end product as yet.