An Open Letter from Carol

[Brian Johnson]

Just now, Packmoor_vale said:

What are u on about? 
We need her as much as she needs us surely u can get your head around that 

 

You are the one that starting arguing about it not me.

Lets agree to disagree to agree to agree 

I like you. I don't want to fall out with you. We need each other just like carol need us and we need her

[Aguar61]

1 minute ago, Packmoor_vale said:

What are u on about? 
We need her as much as she needs us surely u can get your head around that 

 

Sure we do .. it's all going so well 👍

[Packmoor_vale]

1 minute ago, Vtid said:

Come on mate the fans are always sticking their hands in their pockets whether it’s tickets, hospitality is always fully booked, shirt sales through the roof & record sales & times etc it’s not just a season ticket is it. Money at the fan zone etc we try & do our bit. That’s not me saying she doesn’t because I have no idea what he budget is or how much she’s backed Flitcroft 

That’s exactly what I do when I went on holiday in September I was actually embarrassed how many different vale shirts I took with me 

The fans are number one but the owner is very imported aswell 

[Vtid]

1 minute ago, Packmoor_vale said:

That’s exactly what I do when I went on holiday in September I was actually embarrassed how many different vale shirts I took with me 

The fans are number one but the owner is very imported aswell 

😂 she is! I don’t think many are disputing that it’s her support of Flitcroft that’s annoying the minority & I can fully see why mate 

[Nippy Naylor]

4 hours ago, PVFC FAN said:

Oh right so we should get rid of him and then spend the money we probably don't have on a new dof and manager. Nice one mate very clever.

Just spend it on a decent manager

We don't need a DOF at the club

 

[JoeB2]

I think we do need a DoF, I'm just not sure Flitcroft is a particularly good one. He'd never step foot in a recruitment department before leading ours.

The good stuff he's done, which Carol has very forcefully told us about, if the sort of stuff I'd expect a DoF to be doing over the course of 3 years. I'm unsure where the added value is coming from. It's arguable he's been actively damaging since Clarke went with a very poor managerial appointment and strange transfer dealings.

It's a very strange hill to plant your flag on - I think, at best, he's been OK with a pretty poor dip in the last 12 months. Carol clearly feels very strongly about it and is willing to jeopardise her relationship with some fans over it - though at this stage I genuinely don't think she gives a monkeys about the fans. To not even consider that the fans might have a point suggest that she is too close to Flitcroft to step back and look rationally at it. If a good chunk of your key stakeholders are kicking off about something, any decent business owner would at least investigate it.

Either way, we're either going to appoint a good manager in the next 7 days and we all calm down, or there going to balls it and we're back in League 2, with very little to show for 5 years of tenure bar a big scoreboard, £5m of debt, and a nice hospitality lounge.

Edited February 7 by JoeB2

[Vale1995]

Heres a question for you. If we were to sack flickers do you think hed get taken on by any other club in the football league as a director of football?

[Rory]

Heres a question for you. If we were to sack flickers do you think hed get taken on by any other club in the football league as a director of football?

He'd stand a good chance with his record at Vale behind him.

[Diego Maradona]

6 minutes ago, Vale1995 said:

Heres a question for you. If we were to sack flickers do you think hed get taken on by any other club in the football league as a director of football?

Not sure and don't know much about the DoF merry-go-round. Is there one?

[smithie]

5 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

Exactly. I madly and frankly stupidly bought tickets for the away Peterborough game next week. It is so deflating not to hear any apology for at least the football. Instead it seems like we should be greatful she fed the hungry during Covid. 

Look, I respect Bob Geldof for Live Aid, but his music was truly bloody rubbish. Likewise with Carol trying to claim, don’t worry about the club…just look at the good I am doing! 
 

 

 

Maybe it irks Carol a bit that she's lauded much more in the media than she is by the Vale fans. I also think she has been taken aback a bit by some of the grief Andy Crosby and his side came in for this season, particularly the reaction after the Cheltenham defeat back in October. I got the feeling Crosby drew up the drawbridge after that, and distanced himself a little from the fans - the joyful jigs in front of the Hamil after the highs of beating Reading and then the great fun of beating Crewe turned to dutiful acknowledgement of the fans and nothing more. She in turn probably felt criticized as he was her appointment. 

Pure conjecture of course!    

 

[Port Vale Paul]

4 hours ago, Bycarsbill said:

FGS get real, I'm not asking you nor anyone else to do that! We're all frustrated at the on-field performances, but there is much to admire and be thankful for all the overall improvements made to the club in a relatively short time. 

Probably wasting my time, but what I'm saying is that should the Shanahans decide it's not worth the aggro (and I, for one, wouldn't blame them) we really will be in soft stuff! 

And so will Synetics Solutions, be in the soft stuff that is.

[Killersrevenge44]

Bring the good times back

 

 

 

[Vale Ball]

Bring the good times back
[/url]  
 
 

Don't be so pathetic.

Sent from my SM-A217F using onevalefan mobile app

[Warren]

1 hour ago, smithie said:

Maybe it irks Carol a bit that she's lauded much more in the media than she is by the Vale fans. I also think she has been taken aback a bit by some of the grief Andy Crosby and his side came in for this season, particularly the reaction after the Cheltenham defeat back in October. I got the feeling Crosby drew up the drawbridge after that, and distanced himself a little from the fans - the joyful jigs in front of the Hamil after the highs of beating Reading and then the great fun of beating Crewe turned to dutiful acknowledgement of the fans and nothing more. She in turn probably felt criticized as he was her appointment. 

Pure conjecture of course!    

 

I was dismayed with the Cambridge defeat as it was the first time I realised what a limited manager he was. He was unable to respond to some very simple tactical ploys including the opposition limiting crossfield passes between the back 5 by way of pressing. We lost a game against a very poor team with extraordinarily low shots at goal. He had no concept of flexible tactics or making adequate changes in game. 

Soon after this we went through the default attacking subs phase. This is where we got Loft for Uche or Uche for Loft pretty much on the hour. Given most supporters had a problem with us signing two similar unfit forwards who don't score sufficiently this angered me really. 

Coming back to the Crewe games. As Crewe do I thought they played good football. We didn't lose to them because they hadn't got a cutting edge up front. We survived. 

[Wrex]

I think it's safe to say the letter has not gone down well. If Carol could not be dissuaded to change her mind on Flitcroft then I'd have recommended her to have at least redrafted the article. Firstly to be a lot more succinct and a lot more contrite, asking for support and forgiveness for errors rather than citing Dave and her own achievements.

Paragraph 1 - acknowledge the disappointment of this season, the seriousness of the situation, and assure fans everyone at the club is dissatisfied with his things have gone and are working hard to improve.

Paragraph 2 - explicitly state why things have gone so wrong. Yes, injuries, yes bad luck times, but specifically address the January transfer window. Say what happened. We don't need names or specifics, just say whatever it was... an experienced striker was in the building but x/y happened, a backup option had a last minute offer somewhere else, we were used by an unnamed player to get a new contract at his current club, an agent tried to screw us at the last minute, <ovf censored> whatever it was. Something to help us understand that we did the right thing but it just didn't happen for us.

Paragraph 3 - state her position (Flitcroft stays), mention the overall progress of the last five years. Promise that progress will continue regardless of where we finish this season. Mention the hidden expenses of running the club and fixing the stadium.

Paragraph 4 - plead for unity, ask for patience and forgiveness for errors (that have actually been explained in paragraph 2, not just glossed over), say how important the fans are, ask them to back the team and the new manager in the remainder of the season

 

I dunno, just not a long rambling letter that said how the fans should be grateful for her, that Dave is wonderful and achieved so much and that fans should stop being mean to him