January Transfers and Rumours

[smithie]

5 minutes ago, Hitcher said:

All we can do is get behind the team, stop moaning, 

 

Good luck with part 2. There'll be no OVF left. 😄

[Brian Johnson]

10 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

Come on, you were there cheering him on in his blue Smurf gear back in the day. 
 

Bratt, yes, on a personal level did do some decent things. When my father had some surgery back in 2006 he called him after the team signed a get well soon card. He was just a normal fan, a season ticket holder yes, but it was a fine gesture. 

I was not mate. I have been living abroad for a number of years now. Smurf was a <ovf censored>.

In fact both him & Bratt are pricks. You would have to toss a coin to see which one comes out on top to be the biggest <ovf censored>. 

Both completely destroyed the club

[Brian Johnson]

1 hour ago, werstayinup said:

As someone posted on FB like him or loathe him if AC keeps us up with the hand that he has been dealt then he deserves us fans to give him a bit of backing

I disagree.

When he was dealt a great hand with Arblaster & Devine he still messed it up.

In fact, even we had signed a striker, it may have shown Crosby up even more

[Guppys left peg]

19 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:

I was not mate. I have been living abroad for a number of years now. Smurf was a <ovf censored>.

In fact both him & Bratt are pricks. You would have to toss a coin to see which one comes out on top to be the biggest <ovf censored>. 

Both completely destroyed the club

Just personally speaking my disdain for Bratt far exceeded that of Smurthwaite. The latter was pretty up front about the fact he was a complete <ovf censored>. Doesn’t make it right but at least you knew what you were dealing with. Bratt on the other hand all the gas-lighting from him about how he was such a huge fan, “mortgaged his house” and only was a reluctant chairman who really just wanted to be in the Railway (aye right that would be why he moved heaven and earth to block any outside investment when it arose).

[Jacko51]

And he was one of a very few people who didn’t lose his share money. 

Edited February 2 by Jacko51

[Guitar Ray]

1 hour ago, Brian Johnson said:

I disagree.

When he was dealt a great hand with Arblaster & Devine he still messed it up.

In fact, even we had signed a striker, it may have shown Crosby up even more

He wasn’t dealt a great hand, you’re ignoring the other loanees, who weren’t so good.  Arblaster may have hit the ground running but Devine definitely didn’t.  We were lucky that those 2 worked out.  You’re also ignoring the obvious, he hasn’t had a decent striker to call on all season.

[PV1973]

1 hour ago, Brian Johnson said:

I disagree.

When he was dealt a great hand with Arblaster & Devine he still messed it up.

In fact, even we had signed a striker, it may have shown Crosby up even more

I disagree. No way were Arblaster and Devine going to carry this team singlehanded. 

[man in the pub]

8 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

He wasn’t dealt a great hand, you’re ignoring the other loanees, who weren’t so good.  Arblaster may have hit the ground running but Devine definitely didn’t.  We were lucky that those 2 worked out.  You’re also ignoring the obvious, he hasn’t had a decent striker to call on all season.

My disappointment isn't based just on this window but goes back to the previous January. We were desperate for a striker then and the failure/ gamble in not recruiting one almost took us down. This January has a Deja Vu feel about it and I just hope that our luck holds out this season too.  However to have had such a fundamental problem as a business and not address it , knowing we have that problem smacks of negligence.Unbelievably I'm not confident that we won't still be in the same situation come the end of the next January transfer window . The problem wasn't sorted last Summer so why will it be sorted this one, strikers will be just as expensive.

Edited February 3 by man in the pub

[Nippy Naylor]

1 hour ago, Brian Johnson said:

I disagree.

When he was dealt a great hand with Arblaster & Devine he still messed it up.

In fact, even we had signed a striker, it may have shown Crosby up even more

I also disagree Crosby & Flitcroft have gotta go 

[Nippy Naylor]

1 hour ago, Guppys left peg said:

Just personally speaking my disdain for Bratt far exceeded that of Smurthwaite. The latter was pretty up front about the fact he was a complete <ovf censored>. Doesn’t make it right but at least you knew what you were dealing with. Bratt on the other hand all the gas-lighting from him about how he was such a huge fan, “mortgaged his house” and only was a reluctant chairman who really just wanted to be in the Railway (aye right that would be why he moved heaven and earth to block any outside investment when it arose).

I hated smurthwaite more the guy was an arrogant fat b###### who didn't give a,F### about anyone other than himself # what an absolute C###

Edited February 2 by Nippy Naylor

[Dr Delgado]

It’s quite interesting to read the opinions with regard to Bratt, Smurthwaite et al. 
It makes me laugh really, people were seduced by Smurthwaite’s knitted scarf believing him to be a fan, I wonder where that scarf is now? Perhaps resting in the bottom of a dog crate.
If Bratt was such a committed Vale fan why haven’t we seen him at Vale Park since his calamitous exit?

And finally, I was never convinced by the antics of Mo Chauhdry and his involvement in the Black n Gold period, turning up at Vale Park pretending to be a fan.

I’m pleased we have our current owners, we seem relatively stable from a financial point of view, however financial stability doesn’t get me off my seat on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve been patient whilst we have implemented this new playing style with questionable results. I’m just getting a little bit concerned with regard to a disconnect between the running of the club, the players and the fans. The Paddock toilet fiasco highlights this, it is inexcusable for facilities to be out of action for so long. Last season on a number of occasions the tea bar had run out of food prior to half time. I take my 13 year old lad, if he wants to get a half time pie, he has to take my credit card with him, cashless was a crap decision. 
We might be a club that looks after its players and their families but are we a club that looks after it’s own, the real fans who have been turning up for an untold number of years?

 

[Loggerheads Sage]

4 minutes ago, Nippy Naylor said:

I hated smurthwaite more the guy was an arrogant fat b##### who didn't give a,F### about anyone other than himself # what a   C###

Come on mate, don't sit on the fence, tell us what you really think, lol.    For what it's worth,  I totally agree.

[fuzzyvalefan]

19 hours ago, The Master said:

I take it the “Fuzzy” bit of your username, is your tiny little mind.

Keep happy clapping my fuzzy little friend.

 

Grow up you child.  How often do you speak to Carol, how regularly do you work at or around the club?  How many staff do you talk to on a daily basis?  Where are you getting your opinions from?  Genuinely would like to know because you couldnt be more wrong and the fact that you cant see what Carol is trying to do is just very sad.  You must be very very stupid or extremely angry and arrogant.  Not quite sure which.

[fuzzyvalefan]

23 minutes ago, Dr Delgado said:

It’s quite interesting to read the opinions with regard to Bratt, Smurthwaite et al. 
It makes me laugh really, people were seduced by Smurthwaite’s knitted scarf believing him to be a fan, I wonder where that scarf is now? Perhaps resting in the bottom of a dog crate.
If Bratt was such a committed Vale fan why haven’t we seen him at Vale Park since his calamitous exit?

And finally, I was never convinced by the antics of Mo Chauhdry and his involvement in the Black n Gold period, turning up at Vale Park pretending to be a fan.

I’m pleased we have our current owners, we seem relatively stable from a financial point of view, however financial stability doesn’t get me off my seat on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve been patient whilst we have implemented this new playing style with questionable results. I’m just getting a little bit concerned with regard to a disconnect between the running of the club, the players and the fans. The Paddock toilet fiasco highlights this, it is inexcusable for facilities to be out of action for so long. Last season on a number of occasions the tea bar had run out of food prior to half time. I take my 13 year old lad, if he wants to get a half time pie, he has to take my credit card with him, cashless was a crap decision. 
We might be a club that looks after its players and their families but are we a club that looks after it’s own, the real fans who have been turning up for an untold number of years?

 

The cashless thing is a pain in the arse but understandable.  Under the old regimes, it was a poorly kept secret that there was no proper way to track that cash handed over to casual staff actually ended up in the club cuffers and it was pretty common knowledge that some sticky fingered staff kept a bit for themselves in the back pocket.  In terms of questioning are we a club that looks after its own, you only have to go down to the foundation building and Tommy Cheadle's in the week.  Food bank on a Friday for locals who are struggling to make ends meet, Golden Valiants on a Thursday which is now in the hundreds in terms of attendance and is a great lifeline for older people who live on their own to get out and socialise and have a bit of fun, Mens support group on a Monday evening, dementia support on a Tuesday- representatives from the council, mental health charities and all sorts of things on duty to help people with issues- the list goes on.  Thats not even getting to all the free sports and leisure sessions.  If that isnt 'looking after our own' then i dont know what is.  

[leedsvaliant]

The cashless thing is a pain in the arse but understandable.  Under the old regimes, it was a poorly kept secret that there was no proper way to track that cash handed over to casual staff actually ended up in the club cuffers and it was pretty common knowledge that some sticky fingered staff kept a bit for themselves in the back pocket.  In terms of questioning are we a club that looks after its own, you only have to go down to the foundation building and Tommy Cheadle's in the week.  Food bank on a Friday for locals who are struggling to make ends meet, Golden Valiants on a Thursday which is now in the hundreds in terms of attendance and is a great lifeline for older people who live on their own to get out and socialise and have a bit of fun, Mens support group on a Monday evening, dementia support on a Tuesday- representatives from the council, mental health charities and all sorts of things on duty to help people with issues- the list goes on.  Thats not even getting to all the free sports and leisure sessions.  If that isnt 'looking after our own' then i dont know what is.  

All that is brilliant, really admirable. But we're a football club, not a charity. Apple might do some corporate social responsibility stuff, but their main aim is to sell phones and ipads. Happy for these things to happen, as long as the football club continues to progress.