Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th January

[クレイグ]

You shouldn't apologise. We all know his pedigree and until today we had had only 40 mins of performance. What we got today is what we have been expecting. Him and Bobby supported Kav magnificently. We just want this in the remaining games and of course Patto to stay fit. Our Skipper and Richards also did so much today.

Aye, true. Thought it was Smallwood's best game for ages.

 

[Kauto Star]

Who needs Cooky eh!

Best performance of the season today against a subdued looking Mariners. It appeared that Grimsby came looking for a point the way they set up and played, which surprised me.

If we can finally keep Pattison and Sarcevic fit together, I would really fancy our chances going into the second half of the season. Grimsby just couldn't cope with them today.

Our young left wing back Lewis Richards just gets better and better each game and scored his 2nd in 2 consecutive games. He is making that position his own now after playing second fiddle to Tyriek Wright for the first few months.

A very productive Christmas and New Year period yielding 10 points from 12.

Just need to sort our poor away form out. We have only lost once at home in the last 10 months now making Valley Parade a bit of a fortress.

Happy new year to all fans of league 2 clubs.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I’m pretty sure the Carlisle management ignore stats like points, shots, chances and are purely only interested in possession.

Could go down on 20 points score 20 conceed 200 but as long as we had 60% or more of the ball it’s a success

 

[jacobncfc]

The first 10 mins were ok...

I think it's time to say what is the point of Jordan Davies? Our supposed main attacking midfielder signing yet it needs youth Luker to come on and provide the energy, wanting the ball and trying to make things happen.

Was always a tough game for the last of 4 in 12 days and I think Bradford could benefit from kicking their Cook addiction from here on.
If we'd not blown chances and defensively blundered at Accy 9 from 12 would have been a good outcome. Now DA needs to earn his corn working out how to deal with Notts next week.

Surely it’s obvious to everyone at this point that you make it a physical battle rather than a game of football and we’re easily beatable.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Yep, a proper Moore performance so far and actually it shows what I know because the midfield has worked reasonably well.

Donny a classic example of a number of teams in this league. Pass side to side for ages and then get bored and pump it forward.

 

[Bianconeri 1862]

County relying on an OAP like McGoldrick for their half time lead. Sad to see.

The way he hobbled up for that late penalty and didn't have the strength to put it away, God knows how he found the strength with the rebound, sad to see

 

[Bianconeri 1862]

Job done, very comfortable second half. What we needed really after five games so quickly, and got to be happy with winning five of them.

Didn't really get out of second gear, Swindon looked woeful, expected more after their decent mini revival.
McGoldrick pure class like a purring Rolls Royce

 

[jacobncfc]

Didn't really get out of second gear, Swindon looked woeful, expected more after their decent mini revival.
McGoldrick pure class like a purring Rolls Royce

I thought they were okay in the first half tbh, got in as many decent positions as we did but we were just far more clinical with them. Second half they were poor, triple sub at half time didn’t work at all and really we had the chances to hit four or five. Still reckon they’ve got enough to stay up on that showing.

 

[Son of Cod]

The first 10 mins were ok...

I think it's time to say what is the point of Jordan Davies? Our supposed main attacking midfielder signing yet it needs youth Luker to come on and provide the energy, wanting the ball and trying to make things happen.

Was always a tough game for the last of 4 in 12 days and I think Bradford could benefit from kicking their Cook addiction from here on.
If we'd not blown chances and defensively blundered at Accy 9 from 12 would have been a good outcome. Now DA needs to earn his corn working out how to deal with Notts next week.

Yeah I'm far from convinced with Davies too, seemed mad that he'd played about a game and a half for us and then got injured and loads of people were going around saying the best bit of business we'd do in Jan is to get him in on a permanent deal. I think it's clear that when he's on song he brings the ability go move the ball quickly from midfield to attack, perhaps in areas that McEachran doesn't get to with much regularity. When he's not on it though, he stinks the place out. At least when JDS is off the pace he tans it about all over the place and tries to win the ball. Davies has had several games now in which he's offered absolutely nothing. I'm not writing him off as Artell might be able to get a tune out of him yet but as of now I'm not arsed about him.

 

[GTFCfish]

Well I predicted that we would be the better side on the day but that would ultimately we would end up not winning.
So at least I got half of it right.

 

[Optipez]

In the end a comfortable win with a clean sheet. Swindon were okay but we had the better team, man for man.
McGoldrick really classy today, you could see why he's been a higher level footballer.
Overall a great Christmas period for us, 12 from 15 must give everyone confidence and hope.

 

[Gladders]

The first 10 mins were ok...

I think it's time to say what is the point of Jordan Davies? Our supposed main attacking midfielder signing yet it needs youth Luker to come on and provide the energy, wanting the ball and trying to make things happen.

Was always a tough game for the last of 4 in 12 days and I think Bradford could benefit from kicking their Cook addiction from here on.
If we'd not blown chances and defensively blundered at Accy 9 from 12 would have been a good outcome. Now DA needs to earn his corn working out how to deal with Notts next week.

Aye Davies has been poor since he returned from injury, largely anonymous, never thought I'd say it be we really miss Green in midfield. We also need to find some spark going forward, can't wait for Vernam for ever.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

We look a little short of a promotion side so far. However what does give me confidence is the likes of Martin and MacDonald now positively contribute whereas just a few games ago I would have been happy to jettison both due to Martin's displays and strength at centre half.

We need Tsaroulla back fit for the next game as Jones understandably is currently undertaken baby steps and doesn't look close to match fit or his peak.

McGoldrick class.
Platt quality.
Abbott effective.

 

[jacobncfc]

We look a little short of a promotion side so far. However what does give me confidence is the likes of Martin and MacDonald now positively contribute whereas just a few games ago I would have been happy to jettison both due to Martin's displays and strength at centre half.

We need Tsaroulla back fit for the next game as Jones understandably is currently undertaken baby steps and doesn't look close to match fit or his peak.

McGoldrick class.
Platt quality.
Abbott effective.

I don’t think we do either really, but there’s only one team that does and three (plus one) places available, so the opportunity is there.

 

[Bianconeri 1862]

I like Martins display today but I think Tsaroulla is better, especially on the left, Austin looks better and better at right wing back, the thought of Tsaroulla on the left and Jones right makes me feel like I'm chewing an opal fruit

 

[Scum.]

Lost at home to Salford. Story of our season, too inconsistent. Win one, lose one. Play-offs at best I think unless we sign big in this transfer window which we need to…

Fair play to Salford, 6 wins in a row, 6 clean sheets in a row. Very impressive.

 

[Soz]

Well he actually changed it up, 3 in cm and 2 out and out strikers. Hackfords best game for us and he benefitted from being a striker and having someone else taking players away from him.

Mental how tolaj hasn't been getting picked, quiet for half today but grew into the game and a lovely finish for his goal.

Thought they were a right bunch of filthy cheating bastards to be fair, and the ref did well to deal with it although just start yellow carding them. That street came on, immediately dives twice, cries when he doesn't swindle the liner then cries a bit more when Headley goes down with a bit of tactical cramp before he is subbed. Might be a player there if he actually tried to play football rather than try to get wrong decisions from refs.

Our commentator clocked mccann making the diving gesture to his player who stayed on his feet but didn't get a free kick. Says it all really.

 

[valefan16]

Haven’t seen the game but that’s a massive win, amazing what happens when you start getting key players back. Sounds like we sat in and defended well akin to the wins at Notts and MK bar a deflected goal late on sounds like we rode it out fairly comfortably. We’ve won more at Doncaster than we have at Vale Park in nearly 3 months!

Pleased to get the win especially after the shocker we put in against these in the reverse fixture and hopefully that relights the touch paper for us and we can push on with two very winnable home games in the league up next.

Byers, Stockley and Harper close to returning and Sang now available after his ban all of a sudden things feel much better.

Mental to think we have now the same amount of points as we got in the whole of last season!

 

[Jimmy Anderson]

Finally a win and I thought it was deserved aswell. Defended well and did well on the break. Don't understand Doncaster fans moaning at the ref like they were as he didn't affect the outcome of the game, probably just the normal moaning from fans when they don't win. Smith man of the match so glad he's back in the team ahead of crap debrah. Lowe was steady enough today, headley looked decent on his debut and hackford got a assist for the first goal so the team selection was justified.

 

[valefan16]

Well he actually changed it up, 3 in cm and 2 out and out strikers. Hackfords best game for us and he benefitted from being a striker and having someone else taking players away from him.

Mental how tolaj hasn't been getting picked, quiet for half today but grew into the game and a lovely finish for his goal.

Thought they were a right bunch of filthy cheating bastards to be fair, and the ref did well to deal with it although just start yellow carding them. That street came on, immediately dives twice, cries when he doesn't swindle the liner then cries a bit more when Headley goes down with a bit of tactical cramp before he is subbed. Might be a player there if he actually tried to play football rather than try to get wrong decisions from refs.

Our commentator clocked mccann making the diving gesture to his player who stayed on his feet but didn't get a free kick. Says it all really.

Vale twitter suggested two decent penalty shouts for us in the first 10 minutes? Anything in those?

 

[Vale on Trent]

Good win, finally. Those 3 points could be massive for our season, as well as Darren Moore.

It was a typical away performance from us. Notts County and MK away were exactly the same. Not the prettiest, but job done.

We’ve actually been playing pretty similar during our poor run of results vs when we were top of the league. We’ve not been brilliant or attractive to watch all season, in my opinion. Our games are based on small margins. Today we were on the right end of it.

 

[kieran_vale]

Vale twitter suggested two decent penalty shouts for us in the first 10 minutes? Anything in those?

They were both down the other end so no idea but the first one felt from a distance like Hackford was looking for it similar to that one last minute v Cheltenham so will guess at no penalty the right call.

Good away performance. Headley did really well on the left and the 3-5-2 seemed far more balanced. Delighted for Tolaj to get his goal, amazing what happens when players are put in their best position. Certainly nervy at the end after Sterry pulled one back but could see Doncaster have a similar issue at home to us in not quite knowing how to sustain pressure on opponents. Should quieten a few of our bedwetters though briefly.

 

[Soz]

Vale twitter suggested two decent penalty shouts for us in the first 10 minutes? Anything in those?

Hackford went down in the first min but was weak as piss, never a foul. Croasdale one was a better shout, got wrong side of defender who was all over him, probably one of them fouls that's not enough for a pen. Or it's a clear dive, but not sure why you'd dive when you are running into a box with no defenders in front of you. Have to see it again.

They had a big handball shout but never saw a replay. That being said they'd appeal for something every time we won possession and a few of their handball shouts were laughable.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

I can't handle these monumental mood swings. Maybe things aren't as bad as described nor as good as earlier this season.

 

[クレイグ]

I can't handle these monumental mood swings. Maybe things aren't as bad as described nor as good as earlier this season.

Aye. You're second in the table. Chin up!

 

[Alfie]

 

[kieran_vale]

Salford have really come from nowhere to get to that spot. Neville and co might start suddenly remembering they’re involved with them at this rate.

 

[Carver]

it was inevitable that Grimsby would capitulate this month.

 

[BarraMatt]

Curtains for Clemence I think. He's hamstrung by an awful squad that hasn't been performing for 12 months including that last 6 months under Wild. But he isn't turning this around. He needed a result today and that was a fucking horror show. Sleepwalking towards relegation.

 

[mozzavale]

Vale twitter suggested two decent penalty shouts for us in the first 10 minutes? Anything in those?

No chance. Frustrated by both at the time. Hackford and Croasdale were in good positions just needed to be strong and we'd have had a chance.

First 5 mins we were good, then until we scored I felt like Donny were in complete control and looked nailed on to score. Unreal save from Amos from Sharp onto the post and a great block from Moleyneuxs attempt straight after. They looked fitter, stronger, faster and we struggled get out.

Then from nowhere Hackford spun the cb, injection of pace and set up Croasdale. Brilliant from Hackford that was. 2nd was a brilliant team goal. Vintage Tolaj. Get to the byline, cut it back to him, one touch, goal. Felt really comfortable after that, we were cruising, cutting them open on both sides and could have been 3 nil before a well hit shot going a yard or two wide deflects into the top corner. Got that sinking feeling and we nearly gifted them an equaliser when Hall let the ball go for a GK only for the lad to reach it. No idea how it stayed out the net.

Other than that our defence was immense all game. Amos, 3 at the back, Croasdale, Garrity, Clarke, Tolaj were colossal today. Massive win. Thorough deserved. Away end in fine voice, and to be fair that section of Doncaster fans behind the goal sang throughout, even when 2 down. The drum though , not for me that.