QPR are Championship, perhaps he’s not championship standard but we’re not after that currently, we need a manager who can get our players performing and move up the table. Shrewsbury offered him a 2 year contract but he opted to leave, so they must have seen something in him. 

Mid table. Like Lincoln is what we want. I don't know. We have the players to be there. DM needs to re-evaluate his principles. Because the ones he has aren't working.

Maybe the players need to pull their fingers out. Because today's performance was abysmal. Individually everyone was so poor.

52 minutes ago, Santa said:

Today’s game reminded me of a defeat by the same scoreline away at Sheffield United when Bruno Ribeiro was the manager.

We can choose to stop sleepwalking if we want to. 

That season didn't end up too well though 

DM has to go, of that I have no doubt.

Embarrassed against 10 men followed by an embarrassing effort live on tv against Stockport  followed by a performance today where the players gave up.

For DM the to tell the players are still fighting he should be sacked for that statement alone. Forget about the substitutions, rigidness of his tactics or stubbornness to keep playing certain individuals who don’t deserve a place in the team.

My concern is Carol’s loyalty and faith to the man entrusted with the football side of the business.

History tells us she allows the situation to get much worse before acting. Just ask messers Askey, Clarke, Crosby and Flitcroft.

I fear this going to be getting ugly before  acting.

1 hour ago, Santa said:

Today’s game reminded me of a defeat by the same scoreline away at Sheffield United when Bruno Ribeiro was the manager.

We can choose to stop sleepwalking if we want to. 

Today's game reminded me of the dismal defeat away at Derby County the last time we got relegated when the manager was er......... Darren Moore.

Recruitment has been little short of a disaster.

Waine, Shipley, Marosi, Faal, Brown all not in the 18 today.  That's 5 of our 14 signings in the summer, just not used. It's negligent.  A 6th is out on loan.

We've already written off half of our summer business, and two other of them have a long-term injury (both of whom arrived at the club with a history of injuries).

It effectively leaves us with Gauci, Humphreys, Cole, Hall, and Johnson being added to the squad. 

- Gauci was a panic signing when we realised Marosi was cooked and Amos got an injury

- Johnson was a panic signing when Gordon was out and Headley was unconvincing

- Humphreys is good, but perhaps needed to be balanced with a blood and thunder CB to even him out

- Cole is good but was a last minute signing being brought in to replace a talisman

- Hall is probably good but we signed him with zero plan as to what we were going to do with him, and now seem content to use him as a wingback

You could make the argument that one player, Cam Humphreys, was a planned, good signing. The other 13 are either really bad, predictably injured, panic signings, or enforced signings. I'm not sure there's an area of the pitch which is stronger now than it was in our good run in last season.

The squad is an absolute mess, doesn't fit 352 or 343 particularly well, with a poor balance of CBs, three senior goalkeepers, no back up to Connor Hall, 5 sitting midfielders, one winger, 6 wingbacks with one loaned out, and 6 strikers, of which 5 aren't trusted. 

We've used 29 players, the most in the league.

I'm not blaming us for losing Tolaj but the planned business looks to be a disgrace. Darnbrough arrived with a litany of failures and it's seemingly happened again.

Edited November 8, 2025Nov 8 by JoeB2

While the usual suspects are relentlessly hounding the manager (and rightly, to an extent after today), I think the issues run far deeper than just Darren Moore.

The recruitment, while good in parts, has been dire in others. Only Gabriel, Humphreys, Johnson and Cole are what you would call League One standard players, the rest of our signings were squad fillers, increasing quantity and not quality - Waine, Marosi, Faal, Shipley to name but a few, while others, like Brown, are hard workers but lack any real cutting edge.

So the recruitment team must also take some of the blame. Last year, our recruitment seemed good, picking up experienced players who could handle the physicality and technical requirements of the division like Stockley, Heneghan, Tolaj, Curtis and Amos, but obviously backed by a big budget for the level.

This year, since Lee Darnborough has been involved, we've signed dross that no one else wanted, the aforementioned ones above being good examples, so our squad building wasn't a matter of improvement, but finding cover.

You would have also banked on the recruitment team having a plan B if the inevitable happened and someone came in for Tolaj, which they did, and we were caught with our pants down, meaning Moore went after a player (Brown) had been after since before Darnborough's arrival, and Cole, a player he knew anyway.

So what was Darnborough and the recruitment team doing?

The players also have to take some responsibility. They shouldn't be excluded from blame here, they have made enough mistakes that have cost us goals through ineptitude or lack of care. Moore can't legislate for Debrah doing what he did against Stockport, or Gauci letting the ball go through him for the first today, or Curtis heading the ball across his own box at Wigan.

So they need to pick their ideas up too.

There is some reasonable concerns to be had, and I think a lot of people who are sensible see that, whereas a couple on here (thats you Nippy and you Swanny), come across as illiterate thickos who just want the manager fired to suit their own ends, rather than the good of the football club.

In short, Moore has been at fault today, but laying all the blame for this season squarely at his door seems incredibly short sighted when it seems there are issues that go far beyond him.

If Carol sacks him, then he will have paid for negative tactics and overcautious team selection, but its naive to think a new manager (and there aren't many decent ones out there, let's not forget) will wave a magic wand and change things straight away.

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by Granville

26 minutes ago, Matlock Vale said:

Maybe the players need to pull their fingers out. Because today's performance was abysmal. Individually everyone was so poor.

Maybe, just maybe, they are sick and tired of his garbage tactics, his dropping players for no reason and his boring classroom sessions (from someone I know) and maybe just maybe, the players have had enough. 
 

Fans must surely have had enough of his utter tripe he puts out on the pitch and I’ll repeat again….

Darren Moore as Port Vale manager in league one. 
Played 32. 
Won 5. 
Goal difference minus 26.

Regardless of whoever the players are, he’s a <ovf censored> woeful manager. 

1 minute ago, JoeB2 said:

Recruitment has been little short of a disaster.

Waine, Shipley, Marosi, Faal, Brown all not in the 18 today.  That's 5 of our 14 signings in the summer, just not used. It's negligent.  A 6th is out on loan.

We've already written off half of our summer business, and two other of them have a long-term injury (both of whom arrived at the club with a history of injuries).

It effectively leaves us with Gauci, Humphreys, Cole, Hall, and Johnson being added to the squad. 

- Gauci was a panic signing when we realised Marosi was cooked and Amos got an injury

- Johnson was a panic signing when Gordon was out and Headley was unconvincing

- Humphreys is good, but perhaps needed to be balanced with a blood and thunder CB to even him out

- Cole is good but was a last minute signing being brought in to replace a talisman

- Hall is probably good but we signed him with zero plan as to what we were going to do with him, and now seem content to use him as a wingback

You could make the argument that one player, Cam Humphreys, was a planned, good signing. The other 13 are either really bad, predictably injured, panic signings, or enforced signings.

The squad is an absolute mess, doesn't fit 352 or 343 particularly well, with a poor balance of CBs, three senior goalkeepers, no back up to Connor Hall, 5 sitting midfielders, one winger, 6 wingbacks with one loaned out, and 6 strikers, of which 5 aren't trusted. 

We've used 29 players, the most in the league.

I'm not blaming us for losing Tolaj but the planned business looks to be a disgrace. Darnbrough arrived with a litany of failures and it's seemingly happened again.

You've taken the words right out of my mouth, the recruitment has been poor. This runs far deeper than rhe manager.

3 minutes ago, Granville said:

While the usual suspects are relentlessly hounding the manager (and rightly, to an extent after today), I think the issues run far deeper than just Darren Moore.

The recruitment, while good in parts, has been dire in others. Only Gabriel, Humphreys, Johnson and Cole are what you would call League One standard players, the rest of our signings were squad fillers, increasing quantity and not quality - Waine, Marosi, Faal, Shipley to name but a few, while others, like Brown, are hard workers but lack any real cutting edge.

So the recruitment team must also take some of the blame. Last year, our recruitment seemed good, picking up experienced players who could handle the physicality and technical requirements of the division like Stockley, Heneghan, Tolaj, Curtis and Amos, but obviously backed by a big budget for the level.

This year, since Lee Darnborough has been involved, we've signed dross that no one else wanted, the aforementioned ones above being good examples, so our squad building wasn't a matter of improvement, but finding cover.

You would have also banked on the recruitment team having a plan B if the inevitable happened and someone came in for Tolaj, which they did, and we were caught woth oir parts down, meaning Moore went after a player (Brown) had been after since before Darnborough's arrival, and Cole, a player he knew anyway.

So what was Darnboroughand the recruitment team doing?

The players also have to take some responsibility. They shouldn't be excluded from blame here, they have made enough mistakes that have cost us goals through ineptitude or lack of care. Moore can't legislate for Debrah doing what he did against Stockport, or Gauci letting the ball go through him for the first today, or Curtis heading the ball across his own box at Wigan.

So they need to pick their ideas up too.

There is some reasonable concerns to be had, and I think a lot of people who are sensible see that, whereas a couple on here (thats you Nippy and you Swanny), come across as illiterate thickos who just want the manager fired to suit their own ends, rather than the good of the football club.

In short, Moore has been at fault today, but laying all the blame for this season squarely at his door seems incredibly short sighted when it seems there are issues that go far beyond him.

If Carol sacks him, then he will have paid for negative tactics and overcautious team selection, but its naive to think a new manager (and there aren't many decent ones out there, let's not forget) will wave a magic wand and change things straight away.

Might win a game and might have a squad who have a manager where they actually enjoy the guys tactics. 
 

Watch the bounce when we sack him. 

Edited November 8, 2025Nov 8 by Spunk Trumpet

1 minute ago, Spunk Trumpet said:

Maybe, just maybe, they are sick and tired of his garbage tactics, his dropping players for no reason and his boring classroom sessions (from someone I know) and maybe just maybe, the players have had enough. 
 

Fans must surely have had enough of his utter tripe he puts out on the pitch and I’ll repeat again….

Darren Moore as Port Vale manager in league one. 
Played 32. 
Won 5. 
Goal difference minus 26.

Regardless of whoever the players are, he’s a <ovf censored> woeful manager. 

Don't absolve the players from blame in this. They are just as culpable, and should share the responsibility and blame for this.

4 minutes ago, Granville said:

While the usual suspects are relentlessly hounding the manager (and rightly, to an extent after today), I think the issues run far deeper than just Darren Moore.

The recruitment, while good in parts, has been dire in others. Only Gabriel, Humphreys, Johnson and Cole are what you would call League One standard players, the rest of our signings were squad fillers, increasing quantity and not quality - Waine, Marosi, Faal, Shipley to name but a few, while others, like Brown, are hard workers but lack any real cutting edge.

So the recruitment team must also take some of the blame. Last year, our recruitment seemed good, picking up experienced players who could handle the physicality and technical requirements of the division like Stockley, Heneghan, Tolaj, Curtis and Amos, but obviously backed by a big budget for the level.

This year, since Lee Darnborough has been involved, we've signed dross that no one else wanted, the aforementioned ones above being good examples, so our squad building wasn't a matter of improvement, but finding cover.

You would have also banked on the recruitment team having a plan B if the inevitable happened and someone came in for Tolaj, which they did, and we were caught woth oir parts down, meaning Moore went after a player (Brown) had been after since before Darnborough's arrival, and Cole, a player he knew anyway.

So what was Darnboroughand the recruitment team doing?

The players also have to take some responsibility. They shouldn't be excluded from blame here, they have made enough mistakes that have cost us goals through ineptitude or lack of care. Moore can't legislate for Debrah doing what he did against Stockport, or Gauci letting the ball go through him for the first today, or Curtis heading the ball across his own box at Wigan.

So they need to pick their ideas up too.

There is some reasonable concerns to be had, and I think a lot of people who are sensible see that, whereas a couple on here (thats you Nippy and you Swanny), come across as illiterate thickos who just want the manager fired to suit their own ends, rather than the good of the football club.

In short, Moore has been at fault today, but laying all the blame for this season squarely at his door seems incredibly short sighted when it seems there are issues that go far beyond him.

If Carol sacks him, then he will have paid for negative tactics and overcautious team selection, but its naive to think a new manager (and there aren't many decent ones out there, let's not forget) will wave a magic wand and change things straight away.

The institutional inability to be prepared for League 1 does run deeper than Moore, I agree.

We arrived undercooked in 22/23, blamed on the playoffs and a Robbie concert.

We lost 7-0 on our first game of 23/24, and bar a little flukey run, never looked good enough with a team constructed around two teenage midfielders and little else.

We've arrived undercooked again. The club consistently underestimates the scale of the step up in quality.

We just can't seem to get the step up right. There were no excuses this time. Automatic promotion, stability in every area of the club, recent knowledge of how tough the league is. We knew exactly what the job was. The only snag was Tolaj going but we must have expected it with the release clause.

It's worrying as we don't seem to have learned the lessons. I put my ears in my fingers over the summer and have faith that Carol knew what she was doing.

Clubs of our stature are managing the jump - Northampton, Burton, Stevenage, Mansfield, Wycombe, Wimbledon, and Exeter will not have budgets/attendances much in excess of ours, yet they don't seem to make a dog's breakfast out of 'not getting relegated'.

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by JoeB2

2 minutes ago, Granville said:

Don't absolve the players from blame in this. They are just as culpable, and should share the responsibility and blame for this.

29 players so far this season have played. 
However many in the season we were in league one last. 
Im guessing Darren Moore has used over 40 players in his league one career at Port Vale. Maybe pushing 50.

Played 32. Won 5. It’s no coincidence mate. He’s just a garbage manager at this level.

When will people wake up?! He doesn’t know his best 11.

He so nearly <ovf censored> up promotion last year until he was forced by fans on social media to actually keep a steady side and stop playing bingo ball football!!

Hes a grade A clown at management and I’m sure, in fact I know that the players are <ovf censored> off with him as well. 
 

Sacked tomorrow or Monday or Carol makes the same mistake twice. 

I simply can't believe that Norman Smurthwaite and Micky Adams, with Mark Grew as 90% of the coaching staff, finished 9th in League 1 immediately after promotion, with the only real notable signings being Lines and Dicko.

It was the 12/13 admin team with six permanent signings, two of which were Mohamed and Tomlin, and another was Griff who had been on loan with us the season before. 

Smurthwaite was an incredibly stupid man, one of the thickest of all time, but we were largely fine in League 1 until his Bruno fiasco. It shouldn't be this difficult. Why do we keep making a proper mess of it?

Smurthwaite wasn’t stupid , but he was evil. He walked away with almost £5M, the bastard.