Match Thread: Port Vale v Newport County

[valiant_593]

2 hours ago, Birches Head Fred said:

Shooting from outside the box from a clearance may not be creating a chance, but it got Cambridge 3 points.
I'd take that any day.

Oh I agree. I'd take the worst performance going tonight as long as we win. Dont care how we score. Still dosent change the fact that we didnt create chances against Bolton

[osprey]

Presuming that there is some sort of logic to the process of who is picked upfront... should Cullen get a start?
I know he's not got near last season's form... but he's canny, can be creative and he's got a knack of scoring at Vale Park. 
Yes, he's injury prone but with the increased number of subs allowed, is it worth the risk?
I'm not saying he's the answer to our prayers but beggars can't be choosers and I would think he's got a better chance of scoring than some of the other choices.
 

Forward selection will depend on which numbers Clarke pulls out of the lottery bag.
Problem is there are less numbers each week

[JRC]

If you want 2 up front they HAVE to play together for a number of games to form a partnership. He has to pick a pairing and then stick with it. We actually had a reasonable scoring record first half of the season so it's not that we don't have players who can score goals. At the moment we are creating a reasonable number of half chances rather than missing open goals.

[1]

1 hour ago, robf said:

Presuming that there is some sort of logic to the process of who is picked upfront... should Cullen get a start?

I know he's not got near last season's form... but he's canny, can be creative and he's got a knack of scoring at Vale Park. 

Yes, he's injury prone but with the increased number of subs allowed, is it worth the risk?

I'm not saying he's the answer to our prayers but beggars can't be choosers and I would think he's got a better chance of scoring than some of the other choices.

 

The team that started solidly are all available. Crawley for example at home. Cullen supported by Rodney and Worrall worked before and it could work again. Burgess is out in the cold but Taylor or Manny would be good. 433 not popular with Clarke though, I don’t know if he’s trying to make a point about Askey by playing any formation but 433, but I would bring it back.

[philmpv]

Why, have we suddenly signed a forward? If Pope isn't fit nothing will change. When are people gonna stop suddenly expecting the likes of Guthrie and Robinson to score goals for us. We can create as many chances as we like, it doesn't really matter, we're now absolutely toothless in front of goal. Our forward's don't score, our midfielders don't score. I'd be very surprised if we score more than 1 goal in any of the remaining games this season.

When are people gonna stop suddenly expecting Pope to score goals for us? I know, if you listen to some on here, he's scored 10-15 since he's been out, but he's scored 3 goals out of our 43 this season, across 2 games, and got barely any assists. People say if he'd played against Oldham, he'd have had a hattrick. The Oldham game was very similar to the King's Lynn game. Pope played. Didn't score. Sick to the back teeth of some giving Rodney et al hell on here, yet Pope gets all of the leeway in the world. Rodney, in his first full FL season, has scored pretty much what Pope has in nearly 2 league seasons. Robinson has scored more than Pope this season across all competitions. Hell, Cullen is only 1 behind Pope. The issue with this squad is not our strikers. It's our service. I've said it time and time again. Our service to our strikers is absolutely shocking. This is a squad that was built largely by Aspin to 'feed Pope'. Pope's powers have waned to the point where he's a sub player at best. I can't see DC offering any of our out of contract players a new deal at the end of the season, so I'm confident that next season we'll see a very different style of play and, most importantly, results.

[JRC]

5 minutes ago, 1 said:

The team that started solidly are all available. Crawley for example at home. Cullen supported by Rodney and Worrall worked before and it could work again. Burgess is out in the cold but Taylor or Manny would be good. 433 not popular with Clarke though, I don’t know if he’s trying to make a point about Askey by playing any formation but 433, but I would bring it back.

He's complained that the players he inherited means the squad is only really set up to play 433. Then tried to play every formation he can think of.  If he want to play 3 5 2 or 4 4 2 fine, sort it out in the summer.

[dishydave]

He will probably play 4-3-3 tonight as they play 3-5-2 like Cheltenham the problem is we let 3 goals in that game and although we scored the defence just isn't as solid as it should be to play that formation hence why we're in this predicament in the first place.

[valeparklife]

I'm filled with dread again.

Everyone anticipating "this is the one" where we finally win a game.

Newport are 4th. They've won their last 3. Maynard and Amond. 

It's another hard night where we will be looking out for other team's results as usual.

Vale 1:2 Newport 

 

[ELDERBEZZA]

1 hour ago, robf said:

Presuming that there is some sort of logic to the process of who is picked upfront... should Cullen get a start?

I know he's not got near last season's form... but he's canny, can be creative and he's got a knack of scoring at Vale Park. 

Yes, he's injury prone but with the increased number of subs allowed, is it worth the risk?

I'm not saying he's the answer to our prayers but beggars can't be choosers and I would think he's got a better chance of scoring than some of the other choices.

 

Anything is worth trying ,instead of the idle  donkey we re-signed !

[1]

6 minutes ago, valeparklife said:

I'm filled with dread again.

Everyone anticipating "this is the one" where we finally win a game.

Newport are 4th. They've won their last 3. Maynard and Amond. 

It's another hard night where we will be looking out for other team's results as usual.

Vale 1:2 Newport 

 

If it’s not this one, it’ll be the next one. If that doesn’t work, repeat.

[robf]

1 hour ago, JRC said:

He's complained that the players he inherited means the squad is only really set up to play 433. Then tried to play every formation he can think of.  If he want to play 3 5 2 or 4 4 2 fine, sort it out in the summer.

My favourite post of the day! ⭐

I'm no fan of 4-3-3 but it does seem odd to moan that the squad is only set up for that formation and then forget to play it.

 

[MBE]

1 hour ago, philmpv said:

When are people gonna stop suddenly expecting Pope to score goals for us?

You're right Phil however I would add Pope at this stage would be a big upgrade to our team playing 442. Having Rodney running in behind his flicks would be a great weapon plus he would be able to occupy the back post and attack the ball... IF FIT.

[cactuselves]

9 minutes ago, robf said:

My favourite post of the day! ⭐

I'm no fan of 4-3-3 but it does seem odd to moan that the squad is only set up for that formation and then forget to play it.

 

I think that both things can be true, i.e. that the squad is built for 4-3-3 but it is still not the best formation to get results as most League 2 teams found us out. Move to a 4-3-3 and we may score two but concede six. If we play a different formation then we have round pegs in square holes but are a bit tighter at the back.

Clarke always sets his teams up to suit the particular opposition that he is playing against and he may feel that some of the teams we have played would exploit a 4-3-3. given that we have kept it tight and been close to getting points on the board in most games since he came in and previously we were shipping goals for fun he is probably getting his tactics about right. Our goal scoring wasn't an issue under Askey (we have only scored 3 less than Cheltenham who are top) but our defending really was. I feel less nervous watching us play now and more frustrated that we can't create enough chances, (our forwards need to get into better positions as the service can definitely be provided by the likes of Worrall, Amoo, Conlon, Manny if fit). Forwards thrive on confidence and at the moment they haven't got much. I just pray that we can score tonight!

[Mario]

Scared stiff about this another loss is unthinkable, this game is enormous win and they know they can, lose and they have the excuse to give up.

[Mellor!]

25 minutes ago, robf said:

My favourite post of the day! ⭐

I'm no fan of 4-3-3 but it does seem odd to moan that the squad is only set up for that formation and then forget to play it.

 

But like Clarke said the other day, it's not like 433 was working before he came in either, that's why Askey was sacked. The only thing is now, no formations are working. Same players, different formations, same result.