Match Thread: Port Vale v Bristol Rovers

[Bald Eagle]

1 hour ago, valefan16 said:

It was nasty that, had he not refereed the reverse and had Barton in his ear Coutts would have walked, he would have been booked for that, then got a yellow for the one on Smudge.

Agreed.  Would be good ones for Dermot Gallagher to comment on in ref watch on Sky - what feeble excuses he could come up with to defend his colleague

[ValeForever.]

Some simple stewarding would sort out the queues for the Paddock. There are 4 x turnstiles but the queue back onto Hamil Road was just for the 2 x gates on the left. The queue for the 2 x gates on the right didn't even reach the club shop!

I went & queued on the Hamil with everybody else with 2 x young kids & didn't realise until we got towards the club shop that the other queue was much shorter.

Just takes 1 x person to show some initiative & take some ownership. Go down the queue & explain that the queue splits into two & move people about. You then have a bunch of stewards as you walk in checking bags which I understand has to be done but come on Vale, just get somebody to lead & take show some initiative down there for the Newport game please. Shouldn't be left to the fans.

It's not a moan as such because it was great to see so many people about, I just think it's a relatively simple problem to fix.

[valefan79]

15 minutes ago, ValeForever. said:

Some simple stewarding would sort out the queues for the Paddock. There are 4 x turnstiles but the queue back onto Hamil Road was just for the 2 x gates on the left. The queue for the 2 x gates on the right didn't even reach the club shop!

I went & queued on the Hamil with everybody else with 2 x young kids & didn't realise until we got towards the club shop that the other queue was much shorter.

Just takes 1 x person to show some initiative & take some ownership. Go down the queue & explain that the queue splits into two & move people about. You then have a bunch of stewards as you walk in checking bags which I understand has to be done but come on Vale, just get somebody to lead & take show some initiative down there for the Newport game please. Shouldn't be left to the fans.

It's not a moan as such because it was great to see so many people about, I just think it's a relatively simple problem to fix.

I hope that the club release a statement apologising to supporters that missed kick off and having to queue to get in the Bycars for over 45 minutes and that they will learn from this and it won't happen against Newport.  There will be supporters who have not been for a long time who will think the game is on Sky, I had loads of problems getting in, I might as well watch at home or the pub if that is the trouble getting in.  This was nothing to do with late arrivals yesterday, for whatever reasons supporters were not able to get in quickly.

[Stockleys_socks]

2 hours ago, valefan16 said:

It was nasty that, had he not refereed the reverse and had Barton in his ear Coutts would have walked, he would have been booked for that, then got a yellow for the one on Smudge.

Agree, the one on Smith was pre-meditated following earlier verbals between the two and could have been red for intent IMO. He also should have been booked for not walking off behind the goal when subbed, which would have meant they were down to 10.

[Hoppers]

1 hour ago, PV1973 said:

They just said they hoped before the end of the season, they weren’t giving anything away to be fair. 

I wouldnt particularly like to face Bristol in the playoffs - if we didnt manage autos, then would prefer them to get 3rd place - BUT still in our own hands and someothers will fall by the wayside in the next 3 weeks - its definitely squirty bottie time 

 

[Playa Amodores]

1 hour ago, PV1973 said:

I thought that rule still applied? Or only if the ref chooses to enforce it that is. 

Each stadium should have a clock that’s in sync with the referees watch. This way you would be able to see when the watch has been stopped. All teams are wasting time even ourselves and we positively encourage it, but don’t like it when it’s done to ourselves. For me the only ppl losing out are the fans who pay to watch the game. It needs to be stopped, the only way is through enforcement 

[Jacko51]

Re Coutts substitution, the Law actually says, "(the player) unless already off the field, and must leave by the nearest point on the boundary line unless the referee indicates that the player may leave directly and immediately at the halfway line or another point (e.g. for safety/security or injury)"  Coutts simply ignored the ref and took the long route off the field.  He should have got a second booking for blatant time wasting.  Refs allow this far too much.

The time wasting by the goalkeeper was ridiculous.  The Law states, "An indirect free kick is awarded if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, commits any of the following offences:

*controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it"

This is the law which is most frequently ignored by referees.  It may as well not exist for the number of times a ref actually imposes a sanction.  Teams and referees simply assume the law isn't there.  Either enforce it or remove it.

[eh up nah]

The ref was never going to be sending one of their players off yesterday.

He sent two of them off in the corresponding fixture before Christmas. 

It's madness that he was even allocated yesterday's game.

[glenpvfc]

I think he told Coutts to leave on the side but he just said no and kept walking, then the ref walked along side of him not booking him probably because he was already on a yellow. May as well have held his hand while they walked.

I couldn't have played in that game. Ignoring my lack of ability I would have had to put two feet through coutts head.

[Guest Vale at home]

21 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

Re Coutts substitution, the Law actually says, "(the player) unless already off the field, and must leave by the nearest point on the boundary line unless the referee indicates that the player may leave directly and immediately at the halfway line or another point (e.g. for safety/security or injury)"  Coutts simply ignored the ref and took the long route off the field.  He should have got a second booking for blatant time wasting.  Refs allow this far too much.

The time wasting by the goalkeeper was ridiculous.  The Law states, "An indirect free kick is awarded if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, commits any of the following offences:

*controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it"

This is the law which is most frequently ignored by referees.  It may as well not exist for the number of times a ref actually imposes a sanction.  Teams and referees simply assume the law isn't there.  Either enforce it or remove it.

Well said . I totally agree with what the Law says . The Ref on Monday . had Loss the  Game . And Let Bristol Rovers . Get away with everything .  Foul after foul . And Time waisted And NO discipline at all . On Ref was Terrible . 

[Guitar Ray]

We can moan all day about the ref but the bottom line is that a rusty midfielder gave the ball away in a dangerous area for the first goal and then we went to sleep on a corner before failing to deal with a routine lob for the second.  Simple as that.  The ref can book, send players off, give decisions one way and not the other but ultimately these may not alter the result one little bit, whereas stopping the ball from hitting the back of our net will affect the result every day of the week.

2 errors of our own making cost us the game.

[Breadwinner]

In Scotland on holiday reflecting on yesterday ,it wasn't that bad really if DJONES scores then we would have deservedly took something out of the game  

Moving forwards if Pett and Gibbons return for last 3 we go up automatically if not I'm not sure .

That's the thing with defeats causes distress .

We deserve do it hope we do 

UTV 

[Hoppers]

44 minutes ago, glenpvfc said:

I think he told Coutts to leave on the side but he just said no and kept walking, then the ref walked along side of him not booking him probably because he was already on a yellow. May as well have held his hand while they walked.

I couldn't have played in that game. Ignoring my lack of ability I would have had to put two feet through coutts head.

the kind of player you want playing for you rather than against - oooh Andy Porter, oooh Andy Porter 😁

[PV1973]

16 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

We can moan all day about the ref but the bottom line is that a rusty midfielder gave the ball away in a dangerous area for the first goal and then we went to sleep on a corner before failing to deal with a routine lob for the second.  Simple as that.  The ref can book, send players off, give decisions one way and not the other but ultimately these may not alter the result one little bit, whereas stopping the ball from hitting the back of our net will affect the result every day of the week.

2 errors of our own making cost us the game.

True and they made the most of those errors. 

[Joe B]

Lots of thoughts which have already been articulated but the season will come down to the fitness of Pett and Gibbons in the last three.

Pett would steady the midfield and allow us to hold onto the ball for more than 3 passes, whilst helping out the back three to build. Gibbons would give us a degree of width when a clearly declining Worrall and unspectacular Benning fail to do so, both failing to beat their man with any regularity. They're far more likely to offer a sideways past then get in behind, which hinders us massively. I'd go for Gibbons and Hussey if possible.

I think if we get Gibbo and Pett involved, we've got a good chance of 6-7 points and nicking 3rd. If not, I'm struggling to see how a middle 5 of Worrall, Charsley, Taylor, Garrity, and Benning is going to see us over the line. It's a mid-table midfield in games we have to be near-perfect, in high-pressure games against a) rival/bogey team who will be whipped up to ruin our fun, b) playoff rival on national tv, c) 2nd place.

The ref was a very weak with the substitutions but there were no red cards in the game and we lost because Rovers were a better side who exploited our weak links (3 CBs who can't pass when pressed, a non-existent midfield, a GK who doesn't like leaving his line). Coutts and Anderson were a cut above our entire team, bar Proctor who as always played well.

The margin for error is non-existent, and the poor run we went on through January/February ensured that March-April-May would have to be basically perfect, which it has been so far. If we pull it off, considering the tragedy affecting our manager, then it's a miraculous promotion. 

Was good to see 10k in but, as always, the turnstile situation needs work.