Match Thread: Port Vale v Northampton Town

[Jermaine Holwynn]

What a journey I had reading back this thread.

I think if DC wanted motivation for future games all he would have to do is read this forum and see how many of his own ‘fans’ have got it in for him.

A 0-0 draw to 3rd in the league and what do we get, constant moaning and bitching from the usual keyboard warriors after what isn’t a convincing win.

“We deserve more, the owners deserve more, crap tactics, crap players, crap manager, crap pitch, why didn’t we sign x player, why can’t we play like x team, why didn’t we play x way, I deserve value for money, why isn’t the manager doing what I say, I NEED MORE THAN CHICKEN BALTI PIES, we are Vale not Barca, why are we still having a Robbie gig, the owners are great but the tannoy is <ovf censored> they should close it down, 22 quid of my hard earned money, Holy kicked it out in the wind, Wilson looked uninterested, we could have signed anyone, these loans won’t do, we need experience, we will never make playoffs.”

Never known a set of more entitled ‘fan base’ in al my life, reading back some of the usual participants comments on here is embarrassing.

How it seems like Neil Aspin had more backing then DC from the fans is incomprehensible to me. 

[Osh]

On 12/02/2022 at 22:14, Beech said:

Because we play the same wing-back formation time after time, home or away. It's really not that difficult to figure out.

Yet people constantly slag off DC for changing formation too much...??

We've had huge injury problems, its taken Wilson ages to get back to (almost full fitness), Proctor will need 6, 7, 8 or more games to be back to where he was when he got injured, the new players coming in don't just automatically gel.

No, it wasn't pretty BUT a) we didn't lose b) we got (another) point, c) against a team who were favourites to go back up and, d) have been playing well. 

They played a completely different game than FGR and looked happy to sit-in and frustrate. 

On to Tranmere - can't wait.  They're playing well but I think we can out-do them.

 

KTF and UTV 

[robf]

20 hours ago, MBE said:

In tight games like they you need someone who can unlock the door with a bit of skill or a killer pass. We don’t have another player other than Woz capable of carrying the ball and providing that moment from midfield. It’s why I really can’t understand why Cooper or/and Amoo where not introduced to try and pull Northampton out of the defensive shape. Very negative from DC.

We are very one dimensional team at the minute and easy to defend against at home.

Yeah, I was surprised about that. I can understand the logic in changing it from Carlisle and making it more defensive for a better side but for me, it wasn't working and I would have preferred some more attacking changes.

For starters, I was surprised there wasn't a switch to a Carlisle-type formation when it was clear we weren't creating much. I think Walker looks a better player in the back three than in the midfield and I would have swapped him back there when Vale were struggling and then brought on another forward for Martin. That would allow us to have the same formation as against Carlisle with Wilson as a withdrawn forward where he looked a class above. 

Then if that hadn't worked, you'd still have the option to bring on an Amoo or Cooper to add some pace and trickery on the flanks.

For me, there were too many like-for-like subs on Saturday ( Charsley > Walker / Proctor > Edmondson / Harratt > Wilson ) so Northampton were comfortable in their formation.

 

 

[robf]

23 hours ago, Rampant Zebra said:

I found it interesting in his post match interview that he said "I am disappointed for my fans" as if we only go to watch Vale because he is manager

To be fair I think that was simply a slip of the tongue from "our" to "my" - I base that on the fact that he's never said at any other time that everyone is here for him (in fact largely the opposite - such as his pre-season message "I’m privileged to be here managing for fantastic owners and fantastic supporters") so I don't think that use of "my" is anything other than an error.

He speaks extensively to the media, unscripted, before and after every game, he's not going to get the right words out every time!

[For Us All]

21 hours ago, MBE said:

In tight games like they you need someone who can unlock the door with a bit of skill or a killer pass. We don’t have another player other than Woz capable of carrying the ball and providing that moment from midfield. It’s why I really can’t understand why Cooper or/and Amoo where not introduced to try and pull Northampton out of the defensive shape. Very negative from DC.

We are very one dimensional team at the minute and easy to defend against at home.

TC will make a big difference in midfield when he returns.

[Santa]

23 hours ago, Rampant Zebra said:

I found it interesting in his post match interview that he said "I am disappointed for my fans" as if we only go to watch Vale because he is manager

He used the wrong possessive!

[The man in the pub]

Thought we put the effort in but  quality and especially the final ball were lacking. Northampton were industrious and pacey so it was easy to see why they were at the top. A draw not a bad result but probably looking for a sequence of wins although 7 points out of 9 is not a bad return.

[Coyney Valiant]

1 hour ago, Jermaine Holwynn said:

What a journey I had reading back this thread.

I think if DC wanted motivation for future games all he would have to do is read this forum and see how many of his own ‘fans’ have got it in for him.

A 0-0 draw to 3rd in the league and what do we get, constant moaning and bitching from the usual keyboard warriors after what isn’t a convincing win.

“We deserve more, the owners deserve more, crap tactics, crap players, crap manager, crap pitch, why didn’t we sign x player, why can’t we play like x team, why didn’t we play x way, I deserve value for money, why isn’t the manager doing what I say, I NEED MORE THAN CHICKEN BALTI PIES, we are Vale not Barca, why are we still having a Robbie gig, the owners are great but the tannoy is <ovf censored> they should close it down, 22 quid of my hard earned money, Holy kicked it out in the wind, Wilson looked uninterested, we could have signed anyone, these loans won’t do, we need experience, we will never make playoffs.”

Never known a set of more entitled ‘fan base’ in al my life, reading back some of the usual participants comments on here is embarrassing.

How it seems like Neil Aspin had more backing then DC from the fans is incomprehensible to me. 

Football is a matter of opinions you’ll find most fan bases are the same as us 

[Jermaine Holwynn]

20 minutes ago, Coyney Valiant said:

Football is a matter of opinions you’ll find most fan bases are the same as us 

Are they?

This one has got the hallmarks of upthesaddlers right now. The difference is we’re not 18th in the league so I’m struggling to find where it’s justified on here.

Panic, negativity, fear and actually quite anti Vale. Also some jealousy I would throw in there. 

If that’s up your street knock yourself out.

‘In my opinion you need to get a grip’ there you go, for clarity. 

[dazzerjames]

This thread gives depression a bad name . A point against a team who are perhaps the toughest to beat in the league. We have had a terrible run of results and injuries, but are now becoming resilient again and hard to beat ourselves.

With creative players due to return , this is a good result. Crap game yes , bad result no. Those slating the manager . Get a grip. Clearly have very short recent memories of what we have endured.

[Coyney Valiant]

39 minutes ago, Jermaine Holwynn said:

Are they?

This one has got the hallmarks of upthesaddlers right now. The difference is we’re not 18th in the league so I’m struggling to find where it’s justified on here.

Panic, negativity, fear and actually quite anti Vale. Also some jealousy I would throw in there. 

If that’s up your street knock yourself out.

‘In my opinion you need to get a grip’ there you go, for clarity. 

There are not many on here slagging DC off  he’s doing a decent job but people are quite with in there rights to criticise Saturdays performance 

[Jermaine Holwynn]

18 minutes ago, Coyney Valiant said:

There are not many on here slagging DC off  he’s doing a decent job but people are quite with in there rights to criticise Saturdays performance 

You read this back and I think you will find plenty slagging DC off actually.

I’m critical of Saturday, just not overly critical because what’s the point?

Like I said originally, feels to me like there was more support for Askey and Aspin in the bottom half of the table then there is for DC just off the playoffs with games in hand.

imo of course, have to caveat everything with that now just so people don’t explain to me what an opinion is every time.

Also as someone above said, disappointing performance yes, disappointing result - not really.

[Hoppers]

36 minutes ago, Jermaine Holwynn said:

You read this back and I think you will find plenty slagging DC off actually.

I’m critical of Saturday, just not overly critical because what’s the point?

Like I said originally, feels to me like there was more support for Askey and Aspin in the bottom half of the table then there is for DC just off the playoffs with games in hand.

imo of course, have to caveat everything with that now just so people don’t explain to me what an opinion is every time.

Also as someone above said, disappointing performance yes, disappointing result - not really.

Mate a lot of us feel the same, but to be honest we've had a lot worse forums than this over the last couple of months. There's been a lot of level headed replies as well, yours being one of them 😊. So let's try and ignore the obvious haters (there arnt that many) and accept the level headed critiques. There's also Always the ignore option button to press if they really get on your stones. Sometimes helps me to have a couple of days off from reading if there's too much bile being spouted 👍😁

[Breadwinner]

47 minutes ago, Jermaine Holwynn said:

You read this back and I think you will find plenty slagging DC off actually.

I’m critical of Saturday, just not overly critical because what’s the point?

Like I said originally, feels to me like there was more support for Askey and Aspin in the bottom half of the table then there is for DC just off the playoffs with games in hand.

imo of course, have to caveat everything with that now just so people don’t explain to me what an opinion is every time.

Also as someone above said, disappointing performance yes, disappointing result - not really.

To be honest if folk were slagging DC off then there has be a reason for it  

I do not think our support think we are entitled however if you are having what was it one attempt on target at home then folk will not be happy with that even DC wasn't so I think he realised after the  event when most folk realise there cause of action was wrong he set us up nullify there strengths which in turn weakened us when a full tilt Vale I believe and that's the reason why I went the game as I saw signs of a full tilt Vale in phases of Carlisle game I believe we would have not only won the game but won it well if we played to our strengths which is high press 3 up front not giving them opportunity get out,the fact they managed get out so easily was because by dropping Harratt and bringing in Martin it was deemed by supporters as a negative move and yes we got a 0-0 but if you want to attract new support to the ground then very little of saturdays game would want them come back again meaning we do not move forwards .

Home crowd need to be more up for games aswell I sensed a nervousness within the support sat as no longer having a beer I see games more clearly now .

Love DC but feel a lot of the  support at the home games do not I guess scoring 1 goal maximum in recent home games is not helping but then his he helping himself as Coopers come on v Carlisle created a mistake from there full back by harrying for Amoo score then he as beat 3 players from a short corner the game was crying our for someone like that who did we get like for like .

Highlight of match for me was Holys quick throw outs .

Need to do better for sure .

[valiant_593]

55 minutes ago, Jermaine Holwynn said:

You read this back and I think you will find plenty slagging DC off actually.

I’m critical of Saturday, just not overly critical because what’s the point?

Like I said originally, feels to me like there was more support for Askey and Aspin in the bottom half of the table then there is for DC just off the playoffs with games in hand.

imo of course, have to caveat everything with that now just so people don’t explain to me what an opinion is every time.

Also as someone above said, disappointing performance yes, disappointing result - not really.

DC has got loads of support apart from a couple on here. You have to remember he has been backed and has said play offs are a must. Saturday was really poor but it’s still a point and clean sheet. Fans can criticise team selection / tactics especially when it’s been a consistent issue throughout the season. (And one that DC criticised Askey for previously) 

You can criticise without slagging off. It wasn’t good enough, DC said so himself. I’ve been after us playing a back 4 literally all season at home, he changes the formation quite a lot in game but always sets up with that back 3/5 which I don’t think is necessary at home. 

At the end of the day he’s a league 2 manager for a league 2 team. Players have off days and managers get it wrong. We’re still in a very very good position and I still think we can push for the automatics with 3 of our best players coming back.