2 hours ago, BradtheMiller said:

Unlucky guys you deserved a point for your second half alone, good exciting season opener & christ you fans were loud. Good luck for the rest of the season.

That's because you're sat in the Ben Bennett stand. I was in the West Stand, near the corner which meets our North stand. Never heard the Vale fans all game until they scored. Thought they were some of the quietest fans we've had up here, given they brought 2000 or so.

We were crap today and got run all over by 10 men 🤣 but we'll get better and finish mid table when the new boys settle. Personally I think PV are relegation fodder, they looked a L2 team today.

5 minutes ago, ValiantHan said:

Here is the video of the sending off and tbh I think it's actually quite harsh as he has won the ball but the follow through is somewhat reckless. 

 

100% red these days. 

6 minutes ago, ValiantHan said:

Here is the video of the sending off and tbh I think it's actually quite harsh as he has won the ball but the follow through is somewhat reckless. 

 

This is a similar one with Sang to me. On that occasion against Accy I think it was he won the ball but if your studs are showing like that it’s a red. Sounded DM was more irritated with it from our perspective than at the ref so am going have to go with it being the right call on this one.

1 minute ago, Sam Kelly's Left Boot said:

100% red these days. 

Yeah, unfortunately but it's the consistency of referees that annoy me because if an opposition player did this against us what's the betting that they would only get a yellow card for it. 

8 minutes ago, ValiantHan said:

Here is the video of the sending off and tbh I think it's actually quite harsh as he has won the ball but the follow through is somewhat reckless. 

 

That’s a red for sure. Studs up , ref had a good view. 

1 minute ago, Guppys left peg said:

This is a similar one with Sang to me. On that occasion against Accy I think it was he won the ball but if your studs are showing like that it’s a red. Sounded DM was more irritated with it from our perspective than at the ref so am going have to go with it being the right call on this one.

Yeah, even if you win the ball if you go in with your studs showing then you are more than likely going to be sent off. 

Feel a bit like we missed out today. We're a better team than them, as highlighted by out complete and utter dominance in the 2nd half, so to lose is a bit of a kick as you'd expect a number of teams to pick up points there.

I think everyone bar the manager knows that we're not good enough with 2 in the middle...it puts unnecessary pressure on the 2 in the middle and also our centre halves. I'm slightly concerned that Moore felt it was worth trying in the first game of the season.

Croasdale and Curtis changed the game. They added the running that we didn't have in the 1st half. Tolaj actually impacted the game 2nd half in his best position.

We've wasted a half of football there basically...if we start with 3, we're probably winning that game by a couple...they couldn't get out of their half in the 2nd half.

Please stop experimenting with things that don't work. Play Tolaj where he scored 12 goals in the 2nd half of last season. Play Croasdale, who covers all the ground so that Byers actually looks like the talent he is.

Disappointing result but we'll be fine if we play our strongest formation and players in their best position.

1 hour ago, Mellor! said:

The thing that worries me is after listening to Moore's interview on RS he doesn't think the starting formation was the problem and thinks the red card forced us into playing 3 in midfield. He thought we started very attacking playing "three number 9s". What's the point if two of them are on the wing and the middle one is isolated? 

Our midfield is our best asset. We have genuine league 1 quality players in there. Get them on the pitch and stop getting overrun.

I was hoping it would be a quick harsh lesson, but I can see us going 343 again Thursday after hearing that interview.

If we do, we’ll get hammered and Dazza will get pelters. Just can’t understand it, we spent months getting this right last season and 352 got Tolaj into his best form and effectively won us promotion. Sincerely hope this is a temporary aberration or we’re in for fireworks.

C’mon Daaza, dunner be so daft! 

1 hour ago, Mellor! said:

The thing that worries me is after listening to Moore's interview on RS he doesn't think the starting formation was the problem and thinks the red card forced us into playing 3 in midfield. He thought we started very attacking playing "three number 9s". What's the point if two of them are on the wing and the middle one is isolated? 

Our midfield is our best asset. We have genuine league 1 quality players in there. Get them on the pitch and stop getting overrun.

I was hoping it would be a quick harsh lesson, but I can see us going 343 again Thursday after hearing 

Edited August 2, 2025Aug 2 by CambridgeDon
Double post

The more I think about it, the more heartening it is that we can be within inches of an away point whilst only bothering to play for 45 minutes. We genuinely just handed the first half on a platter and still deserved something.

We *should* be fine, providing the lessons are learned quickly.

Definitely a red in modern football. We dominated the second half but not quite enough to rescue a point.
Only negatives for me were in hindsight the starting 11 and I have got to say the new goalkeeper looks a downgrade on what we have had recently which is a concern.

1 hour ago, ValiantHan said:

Here is the video of the sending off and whilst he's won the ball you can't go in with your studs showing as you are going to be sent off.  

 

Embarrassing reaction from beardy. 

I was very disappointed with Shipley today. I thought he was poor in all aspects of the game and his departure at half time to be replaced by Croasdale/Ojo was one of the reasons we were so much better in the second half. I very much hope there is better to come from him. 

4 hours ago, Powerline said:

On the way back. Haven’t read the thread yet so just some initial thoughts. I’ll preface this by saying I’ve not seen any pre season games bar Newcastle town, so it was my first time seeing most of the new players.

I said when we extended Debrah’s deal that if he’s one of our starters we are asking to be relegated, since he was diabolical last time we were in league 1, and also struggled in multiple games last year. Most disagreed with me. Today just further supported my thoughts. He was dogshit first half. Dreadful for the first goal. He cannot be a starter.

Humphries looks decent on the ball but I don’t think he’s good enough in the air to play in the middle. I’d move him into debrah’s spot and play someone else in the middle. Personally I think Heneghan in the centre is better than Debrah, so I’d do this, but it shows to me we need another good centre half.

I saw most people complaining before the game that we were playing 3-4-3, with Tolaj on the wing, and I was also not happy. And surprise surprise, it was <ovf censored> awful. Tolaj completely wasted, midfield overrun, Stockley isolated. Play 3-5-2 for the love of god.

Wasn’t overly impressed with Shipley either. Croasdale was far better when came on.

Same applies to Waine. Curtis was miles clear.

The blame today for me ultimately lies on moore. He got it totally wrong and we started with what in my opinion, is clearly not our best team. Cardiff we have to play 3-5-2, with Tolaj up front. Midfield of Walters, Byers, croasdale. 

We were unlucky not to come away with a point, and we showed good fight to almost come back having played so long with 10 men. If we’d started with the right team we could’ve won that for me.

With you on Debs. Apparently cos he's quick and young he's a prospect. Tie him down for years blah blah blah. 

An utterly abject first half from him. And it was literally a toss of a coin if he stayed or Smith. Couldn't keep both.

Found out big time already. As per 18 months ago. 

Did well v Bromley and Accrington though so all is good. 

I was very disappointed with Shipley today. I thought he was poor in all aspects of the game and his departure at half time to be replaced by Croasdale/Ojo was one of the reasons we were so much better in the second half. I very much hope there is better to come from him. 

I agree. I thought he was well off the pace but the formation did him no favours. A dire Shrewsbury weren't that bothered about him leaving, which is a concern but I'm not going to make a judgement at this stage. 1st game of the season needed Croasdale in the middle with Byers and Walters. Some poor decisions have been made today that cost us.