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Tom Conlon


Beech

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Wasn't sure whether to single out someone as just about every player as done themselves proud so far this season, though some have excelled more than others, as is always the case.

But surely nobody can say a single bad thing about our club captain? We've had a lot of dross and a whole lot of mediocre in midfield for a number of years, with one or two exceptions. But he leads by example, not just his obvious quality but his character. His set-piece ability is just a lovely bonus. I find it rather surprising he's still at the club and playing at this level really, but long may it continue, and hopefully he will soon enough be playing a level higher with the rest of our players.

What a man.

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He's quality. Shows maybe the need for patience with players ?

He wasn't in the team as Taylor and Burgess kept him out then came on as sub at Man City. Won a penalty in the last minute a week later at Stevenage and hasn't looked back since. 19/20 season. 

I'll admit maybe 2 years ago I wasn't convinced, seemed weak at times and easily swatted aside by other teams. 

The improvement has been dramatic and he's crucial to us. 

Again I hope I'm balanced in saying up to a month ago after his injury he wasn't quite at it. He certainly is now. 

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1 minute ago, darren1810 said:

Again I hope I'm balanced in saying up to a month ago after his injury he wasn't quite at it. He certainly is now. 

I think it shows that everyone takes a little while to get to top form when they haven't got that match sharpness. It took Wilson a few games to bed in and last 90 mins. So, I hope people are patient with Rodney when he returns as he's lost a fair few minutes of action now. He won't be sharp immediately.

But back to Conlon - he's a real asset. Some of his free-kicks remind me of Ray Walker, which in the Fielding family, is about as high as praise can get... 👍

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I've liked Tom from the word go. It was clear that he had potential, and he's fulfilling it.

His strength and close ball control enable him to win and retain possession virtually all the time, his passing is of high quality, energy and positional sense good, and his free kicks are not too bad! 🙂

If there was one area that I think would improve him further, it would be carrying the ball and committing defenders.

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2 minutes ago, PVFC764 said:

Just worried we will loose him and a few others to bigger clubs come transfer time.  Specially if big money is offered.

There is no doubt in my mind that he will leave for very decent money(our owners will get the best price they can) but we will ere-invest that money in the right player/s so i aren't as worried as i would have been under previous owners.

He might well end up being one of those players who is happy here and wants to go as high as he can with us,we shall but see

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He'll be on the radar of many clubs, I'm sure. Not only because he's scoring FKs regularly but for his general play - not a game goes by where we doesn't play a perfectly weighted through ball befitting of a much higher level than L2.

However, he's tied down to a long term contract so someone will have to dig quite deep to prise him away. If I were Tom, I'd be looking to captain us to promotion and have a crack at L1 next season in a Vale shirt then re-assess in Jan or June 2023. That seems the most sensible pathway for him to eventually reach the Championship.

Having said that, if we don't go up I think he'll be off in the summer should a decent offer come in from L1 or above. Bur we are going to go up, so that's irrelevant. 

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I recall him playing against Exeter at home about 3 years ago when we equalised in injury time. He was the best player on the pitch that day and got man of the match. I thought then that there's a player in there. His touch and vision is way above this level and you always feel the chance of a goal when he's got a free kick around the area. He has that Beckham like ability to whip it over the wall and then get it to dip back down quickly. Takes real technique.

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By coincidence just watched the replay of the Colchester game with the away commentary on. Tom just ran the game, as he has so often this season, and the Colchester commentators were full of admiration for both his quality and effort, saying he definitely had their vote as MOM (sponsors gave it to the also excellent Gibbo). Definitely reaching his peak and the key imho to our promotion prospects. Consistent, hard-working, ball-playing and goal-scoring midfielder with excellent leadership qualities. What more could any team want? 

So there are bound to be many clubs casting an envious eye in Tom’s direction. It’s inevitable we get interest but I see no reason to sell him. If we want to work our way back up the leagues to tier 2, Tom is just the player we need to lead the charge. We’ve all become too used to the notion that we sell our best players and imho it’s time for a change of heart as the whole club changes direction under our ambitious owners. Unless Tom wants to go - and that is a moot point - we should be holding on to him. 

I hope our fabulous owners see it this way. How would we - and they - feel if we accepted even an apparently generous offer and then failed to win promotion? Why start to dismantle the squad at this stage with offers also possible for Gibbo and maybe Rodney? And why sell our captain when we’ve built the team around him? The effect on morale would not be good.

So here’s hoping we hold on to Tom, win promotion and take L1 by storm. 

UTV. 

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He’s turned into probably the best player or at least midfielder in this division, something I could never have imagined comparing him now to when he joined. Does show how patience is needed. I do think we will struggle to keep him though, think championship clubs will come after him soon and pay very good money. 

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Carol is an ardent Vale fan as well as owner. It will be very, very hard for her to sell Tom, even if a massive(whatever that is) offer came in. I think her and the matrix will have had talks already about Tom and others so as to visualise and plan the Clubs future  I believe in the current set up to the extent that I remain confident the Vales interests are safe in their hands.  All that said, I believe Tom can see and feel what's happening and he will desperately want to guide us to at least one promotion before he sees if the grass is greener elsewhere.

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