2 hours ago, Wise Owl said:

Hannant was truly awful.

Hannant wasn’t awful. He was an average league 2 player. Far from awful 

28 minutes ago, valiant_593 said:

Hannant wasn’t awful. He was an average league 2 player. Far from awful 

Life would be pretty boring if we all had the same opinion. Personally, I’ve seen better wingers on Wolstanton marsh on a Sunday morning. 

On paper, it's easy to improve the squad.

Maintain a strong core of regular starters and sign players that improve them. Move on the players that are replaced.

In practice, it's really difficult as players that will come to the Vale aren't 'ready made' - they'll either be young, untested, young and untested, injury prone or past their prime with little sell on potential.

Rudgie always used to sign a mix but we don't seem to sign many experienced pros at the end of their career or those that have fallen by the wayside- Bob Hazell, Ron Futcher, Chris Sulley, Bernie Slaven, Ian Bogie, Keith Houchen, Andy Hill... 

I guess it's down to the fact average Championship players can be multi-millionaire's in their early 30s and don't need to keep playing. I'd love one of the above type of players in the squad now.

7 minutes ago, Vale_Legend said:

On paper, it's easy to improve the squad.

Maintain a strong core of regular starters and sign players that improve them. Move on the players that are replaced.

In practice, it's really difficult as players that will come to the Vale aren't 'ready made' - they'll either be young, untested, young and untested, injury prone or past their prime with little sell on potential.

Rudgie always used to sign a mix but we don't seem to sign many experienced pros at the end of their career or those that have fallen by the wayside- Bob Hazell, Ron Futcher, Chris Sulley, Bernie Slaven, Ian Bogie, Keith Houchen, Andy Hill... 

I guess it's down to the fact average Championship players can be multi-millionaire's in their early 30s and don't need to keep playing. I'd love one of the above type of players in the squad now.

Lowe has played in The Premiership and Championship. Uche and Ojo have both played a fair amount. In general I think you're right about the money. Also the game is much faster now and many players at all levels struggle with ligament and muscle injuries by their early 30s. 

57 minutes ago, valiant_593 said:

Hannant wasn’t awful. He was an average league 2 player. Far from awful 

Agreed. Was it Hannant who drank from the bottle that the neanderthals threw on to the pitch at the last derby?

Hannant was decent enough for the level we were at when he played for us, went on to win promotion and seemingly be highly rated the following season, gone full circle via Colchester and Dundee to Gateshead now though, dont think he ever let us down and scored a couple of very good goals.

3 hours ago, Wise Owl said:

Hannant was truly awful.

League football must have been generally awful then - or the judgement of two other League clubs was, as he went on to play for Cambridge and Colchester. 

8 minutes ago, smithie said:

League football must have been generally awful then - or the judgement of two other League clubs was, as he went on to play for Cambridge and Colchester. 

Was he not linked with a move back to us and everyone was getting excited about it or was that another player?

1 hour ago, valiant_593 said:

Hannant wasn’t awful. He was an average league 2 player. Far from awful 

I thought he was OK. We played him on the left wing mainly. He was right footed but the closet thing to a two footed player we've had for quite a long time. He was better at Cambridge,  who let him come inside more. Really was a bit silly leaving them, as it didn't work out at Colchester.  He would have been a better player in our current system than a 4 4 2. 

Thought I'd post this as he was one of the summer rumours:

Lyle Taylor: Cambridge United sign former Wycombe Wanderers striker for rest of season - BBC Sport

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

 

22 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:

Was he not linked with a move back to us and everyone was getting excited about it or was that another player?

Don't ever remember him being linked back to us. He was from Cambridge.  I think he's ended up back at Gateshead,  where he played while at University. 

Thought I'd post this as he was one of the summer rumours:

Lyle Taylor: Cambridge United sign former Wycombe Wanderers striker for rest of season - BBC Sport

WWW.BBC.CO.UK  

Two others we were linked with in the summer have both left their clubs on loan Josh Gordon left Burton for Walsall, and Billy waters left Wrexham for Doncaster... Neither scored a goal for their teams.. [emoji849]

Anyone who calls a professional footballer useless clearly has no idea how difficult it is to become one !

i know there are levels but anyone who makes it are in the top few percent in the world at football

 

 

 

Anyone who calls a professional footballer useless clearly has no idea how difficult it is to become one !
i know there are levels but anyone who makes it are in the top few percent in the world at football
 
 
 

It's often a luck thing. I've known many talented footballers who could certainly have played at league 2 level but for whatever reason they haven't been spotted or played for the wrong team. That Chris Slater from Chasetown should have been nowhere near professional football...he got lucky by having a reasonable game against us.

There's also dedication. A lot of the talented footballers I knew were more of the Gazza mould than the Gareth Southgate mould. You've got to dedicate your life to being a footballer and virtually live like a monk. Lots of lads hit 16-18 and would rather booze and women than football.

Clearly, anyone who has made it into league football is talented but I'd certainly say that in league 2 especially there are a few who are very lucky to be playing professionally.

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30 minutes ago, leedsvaliant said:

It's often a luck thing. I've known many talented footballers who could certainly have played at league 2 level but for whatever reason they haven't been spotted or played for the wrong team. That Chris Slater from Chasetown should have been nowhere near professional football...he got lucky by having a reasonable game against us.

There's also dedication. A lot of the talented footballers I knew were more of the Gazza mould than the Gareth Southgate mould. You've got to dedicate your life to being a footballer and virtually live like a monk. Lots of lads hit 16-18 and would rather booze and women than football.

Clearly, anyone who has made it into league football is talented but I'd certainly say that in league 2 especially there are a few who are very lucky to be playing professionally.

Sent from my SM-A137F using onevalefan mobile app
 

I think the standard of the Premier League is the strongest in the world but also the strongest of any league there has ever been. This means that players who may have played at that level in the past are pushed down. In other words every level is stronger than ever.