27 minutes ago, Osh said:

Morning Mellor - from what I've been told, Brown looks like he'll be a loan-to-signing player and that Derby are happy for him to move to another club. I like the idea of that - we get to get a good look at him and make sure we're not chucking money down the hole. 

Brown appears to be out of contract in the summer so I expect Vale may be looking at another Rico Richards situation - take a good look at him while on loan, get him to know the club and the squad etc with a view to (presuming he impresses) getting him to sign a deal in next summer's transfer window. 

I think this much is true - if we do sign another striker then there has to be some movement in the other direction, because we can't have 7 forwards on our books (if you include Curtis in that).

The obvious one is Paton given most of the others are fresh through the door or on loan. I hope we don't see the back of Paton but I also don't see him getting much game time this season either, just never seemed part of Moore's plans despite his decent pre season. 

The gamble play would be to do nothing and trust that the underlying metrics (ie we're playing well enough but not scoring enough) corrects itself at some point, preferably before it's too late. If we're still in a pickle come January, go and spend the Tolaj money on whoever is top scorer in the National League at the point. There's an art to knowing when to stick or twist, and I'm glad I'm not in charge of that decision today. 

12 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

I think the novelty of getting promotion from league 2 is wearing thin. The first Wembley Promotion felt incredible but the last promotion felt more like relief for me. I felt we had to do it. Carol had provided too much support and stability for us not to expect promotion. 

With respect, that's a little bit entitled.

Six or more teams spent more than Vale last season, and not all of them gained promotion.

Darren and everyone at the club have a lot of credit in the bank from last season's efforts (which were also roundly decried by sections of our support in the early part of that season).

I have every confidence in them to get this season right as well.

34 minutes ago, fuzzyvalefan said:

That and the fact he's been given the number 10 shirt are both concerning signs that he is Tolajs replacement and we won't see an established striker signing. Hope I'm wrong.

Fuzz - genuine questions m8; what's the definition of an "established striker" and can you give me an example of who you'd like bought in.  Give me the geezers name m8.  👍

Same question for anyone else on here.

 

34 minutes ago, robf said:

Brown appears to be out of contract in the summer so I expect Vale may be looking at another Rico Richards situation - take a good look at him while on loan, get him to know the club and the squad etc with a view to (presuming he impresses) getting him to sign a deal in next summer's transfer window. 

Agreed Rob.  Gotta say I cannot see anything wrong with that as a process.

5 minutes ago, Osh said:

Fuzz - genuine questions m8; what's the definition of an "established striker" and can you give me an example of who you'd like bought in.  Give me the geezers name m8.  👍

Same question for anyone else on here.

 

Someone who has some games and goals under his belt at this level.  With a million pound just received this shouldn't be unrealistic.  Swindon have just signed Ollie Palmer for example.

Someone who has some games and goals under his belt at this level.  With a million pound just received this shouldn't be unrealistic.  Swindon have just signed Ollie Palmer for example.

Who?

Good to see the 'we are little Port Vale and should be grateful for anyone else's table scraps' mentality alive and well.

7 minutes ago, fuzzyvalefan said:

Someone who has some games and goals under his belt at this level.  With a million pound just received this shouldn't be unrealistic.  Swindon have just signed Ollie Palmer for example.

As Phil says - Who...??

The reason I ask m8, and I'm really not trying to be a clever barsteward here, is the moment you name the player you'd like, you'll have the people on here saying he's <ovf censored> or gash, too old, too young, not proven, etc, etc.  And dont get me started on the fact that Carol has pocketed the money, we can't afford the person you choose, we can't NOT to afford the person you choose. None of us can agree who this mysterious "established striker" is. 

 

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by Osh

Lets be crystal clear here Carol has pocketed nothing! maybe reduced some megger losses but still got nothing. However the club spend the money i am sure it will be kin the best interests of the club. We have to trust DM to do what is in the best interests of the club to ensure league one survival, which has to be our priority this season.  

Dom Ballard striker Southampton to Orient 3 year contract rumoured 6 figure fee, 20 years old not particularly prolific 

I can’t see us signing a striker today if we have given the derby lad the 10 shirt 

One thing we need to remember the <ovf censored> few will be on here winding everyone up with the <ovf censored> carol is skint, on the cheap etc 

Just ignore them 

15 minutes ago, Osh said:

As Phil says - Who...??

The reason I ask m8, and I'm really not trying to be a clever barsteward here, is the moment you name the player you'd like, you'll have the people on here saying he's <ovf censored> or gash, too old, too young, not proven, etc, etc.  And dont get me started on the fact that Carol has pocketed the money, we can't afford the person you choose, we can't NOT to afford the person you choose. None of us can agree who this mysterious "established striker" is. 

 

I take your point but I think the point I'm trying to make is that academy kids in their first league loan spell is a huge gamble we really shouldn't be taking at this juncture.  The last time we were in League 1, our biggest problem was that our strike force just didn't have any goals in it.  Our only good striker in that season was always injured.  We are in great danger of repeating our past mistakes.  Every striker signing is a gamble but you do everything you can to reduce the risk and unless we sign someone with more experience today, the risk we have taken on is huge and I would say unnecessarily so.

4 minutes ago, Vale Ball said:

Dom Ballard striker Southampton to Orient 3 year contract rumoured 6 figure fee, 20 years old not particularly prolific 

That’s the market we’re in, along with everyone else unfortunately.  Because of our run of results in the league we’re all guilty of writing off the current forwards, who will improve in my opinion, but to what extent is impossible to say.  The problem is we’re all expecting a “known” forward to come in and start banging goals in from minute 1.  Assuming we manage to pull off such a signing it’s not a given that the player will turn our fortunes around.  It’d be good to see us add a player with more experience but I’m not sure it’s worth breaking the bank for.  There’s still a lot of pressure on the current players to be better and do there jobs, be that scoring or defending.