21 minutes ago, Fosse69 said:

Spending wisely has nothing to do with budgets

How is not signing a striker spending wisely?  It’s akin to driving around in your car with a flat tyre.

7 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

How is not signing a striker spending wisely?  It’s akin to driving around in your car with a flat tyre.

 

3 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

How is not signing a striker spending wisely?  It’s akin to driving around in your car with a flat tyre.

Whether the budget is a £ or £M it can be wasted or of a benefit.  Signing a striker should of been of benefit. 

8 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

How is not signing a striker spending wisely?  It’s akin to driving around in your car with a flat tyre.

Please accept my apologies for bringing the level down to the gutter but on various podcasts I listen too, Tony Pulis tells the story of when Spurs offered Peter Crouch to Stoke.

Pulis phones up  Peter Coates and said that they have been offered Peter Crouch for x amount of millions. Peter Coates puts the phone down, discusses it with his CEO then phones Pulis back minutes later. Coates says we can not sign him because of his age, he offers no resale value to which Pulis replies his value & his fee will be paid over & over again by keeping the club in the Premier League every season.

The striker market is silly but the idea that they all cost millions of pounds is daft.

 

Colby Bishop was once signed for buttons from Leamington Spa.

Jamie Reid was released by Mansfield.

Alfie May was signed for about 20k by Cheltenham.

Devante Cole was a free.

Chris Martin was 35 and without a club in late September.

Dion Charles had 18 in 60 in the 6th tier.

Rhodes is on loan.

Ephron Mason-Clark was scoring 6 a season in the 5th tier.

 

If you're looking for proven commodities, then yeah, get your millions ready, but all of those proven commodities were once unproven and available for cheap.

The point of having a DoF, recruitment analysts, and access to terabytes of data is you find these unproven players, realise they have the attributes that would work in your system, and you make them into proven players.

I read a lad's PhD thesis a while back, and the summary of it was that clubs shouldn't sign players based on their records elsewhere, but whether their attributes fit their specific role within their system. Clubs who do the latter (Brentford, Brighton) do very well, whilst clubs who do the former (Chelsea, Man Utd) relatively underperform. Caicedo looked great at Brighton in that specific role, Chelsea paid £100m+ for him, and now he looks naff. It's the same player with the same ability - just in a different role which doesn't work for him.

If Flitcroft can't find a single undervalued forward in over 2 years, what's the point in him? Bundling home Harrison and Taylor because DC knew them, and them panic-signing Loft and Uche is so, so poor.

Edited February 4, 20242 yr by JoeB2

2 hours ago, JoeB2 said:

Cold sweats here picturing Dunn in caretaker charge - he wins 1 out of 4 and gets the gig permanently.

He'll DESERVE a chance! 🥴

Edited February 4, 20242 yr by The Kalamazoo Kid

4 hours ago, Brian Johnson said:

I agree probably around 99% with you but are our strikers basically useless and no goal threat because of the way we play which is down to Crosby.

Could a more experienced manager be able to play the game better, coach them better, set them up better, have more of an attacking intent turn around our strikers to a degree?

The strikers we have fit have basically no record of scoring goals.  Look at their past stats .

We could set up differently but we’ve still got no strikers with a genuine goal threat, and no power or pace up top.  I think right now we’d be better setting up as we did v Pompey, not to lose and sitting back, which nobody would want to see or accept against the likes of Fleetwood etc.

When teams either play a ball over the top or break on us we can’t cope.  Fleetwood exposed us in that regard yesterday.  A poor performance and a draw yesterday would’ve been fine when looking at the other results and the league table, although obviously the vast majority would’ve seen that as a negative given Fleetwoods position and form.

18 hours ago, Vale1995 said:

I am honestly shocked they havent done a statement yet. Honestly im done if hes still in place come Tuesday night. How in any way shape or form is this deemed acceptable. Honestly serious questions need asking of carol at the moment. She isnt thinking about the fans . Without us theres no port vale.

I think the majority of the fan base 

Feel exactly the same as you .mate 

18 hours ago, ValeForever. said:

I'll tell you what will happen right now if he gets sacked. Flitcroft will take over until the end of the season. Be careful what you wish for.

Yeah you have got a point but if Flitcroft does take charge when crosby is binned off 

And he gets us relegated he can be binned off as well the useless numpty 

And we can start again from scratch 

With an experienced manager , UTV 

17 hours ago, Gooders said:

You're wrong

How do you know  ?

Have you got 20/20 vision 🤓

Edited February 4, 20242 yr by Nippy Naylor

15 hours ago, JoeB2 said:

Sat here really annoyed at a lot.

Do you think that, if the toilets in hospitality were broken, they'd be going in portaloos till season end as they didn't want to spend the money yet? No chance - there'd be new bogs within the week. State of the art. Named after Phil Taylor who would magically reappear on the scene.

It's galling - pensioners who've been at games for decades hobbling into portaloos through the rain in a car park, whilst hundreds of thousands has been spent on a new hospitality suite opened by a pop star who's turned up for the first time in decades. All the while, a team cascades to 11 wins in 49 league games.

My 90yo Grandad slides through urine in a poorly lit shack at the back of the Railway Stand. He's been going since the 1940s. Carol has owned the club for nearly 5 years and the Railway has barely seen a penny. Money is getting spent everywhere, down to pie-in-the-sky 'T-Zone' and 'Campus' projects, apart from on the fans and on the playing squad.

There's a very clear belief of 'forget the masses, they'll put up with anything' which permeates the club, and I think it's set by Flitcroft. I remember his little dig at a forum about fans leaving early, in a game we lost and Hamil Road was shut. From what I've heard, Carol isn't much better.

There's a barely concealed resentment between the corporate side of the club and the average fan. It could become quite toxic if they continue to ignore the fanbase on the managerial/DoF issue.

A very well balanced  post , mate 👍

46 minutes ago, The Kalamazoo Kid said:

He'll DESERVE a chance! 🥴

If we gave Dunn the job I'd be doing a Ted and chasing him down the tunnel after the first misplaced pass.

5 hours ago, Osh said:

Can I add one more thing. 

There's lots on here that are FIFA Manager/Experts. I'm not. 

Everyone seems to be blaming AC; I don't I think (the word there is think) it comes more down to DF who recruits the players and so I think AC has been sh@t on.  From a great height. 

No idea what we do from here.  So not me being a clever bleeder like I know stuff. Cause I don't. 

One thing I'd love to hear from the club: this is what happened in Deadline Day - we did X but it didn't work. We're talking to three free agents and we will bring more players in - or, that's it we've got what we've got. 

Give us a clue what's next Vale. Silence just isn't acceptable.

I'll shut up now. 

Have a great Sunday Valiants 

I disagree Crosby and his coaching staff pick the team and set the tactics up for every game he's responsible for What happens on the pitch as are the players  agree with you on Flitcroft he's got to go as well .UTV 

15 hours ago, Mellor! said:

Without meaning to be condescending towards Carol and how successful she has been in other business, Flitcroft has gaslit her at this football club and she's too blind to see through it. He is the problem. He is the rotten egg. We will not progress while he is at the club. I feel sorry for Crosby. A good coach and a good bloke, just a poor manager that never should have been given the job.

You've made some good points there .

Edited February 4, 20242 yr by Nippy Naylor

6 hours ago, ollyandpatch said:

I genuinely believe we will finish in the bottom 4 as I think we may win 4 of the last 19 games. Much the same record as the 3 wins in our last 21. We get to about 47/48 points which won't be enough.

My biggest concern is that I think Carol will say Crosby did well in league 2 and we should give him the chance to make an immediate return. !!!

 

I'm thinking if that happens 

May as well shut the doors 🚪

and turn off the lights, mate