Reading (A) match thread - 20th Feb

[Doha]

6 hours ago, Spunk Trumpet said:

This sounds mad but I’d rather have a 38 year old Tom Pope for the last 15 games than that clown Loft. And Uche. I know it would never ever have happened but I’d take Popey now, playing for Witton Albion is he????…. On a two month contract of 1k a week with huge bonuses over Loft and Uche that we are forking 7k a week plus for.

Said it before. Will continue to say it until Carol wakes the <ovf censored> up and that’s why I’ve come back on this site, but what a <ovf censored> disgraceful mess the DOF has left us with. Let alone the amount of Carols money he has spunked along the way.

Pope scored significantly (8, 35%) more league goals in one season, 12/13, than Loft has scored in his entire 200 game career. 

Nathan Smith, a centre half, has scored more career league goals than Loft. As have Chislett and Garrity from midfield. Even Grant, another defender, isn’t far behind. 

23 goals since 2014.  WTF was Flitcroft thinking?

Edited February 21 by Doha

[Birches Head Fred]

I turned off last night after the second goal, not because I thought Vale were crap, but because I thought that the EFL have shafted us. Port Vale were and are the only losers in the abandoned game fiasco.

Now I'm not saying we would have won the original game, I can't predict what may have happened, but I was fairly confident we were going to lose last night. The game should have been played to a conclusion, with those players that were there that day, either later that evening or on the Sunday both behind closed doors.

As to last nights game, I'm with Hoppers and co. I thought we looked far better tactically and effort and commitment were shown in good measure.

Having said that I fully understand Spunk Trumpets comments but I fully believe that we ALL KNOW full well that some of  the players are not good enough, individually and collectively, we ALL KNOW recruitment has been a shambles, we ALL KNOW mistakes have been made and it's very likely we will get relegated.

However, we ARE NOT down yet and although I fully agree that it's a really difficult task, it's not yet mathematically a given, the team last night for 70 odd minutes looked far better than recent and we must believe we can get the points required, keep behind the lads.

It's no use keep harping on about X who's crap or Y who should never play for Vale again - for now, they are our players and we must give them all the encouragement we can, just as we are trying to do during each and every game.

The players aren't going anywhere else, any time soon, neither is our DOF and it doesn't look like new blood is coming in either so we have what we have.

IF we can get ourselves just one place out of the relegation zone I'm sure it will give everyone connected with the club a massive lift and who knows, maybe we can all breathe a little easier.

It's not good, it's not fun, it's a downright crap state of affairs but we have to keep believing until it's mathematically impossible to stay up.

What will be will be, I fully believe that Darren can turn us around, let's just hope he can do it this season, 15 games to go, 45 points on offer, let's start with 3 on Saturday. 

[TJHValiant]

11 minutes ago, Doha said:

Pope scored significantly (8, 35%) more league goals in one season, 12/13, than Loft has scored in his entire 200 game career. 

Nathan Smith, a centre half, has scored more career league goals than Loft. As have Chislett and Garrity from midfield. Even Grant, another defender, isn’t far behind. 

23 goals since 2014.  WTF was Flitcroft thinking?

Smith has scored more goals than Loft? That’s so damning! What stats is Flitcroft using? 

[Doha]

1 hour ago, Rampant Zebra said:

We have changed too much too quickly, even in the Bruno season we still kept a core of previous players. Evolution not revolution is the normal procedure for success in football. I expect it says that in Rudgies book. I don't think we should still have Luke Joyce in midfield but we now have a squad of players who mostly have no affinity to the club and it shows.

17 players left the club that summer when he came in.

You keep going on about this player turnover thing and it's just another stick for you to hit Clarke with, as per below.

On 11/02/2024 at 11:31, Rampant Zebra said:

I still don't think that Clarke was either decent or the right choice. He was backed to the hilt and decimated our squad by bringing in his yes men players. We are struggling now because the soul has been ripped out of the squad. None of the players other than Smith and the kids have any affinity to Port vale and it shows.

Those "yes man" players got us promoted in their first season. The "soul" ripped out included Brisley, Mills and Guthrie.

The quotes below tell us what we need to know about your judgement. I note you couldn't bring yourself to comment after the Cheltenham result, remind me were they and us were in the league when he joined and where they and us are now?

On 04/02/2024 at 07:42, Rampant Zebra said:

Flitcroft is to blame for me. He paid for Clarke to come and wreck the place like he did with Bristol Rovers and Walsall before and is now doing at Cheltenham. We spent 5 years money in 4 years pandering to his narcissism. 

On 20/12/2023 at 09:21, Rampant Zebra said:

It wasn't a veiled dig at Clarke, I make no secret of the fact that I think he is a mediocre manager at this level.  Hard work and game management gets you a long way in non league and League 2 but he is showing his inability at this level at Cheltenham. Obviously it won't be his fault when they get relegated but he will decimate their squad in January but not turn it around.

 

 

[Vtid]

38 minutes ago, Bimbleabout said:

Good night's sleep? Mine was awful with Vale going round and round in me head ho hum up at 5 let's gooooooo

It just shows you care mate 😂 as deluded as myself & others may be to think we can pull this off it’s just as mad to say we are already down with a third of the season still to go & 2 games in hand. Yes it’s not like we’re keeping clean sheets or scraping a win here & there but at the same time we are one win from getting above that dreaded dotted line & not 10 points adrift either 

Edited February 21 by Vtid

[Nippy Naylor]

12 hours ago, Powerline said:

What concerns me is I think we’ll struggle in league 2 as well. Most of these wasters aren’t even at that standard. Even the 2015/16 relegation side would beat our current lot

The dog & duck pub side probably wud as well., tbh

[1]

31 minutes ago, Doha said:

Pope scored significantly (8, 35%) more league goals in one season, 12/13, than Loft has scored in his entire 200 game career. 

Nathan Smith, a centre half, has scored more career league goals than Loft. As have Chislett and Garrity from midfield. Even Grant, another defender, isn’t far behind. 

23 goals since 2014.  WTF was Flitcroft thinking?

peter schmeichel scored more than phil neville throughout his career.

[Vtid]

1 minute ago, 1 said:

peter schmeichel scored more than phil neville throughout his career.

Haha loved a goal the Great Dane did 

[Doha]

17 minutes ago, TJHValiant said:

Smith has scored more goals than Loft? That’s so damning! What stats is Flitcroft using? 

NS - 24 league goals

9 League one /  12 League two / 3 Conference

RL - 23 league goals*

4 League one / 16 League two / 3 PL2

* 3 goals at PL2 which is U21s. So really it's 20 goals at league mens level.

 

[valeparklife]

1 hour ago, Portvale4 said:

A strange as it may sound, I am a tad more optimistic after last night following the switch to a back four, Moore’s post-match interview and the return of Garrity, etc. 

On paper, the final eight home games are winnable. They aren’t against any of the “big boys” in the division - Lincoln, Fleetwood, Shrewsbury, Oxford, Bristol Rovers, Exeter, Cambridge and Wycombe (yet to be rescheduled). 

If we are to stay up, we need a minimum of 15 points out of the 24 available at home. You then couple that with perhaps five points away from home and that puts us onto 51 points, which would have been enough last season. 

Let’s be honest, it’s an absolutely massive task. 

If Moore can pull it off, get that bloody statue up…

I feel we keep saying a lot of games are "winnable".

Carlisle, Fleetwood, Reading, Cheltenham were all "winnable" and we lost them all.

[Granville]

I'm more and more convinced we're going down.

Our league form is horrendous, we have an unbalanced and lightweight squad with no full backs, a load of centre backs, none of whom can head a ball, and two strikers, neither of whom can score goals consistently at this level.

The blame lies threefold for me.

On Flitcroft, for overseeing a car crash of recruitment that will leave us with a much weaker squad than the one that got promoted, then hiding away behind Will Ryder and not being accountable to anyone beyond a cosy, rehearsed, in house podcast.

Carol, for her naivety and unwillingness to see through Flitcroft's spin and ineptitude, doubling down on that with her impassioned defence of him when she knew the fan base can't stand him.

The players, for not giving a toss about it. Jones continues to look like he'd rather be picking up his giro, Massey clearly can't be arsed, and so many lightweight introverts who aren't willing to stand up to be counted. I'll say this for Loft, at least he put some effort in last night and looked like he wanted to win the ball back. Next to a prolific goalscorer, he might not be too bad, which brings us back to the first culprit in all of this, Flitcroft himself. 

The entire club seems to be congratulating itself on being well run off the pitch, with a wonderful Director of Football, and now a manager who is visible and has Championship experience, while on the pitch, we are an absolute disaster, hurtling towards the bottom division, with no one willing to take responsibility for it.

I've no doubt Carol's next public words will be at a forum or another open letter telling us stick together as Dave Flitcroft and Darren Moore put together a squad to get us back out of league two while thanking Robbie Williams for his emotional support during a difficult time.

Edited February 21 by Granville

[Vtid]

10 minutes ago, Granville said:

I'm more and more convinced we're going down.

Our league form is horrendous, we have an unbalanced and lightweight squad with no full backs, a load of centre backs, none of whom can head a ball, and two strikers, neither of whom can score goals consistently at this level.

The blame lies threefold for me.

On Flitcroft, for overseeing a car crash of recruitment that will leave us with a much weaker squad than the one that got promoted, then hiding away behind Will Ryder and not being accountable to anyone beyond a cosy, rehearsed, in house podcast.

Carol, for her naivety and unwillingness to see through Flitcroft's spin and ineptitude, doubling down on that with her impassioned defence of him when she knew the fan base can't stand him.

The players, for not giving a toss about it. Jones continues to look like he'd rather be picking up his giro, Massey clearly can't be arsed, and so many lightweight introverts who aren't willing to stand up to be counted. I'll say this for Loft, at least he put some effort in last night and looked like he wanted to win the ball back. Next to a prolific goalscorer, he might not be too bad, which brings us back to the first culprit in all of this, Flitcroft himself. 

The entire club seems to be congratulating itself on being well run off the pitch, with a wonderful Director of Football, and now a manager who is visible and has Championship experience, while on the pitch, we are an absolute disaster, hurtling towards the bottom division, with no one willing to take responsibility for it.

I've no doubt Carol's next public words will be at a forum or another open letter telling us stick together as Dave Flitcroft and Darren Moore put together a squad to get us back out of league two while thanking Robbie Williams for his emotional support during a difficult time.

It’s impossible to disagree with any of those points to be honest mate 👍🏻 very worrying times although I’m still clinging onto a glimmer of hope at the same time I fear the worse 

Edited February 21 by Vtid

[Vale1995]

Why is Phil bowers no longer doing the post match interviews btw?

[ValeFanInBrum]

If anyone's vaguely interested, the Reading fan at my work said that Mighten looked good last night, and was surprised we took him off.

Hopefully "getting some minutes into him" can only help this thoroughly depressing situation.

[ValeFanInBrum]

5 minutes ago, Vale1995 said:

Why is Phil bowers no longer doing the post match interviews btw?

Is there any point when he just gives them the answers anyway? Don't think the fella has ever learned what an open question is.

Always asks the same old tripe like "You must be disappointed with that performance" which is of course not even a question.