Saturday 24th April 2021

[stevowanderer]

I look back to how well we played in back to back wins at Cheltenham and Orient in October, and then with how decent we were with these 2 wins in our last 3 games against Bolton and Oldham and I can’t help but think, if it wasn’t for those 35 games in between when we were shit we could be looking at promotion now with this squad.
Gutting.

The way you played against us it looked like we were down there and you were at the top! Amazing what can happen when backs are against the wall. Must be frustrating

 

[Reremnart]

Yep. In spite of the fact that we beat Cheltenham at Vale Park, they were the best team we have played this season. Be glad to get rid of Bolton, only because their fans think they're Real Madrid. Lived in a halls of residence many years ago with a Bolton fan, complete nerd, it's formed my view of Bolton ever since. They're a reasonably big club for League Two but I wouldn't class them as a massive club. Bradford are far bigger and better supported but they know their place now. Cambridge looked poor each time we played them (still beat us twice mind) but I think they've just had one of those seasons where their main striker has had a purple patch (like Pope for us in 2013). I'd expect they might come back down again soon but good luck to them.

I'm gutted that we had such a stinking injury list and we didn't get rid of Askey sooner. We should have been right in the mix with this squad. I've seen a number of seasons of league two and this is one of the very worst standard wise.

Agree about Cambridge . They got 2 undeserved points against us due to dire officials, We had a perfectly good goal wiped out that the Abbey for offside when we had played them off the park for the entire second half and a highly dodgy penalty at Prenton. I wasn`t impressed by them at all in either game. As for us we have blown it. We looked nailed on to go up and possibly win the league prior to Vaughan getting injured and have looked relegation fodder in most games since the Pizza Cup Final. I`m not using Vaughan as an excuse. It`s doesn`t help but we have enough attacking talent in the squad to have scored more than we have done in the last ten games but they simply haven`t performed sadly

 

[leedsvaliant]

That’s quite ironic about Bolton thinking they’re Real Madrid because all I’ve seen on these forums is Vale should have pissed this league/the standard in this league is shit/if only we’d done this or done that/if only we’d not had 20 odd games where we hadn’t been shit. You’ve still lost more games than you’ve won this season.

The vast majority of us don’t think we are anything like that. Based on trophies, years in the top flight, stadium capacity and fan base we are top half championship level in terms of club size. Should we be at this level? Probably not. Are we pissed off with how far we have fallen. Definitely! But we are here and have to deal with it. We have a larger fan base than most at this level so on the balance of probability we have more idiots that crawl out the woodwork. Doesn’t mean the whole fan base is like that.

There aren’t the same wage restrictions next season and some decent clubs coming down alongside the likes of Bradford who will improve at some point. Orient and a few others will want to start better. Carlisle if they can get going again will be a force. Salford will keep spending, Tranmere have a good side (and at least one of them will be in league 2 next season.) Will be really interesting to see what happens next season.

Decent response that to be fair and an honest assessment of Bolton as a club. It's decent fans like you that get besmerched by some of the idiots who think Bolton are a cut above. Let's face it, we're all in league two for a reason and no amount of history can gloss over that fact.

Just a small point though, we did anticipate to do a lot better this season, based on our finish last season and the fact that we didn't lose anyone last summer. The last 9 games have shown what we are capable of. We see ourselves as a league one side really, maybe with a potential foray to the bottom part of the Championship with a fair wind. I think we'll get there in the next 10 years. We're set up better than we have been for 30 years.

 

[hellogregory]

6 games without a goal from open play. It’s hard to put into words how terrible we are.

 

[stevowanderer]

Decent response that to be fair and an honest assessment of Bolton as a club. It's decent fans like you that get besmerched by some of the idiots who think Bolton are a cut above. Let's face it, we're all in league two for a reason and no amount of history can gloss over that fact.

Just a small point though, we did anticipate to do a lot better this season, based on our finish last season and the fact that we didn't lose anyone last summer. The last 9 games have shown what we are capable of. We see ourselves as a league one side really, maybe with a potential foray to the bottom part of the Championship with a fair wind. I think we'll get there in the next 10 years. We're set up better than we have been for 30 years.

You have some decent players...I liked the look of Worrall and Conlon. Success next season will probably depend on being able to keep those players. Conlon especially looks like he could play at least a level above.

I think if we get the job done for promotion it will take a few years in league 1 before we can push on again. I see it as season 1 we need to stay up, season 2 mid table/top half, season 3 push for promotion to the championship. Any better than that and it’s a bonus. Any worse and we could be back in this part of the forum quicker than we would like haha

 

[White horse]

Vale, You are thick if you think we are not the best supported club in the fourth tier, ,i follow sales are apparently the fifth biggest in the EFL, Bolton have spent 75 seasons in the the top flight , Bradford two , you stupid twat

 

[leedsvaliant]

Vale, You are thick if you think we are not the best supported club in the fourth tier, ,i follow sales are apparently the fifth biggest in the EFL, Bolton have spent 75 seasons in the the top flight , Bradford two , you stupid twat

The irony is not lost on me that your have such a poor grasp of the English Language. Bolton are a decent sized club, but I'd still argue that Bradford are better supported. In this league, history matters very little, as many have found.

 

[leedsvaliant]

spastic

I'd probably stop drinking now mate. School on Monday.

 

[Back in the DHSS]

Think this deserves a ban. White Horse your a bad winner as well as a bad loser.

 

[White horse]

I'd probably stop drinking now mate. School on Monday.

Ok , it pisses be off that as a kid i watched Bolton at home in front of over 50,000 in the seventies and now Bradford are a bigger club apparently , i think not

 

[White horse]

and that was 1977 against Everton

 

[White horse]

The irony is not lost on me that your have such a poor grasp of the English Language. Bolton are a decent sized club, but I'd still argue that Bradford are better supported. In this league, history matters very little, as many have found.

the irony is lost on me , i have an infinite more grasp of the Anglo Saxon English language than you , you fat c***

 

[GTFCfish]

Insert “Well that escalated quickly” meme here.

 

[leedsvaliant]

the irony is lost on me , i have an infinite more grasp of the Anglo Saxon English language than you , you fat c***

Firstly, I'm not fat. Secondly, I think you need help.

 

[Laker]

Agree about Cambridge . They got 2 undeserved points against us due to dire officials, We had a perfectly good goal wiped out that the Abbey for offside when we had played them off the park for the entire second half and a highly dodgy penalty at Prenton. I wasn`t impressed by them at all in either game. As for us we have blown it. We looked nailed on to go up and possibly win the league prior to Vaughan getting injured and have looked relegation fodder in most games since the Pizza Cup Final. I`m not using Vaughan as an excuse. It`s doesn`t help but we have enough attacking talent in the squad to have scored more than we have done in the last ten games but they simply haven`t performed sadly

Are we still doing this? Look, it happened - it was a penalty because the ref said it was.

@ Leeds Valiant

We’ve overachieved this season, we know we have. We started the season with a 34 year old manager with no first team experience prior to his appointment six months earlier, a player with a 1 in 6 record as our main striker and a 38 year old who was last seen washed up in Australia after only five games and only able to play on Saturdays. We’re hardly going to be setting the world alight game after game, it’s been about grinding results out with this squad, not ripping teams apart. Yet I say that and we’re the second highest goal scorers and got the best goal difference in the league. So the stats say otherwise.

If and when it comes, we’ll take promotion. We’ll strengthen in the summer and see how we get on. I’d back ourselves to survive in League 1 if that’s where we are because I back our philosophy and recruitment at the moment.

 

[Vanni]

People,

STOP BITING TO DUPLICATE ACCOUNTS.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Are we still doing this? Look, it happened - it was a penalty because the ref said it was.

@ Leeds Valiant

We’ve overachieved this season, we know we have. We started the season with a 34 year old manager with no first team experience prior to his appointment six months earlier, a player with a 1 in 6 record as our main striker and a 38 year old who was last seen washed up in Australia after only five games and only able to play on Saturdays. We’re hardly going to be setting the world alight game after game, it’s been about grinding results out with this squad, not ripping teams apart. Yet I say that and we’re the second highest goal scorers and got the best goal difference in the league. So the stats say otherwise.

If and when it comes, we’ll take promotion. We’ll strengthen in the summer and see how we get on. I’d back ourselves to survive in League 1 if that’s where we are because I back our philosophy and recruitment at the moment.

Good luck to you, and clearly over a season the table states that you were one of the 3 best teams. I'm just going for personal experience and the fact that you didn't do very well against us, but you still won twice which clearly shows that you can grind out results.

Let's not forget, however, how desperately poor this league is compared to the one above. We were hopeless for 25 games and have just won 8 out of 9. You only need a couple of decent players and the rest can be bang average. In the league above, you need 4 or 5 decent players.

Your promotion reminds me of ours in 2013. We had a striker who had the season of his life after a couple of poor seasons the seasons before. We had an apparently washed up striker in Lee Hughes and after Christmas we ground out results but eventually stumbled over the line. We were never really good enough or prepared enough for league one and ended up coming back down after a few seasons.

I think you'll struggle next season in the league above unless you make a number of decent signings. Currently, out of the 3 I have you as the most likely to come back down pretty quickly. I guess time will tell and football has a habit of proving the doubters wrong.

 

[denzel ecfc]

History Today comes to mind here.

 

[GTFCfish]

People,

STOP BITING TO DUPLICATE ACCOUNTS.

Ok Laker.

 

[White horse]

Firstly, I'm not fat. Secondly, I think you need help.

Ok , so you are not denying you are a c***, just not a fat one ? I need more than help talking to you , slim

 

[GTFCfish]

Ok , so you are not denying you are a c***, just not a fat one ? I need more than help talking to you , slim

All this abuse to him just because he said he thought Bradford were bigger than Bolton.
If you are not drunk right now then you need to have a real serious look at yourself.

 

[BlackHaddock]

All this abuse to him just because he said he thought Bradford were bigger than Bolton.
If you are not drunk right now then you need to have a real serious look at yourself.

He may well only be a white horse, but I think you'll find his father was a Cart Horse and therefore a lot bigger than anyone else's father!

 

[Kauto Star]

Vale, You are thick if you think we are not the best supported club in the fourth tier, ,i follow sales are apparently the fifth biggest in the EFL, Bolton have spent 75 seasons in the the top flight , Bradford two , you stupid twat

Check your history horsey, we have had more than 2 years in the top flight

 

[Laker]

Good luck to you, and clearly over a season the table states that you were one of the 3 best teams. I'm just going for personal experience and the fact that you didn't do very well against us, but you still won twice which clearly shows that you can grind out results.

Let's not forget, however, how desperately poor this league is compared to the one above. We were hopeless for 25 games and have just won 8 out of 9. You only need a couple of decent players and the rest can be bang average. In the league above, you need 4 or 5 decent players.

Your promotion reminds me of ours in 2013. We had a striker who had the season of his life after a couple of poor seasons the seasons before. We had an apparently washed up striker in Lee Hughes and after Christmas we ground out results but eventually stumbled over the line. We were never really good enough or prepared enough for league one and ended up coming back down after a few seasons.

I think you'll struggle next season in the league above unless you make a number of decent signings. Currently, out of the 3 I have you as the most likely to come back down pretty quickly. I guess time will tell and football has a habit of proving the doubters wrong.

I think judging a team over two games is always a bit dangerous, we won our games over Port Vale with a good performance at home (iirc) but then a moment of magic in the away game where a draw seemed like a fair result. Is that indicative of our season as a whole? I don’t know. I think the majority of our wins have come because we’ve worked harder than the opposition. And that’s a quality I think would stand us in good stead in League 1.

We’ve got a fair few out of contract at the end of the season so there’s plenty of opportunity to upgrade the team to meet the needs of League 1 if we do get up. It’ll be a bit of a different Cambridge next season.

 

[valefan16]

I think Cambridge have done well, similar to us in 12/13 with Pope although we went up and did well enough finishing 9th first season. We spent a fair bit of money though, Hughes wasn’t cheap and we chucked Pope 4K a week plus and the likes of Purse and Jones. (When Wildes was spending Smurfs money).

Depends a lot on what Cambridge can invest in their squad I guess. They’ll be one of the favoured to drop but Accrington are far smaller of a club and have done well so no reason they can’t.

It’s a big step up in terms of quality, you’ve got some huge clubs these days in there but it’s not that big compared to the jumps further up the pyramid.

 

[Laker]

I think Cambridge have done well, similar to us in 12/13 with Pope although we went up and did well enough finishing 9th first season. We spent a fair bit of money though, Hughes wasn’t cheap and we chucked Pope 4K a week plus and the likes of Purse and Jones. (When Wildes was spending Smurfs money).

Depends a lot on what Cambridge can invest in their squad I guess. They’ll be one of the favoured to drop but Accrington are far smaller of a club and have done well so no reason they can’t.

It’s a big step up in terms of quality, you’ve got some huge clubs these days in there but it’s not that big compared to the jumps further up the pyramid.

Every division is a big step up in quality - we finished second in the Conference in 13/14 then 19th in League 2 the year after. League 1 is a funny league as the difference in finances between the top clubs and the bottom clubs is enormous and the footballing ability swings between “almost Championship” where the clubs have to be able to play to “almost League 2” where hard work and percentage football are more important. The likes of Accrington, Lincoln and Wycombe have had to adapt to compete - I’d say the dynamism/their ability to evolve has been their best quality. Either way, it’s exciting and a challenge we’ll readily accept.

 

[Bone Idle]

Thats a game we could and should have won! oh for a decent striker, still for me it was one of the most enjoyable games of the season, on to scunny on tuesday and hopefully 3 points the race for the playoffs is getting really interesting now.

 

[Huntsman94]

Good to get consecutive wins and beating Barrow near enough confirms our playoff spot. Be nice to win the final 2 to go into the playoffs in some sort of form.

Would be fairly happy if we were able to get Quigley from Barrow this summer. He’s a nuisance and has done very well for a side that was tipped to struggle this season.

Oh and although it’s not official, congratulations to Cheltenham and all their supporters on here. Fully deserved promotion. Hopefully we can join you!

 

[kieran_vale]

Be one of those things that will be easily forgotten about as the game was meaningless ultimately but watching our highlights back I have no idea what that Bradford player was thinking with that push on Smith. Brainless football, if that was a Vale player doing that would not have been the least bit impressed.

 

[FGR Stroud]

Yep, I'll add my congrats to Cheltenham who are almost certain to win promotion & title.
For their sake they need to hang to their manager for at least another season. He's done good and Cheltenham probably need him for first season in higher division.
Cheltenham's only bummer if that both their big local rivals, Swindon & Brizzle, have been relegate and thus depriving them of those bumper local matches.
And if Oxford get promoted it would leave them with no local matches whatsoever. Unless of course FGR win play offs and join them.