Summer Signings

[valefan16]

So with a third of the season down and players now settled how are we all rating our summer business? Who’s flopped, who’s been a surprise and who’s stood out?

For Vale

David Amoo - Amoooooooooo! Started very well and scored a couple early on, has added pace and power that we lacked out wide and given us an outlet, has had lethargic games but in the main a solid signing and a crowd favourite.

Richie Bennett - Carlisle fans seemed to suggest he wasn’t up to much and was assumed by Vale fans in the summer to be our third choice hitman, however he’s quickly established himself as our main striker and top scorer with five. Can struggle with hold up play away from home but a goal scorer and a wand of a left foot. Arguably our best signing of the summer.

Johnny Madison - Keeper yet to feature for Vale.

Ryan Lloyd - Struggled, didn’t break in after years trying in his first spell and quickly dropped out the squad after a stinker against Mansfield.

Shaun Brisley - only featured once at Macc Town in the cup (aside from injury time Tuesday). Was outstanding that night and seems to be a capable back up to Legge and Smith.

Kieron Kennedy - scored twice in his three appearances so far... sadly both in the wrong net! Had a poor game against Macc in the trophy game but did ok at Exeter out of position, now forth choice.

Callum Evans - Injured early in the season.

Scott Burgess - didn’t feature until the trophy game at Macc Town and Askey suggested he was looking to loan him out, scored a stunner that night and followed it up the next game at Orient with another goal. Been in and out since but was superb Tuesday on his recall, seems a decent option when needed.

Jake Taylor - Loan from Forest little was known as he is debuting in men’s football with us... scored a stunning goal at Orient and has three goals already from midfield for us, outstanding player with bags of potential, allows us to cope without Oyeleke... crucial we keep him in January on loan if we want to progress.

Mark Cullen - injury hit signing so far he scored on his league start against Mansfield as well as against Burton despite rarely featuring. Needs to get fitness and run of games but not a bad option to have when fit.

Jordan Archer - a victim of Burys demise he was stellar when he came on for his debut in the cup against Shrewsbury, pacey and powerful striker something we’ve lacked, sadly dislocated his shoulder at Newport the next game and has had to bide his time since. Looked good is the short glimpse we’ve had so far.

Rhys Browne - another one who’s has an injury hit start came on and tore Argyle apart on his debut down the flank; sadly injured soon after again but looks to have something about him.

Will Atkinson - a signing out the blue three weeks ago has done well in two right back apps and although was poor in his start against Macc (as were the other ten!) came on to score a last gasp goal Tuesday which will endear him. Looks a good jack of all trades type player who can fill in when needed.

 

[Si Robin]

Jacob Greaves - on loan from Hull - This boy is a bit special. He will be playing at least Championship level football next season and it won't surprise me to see him in the Premier League one day. He's just turned 19, but he plays like an old, experienced pro. He's stopping Will Boyle getting in the team and in July Will was arguably the first name on the teamsheet.

Jake Doyle-Hayes - on loan from Villa - Not as special as Jacob, but he has been fantastic for us. Another who has a big future higher up and a delight to see in a Cheltenham shirt.

Gavin Reilly - on loan from Bristol Rovers - Came in because he didn't want to be a benchwarmer at Rovers and he's done exactly what we needed him to. Scored crucial goals, been a great foil for Luke Varney and all in all been a great success so far.

Max Sheaf - on loan from Hull - Started brightly before picking up a niggly injury and now hasn't played since August.

Reuben Reid - Discovered he needed knee surgery in July so hasn't played a minute for the club yet.

Tahvon Campbell - Really hasn't got going this season. Now about 5th in the pecking order and last week picked up an injury in training.

Rohan Ince - Started on the opening day and did ok before being sent off for throwing a drink bottle over his shoulder and it catching an official. This then resulted in a 5 game ban. Then picked up an injury in the warm-up before his comeback game and has only made a couple of sub appearances in the past two games since as he tries to get back into first team contention. Still big things expected of him.

Charlie Raglan - Was on loan from Oxford last season and signed permanently in the summer. He's been steady as a rock and has built a great relationship with Sean Long on the right side of the defence.

Daniel Bowry - Struggled to get into the team as we're pretty stacked in defence, and went on loan to Bath City last week. One for the future.

Jonte Smith - Has come in and done a job. Been brilliant off the bench and scored a hat-trick in his only start of the season, albeit against West Ham U23s. Only on a deal until January but has more than earned one until the end of the season in my eyes.

 

[shoddycollins]

Other teams' players are now settled?

 

[JJ1532]

Ha, this should be a short one:

Olly Lancashire - Has come as advertised by Swindon fans. A very shaky and mistake prone defender, been injured a bunch to boot, which isn't great either. Really not sure what Artell saw in this guy, all we needed was a solid option to complement Eddie Nolan and we've had to rely on 36 year old Nicky Hunt instead as Lancashire has been pretty poor on the whole. Oh well, only another 18 months to go.

Daniel Powell - Been also as advertised. Looked excellent the first few weeks of the season, but has faded badly since and has been in and out the team in the last month. Scored his first goal 2 weeks ago at Carlisle, so hopefully that confidence boost will help. But he looks like a typical L2 winger, good every 1 in 4/5 games. Not really what Artell was hoping for I'm sure.

Chuma Anene(loan) - A total surprise of a pick up, but a very good one. Made an impact in a lot of his sub appearances, bagged 2 goals from the bench and been a very useful backup striker option. The one signing we made that has really made a difference.

So, all in all, not a great window so far. One poor signing, one average signing, one decent(for the role he's been asked to do). Probably need a loan or two in January(or not getting picked clean by vultures) to keep the promotion run going, namely a CB and maybe another attacker.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Ha, this should be a short one:

Daniel Powell - Been also as advertised. Looked excellent the first few weeks of the season, but has faded badly since and has been in and out the team in the last month. Scored his first goal 2 weeks ago at Carlisle, so hopefully that confidence boost will help. But he looks like a typical L2 winger, good every 1 in 4/5 games. Not really what Artell was hoping for I'm sure.

Similar performance frequency with us as well, although I always felt that he performed much better when in a more central role either as the main front man or just behind.

 

[E10rifle]

Lee ANGOL - Smart feet and a good finisher. Was just starting to develop a decent relationship with his teammates when he got injured for three months. Looks a reasonable player to me.

Louis DENNIS - Very good between the two boxes. Quick, skilful and talented on the ball. Absolutely zero end product; can’t cross and has missed a catalogue of presentable opportunities. The definition of flattering to deceive.

George MARSH - Spurs loanee who has struggled to break into the side. Which is a bit strange as he’s the only player in the entire squad who can tackle. A real weakness on the ball where he’s perfectly serviceable ability-wise but never gets his head up to assess his options.

Conor WILKINSON - Gills fans might be surprised, but he’s been excellent. Couple of cracking goals, good work rate and a constant menace for opposing defenders. Pity he can’t control his temper.

Josh WRIGHT - Probably the best midfielder I’ve ever seen, with shades of peak Gascoigne, Essien and Bryan Robson all rolled into one. The player that Hope Akpan wishes he could be.

 

[Indian Dan]

Lloyd Isgrove - looked a class or 2 above in the first 7/8 games but has been quiet since. Looked a bit like his old self Tuesday.

Jordan Lyden - way up high in the stats for most completed passes. Excellent player but with Anthony Grant being a similar-ish player I don’t think both playing together works that well.

Anthony Grant - what a beast of a player he is. Can’t speak too highly of him.

Adam May - looks a very poor loan from Pompey. Doesn’t even make the bench lately.

Doyle - the league’s top scorer with 10. Can’t understand how Bradford couldn’t get a tune out of him.

Jerry Yates - works his nuts off up front. Scored 6, so a good return.

Zeki Fryers - looks a very decent player now stuck as a CB after Conroy is out for the season.

Tyler Reid - no thanks.

Dion Donohue - the first decent LB we’ve had for years. Shame about the baggage.

Gab Zakuani - beast of a CB. A true head it, kick it, get stuck in player.

DJ - only just fit after coming on loan from Norwich. Played 30 minutes Tuesday and looked a right handful. With him and Isgrove on the wings will tie some defences in knots.

 

[Crewelad87]

Lloyd Isgrove - looked a class or 2 above in the first 7/8 games but has been quiet since. Looked a bit like his old self Tuesday.

Jordan Lyden - way up high in the stats for most completed passes. Excellent player but with Anthony Grant being a similar-ish player I don’t think both playing together works that well.

Anthony Grant - what a beast of a player he is. Can’t speak too highly of him.

Adam May - looks a very poor loan from Pompey. Doesn’t even make the bench lately.

Doyle - the league’s top scorer with 10. Can’t understand how Bradford couldn’t get a tune out of him.

Jerry Yates - works his nuts off up front. Scored 6, so a good return.

Zeki Fryers - looks a very decent player now stuck as a CB after Conroy is out for the season.

Tyler Reid - no thanks.

Dion Donohue - the first decent LB we’ve had for years. Shame about the baggage.

Gab Zakuani - beast of a CB. A true head it, kick it, get stuck in player.

DJ - only just fit after coming on loan from Norwich. Played 30 minutes Tuesday and looked a right handful. With him and Isgrove on the wings will tie some defences in knots.

That Donohue looked one of the most useless players I've seen at this level when you came here last week.

 

[LS Bantam]

Josh WRIGHT - Probably the best midfielder I’ve ever seen, with shades of peak Gascoigne, Essien and Bryan Robson all rolled into one. The player that Hope Akpan wishes he could be.

Just imagine our shock at being relegated with Wright and Akpan in midfield.

 

[LS Bantam]

Doyle - the league’s top scorer with 10. Can’t understand how Bradford couldn’t get a tune out of him.

Even better for us, Bowyer’s replaced him with Vaughan who he can’t get a tune out of either after getting him to do the exact same role he had Doyle doing of running around miles from goal somewhere near the half way line for 90 mins.

 

[Indian Dan]

Even better for us, Bowyer’s replaced him with Vaughan who he can’t get a tune out of either after getting him to do the exact same role he had Doyle doing of running around miles from goal somewhere near the half way line for 90 mins.

Yeah, but is it your style, is Vaughan just missing loads of chances? You don’t seem to have too much trouble scoring so why isnt Vaughan/Donaldson?

 

[Blue Lion]

We had too many new players to name them all but basically the keeper, defence and midfield are very solid but the strike force is toothless.

Theo Vassell and Paddy Osadebe are both surprise successes given how no other L2 team managed to get a tune out of either of them until they came here. Jak McCourt and Jay Harris were high profile signings (by our standards anyway) and have both delivered.

 

[LS Bantam]

Yeah, but is it your style, is Vaughan just missing loads of chances? You don’t seem to have too much trouble scoring so why isnt Vaughan/Donaldson?

Vaughan doesn’t have enough efforts at goal (often not near enough to it) and Donaldson tbf has missed a million sitters (now he’s out for two months). Midfield are doing their fair share for goals but it’d nice to play to a strikers strengths for once.

 

[AmberRich]

Luke Hannant - his performances so far this season have been the best of any Cambridge player this season. So far he's proving to be our best signing in a couple years. Energetic and versatile.

Kyle Knoyle - had a spell out injured but he's back and in the team. Overall I think he's done alright, had some good performances and some not so good ones.

Harvey Knibbs - Not got many chances so far. Scored the winning penalty in our shootout at Brentford also scored in the league so he's already had a better start than most of our recent strikers.

Andrew Dallas - Another young striker who hasn't had many chances. Been a bit homesick apparently after making the long move from Glasgow to Cambridge, scored his first goal against Exeter though.

Marc Richards - A few goals and a catchy fan chant has endeared him to a lot of fans. His goals have quickly started to dry up though and he's not great at holding up the ball which isn't helpful.

Samir Carruthers - Injured for most of his time here, when he has been fit you could see his talent. Probably sums up his whole career to be honest.

Jack Roles - A very talented footballer, but clearly there's some things he needs to learn which is why he's been sent to us on loan. Scored a few for us already from midfield.

Sam Smith - 5 goals already, don't think you can complain about that tally so far. Needs to improve his penalties though.

Dan Jones - Impressed everyone at the very start of the season then got injured after 3 games, hopefully finally back for the game against Northampton tomorrow.

Elliott Ward - Most fans didn't really want him, or simply didn't care if he did join permanently. Hasn't had a great start to his time here, but in fairness in the last two games he's made two great big tackles that have saved us.

Callum Burton - Back up goalie so not seen much of him yet.

 

[AmberRich]

Theo Vassell and Paddy Osadebe are both surprise successes given how no other L2 team managed to get a tune out of either of them until they came here.

Osadebe is a weird one, he seemed to have a decent enough record at Gillingham just fell out with fans and the club there, think he said something to a disabled fan. He came to us and we were told he was the best in training and he was an exciting player, but then he never got a fair chance under three different managers and even got loaned out to Newport where I don't think he played that much either.

There were glimpses at Gillingham that showed he had talent, Macclesfield are finally seeing a bit of it.

 

[hellogregory]

Josh WRIGHT - Probably the best midfielder I’ve ever seen, with shades of peak Gascoigne, Essien and Bryan Robson all rolled into one.

Suddenly I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s not every day you see a generational talent like that live. Should be well worth the train fare and admission price.

 

[F!RTHY]

Clayton Donaldson:

Perfect target man for this league. Notched a few assists and has a couple of goals, but no word of a lie, he’s missed about 5/6 sitters - like the one’s your nan could score.

Tyler French:

Young lad signed from non-league; he’s a bit raw but has shown potential.

Adam Henley:

Started the season at LB, but with Wood being in fine form, he’s found his chances hard to come by. He’s much better at RB, and the way Mellor has been playing recently, I’d probably bring him back into the equation. Decent back-up.

Sam Hornby (GK)

Vale fans presumed he’d start for us, but O’Donnell is far too good for this level - he never really stood a chance. Now out on loan somewhere.

Zeli Ismael:

Class above so far. Very tricky winger, who will score a few goals and assists this season.

Jackson Longridge:

Signed to be our first choice LB, but has hardly featured. Apparently, he’s homesick. Can see us selling him in Jan.

Paudie O’connor:

Very solid signing. BRE and Anthony O'Connor have a fine partnership going on, though.

Ben Richards-Everton:

My POTY so far. Is there anything this guy cannot do?

James Vaughan:

Undoubted ability at this level and L1, IMO. We’re not playing to his strengths and he’s fast becoming into the Eoin Doyle Mark II. He’ll come good, though.

Harry Pritchard:

A swap deal involving Sean Scannell with Blackpool. Great bit of business here as he’s offers far more than Scannell. 4/5 assists and 2 goals in 9 games. He makes us tick.

Matty Palmer:

Started to build a fine understanding with Callum
Cooke in midfield until a Scunny player crocked him the other week. Very good at this level.

Callum Cooke:

Far too good for this level. Would love to sign him permanently in Jan. I’ve not seen a better midfielder so far this season.

Jamie Devitt:

Quality at this level but he’s out injured until the new year. He’ll be ready and available when the football really matters, I suppose.

Aramide Oteh:

Young striker on-loan from QPR. Very talented and very quick. Has a goal and arguably should have a few more. Decent option to have.

Dylan Connolly:

The passionate fist-pumper himself. Very direct and absolutely rapid. Strange decision for Wimbledon to let him go out on-loan.

Overall, there hasn’t been a bad signing made. Ask me again in a few months.