41 minutes ago, Rampant Zebra said:

Yet we are still 4th in the league...

For the moment, however, if nothing changes in our approach, then we will begin an inexorable slide down the League...

19 minutes ago, Tamworth said:

For the moment, however, if nothing changes in our approach, then we will begin an inexorable slide down the League...

When? To be fair, myself included have been saying that all season. I was spouting mid table after the Grimsby defeat. That 10 game winless run was especially worrying but give the players & management team credit we’ve always picked ourselves back up the rest of the season after a defeat or slump in form pretty well. I’d be shocked if we finished below the playoffs with 8 games remaining from now on in. 

13 hours ago, Nippy Naylor said:

Honest question mate , would you be happy to pay for a season ticket next season watching Darren's tribute act to Southgates ultra cautious tactics cos I won't be going nowhere near as much because I want to be entertained at a football match not bored out of my skull 

If we are still in L2 with DM this is how it will go….

May. Not having another season ticket watching that crap.Boring.Will find another hobby.

June.  Actually might be different next season.

July. Go and watch a few friendlies just to see if we look different.

Aug. Renew my Season Ticket.

Opening day of the season full of hope.😀

 

7 minutes ago, VTID-New said:

When? To be fair, myself included have been saying that all season. I was spouting mid table after the Grimsby defeat. That 10 game winless run was especially worrying but give the players & management team credit we’ve always picked ourselves back up the rest of the season after a defeat or slump in form pretty well. I’d be shocked if we finished below the playoffs with 8 games remaining from now on in. 

Yeah, not so long ago I said we look like mid table team and that's where we will finish. I still think we look like mid table team but somehow we keep pulling results out of the hat when it counts and have managed to stay in the top 7. So who do I give credit for that to? 🤔🤔

Edited March 27, 20251 yr by barny61

1 minute ago, barny61 said:

Yeah, not so long ago I said we look like mid table team and that's where we will finish. I still think we look like mid table team but somehow we keep pulling results out of the hat when counts and have managed to stay in the top 7. So who do I give credit for that to? 🤔🤔

You could give credit to Lady Luck 👍

It is a tricky one, I am I will be there personally regardless and having suffered the 18 months before this season then this season is far more enjoyable in that we are not losing 20-25 times in one season and getting results.

It isn't as enjoyable as other promotion challenges though, in fairness under Micky Adams we won promotion tearing teams to pieces scoring more goals than anyone in the top 5 divisions so hard to beat that but under DC it was more fun and more connectable.

Part of it is the higher expectation, we are not cash strapped little old Port Vale "we are where we are" anymore so the demands are higher, we've spent big money and having come down a 5 year stint here like the last 2 is unacceptable so feels like promotion is just "doing what we should" rather than a massive achievement like previous ones when we've gone against expectation maybe.

If we miss out I do question though is it a huge missed opportunity and would a different style of football have got us up.

4 minutes ago, Nippy Naylor said:

You could give credit to Lady Luck 👍

I would, but Im not sure we've had any luck to be fair. Certainly didn't have any in the second half on Tuesday. 

9 minutes ago, barny61 said:

I would, but Im not sure we've had any luck to be fair. Certainly didn't have any in the second half on Tuesday. 

But if Darren would have played Tolaj and Croasdale from the start you wouldn't be banging on about luck ,Barn  we would of won that game by a country mile , I wonder if the coaching staff and Darren will learn from it and change their mindset 🤔😬

6 minutes ago, Nippy Naylor said:

But if Darren would have played Tolaj and Croasdale from the start you wouldn't be banging on about luck ,Barn  we would of won that game by a country mile , I wonder if the coaching staff and Darren will learn from it and change their mindset 🤔😬

Errrrrrrm. 

16 minutes ago, valefan16 said:

Part of it is the higher expectation, we are not cash strapped little old Port Vale "we are where we are" anymore so the demands are higher, we've spent big money and having come down a 5 year stint here like the last 2 is unacceptable so feels like promotion is just "doing what we should" rather than a massive achievement like previous ones when we've gone against expectation maybe.

 

Spot on, and why I have issues with some comparisons I've seen on social media of points totals at this stage of the season versus 12/13 and 21/22. The conclusion seems to be that if we're not happy despite us being in the same position as those comparative years, then it's because we're racist. 

No - it's because for the first time in my lifetime we've got a promotion budget, a highly paid manager, paid large fees for a number of players in the summer (mostly strikers) and the club openly talked about winning the league in the summer. Yet, we're setting up to stay in games for 60 mins against vastly inferior opposition, played a pivotal home game against our main rivals with no strikers, and still seem to not have established an identifiable way of playing (especially at home). And all of this in the weakest League Two in years, where a top three is there for the taking. 

40 minutes ago, barny61 said:

Yeah, not so long ago I said we look like mid table team and that's where we will finish. I still think we look like mid table team but somehow we keep pulling results out of the hat when it counts and have managed to stay in the top 7. So who do I give credit for that to? 🤔🤔

Me. Otherwise the players & management team 👍🏻😁

45 minutes ago, MBE said:

If we are still in L2 with DM this is how it will go….

May. Not having another season ticket watching that crap.Boring.Will find another hobby.

June.  Actually might be different next season.

July. Go and watch a few friendlies just to see if we look different.

Aug. Renew my Season Ticket.

Opening day of the season full of hope.😀

 

Haha no matter what season we have previously had or who’s in charge the majority of fans can’t wait for pre season friendlies to get underway. Those couple of months with no Vale are far worse than anything we have to witness in the league season regardless of how bad we can be at times. I’d rather watch crap football than no football but that’s just me 🤷‍♂️ 

46 minutes ago, valefan16 said:

It is a tricky one, I am I will be there personally regardless and having suffered the 18 months before this season then this season is far more enjoyable in that we are not losing 20-25 times in one season and getting results.

It isn't as enjoyable as other promotion challenges though, in fairness under Micky Adams we won promotion tearing teams to pieces scoring more goals than anyone in the top 5 divisions so hard to beat that but under DC it was more fun and more connectable.

Part of it is the higher expectation, we are not cash strapped little old Port Vale "we are where we are" anymore so the demands are higher, we've spent big money and having come down a 5 year stint here like the last 2 is unacceptable so feels like promotion is just "doing what we should" rather than a massive achievement like previous ones when we've gone against expectation maybe.

If we miss out I do question though is it a huge missed opportunity and would a different style of football have got us up.

Great post 👍🏻 

24 minutes ago, Nippy Naylor said:

But if Darren would have played Tolaj and Croasdale from the start you wouldn't be banging on about luck ,Barn  we would of won that game by a country mile , I wonder if the coaching staff and Darren will learn from it and change their mindset 🤔😬

Did Tolaj and Croasdale play on Saturday   YEP

Did we win by a country mile   NO

We won with a " wonder goal " scored by a player who was absolutely awful for 88 minutes and almost every vale fan in the crowd would have subbed him. D M  KEPT HIM ON  [ he was even worse on Tuesday too ] Another waste of a lot of money despite his three match winning goals.

I am no lover of D.M. management style at all. In all honesty i would like us have a new manager next year but it is extremely doubtful, especially if promoted. His style is so so boring to watch, lets kill a game for 60 mins + and they lets score a goal or two and keep it tight till the end. Its rubbish to watch

 

26 minutes ago, barny61 said:

Errrrrrrm. 

Yep say no more