16 hours ago, werstayinup said:

I think if Tolaj starts the season on fire then we could possibly lose him in January(although we aren't desperate to cash in so would need to be close to a record fee if not a record fee imo) but then we would have to put in some good bids ourselves for players to replace him

Dunny worry youth , what will be, will be!😄

4 hours ago, JRC said:

There was an article in The Valient about the recruitment budget. It's agreed with Moore who then has the freedom to spend it. Apparently he's trusted because he isn't a manager who constantly asks for Moore. You are right an extra 1000 shirts at 40 quid isn't generating the salary of an average league 1 player.

Moore must closing in on what was agreed in May. It's pretty clear he wants a keep and a striker. If he lands one cheaply it will free up funds for the other. I suspect there is a tradeoff between the two. 

The key is offloading Ojo’s wages. If we could find a taker it frees up budget for the 3rd/4th striker.

It could be on of those last minute deals at the end of the transfer window.

I still feel Shorrock is likely to be sold as well which will help with the budget.

Edited June 29, 2025Jun 29 by MBE

33 minutes ago, MBE said:

The key is offloading Ojo’s wages. If we could find a taker it frees up budget for the 3rd/4th striker.

It could be on of those last minute deals at the end of the transfer window.

I still feel Shorrock is likely to be sold as well which will help with the budget.

Not sure offloading Ojo is going to free up wages for a striker. Firstly at 34 nobody is going to pay more than a nominal fee for him and in all probability we'll end up covering any reduction in his wages. More importantly Shipley wasn't a like for like with Harper. He's much more Matt Le Tissier than Ryan Croasdale or Ben Garrity. He's played most of his career on the left wing or as a 10. I can't see Moore having only 4 "worker" midfield options. If Ojo leaves I'd expect a midfield replacement. 

Sheffield United going after Devine, according to Alan Nixon – £6 million…

A midfield of Ollie and Alfie – what I’d give to see that combination again.

I thought Alfie really grew into his role at Vale and looked a lot better playing deeper. If we’d kept him all season, I think we probably would’ve stayed up.

1 hour ago, JRC said:

Not sure offloading Ojo is going to free up wages for a striker. Firstly at 34 nobody is going to pay more than a nominal fee for him and in all probability we'll end up covering any reduction in his wages. More importantly Shipley wasn't a like for like with Harper. He's much more Matt Le Tissier than Ryan Croasdale or Ben Garrity. He's played most of his career on the left wing or as a 10. I can't see Moore having only 4 "worker" midfield options. If Ojo leaves I'd expect a midfield replacement. 

Ojo was one of the highest wage earners at the club thanks to the big contract our DoF arranged after Bolton were allegedly interested. 

That will be a sizeable chunk of money which we are forking out today.

Edited June 29, 2025Jun 29 by MBE

Was the maddest contract I’ve ever seen us give out. Baffled me then and looks even worse now. 

I’m genuinely looking forward to what we can do in League 1 without an idiot thinking he’s solved football in charge.

16 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

They all played bar Hall👍🏻

Yeah. Very surprised at that. I thought they would have been worried about running the risk of overloading the players so soon into preseason. 

Personally, I don't think ojo downed tools, he was playing through an injury by all accounts. Not saying he hasn't got a chip on his shoulder, but if he wants to play for us, and there are no takers, there are many a worse midfielder out there, so Keep him as a known quantity and see what budget is left for DM to spend elsewhere 😍

Regarding Ojo; didn't Darren say he wasn't looking to offload anyone? 

22 minutes ago, PV1973 said:

Yeah. Very surprised at that. I thought they would have been worried about running the risk of overloading the players so soon into preseason. 

But didn't we play completely different teams in each half, for both games?  Meaning they only played 90 minutes +, with a gap day in between.   I didn't study it that closely tbh,  maybe some players played more?

49 minutes ago, Danish Valiant said:

Regarding Ojo; didn't Darren say he wasn't looking to offload anyone? 

He isn’t going to say “he’s really expensive and has a poor attitude so please come and get him”.

Just now, JoeB2 said:

He isn’t going to say “he’s really expensive and has a poor attitude so please come and get him”.

I know. But there are other ways to put it. "we're expecting movement both in and out", "we're still looking to trim the squad" etc etc 

I know. But there are other ways to put it. "we're expecting movement both in and out", "we're still looking to trim the squad" etc etc 

Why should he say anything either way?

5 hours ago, geoff1 said:

Dunny worry youth , what will be, will be!😄

As in we're utter tripe between October and January, Tolaj's confidence collapses to career low as he's inexplicably hooked for Ben Heneghan at 4-0 down on 63' in the sleet on a filthy Tuesday night in Lincoln, and then we dunna need to worry one bit. 

This being Vale, I wouldn't bet against it tbf 😅

Edited June 29, 2025Jun 29 by Potteries Quaker

8 minutes ago, philmpv said:

17 minutes ago, Danish Valiant said:

I know. But there are other ways to put it. "we're expecting movement both in and out", "we're still looking to trim the squad" etc etc 

Why should he say anything either way?

Because everybody knows it??? This is just Comical Ali (if you remember him?)...
Why not just be honest? You can be so without naming names.