shambles of a season

[NarberthVale]

Hi guys don’t knock it I’m sure carols trying her best to sort stuff out for everyone but there’s so much to do at the vale it will take time. I was there yesterday had a great day out Shame about the result but I have a four hour drive to the games I try to make as many as I can Rome wasn’t built in a day!!! 

[Guppys left peg]

48 minutes ago, bycars rob said:

Not a shambles, we now know who is up to it and who isn`t and we stayed up , not bad for a team who finished 5th in the league below. I expect us to improve next season.

This is where I’m at on it. Not a shambles but also not doing victory laps either. What will be a shambles is if the lessons we’ve learned from this season particularly the second half of it are not acted upon.

[Loggerheads Sage]

4 hours ago, saintvaliant said:

Even better! Sadly you would suspect Flynn will sort them out.

Maybe. But he certainly didn't sort walsall out 

[LancyTony]

On 07/05/2023 at 20:01, darren1810 said:

Why was today a credit to the club ?

Because Caz said a few nice words about Plymouth whilst shaking her Pom poms ? 

 

No - because we showed ourselves to be a class act, and did something rare and unselfish - in football - which was appreciated by rival club and supporters. Being cynical about everything isn't a good trait!

[LancyTony]

On 07/05/2023 at 20:58, ollyandpatch said:

Team that came up through the back door so were the weakest on paper and less time to prepare stay up without ever falling into the bottom 5 places. 

To say its been a shambles is plain stupid and I suggest you check in on the Forest Green forum to see Shambolic.

 

We weren't that far behind the other 2 teams we came up with, either!

[LancyTony]

15 hours ago, philpvfc said:

After what for me has been a disappointing season we need to forget about championship ready on the pitch next season, bring in a manager we can give backing and support so that he can build a squad which is good enough to finish top half next season and improve season on season. Let’s get the buzz back in to the club.

It was never about being "Championship ready on the pitch" as has been stated dozens of times...it's just that some Muppets didn't understand that!

[LancyTony]

15 hours ago, ValeForever. said:

...My personal view is that the club made the difficult decision (in the best interests of Port Vale) & decided to stick to a rhetoric that protected DC as far as possible due to the close bond & respect they have with him. They were willing to sit & take the flack off the fans & the media by taking the moral high ground & keeping shtum re what had been going on behind closed doors, to protect DC. I believe that he was sacked as an absolute last resort based on a number of incidents/behaviours. There is no other logical reason for it. The 2 x wins in 18 was just a very convenient excuse which the club ran with to protect DC...

 

Totally agree - given the closeness of their working relationship - I've never heard of any other Manager / Owner going for walks to meet the public and big up their club! But I wouldn't have liked to have gone through what DC and his family had to - could have had any number of effects on them? I think it was  Northampton's Manager who was an emotional wreck when he was interviewed after this weekend's results, as he and his colleagues have had to deal with family stuff - it's not a great profession for encouraging closeness with your loved ones?

[Stockleys_socks]

9 hours ago, Guppys left peg said:

This is where I’m at on it. Not a shambles but also not doing victory laps either. What will be a shambles is if the lessons we’ve learned from this season particularly the second half of it are not acted upon.

It was a lap by the players and staff to thank the fans for their support.

[philpvfc]

5 hours ago, LancyTony said:

It was never about being "Championship ready on the pitch" as has been stated dozens of times...it's just that some Muppets didn't understand that!

It was never stated where we would be championship ready so read it as you may, that doesn’t make someone a muppet. I read it similar to you in that we build the infrastructure to championship ready but should also build a squad ready for the championship. We have made improvements on our infrastructure but gone backwards on the squad and it does appear on our back room staff.

[Warren]

We need to keep our eye on the ball (sorry). To get to the top 10, a reasonable improvement in 2023/24, we need to score 10-15 more goals and concede 20 fewer over a whole season. 

We know that significant changes to the squad are needed for this and await the retained list. 

Personally I think we can go a long way by improving defending and goalkeeping by way of bringing players in. I think our attack can be made good enough by keeping most of what we have, including players coming through, and improving them. 

In midfield I think our recruitment position depends on who leaves or is released. We may need one or two or several players. But Plant should be in there in his proper position. Twelve months on from his debut, McDermott should be ready. So the approach should be some recruitment combined with give youth a chance. 

But the elephant in the room is defending and goalkeeping. We must not recruit another below standard goalkeeper and somehow we need to refresh the whole back 4/5 with better players. Finally the side this season is slightly too small overall. That needs addressing as well. 

[Bobnewtonian]

54 minutes ago, Warren said:

We need to keep our eye on the ball (sorry). To get to the top 10, a reasonable improvement in 2023/24, we need to score 10-15 more goals and concede 20 fewer over a whole season. 

We know that significant changes to the squad are needed for this and await the retained list. 

Personally I think we can go a long way by improving defending and goalkeeping by way of bringing players in. I think our attack can be made good enough by keeping most of what we have, including players coming through, and improving them. 

In midfield I think our recruitment position depends on who leaves or is released. We may need one or two or several players. But Plant should be in there in his proper position. Twelve months on from his debut, McDermott should be ready. So the approach should be some recruitment combined with give youth a chance. 

But the elephant in the room is defending and goalkeeping. We must not recruit another below standard goalkeeper and somehow we need to refresh the whole back 4/5 with better players. Finally the side this season is slightly too small overall. That needs addressing as well. 

I think that's pretty fair, improving us defensively would be my first priority, and yes we are too small but I would also add we dont get around the pitch well enough as a team.

I  wouldn't throw the baby out of the bathwater though with Stone as a keeper just yet.... hes good on the deck and the most two footed keeper we ve had, if you compare him to the loans we ve had over the year hes also better than them... question is do we spend considerable amount on a new keeper or try and improve him ? I m not confident any loan signing we could manage would be an improvement.

[sheffieldclayhead]

If at the beginning of the season our stats would read W=13, D=10 and L=23 with us sitting on 49 points and 18th in the table come May many would have said target met and we have had a good season.

Yes in the new year the wheels came well and truly off, for what ever reason and DC lost his job (rightly or wrongly) but in the end the target was met.

Was the season as shambles no, was the second half disappointing yes but we are still in L1 and ready to go again come August.

Agree we need to stengthen in defence and sort the goal keeper position out. Also need a good and full pre-season, sort the pitch out and start the new season on the front foot.

 

[markh]

13 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

With hot food long gone, they ran out of snacks at the Family Stand side kiosk in Bycars during half time.  One of the young lads in there nipped out, I assume to the other kiosk, and came back with a small box of random snacks, which soon disappeared.  Like you say it’s a missed opportunity.

Why don’t the club outsource the catering? Guaranteed income and let someone else who is an “expert” in that run it. I think outsourcing is the way forward for non football related activities. Concentrate on what you’re good at. 

[ollyandpatch]

Me and my lad had some great days. Burton, Barnsley, Derby, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Cambridge were memorable. Home form was a struggle although Shrewsbury last minute winner and Fleetwood first game were stand out. Solid wins on Boxing day and beating Charlton and Exeter and a few odd goal wins. Ipswich and Bolton at home on the hottest Saturday ever were good performances as was Derby apart from the end and I thought we were unlucky against Sheff Wed.

Unlucky we lost Jones and Garrity and we should have told Hall he stays until the end of the season.

Was my 52nd season Shambolic?  Far from it. !!

 

 

 

[trentvale]

And good attendances- 5 matches above 10000 and several very close.

It has been a good year. Yes dropped away a bit but I rather watch us in this division and have bigger crowds and the challenge of winning rather than have it a lot easier in the division below.

 

football is all about expectations.