1 hour ago, Nippy Naylor said:

It's a bloody shambles 😲 bud

It's not a "Bloody shambles", it's the lge results that are a shambles, overall play is good and organized apart from putting the damned ball in the net.

36 minutes ago, Nippy Naylor said:

The manager will have a big say in recruitment, you do know that don't you bud

 Nah, never crossed my mind

Worth noting that Tolaj is yet to get off the mark at Plymouth after a few games. While he was our best forward, he alone wouldn't have won us many more games this season. Ideally we would have signed someone to play alongside him, never mind replace him.

Early days but Faal looks better as a sub. Waine is full of running but looks like a 1 in 10 player at this level, at best. Brown had something about him in his cameo but is no doubt someone that's a nuisance more than a genuine goal threat. And Stockley, even when fit, relies on crosses, something we haven't been too good at this season.

If Carol and Darren don't want us to go down again then the club absolutely has to spend money next week and quick. Even if it means paying over the odds for a striker.

Edited August 30, 2025Aug 30 by Valiiant

1 hour ago, philmpv said:

Our XG is excellent.

This bullsh-- again.

Some facts:

xG is accumulative. Lots of crap chances, high xG. We are creating plenty of chances but they are not of fantastic quality in the end chance themselves (we've had scored some honestly if they were), or the phases of play. We know this, because we rely on crosses a lot, but the quality of the crossing is not great, and neither is our heading.

xG does not decide a game, goals do.

A high xG but lower goals scored is bad when you're looking at it from a stats point of view. But it does tell you that the players can be coached to do better. 

I do agree with you that we don't need to massively worry by any stretch of the imagination. It's probably the poorest game from us going forward this season, and the defensive lapses are telling our players there is no margin for error. 

But I do think we need to worry about that - the defensive lapse will be what is drilled into the players that they need to firm up on, knowing Darren there is not a lot he has to say about us in an attacking sense. He wants to not lose, first of all. 

I've said in this thread / elsewhere, the answer though isn't just in a striker (plus, we just recruited one). We need to address how they get service, and have more variety in our play. We need to start seeing returns on set plays if we putting so much stock in them, or we need to see the team play football to create more good chances for the forwards, like the one that Brown had today. 

Just one or two of these good chances a game means they need to be very clinical. Last 2 games we've had 3 shots on target, which is about average for us so far. Be very lucky to score more than 1 a game with that. And that isn't just a striker problem, its a service issue too. 

13 minutes ago, Valiiant said:

Worth noting that Tolaj is yet to get off the mark at Plymouth after a few games. While he was our best forward, he alone wouldn't have won us many more games this season. Ideally we would have signed someone to play alongside him, never mind replace him.

Early days but Faal looks better as a sub. Waine is full of running but looks like a 1 in 10 player at this level, at best. Brown had something about him in his cameo but is no doubt someone that's a nuisance more than a genuine goal threat. And Stockley, even when fit, relies on crosses, something we haven't been too good at this season.

If Carol and Darren don't want us to go down again then the club absolutely has to spend money next week and quick. Even if it means paying over the odds for a striker.

Just hold your statement that he was our best forward....so it was likely that he would be in demand... where is the predicted replacement... who's in charge of recruitment...

1 hour ago, Nippy Naylor said:

But Darren Moore brought in the

head of recruitment didn't he ? 

Well there’s the answer. I understand Waine had been brought in from one of Moore’s contexts…well Moore needs to make sure he never contacts him again.

Alright, a very long post, having had some time to calm down and process that. I've had to break it into categories to make it in any way coherent.

Bad Actors taking advantage of a loss

First off, there are several bad actors operating in bad faith who pop up after results like this for one of a few possible reasons:

a) They genuinely get a kick out of criticism and performative misery. There is a real thrill of excitement that something they predicted would go wrong, has gone wrong. I've been there myself and it's quite addicting to point, criticise, and wheel away when proven right (and say nothing when proven wrong, as they were last season). 

b) They can't process disappointment or handle things going wrong, so just go way over the top to deal with it. If they predict the apocalypse, they can't be disappointed, and this club has disappointed them so many times in the past that they simply can't handle it any more. We're now down, in their eyes, so if we do get relegation it's met with accepted resignation, rather than heartbreak.

c) They don't go to games/have a personal grievance with the club or senior members of it, such as the manager or owner.

The best approach for this, as with some of the lads who only appear on social media after defeats, is to simply not engage. You will never, ever get them to engage in good faith and come to a compromise. Their position is fixed and often don't quite have enough going on outside of PVFC. Don't argue and magnify it.

The fallout from today:

The criticism is largely justified, although many have gone too far. It's been 8 days since Lorent's departure, in which time we've played three games and signed a striker on loan. Yes, it would have been nice to get 'the striker' through the door by now, but we know that dominoes need to fall elsewhere for players to become available. Ben Waine looks as poor as advertised. Mo Faal looks like a player with little experience who hasn't played in a year. Ronan Curtis looks like a decent winger playing up front. Dejaune Brown looked quite decent, but raw with his decision-making. All could have a role in some way - behind an established pair of Stockley and A.N. Other.

The criticism of the owner, on X and on here, is a disgrace. The criticism of the manager, 6 games after delivering our second automatic promotion in 32 years, is a disgrace. It makes us look really, really bad as a fanbase, and I've said many times that the club should just revoke your e-ticket and boot you into touch. Accusations of Carol pocketing the cash, of not caring, of desiring a relegation, should be considered arrestable and I'd have no qualms in seeing them exiled to St. Helena for the next few decades. We simply cannot afford to make this woman decide 'losing £5m of my fortune a year on this rollercoaster that is actively damaging my health, isn't worth it'.

How does Moore fix this?

Either way, I've never heard Darren Moore as cheesed off as that. He's fuming. He's calling out individuals, you would presume Byers as a minimum (who is ranking as a really poor signing, all things considered. Has he hit 5 good games yet?), and threatening quite systemic changes. Last time he did this was the Grimsby debacle and that led to the 352 switch and the excellent run which saw us promoted with relative ease. We have been in worse positions than this under Moore and he's figured it out. This is another occasion where it's needed, and we've got evidence that he can deliver. I can foresee a system change (back to 343? A back 4 as he played in the early stages of last season?) and some surprising departures in the next 48 hours. We can't keep rolling with three 'sideway passes' midfielders. Funnels everything to the flanks to wingbacks who can't cross.

Disingenuous 'he's only won 3/25 games', or whatever it is, is completely devoid of context and an agenda-driven attempt to undermine a bloke who must have a 50%+ win ratio at this level. He inherited a bottom-half League 2 squad and they performed as such. I'm not sure a single realistic manager would have saved that team. Ryan Loft and Gavin Massey up front. Get a grip lads. This man has just delivered automatic promotion and has also been promoted from this level in the last 3 years. Don't be wet-wipes.

Today was the first all-round poor performance. I'm not making excuses when I say the linesman cost us a win against the current unbeaten league leaders. We've looked rather decent on several occasions. 

What needs to happen?

The striker is needed. Moore and Carol will know that. If we get to Tuesday morning with nothing, then I agree that serious questions ought to be asked about how prepared we were for a very good player having a very reasonable release clause. Questions do need to be asked about the recruitment of players like Marosi, Waine, and Shipley, what the plan is with Richards, whether enough effort was spent on upgrading the first 11 rather than building depth, of whether the new Head of Recruitment brings much to the party after some very poor spells at other clubs and minimal activity since he arrived here, of whether the club gets a bit self-congratulatory after promotion instead of a 'yesterday's chip paper, let's rebuild better' approach. 

I don't think we'll have a league game for a fortnight, as I think Orient will call their game off by tomorrow - I think they'll probably get the 3 callups? Regardless, after that, Exeter, Mansfield, Northampton, and Wimbledon form 4 of our next 5 games. Wins have to be delivered there and then, as after that, it's a nightmare - Wigan, Stockport, Bolton, Plymouth, Lincoln, Bradford, Luton. We cannot be struggling going into that run. We'll be cooked by Christmas. Confidence gone, toxic atmosphere, yo-yo club confirmed. I don't think we, or Carol, bounce back from another quick relegation. She nearly sold up last time and was hospitalised (according to her Ale and Vale interview). I don't think she'll want to go through it all again at the expense of a further £10m. Any future success will be tempered with the assumption we'll be straight back down, and 10k home crowds will become rarer and rarer. If we go down I think Carol either understandably withdraws his £5m directors loans per annum, or puts us on the market, or steps down and give the reins to Paddy.

In two weeks, we could have a new striker in the door, Brown fully fit, Stockley training, and Faal reduced to impact sub and Waine needed for emergencies. Curtis can return to what he's good at, instead of looking baffled at Mo Faal as he fails to press with him. Garrity seems to only have a slight knock and could be back soon and on course to knocking in 8-10 goals. Rico Richards might play football! 

All I think we can do, as fans, is not engage with the 'Bad Actors' (let them talk into the void), and for now fully back a manager and an owner who have both delivered success and have PVFC's best interests well and truly at heart. We enjoyed the scenes at Wimbledon, spoke excitedly about the future, and can't start giving up 6 league games later. We need a bit of resilience. Every defeat and bad run is magnified these days by some as they can't handle being ribbed by rivals on social media. In previous years you just wouldn't see other comments - now, young lads are genuinely despairing because tinpot League 2 fans are in their DMs giving them stick, and they're reacting as such. Every bad run is the end, the apocalypse, liquidation, sweet baby Jesus we're finished!

It's been perhaps the most intense week supporting PVFC I can remember emotionally, and PVFC is perhaps the most emotionally intense professional football club with something on the line late in the season (promotion/relegation) every season now since Smurthwaite's drunken European signing-fest in 2015. We've genuinely been gut-punched several times and had ludicrous highs that most other clubs experience once every few years. We've had it all within 10 days. It's been Saturday-Tuesday for weeks, game after game, unjust red cards and last minute collapses. Deservedly winning at a top club in the division above and then drawing a generational tie. The most loved forward in recent Vale history leaving for a divisional rival. When built upon the absolutely exhausting run-in last season, I think we're all just a bit highly strung.

Let's settle a bit. Take a touch. Have some composure. Darren made it very clear what's needed. Let's get a striker in and then have one, maybe two weeks away from PVFC games. There's a long old season to go, 120 points to play for, and this time two years ago we were banging on about swapping places with Stoke in the pyramid. At Christmas 2024, Moore was on the ropes and promotion was off the cards. Walsall had won the title.

Don't write us off now.

I think unfortunately when you look at some of the top level players we are seeing across top positions at other clubs we are seriously lacking. This is still a very league 2 side in terms of standard. Carol told us all we had a league 1 side when we got promoted and said that despite having just seen us get outplayed by a mediocre league 2 one. So that was simply not reality. 
 

Carol’s optimism is great and she certainly pushed the boat out last season to back Moore. However I think it did him a bigger favour than us as a club. It meant he had an easy promotion rather than having to struggle with average resources. It masked the fact he could not do well unless he had big resources to hide his shortcomings. 
 

He is a big name because he has been at some big clubs with far more money. Anyone with the knowledge he has knows this club needs the GK and striker roles prioritised, both had been stuffed up and wasted. At a bigger club you might get a bit more money to make amends…not a Vale. 
 

We got rid of Smith who was probably on less money than the technically good Jordan Gabriel, but really even if Gabriel comes good, he isn’t going to make the difference to our fortunes that keeping Smith and getting that better striker would have. 
 

I think you do need to spend bigger money to truly thrive in league 1. I called it last time when many called me ungrateful for us needing to sign a player of Johnson Clarke-Harris’ ability and asking Carol to get her wallet out. 
 

Unfortunately if we ever want to see stable league 1 football such demands are not wants, but necessary needs. Having said that if we keep the momentum going of increased gates, regular success at the sharp end of league 2 if relegation even happened this year, it will come good eventually thanks to Carol’s stable ownership. 

New investment would be nice and I am surprised  given all the community focused approaches why more local businesses don’t take the plunge to back the club more substantially. 

Look at Stevenage. Same owner since 1999. 

4 hours ago, Rory said:

Hold your heads for now I say, at least for a couple of days. We are better than last time in L1 and a million miles better than last season in L2. Today wasn't great, admittedly, and we do need reinforcements up top, but on what we've shown so far we will be ok. Faal and Waine don't look up to it, but Brown looked good today. SOLID REINFORCEMENTS, Stockley back, keeping hold of our midfield, Brown getting more minutes and I believe we will survive. Up the new Darren Moore.

On on.

Better than last time? This is factually our worst start to a season in 27 years.

14 minutes ago, JoeB2 said:

Alright, a very long post, having had some time to calm down and process that. I've had to break it into categories to make it in any way coherent.

Bad Actors taking advantage of a loss

First off, there are several bad actors operating in bad faith who pop up after results like this for one of a few possible reasons:

a) They genuinely get a kick out of criticism and performative misery. There is a real thrill of excitement that something they predicted would go wrong, has gone wrong. I've been there myself and it's quite addicting to point, criticise, and wheel away when proven right (and say nothing when proven wrong, as they were last season). 

b) They can't process disappointment or handle things going wrong, so just go way over the top to deal with it. If they predict the apocalypse, they can't be disappointed, and this club has disappointed them so many times in the past that they simply can't handle it any more. We're now down, in their eyes, so if we do get relegation it's met with accepted resignation, rather than heartbreak.

c) They don't go to games/have a personal grievance with the club or senior members of it, such as the manager or owner.

The best approach for this, as with some of the lads who only appear on social media after defeats, is to simply not engage. You will never, ever get them to engage in good faith and come to a compromise. Their position is fixed and often don't quite have enough going on outside of PVFC. Don't argue and magnify it.

The fallout from today:

The criticism is largely justified, although many have gone too far. It's been 8 days since Lorent's departure, in which time we've played three games and signed a striker on loan. Yes, it would have been nice to get 'the striker' through the door by now, but we know that dominoes need to fall elsewhere for players to become available. Ben Waine looks as poor as advertised. Mo Faal looks like a player with little experience who hasn't played in a year. Ronan Curtis looks like a decent winger playing up front. Dejaune Brown looked quite decent, but raw with his decision-making. All could have a role in some way - behind an established pair of Stockley and A.N. Other.

The criticism of the owner, on X and on here, is a disgrace. The criticism of the manager, 6 games after delivering our second automatic promotion in 32 years, is a disgrace. It makes us look really, really bad as a fanbase, and I've said many times that the club should just revoke your e-ticket and boot you into touch. Accusations of Carol pocketing the cash, of not caring, of desiring a relegation, should be considered arrestable and I'd have no qualms in seeing them exiled to St. Helena for the next few decades. We simply cannot afford to make this woman decide 'losing £5m of my fortune a year on this rollercoaster that is actively damaging my health, isn't worth it'.

How does Moore fix this?

Either way, I've never heard Darren Moore as cheesed off as that. He's fuming. He's calling out individuals, you would presume Byers as a minimum (who is ranking as a really poor signing, all things considered. Has he hit 5 good games yet?), and threatening quite systemic changes. Last time he did this was the Grimsby debacle and that led to the 352 switch and the excellent run which saw us promoted with relative ease. We have been in worse positions than this under Moore and he's figured it out. This is another occasion where it's needed, and we've got evidence that he can deliver. I can foresee a system change (back to 343? A back 4 as he played in the early stages of last season?) and some surprising departures in the next 48 hours. We can't keep rolling with three 'sideway passes' midfielders. Funnels everything to the flanks to wingbacks who can't cross.

Disingenuous 'he's only won 3/25 games', or whatever it is, is completely devoid of context and an agenda-driven attempt to undermine a bloke who must have a 50%+ win ratio at this level. He inherited a bottom-half League 2 squad and they performed as such. I'm not sure a single realistic manager would have saved that team. Ryan Loft and Gavin Massey up front. Get a grip lads. This man has just delivered automatic promotion and has also been promoted from this level in the last 3 years. Don't be wet-wipes.

Today was the first all-round poor performance. I'm not making excuses when I say the linesman cost us a win against the current unbeaten league leaders. We've looked rather decent on several occasions. 

What needs to happen?

The striker is needed. Moore and Carol will know that. If we get to Tuesday morning with nothing, then I agree that serious questions ought to be asked about how prepared we were for a very good player having a very reasonable release clause. Questions do need to be asked about the recruitment of players like Marosi, Waine, and Shipley, what the plan is with Richards, whether enough effort was spent on upgrading the first 11 rather than building depth, of whether the new Head of Recruitment brings much to the party after some very poor spells at other clubs and minimal activity since he arrived here, of whether the club gets a bit self-congratulatory after promotion instead of a 'yesterday's chip paper, let's rebuild better' approach. 

I don't think we'll have a league game for a fortnight, as I think Orient will call their game off by tomorrow - I think they'll probably get the 3 callups? Regardless, after that, Exeter, Mansfield, Northampton, and Wimbledon form 4 of our next 5 games. Wins have to be delivered there and then, as after that, it's a nightmare - Wigan, Stockport, Bolton, Plymouth, Lincoln, Bradford, Luton. We cannot be struggling going into that run. We'll be cooked by Christmas. Confidence gone, toxic atmosphere, yo-yo club confirmed. I don't think we, or Carol, bounce back from another quick relegation. She nearly sold up last time and was hospitalised (according to her Ale and Vale interview). I don't think she'll want to go through it all again at the expense of a further £10m. Any future success will be tempered with the assumption we'll be straight back down, and 10k home crowds will become rarer and rarer. If we go down I think Carol either understandably withdraws his £5m directors loans per annum, or puts us on the market, or steps down and give the reins to Paddy.

In two weeks, we could have a new striker in the door, Brown fully fit, Stockley training, and Faal reduced to impact sub and Waine needed for emergencies. Curtis can return to what he's good at, instead of looking baffled at Mo Faal as he fails to press with him. Garrity seems to only have a slight knock and could be back soon and on course to knocking in 8-10 goals. Rico Richards might play football! 

All I think we can do, as fans, is not engage with the 'Bad Actors' (let them talk into the void), and for now fully back a manager and an owner who have both delivered success and have PVFC's best interests well and truly at heart. We enjoyed the scenes at Wimbledon, spoke excitedly about the future, and can't start giving up 6 league games later. We need a bit of resilience. Every defeat and bad run is magnified these days by some as they can't handle being ribbed by rivals on social media. In previous years you just wouldn't see other comments - now, young lads are genuinely despairing because tinpot League 2 fans are in their DMs giving them stick, and they're reacting as such. Every bad run is the end, the apocalypse, liquidation, sweet baby Jesus we're finished!

It's been perhaps the most intense week supporting PVFC I can remember emotionally, and PVFC is perhaps the most emotionally intense professional football club with something on the line late in the season (promotion/relegation) every season now since Smurthwaite's drunken European signing-fest in 2015. We've genuinely been gut-punched several times and had ludicrous highs that most other clubs experience once every few years. We've had it all within 10 days. It's been Saturday-Tuesday for weeks, game after game, unjust red cards and last minute collapses. Deservedly winning at a top club in the division above and then drawing a generational tie. The most loved forward in recent Vale history leaving for a divisional rival. When built upon the absolutely exhausting run-in last season, I think we're all just a bit highly strung.

Let's settle a bit. Take a touch. Have some composure. Darren made it very clear what's needed. Let's get a striker in and then have one, maybe two weeks away from PVFC games. There's a long old season to go, 120 points to play for, and this time two years ago we were banging on about swapping places with Stoke in the pyramid. At Christmas 2024, Moore was on the ropes and promotion was off the cards. Walsall had won the title.

Don't write us off now.

All credit to you for such a commited statement... serious thought and effort... Impressive amigo 👍

Moore was on about a individual who cost us .

Let me guess did thst Faal lose the ball again 

Something about  the player in ? allowed there player room too travel 

Id send thst Faal back, he cannot be leading our front line he is not ready 

Either Paton /Curtis both mobile, and can pass a ball or a new striker quickly as we cannot keep this run going 

Do the players not believe they can score 

Did they over celebrate the Birmingham win and the draw v Arsenal .

Like i say tues nights system got us a win 

Where was Gabriel 

Why wasnt Headley playimg further forwards where he can hit it ..

Like i say i havent seen the game so hard judge, but what we going have Clark for example having 46 good games but no assists 

Good strikers read where ball is going come in, so bit harsh have a go at Clark ,but regardless goals win games he needs either do better ,or buy a player who is in the right place at the right time too convert is work .

Whst i have noticed in games ive seen his no one runs into the box too be brought down ...

Im sure it will improve hopefully

BUY A PLAYER Who can score big goals ,because guess what it might give other players confidence too to do likewise  ...

Edited August 30, 2025Aug 30 by Dipepa delight

My mind is rather blown at the sympathy for Moore. I wanted him at the club but he has consistently underwhelmed.

Last season was mission accomplished but the football at times was awful to watch and there were plenty of duff performances throughout which given the relative quality of the squad for the division was only made acceptable by the Promotion. 

Crosby was a cheap, first time manager who was vilified as out of his depth. Yet he remains with more wins in League 1 than Moore has managed over the same period of management that Moore has had in this division. Moore came in and undoubtedly made us worse with 2 wins, with a serious number of performances that we simply did not turn up. In my view, Crosby was far better at organising a team to do the task of play football, something which Moore, given his wage and stature in the game has consistently been bad at.

This season, I admit we look a much better side but the nicer football is in my view due to the fact we have much better technical footballers but Moore still won’t refrain from silly 3-4-3 ideas and slow build up play that allows us to keep our shape but never really challenges a team to break down theirs. 
 

He is unlikely to change because he thinks he is right. Far too much hubris and feeling “he knows what he is doing” with my view being he believes it is resource and player ability limitations that are stopping his tactics from being effective rather than the fact his whole philosophy is flawed. 

4 hours ago, JoeB2 said:

Alright, a very long post, having had some time to calm down and process that. I've had to break it into categories to make it in any way coherent.

Bad Actors taking advantage of a loss

First off, there are several bad actors operating in bad faith who pop up after results like this for one of a few possible reasons:

a) They genuinely get a kick out of criticism and performative misery. There is a real thrill of excitement that something they predicted would go wrong, has gone wrong. I've been there myself and it's quite addicting to point, criticise, and wheel away when proven right (and say nothing when proven wrong, as they were last season). 

b) They can't process disappointment or handle things going wrong, so just go way over the top to deal with it. If they predict the apocalypse, they can't be disappointed, and this club has disappointed them so many times in the past that they simply can't handle it any more. We're now down, in their eyes, so if we do get relegation it's met with accepted resignation, rather than heartbreak.

c) They don't go to games/have a personal grievance with the club or senior members of it, such as the manager or owner.

The best approach for this, as with some of the lads who only appear on social media after defeats, is to simply not engage. You will never, ever get them to engage in good faith and come to a compromise. Their position is fixed and often don't quite have enough going on outside of PVFC. Don't argue and magnify it.

The fallout from today:

The criticism is largely justified, although many have gone too far. It's been 8 days since Lorent's departure, in which time we've played three games and signed a striker on loan. Yes, it would have been nice to get 'the striker' through the door by now, but we know that dominoes need to fall elsewhere for players to become available. Ben Waine looks as poor as advertised. Mo Faal looks like a player with little experience who hasn't played in a year. Ronan Curtis looks like a decent winger playing up front. Dejaune Brown looked quite decent, but raw with his decision-making. All could have a role in some way - behind an established pair of Stockley and A.N. Other.

The criticism of the owner, on X and on here, is a disgrace. The criticism of the manager, 6 games after delivering our second automatic promotion in 32 years, is a disgrace. It makes us look really, really bad as a fanbase, and I've said many times that the club should just revoke your e-ticket and boot you into touch. Accusations of Carol pocketing the cash, of not caring, of desiring a relegation, should be considered arrestable and I'd have no qualms in seeing them exiled to St. Helena for the next few decades. We simply cannot afford to make this woman decide 'losing £5m of my fortune a year on this rollercoaster that is actively damaging my health, isn't worth it'.

How does Moore fix this?

Either way, I've never heard Darren Moore as cheesed off as that. He's fuming. He's calling out individuals, you would presume Byers as a minimum (who is ranking as a really poor signing, all things considered. Has he hit 5 good games yet?), and threatening quite systemic changes. Last time he did this was the Grimsby debacle and that led to the 352 switch and the excellent run which saw us promoted with relative ease. We have been in worse positions than this under Moore and he's figured it out. This is another occasion where it's needed, and we've got evidence that he can deliver. I can foresee a system change (back to 343? A back 4 as he played in the early stages of last season?) and some surprising departures in the next 48 hours. We can't keep rolling with three 'sideway passes' midfielders. Funnels everything to the flanks to wingbacks who can't cross.

Disingenuous 'he's only won 3/25 games', or whatever it is, is completely devoid of context and an agenda-driven attempt to undermine a bloke who must have a 50%+ win ratio at this level. He inherited a bottom-half League 2 squad and they performed as such. I'm not sure a single realistic manager would have saved that team. Ryan Loft and Gavin Massey up front. Get a grip lads. This man has just delivered automatic promotion and has also been promoted from this level in the last 3 years. Don't be wet-wipes.

Today was the first all-round poor performance. I'm not making excuses when I say the linesman cost us a win against the current unbeaten league leaders. We've looked rather decent on several occasions. 

What needs to happen?

The striker is needed. Moore and Carol will know that. If we get to Tuesday morning with nothing, then I agree that serious questions ought to be asked about how prepared we were for a very good player having a very reasonable release clause. Questions do need to be asked about the recruitment of players like Marosi, Waine, and Shipley, what the plan is with Richards, whether enough effort was spent on upgrading the first 11 rather than building depth, of whether the new Head of Recruitment brings much to the party after some very poor spells at other clubs and minimal activity since he arrived here, of whether the club gets a bit self-congratulatory after promotion instead of a 'yesterday's chip paper, let's rebuild better' approach. 

I don't think we'll have a league game for a fortnight, as I think Orient will call their game off by tomorrow - I think they'll probably get the 3 callups? Regardless, after that, Exeter, Mansfield, Northampton, and Wimbledon form 4 of our next 5 games. Wins have to be delivered there and then, as after that, it's a nightmare - Wigan, Stockport, Bolton, Plymouth, Lincoln, Bradford, Luton. We cannot be struggling going into that run. We'll be cooked by Christmas. Confidence gone, toxic atmosphere, yo-yo club confirmed. I don't think we, or Carol, bounce back from another quick relegation. She nearly sold up last time and was hospitalised (according to her Ale and Vale interview). I don't think she'll want to go through it all again at the expense of a further £10m. Any future success will be tempered with the assumption we'll be straight back down, and 10k home crowds will become rarer and rarer. If we go down I think Carol either understandably withdraws his £5m directors loans per annum, or puts us on the market, or steps down and give the reins to Paddy.

In two weeks, we could have a new striker in the door, Brown fully fit, Stockley training, and Faal reduced to impact sub and Waine needed for emergencies. Curtis can return to what he's good at, instead of looking baffled at Mo Faal as he fails to press with him. Garrity seems to only have a slight knock and could be back soon and on course to knocking in 8-10 goals. Rico Richards might play football! 

All I think we can do, as fans, is not engage with the 'Bad Actors' (let them talk into the void), and for now fully back a manager and an owner who have both delivered success and have PVFC's best interests well and truly at heart. We enjoyed the scenes at Wimbledon, spoke excitedly about the future, and can't start giving up 6 league games later. We need a bit of resilience. Every defeat and bad run is magnified these days by some as they can't handle being ribbed by rivals on social media. In previous years you just wouldn't see other comments - now, young lads are genuinely despairing because tinpot League 2 fans are in their DMs giving them stick, and they're reacting as such. Every bad run is the end, the apocalypse, liquidation, sweet baby Jesus we're finished!

It's been perhaps the most intense week supporting PVFC I can remember emotionally, and PVFC is perhaps the most emotionally intense professional football club with something on the line late in the season (promotion/relegation) every season now since Smurthwaite's drunken European signing-fest in 2015. We've genuinely been gut-punched several times and had ludicrous highs that most other clubs experience once every few years. We've had it all within 10 days. It's been Saturday-Tuesday for weeks, game after game, unjust red cards and last minute collapses. Deservedly winning at a top club in the division above and then drawing a generational tie. The most loved forward in recent Vale history leaving for a divisional rival. When built upon the absolutely exhausting run-in last season, I think we're all just a bit highly strung.

Let's settle a bit. Take a touch. Have some composure. Darren made it very clear what's needed. Let's get a striker in and then have one, maybe two weeks away from PVFC games. There's a long old season to go, 120 points to play for, and this time two years ago we were banging on about swapping places with Stoke in the pyramid. At Christmas 2024, Moore was on the ropes and promotion was off the cards. Walsall had won the title.

Don't write us off now.

unless we sign a 15 goal striker who knows where the net is i am absolutely writing us off. the mistakes are a carbon copy of last time and it needs to change to throw away the excellent work from last year.

6 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

Better than last time? This is factually our worst start to a season in 27 years.

Yes maybe but performances generally being good ,the goals and points return awful .

 

Folk either like Moore or they dont .

Its too early in campaign for drama. .

I think has Tuesday proved he as very good players ,you dont beat Birmingham if have poor ones ,also Cardiff we the only team who we have deserved beat them, even though we didnt.

2-1 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-1 1-0 

Theres our scorelines .

Fine margins we only conceded 6 in 6 so if that continues we would only concede 46 all season ,and out of them 6 well apart from yesterdays goal which i havent seen but was worthy of winning any game i believe  ,all the other 5 were very poor goals give away a lot through players switching off and not doing the basics .

 

So fine margins so bring in a striker in and the margins ,well all of a sudden we will be  the team in the ascendancy ,then if he converts at least a little of the percentage missed.

Moore will sort it .

Next home game be on your feet Encouraging Vale too better afternoons and nights.

No idea who will be moved on ,but i think by the managers tone some will .

Just a question for Darren Moore though im sure he doesnt come on here .

Whats the deal with R Paton ?

Surely he gets the chance to show what he can do ,as Vales main man now ,for one he as a lovely touch, for two he can link the play and get us playing in final third .

Pope struggled at first at Vale ,then banged loads of goals in promotion  season ,why cannot Rauri do the same , and before people pipe up he isnt good enough how do you know he isnt good enough  if he doesnt get selected and what does that tell him when a player who was at fault for Doncasters goal ,losing ball ,and Stevenages first cause he was daydreaming, gets selected ahead of him then yesterday i heard he was absolutely awful so how many more 57 mins are we going waste on another teams players so called potential ,while igmoring our own player who 99.9 per cent of Vale fans want to play score and be brilliant...

 

Do not  get me started on R Richards hows he not in any matchday squad he as the quality do something magnificent ..

Play both and i dont mean in nothing games like Tues 

UTV 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2025Aug 31 by Dipepa delight

I think we have a good squad with quality and depth. I qualify that by saying apart from our strike force where I feel we have quantity rather than quality. We are not being outclassed in games but are being outscored. Our defence is making the odd mistake, it happens and we are punished. The same  mistake happens at the other end but we don't punish our opponents. We have brought in people like Waine who runs his heart out but doesn't score or young hopefuls that parent clubs hope will progress and acquire that skill with us. Short term we are short of the vital ingredient, goals and "proven" goalscorers are worth their weight in gold and cost accordingly.