We are a better side than last time we were in League 1 with the strike force a massive improvement. We also have a quality midfield with plenty of depth so it will all come down to if our forward line can fire in League 1 and get us sufficient goals. Interesting perspective in that last season went to watch a Stockport game with my County supporting mate. I know they finished at the business end of the league but it was noticeable how well they kept the ball ,all over the pitch, much better than we usually do.

Still time to shape squads but as it stands I would go:

Promotion: Blackpool,Huddersfield

Playoffs in no particular order: Luton,Wigan,Reading,Stockport

Relegation in no particular order: Mansfield,Northampton,Wimbledon,Bradford

 

9 minutes ago, MBE said:

Still time to shape squads but as it stands I would go:

Promotion: Blackpool,Huddersfield

Playoffs in no particular order: Luton,Wigan,Reading,Stockport

Relegation in no particular order: Mansfield,Northampton,Wimbledon,Bradford

 

I think this shows what a strong league it is. Some good sides there not in the top 6 

I think this shows what a strong league it is. Some good sides there not in the top 6 

Yep. There's lots of really solid league 1 teams this time. Quite a few have been in between this league and the one above for a while. Every game will be tough.

24 minutes ago, MBE said:

Relegation in no particular order: Mansfield,Northampton,Wimbledon,Bradford

If I had to say who will get relegated at this moment in time I can see it being Wimbledon, Northampton, Burton and Mansfield or possibly Exeter or Stevenage. 

I think any one of about 12 teams could get relegated if they get stuck in a bad run that snowballs.

1 hour ago, Santa said:

I think any one of about 12 teams could get relegated if they get stuck in a bad run that snowballs.

Agree with this, and right now we’re obviously in that group.  There’s some serious money washing about and it looks like a group of teams who’ll challenge and another group fighting from mid-table down, on paper of course.  We need some luck with injuries, same as every season, plus if some of the “unproven” player step up and we pick up a decent loan or two we could push higher.  Tolaj, Ruari, Rico etc need to find good form at this level.

Interesting that we haven’t taken on any loan players yet.  Safe to say DM will be holding out as long as possible for the very best, as squads tend to formulate after the season as kicked off.  An Ollie Arblaster type signing would do us no harm whatsoever, the issue is finding a suitable replacement if the player is recalled in January.

I still think we’re a player or two shy but that’ll be fixed, maybe not by the time we kick off.

7 hours ago, Guitar Ray said:

Agree with this, and right now we’re obviously in that group.  There’s some serious money washing about and it looks like a group of teams who’ll challenge and another group fighting from mid-table down, on paper of course.  We need some luck with injuries, same as every season, plus if some of the “unproven” player step up and we pick up a decent loan or two we could push higher.  Tolaj, Ruari, Rico etc need to find good form at this level.

Interesting that we haven’t taken on any loan players yet.  Safe to say DM will be holding out as long as possible for the very best, as squads tend to formulate after the season as kicked off.  An Ollie Arblaster type signing would do us no harm whatsoever, the issue is finding a suitable replacement if the player is recalled in January.

I still think we’re a player or two shy but that’ll be fixed, maybe not by the time we kick off.

Carol explained we have no gaps, so a Ollie type loan is not likely. 

I am not sure I share the enthusiasm for a special deal for Reading fans, it cost me quite a lot of money and time to watch 16 minutes of "football" at the away fixture. Although they donated to the statue fund I am sure quite a few of us had considerable travel and accommodation costs which we didn't get back. Not to mention derailing our season... 😃

I am not sure I share the enthusiasm for a special deal for Reading fans, it cost me quite a lot of money and time to watch 16 minutes of "football" at the away fixture. Although they donated to the statue fund I am sure quite a few of us had considerable travel and accommodation costs which we didn't get back. Not to mention derailing our season... [emoji2]

I'm in agreement on this. We weren't in terrible form when we played them the first time and they weren't in the best of form. We had players available. When we played them the 2nd time, we were in dissaray and awful form. If we'd have won or even got a point first time around, we could have picked up a bit of confidence and form. I'm all for showing solidarity with clubs with crap owners but forcibly postponing a match was a massive step beyond reasonable in my opinion. They also should have been deducted a minimum of 6 points or we should have been awarded the points. They didn't receive any punishment in reality, yet we got relegated.

I admire those that donated to the statue but it didn't compensate the costs incurred by the fans or the fact that it potentially altered the course of our season. It all felt a bit silly in my book to be fawning over another club's issues when they actually caused us a problem. We protested to save our club but we never affected other clubs in the process.

38 minutes ago, Rampant Zebra said:

I am not sure I share the enthusiasm for a special deal for Reading fans, it cost me quite a lot of money and time to watch 16 minutes of "football" at the away fixture. Although they donated to the statue fund I am sure quite a few of us had considerable travel and accommodation costs which we didn't get back. Not to mention derailing our season... 😃

Is this the Reading who didn't reply to any of my 4 emails about my 67 quid train fare ?

The same Reading who knew of the demonstration yet did absolutely nothing pro-active to dissuade a pitch invasion. 

Balls to them and I'm appalled we've apparently got this " special bond " between the clubs. 

I suggest they speak to myself and my 5 mates who went to the fixture about this " special bond". 

 

 

The idea that beating Reading would have saved that awful Port Vale side is absolute cope.

We were garbage. Going down regardless of what happened. Confidence wasn’t going to save Loft and Uche.

I'm with joe on the basis of it would have altered our destiny, but I'm also with those who ended up out of pocket 

At the time of the original Reading away fixture we were still just about  competitive or at the very least stronger than we were when we played them later on in the season.

Most sports are about momentum and an away win at Reading wouldn’t have meant we stayed up but by the same logic no one can say that it wouldn’t have got us a bit of momentum and enabled us to scrape together enough points to stay up. The null hypothesis can’t be proven, we will never know the effect of an away win for Vale on that day.

On the day I felt their supporters should have returned to their seats having made the protest so I m against giving them any special dispensation knowing how expensive an away day ( or away 15 mins) is for Vale fans.

We wouldn't of stayed up no chance.

But the thought that a working class Port Vale has any affiliation or bond with a beige middle class bunch like Reading makes me laugh.