Tuesday 14 Feb

[YEO YEO YEO]

Do Port Vale ever accept when they've been beaten by a better team?

 

[stevowanderer]

I'm not just saying this, but the only team I've thought were better than us this season is Ipswich. We just simply can't defend.

Defending is a pretty important part of the game… if you’d had better refs, a better pitch, more strikers being fit, scored more, defended better, conceded less and had a bit more luck you’d surely be promoted by now with 15 or so games to spare?

 

[kieran_vale]

Frustrating evening. Once again concede three in a game. You ain’t winning many games if you do that. To be fair whoever it was that scored their first that was a brilliant strike but on the other two there’s certain basics defending like marking your man at set pieces or closing someone down if they are taking a shot that maybe we should think about trying.

As for Barnsley no strong opinion other than they won the rest is pretty fucking irrelevant. Seemed quick in transition or at least compared to us for what it’s worth.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Do Port Vale ever accept when they've been beaten by a better team?

Yep. See Ipswich, Peterborough, Oxford to name but 3. Better on the day all of them. None of them 'wow' though. Ipswich easily the pick this season.

 

[CTFCfan99]

Think Cambridge are in trouble, aside from one first half chance and a gift of a penalty they offered very little. We weren't much better in the first half but second half we controlled and deservedly won.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Defending is a pretty important part of the game… if you’d had better refs, a better pitch, more strikers being fit, scored more, defended better, conceded less and had a bit more luck you’d surely be promoted by now with 15 or so games to spare?

The frustration is, it wouldn't take even half of those things to be better. It's so frustrating...it's like league 2 littered with one or two better players. Worried about our game against you mind, could get a right thumping with our defending.

 

[PlymouthCasual]

Workman like 3 points in a needlessly open game. Cooper’s replacement Cal Burton has had an absolute stinker for the equaliser. Hopefully thats now out of his system

 

[Fuzzyvalefan]

Thought we were gash tonight. Barnsley did what they needed to beat us, nothing more, nothing less. 2 points from 21 is very concerning. 2 huge games coming up.

 

[stevowanderer]

The frustration is, it wouldn't take even half of those things to be better. It's so frustrating...it's like league 2 littered with one or two better players. Worried about our game against you mind, could get a right thumping with our defending.

We didn’t even get into top gear tonight. 9 clean sheets in a row at home too which is a club record. We’ve sorted our goal difference out in 2 games.

Santos has been amazing the last 2 games but always has a shitter against you. But with the form we are in (we have the most points of any team in the efl in 2023 so far) I fancy us against anyone right now. But also waiting to be brought crashing down back to earth when we throw in that inevitable crap performance at some point.

I’m not sure league 2 littered with 1 or 2 better players is right especially for the top 6/7 teams. We came third in league 2 albeit after a crap start and our squad now is miles better than that one. We only really have 2 players left that started that season plus Kieran Lee and Dec John who joined part way through. We had Eoin Doyle, delfouneso etc. Now we have Trafford, Bradley, George Johnston, Toal, Morley (who is so so good), Dempsey, Shoretire, Adeboyejo, Dion Charles. Some are loans obviously but they are all light years ahead of nearly every player we had and played against in league 2.

 

[BarrieOwl]

We didn’t even get into top gear tonight. 9 clean sheets in a row at home too which is a club record. We’ve sorted our goal difference out in 2 games.

Santos has been amazing the last 2 games but always has a shitter against you. But with the form we are in (we have the most points of any team in the efl in 2023 so far) I fancy us against anyone right now. But also waiting to be brought crashing down back to earth when we throw in that inevitable crap performance at some point.

I’m not sure league 2 littered with 1 or 2 better players is right especially for the top 6/7 teams. We came third in league 2 albeit after a crap start and our squad now is miles better than that one. We only really have 2 players left that started that season plus Kieran Lee and Dec John who joined part way through. We had Eoin Doyle, delfouneso etc. Now we have Trafford, Bradley, George Johnston, Toal, Morley (who is so so good), Dempsey, Shoretire, Adeboyejo, Dion Charles. Some are loans obviously but they are all light years ahead of nearly every player we had and played against in league 2.

Only cos you've played more games than us

 

[Greenacres]

That was an odd game, Charlton opened up really brightly, moved the ball around quickly and deservedly took the lead...I thought we could be on for a right old humping at that stage. We were poor for most of the first half and didn't really threaten much, they had a good chance to extend their lead but didn't take it. Second half we gradually got into the game...some of our passes found one of our players...last fifteen to twenty minutes it all went a bit frantic, we created some decent chances to score but our forwards couldn't hit the target...every time Charlton got the ball they just humped it downfield, dangerous tactic giving the ball straight back to us but given our inability to hit the target it paid off. Savage senior was sat in the stand to watch Savage junior make his debut...he looked pretty good, confident on the ball and made a few defence splitting passes. Unfortunately we are starting to run out of games and the number of points required to keep us up is growing by the week.

 

[kieran_vale]

The Vale fans are a laugh aren’t they

Pretty cheap of Barnsley it must be said to have your keeper actually stop the ball from going in the net and claiming crosses. Was hoping you’d have extended the same courtesy to us that we so nicely provided…

 

[codaplenty]

Good win against one of the best teams seen at Highbury this season. Superb defending by Fleetwood, we rode our luck a little but make no mistake there was confidence throughout the team. Their goalie only had one thing to do all night, pick the ball out of the net, a crackin goal created by Phoenix Patterson with a lovely deep cross headed in by Promise - and I hope he was on one tonight
Plenty of other results went out way with losses for the teams below us
Burnley only drew tonight so you can tell they are starting to get worried about playing us in the Cup !!!!

 

[Don Tonberry]

We weren't great, the usual struggling to find an end product against a side with no real intention of winning but the goal finally came in stoppage time. Hard to get too excited as our season is dead but a win's a win. Burton were poor and still well in the relegation dogfight.

 

[MUFCdon]

Fuck me, that was dogshit.

Tonight is the first time I could be convinced that the Gamechanger owners are pondering KM's future.

I don't personally want to see him go unless a proven replacement is lined up before his sacking.

KM is destined to manage in the Premier League, I don't think anyone both inside the club or outside looking in from afar would argue with. But 12 draws in 31 is growing more concerning by the week.

I would say destined to manage Barca or Real. Headed for the Champions League if he can get Ipswich Town into the League One playoffs.

 

[MUFCdon]

That's how I saw it. Another poor team who have strolled away with the points. We looked very disjointed second half.

Special word for their fans. Just over 600 and they're in and around the play offs with probably less than 1 and a half hours journey. That's a pathetic following and they made zero noise, even when winning comfortably. We would take 1500 easily in the same situation and we get half their crowds.

Another game where I've walked away thinking what a poor side they were, yet they've had about 4 or 5 shots on target and scored 3. A half decent team like Bolton will maul us in a couple of weeks.

Maybe they'll take more to an away game when the fixture doesn't clash with Valentines Evening/Welsh Open snooker.

Maybe they'll make a noise when they beat a genuinely good side.

The fact your side lost to a team whose fans didn't bother to turn up and those that did just shrugged their shoulders says a lot more about Vale aa a club than the Tykes.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Thought we were gash tonight. Barnsley did what they needed to beat us, nothing more, nothing less. 2 points from 21 is very concerning. 2 huge games coming up.

Yep. Very concerning. I can take getting beaten by Wednesday, Derby etc because they should easily have better squads than us. I thought we played quite well against Derby but just came up short. The same away at Wednesday. If we'd have played Derby how we played tonight they could have beaten us by 6.

I think even the Barnsley fans will think they were gash tonight and will come away wondering why it was so easy. 10 goals conceded in 4 games tells its own story. The first half I thought we were the better team, considerably. Second half was a complete mess.

Our form has nosedived and it has done since Clarke was rumoured to be considered for Portsmouth. Their CEO is from Stoke and apparently he was definitely interviewed for the job.

I genuinely thought at Christmas that we had a real chance of the playoffs. I didn't think any team we had played had been great, the standard of the league didn't seem a massive step up and our run of fixtures in January and February seemed kind, but we seem to have completely lost the basics, particularly in defending but even our touch seems to be 2 or 3 rather than 1. Once you get into a poor run of form, it's difficult to get out of .

 

[Si Robin]

Our 1-0 defeat to Bolton 10 days ago is looking pretty bloody good following their last couple of results.

As for tonight, trying to follow the game was a nightmare, what with having to entertain the wife with a lovely steak dinner and a film. With that being said, Bonds' goal was awesome, Cambridge's pen was a joke and our winner sounds like it was deserved.

Cambridge are down with FGR in my view. I don't think they'll let Bonner go and, more importantly, I don't think he knows how to turn it around.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Maybe they'll take more to an away game when the fixture doesn't clash with Valentines Evening/Welsh Open snooker.

Maybe they'll make a noise when they beat a genuinely good side.

The fact your side lost to a team whose fans didn't bother to turn up and those that did just shrugged their shoulders says a lot more about Vale aa a club than the Tykes.

I'm not sure I agree. I don't think many teams see us in this league as a 'big' game but if we were in the same position, playing say an Accrington away (not that much shorter of a journey and not a game we would consider as 'big'), we'd take 2000 and if we were winning 3-1, we'd at least make some noise. I thought it was a pretty pathetic effort to be honest.

And please don't use Valentines day as an excuse. Why do people feel the need to make a big declaration on one particular day. It's a marketeers dream and the plebs fall for it every year.

 

[Si Robin]

I'm not a fan myself, but the wife loves it. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Given how drunk I got last year, the wife wouldn't let me go to Cambridge again anyway!!

 

[leedsvaliant]

I'm not a fan myself, but the wife loves it. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Given how drunk I got last year, the wife wouldn't let me go to Cambridge again anyway!!

Fair enough. Me and the wife have never been overly romantic. I'm amazed as to how we've got 2 kids!

 

[Si Robin]

Keep it at 2, we tried for a 3rd (a girl after two boys) and ended up with twin boys!!

I've forgotten what it's like to not be tired,

 

[valefan16]

I'm not sure I agree. I don't think many teams see us in this league as a 'big' game but if we were in the same position, playing say an Accrington away (not that much shorter of a journey and not a game we would consider as 'big'), we'd take 2000 and if we were winning 3-1, we'd at least make some noise. I thought it was a pretty pathetic effort to be honest.

And please don't use Valentines day as an excuse. Why do people feel the need to make a big declaration on one particular day. It's a marketeers dream and the plebs fall for it every year.

It was a poor following, especially as we extended the free ticket offer to their fans as well but is what it is.

Better than the carnage when they came down the other year at least, wasn’t it a Barnsley fan a copper face planted into a rear window on the car park?

We are getting beat by better teams but largely because we are not doing the basics at the moment and that is the difference over the last few weeks compared to pre New Year.

We’ve somewhat beaten ourselves in games there for the taking especially the last two with some atrocious defending from set pieces (5 in 2 now!) and all of a sudden we’ve started scoring but haemorrhaging silly goals that should be bread and butter to defend against.

Almost as if selling our tallest defender and replacing him with a kid on loan who appears to be weak in the battle wasnt a good idea.

 

[Laker]

Our 1-0 defeat to Bolton 10 days ago is looking pretty bloody good following their last couple of results.

As for tonight, trying to follow the game was a nightmare, what with having to entertain the wife with a lovely steak dinner and a film. With that being said, Bonds' goal was awesome, Cambridge's pen was a joke and our winner sounds like it was deserved.

Cambridge are down with FGR in my view. I don't think they'll let Bonner go and, more importantly, I don't think he knows how to turn it around.

Yeah we’re terrible and are deservedly going down. We even had the ref give us the softest penalty ever, presumably out of sympathy. And still lost.

We had a great chance with Ironside first half but that’s the only real opening we created all game whereas Cheltenham had several good chances. The first was a wonderstrike but the second was so easy, such poor defending from our point of view.

I don’t think we’ll sack Bonner but I think he might walk if he thinks it’s in the best interests of the club. I’m pretty sad about it all, he’s completely lost his way.

 

[stevowanderer]

Yeah we’re terrible and are deservedly going down. We even had the ref give us the softest penalty ever, presumably out of sympathy. And still lost.

We had a great chance with Ironside first half but that’s the only real opening we created all game whereas Cheltenham had several good chances. The first was a wonderstrike but the second was so easy, such poor defending from our point of view.

I don’t think we’ll sack Bonner but I think he might walk if he thinks it’s in the best interests of the club. I’m pretty sad about it all, he’s completely lost his way.

12-18 months ago I’m sure a Cambridge fan on here said that Bonner would be managing in the prem in 5 years and would have a better career than Evatt etc. It’s amazing how one season can just derail that. Surely he would be your best chance of getting promoted from league 2 again if you do go down. Up until recently he’d done a very good job on a limited budget.

 

[Si Robin]

Yeah we’re terrible and are deservedly going down. We even had the ref give us the softest penalty ever, presumably out of sympathy. And still lost.

We had a great chance with Ironside first half but that’s the only real opening we created all game whereas Cheltenham had several good chances. The first was a wonderstrike but the second was so easy, such poor defending from our point of view.

I don’t think we’ll sack Bonner but I think he might walk if he thinks it’s in the best interests of the club. I’m pretty sad about it all, he’s completely lost his way.

To be honest, clubs like ours have ceilings and unless we have a large backer then lower mid-table League 1 is probably it. Michael Duff saw that in the summer and that was why he was quick to take the first remotely decent job at a higher club.

I admired Bonner for staying at Cambridge, but I do wonder if he'll look back and think Rotherham was a chance missed. He could end up on the same scrapheap as Liam Manning (though he has achieved more to be fair to him). I hope not because he seems a genuinely decent bloke.

 

[Laker]

12-18 months ago I’m sure a Cambridge fan on here said that Bonner would be managing in the prem in 5 years and would have a better career than Evatt etc. It’s amazing how one season can just derail that. Surely he would be your best chance of getting promoted from league 2 again if you do go down. Up until recently he’d done a very good job on a limited budget.

I don’t think Bonner is interested in the Prem, whoever said that doesn’t know him well enough. But I can see him ending up as a coach for the FA, either back room for the first team or involved in the youth teams. You’ve got to remember he’s a coach first and a manager second, he was coaching young players for over 15 years prior to becoming Cambridge manager.

I still think he’ll have a great career ultimately, he is an excellent coach. But he’s lost his way this season as a manager, partly due to the limited talent on players we have and partly due to how he’s used them. That’s not poor coaching, it’s just poor management/lack of budget to compete.

I don’t see Evatt going any higher than he goes with Bolton, he’s too abrasive in my opinion.

 

[Laker]

To be honest, clubs like ours have ceilings and unless we have a large backer then lower mid-table League 1 is probably it. Michael Duff saw that in the summer and that was why he was quick to take the first remotely decent job at a higher club.

I admired Bonner for staying at Cambridge, but I do wonder if he'll look back and think Rotherham was a chance missed. He could end up on the same scrapheap as Liam Manning (though he has achieved more to be fair to him). I hope not because he seems a genuinely decent bloke.

Yes you’re probably right. I was surprised he didn’t go to Rotherham, I don’t know what his reason was for not accepting or if the offer was withdrawn. As I said, he’s a coach first and foremost, and he’s a U’s fan. It would have had to have been perfect for him to take it.

Our clubs do have a ceiling and I get that. We also have a bottom four budget so it’s no surprise to be down here. But you always hope you can be greater than the sum of your parts like the last two seasons. We’ve been incredibly poor individually and collectively all of this season which is really disappointing.

 

[Luke Imp]

Another good result for us this time at Derby, although it sounds as though we were the better side at 11v11 before having to go into Accrington mode to hang on when it was 11v10.

Both goals were miles offside, the officials have had a right mare, quite embarrassing really because they weren't even close calls, and ironically enough, McGoldrick's disallowed goal in injury time was apparently onside (he's not in the picture on the highlights).

We've been very dull, risk averse and boring at times this season but one thing we have been good at is being extremely organised and stifling teams. Not always worked, but it's helped us against the top sides this season and kept us ticking over whilst we've been dropping points against bottom third sides.

 

[coronakopite]

Yes you’re probably right. I was surprised he didn’t go to Rotherham, I don’t know what his reason was for not accepting or if the offer was withdrawn. As I said, he’s a coach first and foremost, and he’s a U’s fan. It would have had to have been perfect for him to take it.

Our clubs do have a ceiling and I get that. We also have a bottom four budget so it’s no surprise to be down here. But you always hope you can be greater than the sum of your parts like the last two seasons. We’ve been incredibly poor individually and collectively all of this season which is really disappointing.

One of the rumours was that, because Rotherham wouldn't pay the demanded compensation, Mark turned down an all but agreed and signed deal for the move.

Whatever the reason, he (along with Waddock and Corr) have failed to get a tune out of an inadequate squad that has had some bad luck with injuries but was not set up to score goals at L1 level. Bad calls were made in both transfer windows - presumably driven by the lack of funds after investments in buying the ground, improving the training facilities and plans to replace the Habbin.

I'm resigned to relegation but hope and expect he'll step down by next week, to allow someone else to tidy up the end of the season. In the unlikely event that we win on Saturday because Oxford have also come apart at the seams with poor recruitment/replacement, that'll just prolong the agony.