Match Thread: Port Vale v Cambridge United

[Osh]

17 minutes ago, vale victory said:

Like I said he’s an outstanding manager at league 2 level but we aren’t in league 2 anymore

We are in relegation form , the football especially at home games is rubbish and we play the same way expecting a different outcome

Personally it’s not entertaining it’s boring , I can’t remember the last home game where we have played well

We won’t improve next season if we have a transfer window like the last 2 that’s for sure

He was very good at Bristol Rovers too m8. In EFL1

[Brian Johnson]

8 minutes ago, Osh said:

He was very good at Bristol Rovers too m8. In EFL1

What is DC's record in League 1 with Bristol Rovers?

[vale victory]

Finished 11th then 13th then sacked the next season sitting in the relegation zone with 7 deafest from 10 games so he went backwards in each season

Look I like Clarke and I want him to do well but he needs a good start next season otherwise he will be under pressure

Nathan smith says out of all the managers he’s played for DC wants to win more than anyone he said he’s obsessed with winning

Let’s hope he can have a good summer and get us playing good attacking football again because at the minute it’s seriously poor

[hamilboy]

2 hours ago, Sam Kelly's Left Boot said:

Still the best defender at the club by some distance. 

Replacing Smith would be low on the to do list.

That does not say much for the future of Port Vale fc i'm afraid.

[Playa Amodores]

42 minutes ago, Granville said:

Please stop going on about Stoke doing well should affect Vale's players. They are all professional footballers, its a job to them, most of them will have little to no interest in what Stoke are doing, least of all use it as motivation. 

TBH, I don’t even think about Stoke anymore. It’s the problems at my own club that concern me and have my full attention, as depressing as that may seem.

[NorthwoodValiant]

1 hour ago, Brian Johnson said:

What is DC's record in League 1 with Bristol Rovers?

Never relegated once

[NorthwoodValiant]

59 minutes ago, hamilboy said:

That does not say much for the future of Port Vale fc i'm afraid.

If you want your club to get better you need to get rid of the worst players first.

Yes we probably aren't going to win League 1 with Nathan Smith as our best defender, but plenty of players to change before we look at getting rid of him

[Rampant Zebra]

6 hours ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

Never relegated once

Only because he left before the end of the season?

[Osh]

10 hours ago, Brian Johnson said:

What is DC's record in League 1 with Bristol Rovers?

I think you might be coming at this from the wrong angle. 

Clark can only play with the budget that we've got. We are not a rich team. Quite frankly he's done wonders up to now. 

UTV

[valiant_593]

Not this season, I don’t think he’s worked wonders at all. Budget isn’t everything, you can still have some tactical prowess and the ability to pick a decent 11, make intelligent substitutions that can change the game and be able to play something other than 532. Every single home game the same drab rubbish. I love DC, but I don’t get the praise this season. A lot of what has been done has been wrong, from the recruiting side and the playing side. 

Im delighted with his press conference looks like we’re going to get a mass clear out which is required as the majority of those from last season arent at this level, issue for me is like you say the budget and then do I trust the recruitment team to improve us, based on this season I’m really not sure. 

Personally I think DC has to improve next season

[philpvfc]

This is Clarke’s fist full season as Vale manager and for me it has been very disappointing, club going backwards from last season, out of the cups pretty quickly and one to a div 2 team, probably going to end up in the bottom 8, certainly unrest within the camp. 
Should we looking to change Clarke? IMO, no, but he certainly needs to sort it out close season and get us top halve again next season, if we are in a similar position come Christmas he has to go imo.

[philpvfc]

39 minutes ago, Osh said:

I think you might be coming at this from the wrong angle. 

Clark can only play with the budget that we've got. We are not a rich team. Quite frankly he's done wonders up to now. 

UTV

So are so many other clubs in this division. Last season beat all expectations but this season has been a flop.

[Osh]

14 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

So are so many other clubs in this division. Last season beat all expectations but this season has been a flop.

Yes. But it is our first season in EFL1, Bristol Rovers have struggled and FGR seem set to go straight back down. Exeter doing better than us but even they've had a few dodgy results. 

 

[grand prix pants]

29 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

So are so many other clubs in this division. Last season beat all expectations but this season has been a flop.

Most of us would have considered staying up in our first season a good outcome. It still will be. The second half of the season has been poor, but staying up can’t be seen as a flop.

[Diego Maradona]

5 minutes ago, Osh said:

Yes. But it is our first season in EFL1, Bristol Rovers have struggled and FGR seem set to go straight back down. Exeter doing better than us but even they've had a few dodgy results. 

 

Osh, I think you make a fair point. When you add on all of the injuries and key injuries to majority of strikers a few weeks ago and now injuries to CB's. Also, losing Walker, Charsley and Hall. We haven't add any midfielders to replace them. Squad feels a bit thread bare and has done since January. 
Also, reading the Cambridge fan's comments about why they are struggling, it doesn't sound too dissimilar to Vale's situation, however, we are are clearly in a better position than Cambridge.

Not suggesting things have been perfect under any circumstances (not sorted GK, LWB, not all this seasons signings have worked out) but for our first season back in League 1, not too bad if we can survive?

Sitting here typing, Vale currently showing relegation form, players not performing, working hard enough,  or not good enough, not very ambitious but I would take survival this season and next. Unfortunately, for me, things (including players and finances - but only speculating on what's happened since January) don't seem quite right at Vale at the moment.