Summer transfer targets/rumours, retained list etc

[Joe B]

I'm quite happy to bet right now, £10 to the Hubb, that we finish above 18th and at least . The bottom end of League 1 is a quagmire of poor teams. We have one of the top 5 managers of all time at the helm. No need fret.

[ollyandpatch]

45 minutes ago, Rocky said:

I've seen about 3 or 4 League 1 final standings predictions already now that everyone is confirmed and we were bottom of every one of them. We will be the favourite to go down but wrongly in my eyes. 

I think the priority for recruitment will be someone in that back 3 with Hall and Smith. We need a quicker CB and a player that can carry the ball out. Cass was great at that, I also remember him playing in a Papa Johns game last season against Rochdale in October and sprinting back to what was a one on one with Stone and did enough to prevent a goal.

Too many times last season when we were under pressure we cleared anywhere and gave back possession, over and over and as good as Smith, Martin and Hall have been good at that, we really need someone who can get it on their boots and hold the ball up and run.

Won't happen. Odds checker have us finishing 8th bottom with Bet365 7th bottom, and I've never seen a bookie on a bike. !!

[Bob Newtonian]

1 hour ago, Walka003 said:

I'd agree, CM is probably our strongest position. No reason to waste any budget there.

not sure : Conlon hasn't played for months and has never played in League 1 : Walker was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Pett was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Taylor has never played in league 1 : Garrity never played in League 1 : for me we will have to strengthen considerably in midfield if we want to avoid a season at the bottom

[Joe B]

Christ.

Here we are, Joe B of all people, urging for optimism and positivity. Whinger in chief rallying for a playoff charge

State of it all.

[Mellor!]

If we are going to be looking for a new first choice keeper, Alex Smithies and Keiren Westwood have been released. Good, experienced keepers that we may have a chance of signing with now being League 1.

[Bob Newtonian]

5 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Have you heard of the footballer Ben Garrity?

Fair point..... but he's unproven as of yet at any level above league 2. Unfortunately that's true of his fellow midfielders too.

I do think that we have the right owners and management team to keep us up and progress .... but I think there will be a brutal cull of current players to make room for the new players

 

[tommytunstall]

3 minutes ago, Bob Newtonian said:

Fair point..... but he's unproven as of yet at any level above league 2. Unfortunately that's true of his fellow midfielders too.

I do think that we have the right owners and management team to keep us up and progress .... but I think there will be a brutal cull of current players to make room for the new players

I think you are absolutely wrong. Try a little bit of positivity, I trust the Vale management 

 

[Hoppers]

8 minutes ago, Bob Newtonian said:

Fair point..... but he's unproven as of yet at any level above league 2. Unfortunately that's true of his fellow midfielders too.

I do think that we have the right owners and management team to keep us up and progress .... but I think there will be a brutal cull of current players to make room for the new players

 

We beat numerous league one teams last season

[Walka003]

not sure : Conlon hasn't played for months and has never played in League 1 : Walker was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Pett was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Taylor has never played in league 1 : Garrity never played in League 1 : for me we will have to strengthen considerably in midfield if we want to avoid a season at the bottom

This is a pretty harsh assessment, think nearly all of the players mentioned above have proven themselves to be good enough this year, maybe excluding Taylor as he's only just back but even over that small sample size he's been very good. Barring Pett they are also all young and have time to mature.

[darren1810]

1 minute ago, Walka003 said:

22 minutes ago, Bob Newtonian said:

not sure : Conlon hasn't played for months and has never played in League 1 : Walker was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Pett was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Taylor has never played in league 1 : Garrity never played in League 1 : for me we will have to strengthen considerably in midfield if we want to avoid a season at the bottom

This is a pretty harsh assessment, think nearly all of the players mentioned above have proven themselves to be good enough this year, maybe excluding Taylor as he's only just back but even over that small sample size he's been very good. Barring Pett they are also all young and have time to mature.

Spot on. Garrity will improve the poorer parts of his game. Conlon has to firstly get fit but was coveted by clubs higher up ( allegedly). Walker can definitely play league one as can Pett.

Taylor unproven but bags of natural footballing ability. Charsley possibly last in line but has a good engine and an eye for a pass. 

I'm not comparing any of them to a certain Ian Taylor but he made a seamless transition from non league to Premier league in about 3 years I think.

For me other than someone with a killer pass ( possibly Taylor ) we are well stocked in midfield. 

[Bob Newtonian]

29 minutes ago, Hoppers said:

We beat numerous league one teams last season

Yes I know but I m not sure 1 off games are not a good yardstick for a season long campaign

[Mellor!]

Does anyone know where Burslem Academicals is? If he doesn't show up soon I might have to put a missing persons report in.

[Bob Newtonian]

21 minutes ago, Walka003 said:

42 minutes ago, Bob Newtonian said:

not sure : Conlon hasn't played for months and has never played in League 1 : Walker was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Pett was released by a league 1 club as he couldn't get in their team : Taylor has never played in league 1 : Garrity never played in League 1 : for me we will have to strengthen considerably in midfield if we want to avoid a season at the bottom

This is a pretty harsh assessment, think nearly all of the players mentioned above have proven themselves to be good enough this year, maybe excluding Taylor as he's only just back but even over that small sample size he's been very good. Barring Pett they are also all young and have time to mature.

Yes its harsh but not the sure the players have proven anything at league 1 level apart from a few of them who were  released by League 1 teams such as Pett and Walker... dont forget Procter was released by a league 1 team also.

and yes some of them have time to improve but you can only have so many who fit into the "time to improve" bracket else you re in the bottom 3 before you know it.

[Bob Newtonian]

38 minutes ago, tommytunstall said:

I think you are absolutely wrong. Try a little bit of positivity, I trust the Vale management

That's  fine... I don't mind being wrong .... wouldn't be the first time.... but my point is that I don't think we are good enough to avoid a relegation battle at the moment and that the retained list will be more brutal than some people are imagining.

By the way all my posts have said we have the right owners and management team to get us where we want to be. I just see the required  changes to the squad to be greater than some posters are expecting.

[tommytunstall]

4 minutes ago, Bob Newtonian said:

Yes its harsh but not the sure the players have proven anything at league 1 level apart from a few of them who were  released by League 1 teams such as Pett and Walker... dont forget Procter was released by a league 1 team also.

and yes some of them have time to improve but you can only have so many who fit into the "time to improve" bracket else you re in the bottom 3 before you know it.

What a ray of sunshine you are!!