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Match Thread: Scunthorpe United v Port Vale


Fosse69

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On 27/09/2021 at 12:06, Vale1995 said:

Can tell you right now that most of our bench and people who dont make the match day squad would be starters for most teams in this division.

Spot on.  I think this is why we will be in top 3. If you look at some of the other fancied teams like Salford,Newport,Bradford,Mansfield they all have little strength in depth and have struggled to maintain positive starts when the 1st eleven is not available.

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On 28/09/2021 at 19:49, Rampant Zebra said:

I already wear glasses. I can tell by the numbers which players are which but my short term memory issues mean I have trouble remembering who they all are. 

Not being funny but how come you can't remember who the current squad are, but you can remember last seasons and the ones before. 

Genuine question 

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12 hours ago, newchapel valiant said:

Not being funny but how come you can't remember who the current squad are, but you can remember last seasons and the ones before. 

Genuine question 

As an addendum to this - if he can remember who they are then why can he not remember how bad they were!

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On 28/09/2021 at 19:49, Rampant Zebra said:

I already wear glasses. I can tell by the numbers which players are which but my short term memory issues mean I have trouble remembering who they all are. 

So what you are saying is that Clarke should have kept the dross because you can't recognise the new players .🙈🙈

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2 hours ago, mbycars said:

So what you are saying is that Clarke should have kept the dross because you can't recognise the new players .🙈🙈

Not at all, I just question the need for so many changes, not to help me identify the players but to provide continuity and team spirit. It is rare for a manager to be given so much scope to make wholesale changes in a squad and I am not convinced it is that beneficial to the team. Guess we will find out by May. 

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17 minutes ago, Rampant Zebra said:

Not at all, I just question the need for so many changes, not to help me identify the players but to provide continuity and team spirit. It is rare for a manager to be given so much scope to make wholesale changes in a squad and I am not convinced it is that beneficial to the team. Guess we will find out by May. 

You do keep sticking to this point, so I'll engage.

We went with continuity last season; same manager and coaching staff, roughly the same starting 11 in the first game of the 20/21 season as the last in the 19/20 season. The spine of the squad (Brown, Legge, Joyce, Pope) was experienced and had played together for at least 2 years. Key players like Worrall, Montano, Gibbons (we didn't know he'd get injured), and Smith had been at the club for a number of years. We even signed Mitch Clark for a record-breaking third time. We had the most stable owners in our history. It was the most 'continuous' season we'd ever had. We finished 13th, only after Mr Continuity departed and a new man instigated a winning run which nearly broke the club's historic records. Team spirit was seemingly at an all-time low, with Pope since coming out and clearly outlining how bad things got under Askey. 

The good thing about the new set-up is that it is not Clarke who has been given this scope; Flitcroft has. He appointed Clarke, he worked with Clarke to identify the sort of squad he wanted to build, he appointed the recruitment team, he led the recruitment process. Clarke can focus on delivering training and match preparation. 

I sort of get your point but continuity simply hasn't worked for us; we had the second oldest squad in the league and we were not good enough to go up. Wholesale change was needed. Whether it continues as well as its started is up for debate, but surely the risk of success/failure is better than 'going again' with the same setup that had underperformed?

There's very little correlation between squad turnover-success at League 2 level. Teams who retain players don't do any better than teams who rebuild. 

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@Joe B makes the point about last season's continuity approach above better than I would have. But I though it might be worth adding that what "continuity" we do have is proving its value. The quality players we already had are among the first players on the team sheet and integral to the way the Vale are playing right now. And part of the reason for that is the newer players are helping them maximise their best qualities.

For example, Smith is definitely benefitting from Covolan's greater command of the penalty area and willingness to sweep up more balls in behind him - he can just go and win the ball more without worrying as much about getting exposed. Likewise, Jones' distribution and assurance on the ball is clearly better than we had before (Smith is even raising his game in that respect too). Pett and Walker allow Conlon to play a bit higher up the pitch and focus more on the creative aspects of his game while Garrity's pace makes our midfield a bit less one-paced and more able to break a defensive line.

I don't think there can still be any sensible doubt that this squad is an improvement on last year's.

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3 hours ago, valeitup said:

@Joe B makes the point about last season's continuity approach above better than I would have. But I though it might be worth adding that what "continuity" we do have is proving its value. The quality players we already had are among the first players on the team sheet and integral to the way the Vale are playing right now. And part of the reason for that is the newer players are helping them maximise their best qualities.

For example, Smith is definitely benefitting from Covolan's greater command of the penalty area and willingness to sweep up more balls in behind him - he can just go and win the ball more without worrying as much about getting exposed. Likewise, Jones' distribution and assurance on the ball is clearly better than we had before (Smith is even raising his game in that respect too). Pett and Walker allow Conlon to play a bit higher up the pitch and focus more on the creative aspects of his game while Garrity's pace makes our midfield a bit less one-paced and more able to break a defensive line.

I don't think there can still be any sensible doubt that this squad is an improvement on last year's.

Agreed.  In summary, he has cut adrift the deadwood/dross whether you like the term or not!  UTV 

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