Stevenage (H) FAC2R Match thread 12th Dec

[TJHValiant]

37 minutes ago, Jeffporthill said:

It reminds me of Boris Johnson during covid times, we're going to follow the science.

Not really. Johnson didn’t follow the science. He partied on down! 

[Heatwave]

Part of me is thinking 'well, it's only the FA Cup, we're never going to win the thing so if we throw the game away like we did last night we can learn from the experience and move on'.

Part of me is thinking there's worse to come. L2 beckons.

[Bimbleabout]

It reminds me of Boris Johnson during covid times, we're going to follow the science.

Things are depressing enough as it is without mentioning that absolute belm on the thread.

[Coyney Valiant]

Just seen Crosby interview the blokes a pr-ck it’s his subs and tactics after an hour that cost us the game but the pr-ck won’t even hold his hands up and accept he cost us the game do the right thing carol and get rid 

[sheffieldclayhead]

Said a few weeks ago by January we could be out of all 3 cups and in the relegation zone. Nothing has changed my mind if anything reinforced it.

Worst thing is get rid of AC we pay compensation so less January transfer fund for anybody new.

Worrying times do we stick or twist as they say on the manager both a double edged sword with the prospect of L2 next season a possibility on both.

[darren1810]

I can't believe he's not gone. 

[Vale1995]

1 minute ago, darren1810 said:

I can't believe he's not gone. 

I was thinking about this it is so mental that he hasnt and it got me thinking with him being offered his first managerial job do you think there is any chance we put in his contract that in January we could <ovf censored> him off if it wasnt going well without paying compo. Thats the only reason i can think of that we havent pulled the trigger. If that isnt the case im beginning to grow more and more unhappy with decision making at the top of the club.

[Bimbleabout]

Sick and tired of being sick and tired. The life of a Vale fan

[Vale1995]

2 minutes ago, Bimbleabout said:

Sick and tired of being sick and tired. The life of a Vale fan

Unfortunately we are all doomed to a life of misery and stress in the footballing department. Never forgiven my dad for taking me down the vale set me up for a life of disappointment 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Vale1995

[CambridgeDon]

4 hours ago, ValeForever. said:

This idea that people are "voting with their feet" has to stop. I haven't looked, but I bet if you look at our average home gate this season, it won't be far off the average for the past 2 x seasons. Ppl going on like we've lost thousands of fans overnight. We haven't.

Last night's attendance was <ovf censored> because it was a Tuesday night replay which nobody wanted, ahead of next week's QF v Boro. Simple as that.

We have several homes games coming up in the next few weeks, including 3 this week alone. People are clearly prioritising certain games in the build up to Christmas based on cost. Last night was right at the bottom of the priority list for myself & I'd guess many others, hence the low attendance. 

My views on AC. I'm not a massive Crosby fan, but I can also totally understand why the club are not yet looking to make a change. A few points to flip things around a little & see things through the clubs eyes:

We're 6 points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand on a couple. That's following an absolute stinking run of results. From a League position perspective, what were people expecting this season? Did ppl genuinely think we'd be pushing for top 6? I expected mid table with ups & downs & so far, that is exactly what we are getting.

Freak opening day aside can anybody recall a game we've been battered in? We've been in every single game this season, despite not performing particularly well at times (Cheltenham at home stands out as the 1 x abomination) & struggling for goals. We've lost by the odd goal v Bolton & Derby & not looked a million miles off it.

He's changed the style of football with a brand new squad. They have been together for 4 months & most are on 2 x year deals, including Crosby himself. He's playing in to the clubs ambitions around giving youth a chance if it's good enough. There's an argument to say (& this is all ifs & buts) had we signed somebody who could stick the ball in the net, we'd be comfortably top half & potentially knocking for top 6.

He's made a bit of money through the performances in the cups, including lining up a League Cup QF next week where we stand a slim, yet realistic chance, of pulling off a result & reaching a 2 x legged semi final in a major cup against a prem giant.

Hypothetically, if we beat Wigan on Saturday & are sat comfortably in mid table, then pull off a shock result v Boro to reach the semis, are ppl still calling for his head? I'd also ask, if we were having this season & DC was in charge, would people be calling for his head? I'll tell you the answer, not a chance. 

Last night was a kick in the teeth for the club. There's been a few results this season like that unfortunately. We were 1 x minute away from a potentially lucrative shot in the FA Cup, twice. It stings. I'll add, we went out to Exeter at home last season under DC.

Several home games coming up & I think the picture will become much clearer by the middle of Jan. This is a poor League this year & the standard compared to last year is nowhere near. Nobody (bar game 1) has blown us away & that's because there's not alot between any of the teams. Games decided by small moments of quality up top & lack or errors at the back (Bolton & Derby games).

I'm clearly in the minority from a OVF perspective but I think he should be given time. He would get the full season for me, including Jan transfer window. There has to be some continuation at some point, we can't keep ripping things up & starting over. I think lots of ppl are jumping on the sacking bandwagon without considering all of the points, because it's much easier to go with the majority. I genuinely do not think he comes close to taking us down.

Finally, if somebody had said to you at the start of the season that we'll be mid table come the New Year, ask yourself, would you have accepted it?

4 of the next 6 league games are at home & we've got struggling Wycombe & Carlisle away from home. We're 4 points off 11th placed Shrewsbury who we have 2 x games in hand over (they have scored 13 league goals all season & have lost more games than us). We're 4 points off 12th placed Northampton who have also lost more games than us. We have 1 x game in hand on them as well. We've drawn 3 x games over 90 minutes with 3rd placed Stevenage, 2 of those away from home.

Things aren't as grim as ppl would have you believe. I've witnessed much much worse following the Vale. Please show some patience & support. We are trying to build slowly, the club have been crystal clear on the strategy. Back them.

Lot of food for thought there, ValeForever, and I can understand why so many people have liked your post. Its greatest value is that it probably gives us the best insight into the way AC is seen by the great and good at the club, including Carol. My problem though is that, as you say yourself, it's all ifs and buts: I don't see any reasonable grounds for believing that we will see the kind of improvement we need to escape our current steep losing trajectory taking us straight back to L2.

We've had twelve months to assess Crosby and, during that substantial period, the club has the worst record of any in L1. Where is the logic or, more to the point, the evidence that would lead us to conclude that a significant transformation in our fortunes is going to take place? It just isn't there.

As last night's debacle demonstrated so graphically, he is simply out of his depth. He lacks the insight and skills even to see out a game, therefore simultaneously ruining our chances of going on an unbeaten run, losing the club the opportunity to win a small fortune, and damaging morale and confidence among even the most diehard supporters (let alone the players). As a manager, he has no track record of any sort to fall back on.

Imho, and I know others will see it differently, this tells us one thing: the sooner he goes the better. 

[darren1810]

1 minute ago, Vale1995 said:

I was thinking about this it is so mental that he hasnt and it got me thinking with him being offered his first managerial job do you think there is any chance we put in his contract that in January we could <ovf censored> him off if it wasnt going well without paying compo. Thats the only reason i can think of that we havent pulled the trigger. If that isnt the case im beginning to grow more and more unhappy with decision making at the top of the club.

Managers life is precarious. Cambridge pulled the plug on Bonner who had loads of credit in the bank. Maamria despite being a vile character saved Burton from certain relegation last season and they've sacked him. 

I'm just not understanding why there appears little prospects of us doing the same.

I've seen some horrific days. Burnley away 7-0 in the 80's. An awful team in the lower reaches of Division 4 as well. 

And this team is way better than that.

Yet I'm bored out of my skull with the fare on offer and I'm bored of Crosby. Might as well stick a tape recording and a cardboard cutout. The same dour tripe every game. Beginning to remind me of Aspin in his interviews. Could talk a glass eye to sleep.

It's boring and an effort for people to attend. 

[ValeFanInBrum]

5 hours ago, Vtid said:

Proper shi*house! Been a great signing to be fair 

I think without him we'd be even further in the brown and nasty. One positive for this season, for sure.

[MBE]

Watching them highlights back was not great viewing.

Our defensive work looked even worse on 2nd viewing.

[ValeFanInBrum]

Oh dear.

Now hear me out... I have only been an armchair fan so far this season due to living in Birmingham, and significant changes in my personal circumstances significantly reducing my free time to get to VP.

The Boro game will be the first game I've been able to go to, realistically.

I've been keeping tabs on things via OVF this season on and off, especially given the horrendous run of results lately.

Something that I've been wondering, and I am sure that those of you who go regularly can address, is at the start of the season, many were really encouraged by the fact that we'd signed some big units at the back to make us more solid defensively, as well as Ripley. From what I can tell, it seems Ripley is the only positive out of this, plus perhaps Debrah, based on what people have been saying about recent performances.

Is it a case that these big lads have the turning circle of that ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal, or is it more a case that they are gentle giants, or both? I'm thinking Iacovitti, etc.

The striker issue worried me at the start of the season, and that has been bearing fruit of late, even with the addition of Uche, who I remembered as being decent in his first spell with us, but perhaps that was rose tinted spectacles. It does stagger me that a professional athlete can be weeks away from fitness when they've not been playing, which was something he said in a post-match interview a few games ago: surely they'd be out running all the time to get/keep fit? I appreciate match sharpness is perhaps something you only get from playing matches.

I did feel a slight bit of positivity when we went 2-0 up, and I could have fainted at that point in time, as I couldn't believe we'd managed to score 2. Something told me we would end up messing it up, as I've been going to the Vale too long not to think otherwise, Swindon and Wembley aside, perhaps.

[valefan16]

2 minutes ago, ValeFanInBrum said:

Oh dear.

Now hear me out... I have only been an armchair fan so far this season due to living in Birmingham, and significant changes in my personal circumstances significantly reducing my free time to get to VP.

The Boro game will be the first game I've been able to go to, realistically.

I've been keeping tabs on things via OVF this season on and off, especially given the horrendous run of results lately.

Something that I've been wondering, and I am sure that those of you who go regularly can address, is at the start of the season, many were really encouraged by the fact that we'd signed some big units at the back to make us more solid defensively, as well as Ripley. From what I can tell, it seems Ripley is the only positive out of this, plus perhaps Debrah, based on what people have been saying about recent performances.

Is it a case that these big lads have the turning circle of that ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal, or is it more a case that they are gentle giants, or both? I'm thinking Iacovitti, etc.

The striker issue worried me at the start of the season, and that has been bearing fruit of late, even with the addition of Uche, who I remembered as being decent in his first spell with us, but perhaps that was rose tinted spectacles. It does stagger me that a professional athlete can be weeks away from fitness when they've not been playing, which was something he said in a post-match interview a few games ago: surely they'd be out running all the time to get/keep fit? I appreciate match sharpness is perhaps something you only get from playing matches.

I did feel a slight bit of positivity when we went 2-0 up, and I could have fainted at that point in time, as I couldn't believe we'd managed to score 2. Something told me we would end up messing it up, as I've been going to the Vale too long not to think otherwise, Swindon and Wembley aside, perhaps.

Oddly I feared us blowing it! I was online though and saw 95 minutes - Corner (Port Vale) and thought, awesome job done... what happened there!