Tuesday 20th Fixtures, full set!

[valefan16]

Am sure Mitch Clark will be delighted with the news Kettle is the ref. Suppose we were always going to have him do one of of our games at some point. Just need to be smarter about how we play him.

Be a tough game and generally in the past when playing Cambridge it tends to favour the home team so would edge towards them but I was encouraged by our last effort against Salford. We won’t hammer anyone as we are not that sort of team but looked more of a unit than the team that looked like strangers against Carlisle.

Well the formation was the issue with Carlisle, back to the trusted and we looked solid again against on paper the best strike force we will likely face this season. If we keep the solid side at least if we are out for form up front at least you’ve a chance of a 0-0 or a sneaky 1-0.

Cambridge have started well, not the best strikers on paper but seem to have clicked and found form, reminds me of when we signed Leon and Sodje, Darlo fans on here laughing at us and they hit 43 goals or something like that between them... faulted elsewhere but worked together.

As you say it’s a real home fixture this; they always seem to lose at Vale Park and conversely the same with us there (although recall a 1-0 win days after the last Potteries Derby with McPhee scoring!)

Both have lost 5-0 away to each other in recent years and both have been hit by 4 since the turn of the century.

Doesn’t bode too well but keep it tight and see what happens, we generally do well against sides in form and poorly against sides struggling so you never know with us.

Liked Hannant but he was a poorer version of Worrall and we needed some pace so Amoo was the right replacement; think tomorrow will come to soon for him though and Monty scored on Saturday so likely to be the Colombian cult hero and Woz on the flanks.

Only change possibly would be Robinson for Rodney but Askey likes Dave and he is pacey (very very pacey) still raw though and maybe better as an impact sub in my opinion.

Injuries have been a problem, depth is there but seem to be affecting the players all in the same positions! Full back and on the wings! Assume Cullen will be fit as he was touch and go and think Manny was back in training. If we get him back and in for Whitehead we’d have a real chance with his power in midfield but again think this will be too soon.

Whitehead and Conlon with Kettle worries me mind! Both love a good meaty challenge!

Hopefully a good game and not the Kettle show!

 

[valefan16]

Cambridge one of about 90 grounds in the football league we have a shit record at. Trevor kettle as ref might aswell not bother now expect penalties and red cards. Aslong as we win 1 of these 2 away games then I'd be happy it's better than what most would predict 2 draws from cambridge and oldham.

If only we could play at Crawley every away game! that’s a nuts away record we have there even when we are awful! In fairness we have only played 4 at Cambridge since the 90s losing 3 and winning 1 all be it conceded 10 scored 1. Not sure if the record was better before 2000 though!

 

[SVH]

I think the game could be won or lost in the center of the park.

Sounds like you have a couple in there that like a challenge or two so it could be a great battle in there with Digby and Boateng who are both very physical.

Like you say, let’s hope it’s not the kettle show.

 

[Andy Proctor]

If only we could play at Crawley every away game! that’s a nuts away record we have there even when we are awful! In fairness we have only played 4 at Cambridge since the 90s losing 3 and winning 1 all be it conceded 10 scored 1. Not sure if the record was better before 2000 though!

We won 1 nil there in 2002 with stephen McPhee scoring as my mate looked it up the other day. Yeah we have won 3 drew 1 lost 1 out of the 5 away trips to Crawley. Bradford northampton and crewe we have won quite a few there since around 2004ish too. The last 2 games we have had trevor kettle we have won but he did send Pope and mitchell clark off at forest green plus give us and them a pen.

 

[Carver]

If Port Vale are still hoping to 'piss the league' then they'll have to beat Cambridge comfortably...

 

[Andy Proctor]

If Port Vale are still hoping to 'piss the league' then they'll have to beat Cambridge comfortably...

We arnt a league title winning team as we wont score enough for that and not won a league since 1954. If I was to guess then I'd say we will finish around 6th.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

Are you playing Mansfield or Cambridge?

I remember we used to be so reliant on Amoo but he was always bloody injured. I do hope he isn’t fit tomorrow though.

Such a shame we can’t be at the abbey tomorrow to give Legge a warm reception.

2-1 to the U’s.

Don't know where I got Mansfield from haha.

To be fair Amoo hasn't always been available for us! When he is he can be a frustrating player, but someone that can win you a game when he's at it.

Legge is on his way to being a bit of a club legend if he sticks around for another couple of years. Him, Smith and our keeper Brown are our biggest strength by far. We now also have Mitch Clark at right-back who's probably too good for League Two, but without those three I dread to think where we would be.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

We arnt a league title winning team as we wont score enough for that and not won a league since 1954. If I was to guess then I'd say we will finish around 6th.

Our squad is more than good enough for the top 3. If we don't score enough goals with the players we have then the fault lies with the manager, nobody and nothing else. Most teams in League Two would give a bollock for players like Pope, Cullen, Robinson, Amoo, Worrall, McKirdy, Montano and Oyeleke.

 

[Chris FGR]

Bet Vale wish they were playing Mansfield....

 

[Casey]

We won 1 nil there in 2002 with stephen McPhee scoring as my mate looked it up the other day. Yeah we have won 3 drew 1 lost 1 out of the 5 away trips to Crawley. Bradford northampton and crewe we have won quite a few there since around 2004ish too. The last 2 games we have had trevor kettle we have won but he did send Pope and mitchell clark off at forest green plus give us and them a pen.

I knew there was a reason I dont like Port Vale...bar stewards the lot of them!

Casey

 

[Valiant Tyler]

Bet Vale wish they were playing Mansfield....

We generally play better against the better sides, teams that actually have a go at us! Mansfield have some good players but they are where they are currently for a reason. If we were playing them I'd almost say the 3 points to them was a given!

 

[valefan16]

Love Legge, always rated him since his Gillingham days when us and them battled for the title, obviously does a lot of work with the epilepsy charities and awareness and is a top bloke, actually killed someone at Crewe a couple of years ago though and got away with it

I think he has done wonders for young Smith as well and obviously he was a huge coup in the summer as seemed certain we’d lose him to a top L1 or Championship club.

Wins most things in the air does Leggey... just those spindles for Legges occasionally put the ball in the wrong net and gives 5000 Valiants regular heart palpitations doing Cryuff turns and dinks in dangerous areas! (Although does almost always get away with it!) haha the Salford attacker was done like a kipper with that!

 

[kieran_vale]

Bet Vale wish they were playing Mansfield....

Doesn’t everyone at the moment?

 

[valefan16]

I knew there was a reason I dont like Port Vale...bar stewards the lot of them!

Casey

I think it’s actually 4 wins! 3-0, 2-1, 3-1 and 1-0 I recall... nuts we usually are awful on long away trips but one of those weird quirks!

 

[valefan16]

Doesn’t everyone at the moment?

No! We failed three times to beat them last season, bound to be 2-2 again! Or we’d do our usual and help them on their recovery!

 

[Carver]

Our squad is more than good enough for the top 3. If we don't score enough goals with the players we have then the fault lies with the manager, nobody and nothing else. Most teams in League Two would give a bollock for players like Pope, Cullen, Robinson, Amoo, Worrall, McKirdy, Montano and Oyeleke.

Harry McKirdy??? Are you having a laugh!?

I was glad to see the back of him when he left us in the summer, only ever turned up for something like 1 in every 10 matches when he seemed arsed.

Amoo was a fanny when he was here and Cullen was a crock unfortunately.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

Harry McKirdy??? Are you having a laugh!?

I was glad to see the back of him when he left us in the summer, only ever turned up for something like 1 in every 10 matches when he seemed arsed.

Amoo was a fanny when he was here and Cullen was a crock unfortunately.

Pretty sure he was your top scorer? And I'm yet to see anyone actually rate a player that had left the club they support for whatever reason. But whatever you think of him, 11 goals in 38 games for a wide player is a good record at any level.

 

[valefan16]

Pretty sure he was your top scorer? And I'm yet to see anyone actually rate a player that had left the club they support for whatever reason. But whatever you think of him, 11 goals in 38 games for a wide player is a good record at any level.

He fell out with their fans didn’t he? His goal ratio was excellent for a winger but does seem to have the baggage. Amoo is quality on his day of course we saw that last season; I always hear at this level about a winger being frustrating but that’s why they are at this level, consistency is what gets them higher up the ladder.

We have a very good squad but doesn’t always matter, look at Mansfield and Notts Co for instance and even Salford.

We probably over achieved with the squad last season, it’s clearly better man for man now but need to integrate and ideally get them fit as we’ve struggled to get the likes of McKirdy, Cullen, Amoo and Manny right yet fitness wise. Not ideal with the amount of games and so forth but that’s the same for all the sides.

I think it will be a close division this year, the cap, covid and the max squad size has probably pushed the quality further down and some teams have picked up players they wouldn’t normally be able to so can see it being much closer than usual, maybe a lower points tally needed to go up and higher to stay up potentially.

It’s going to be tough for teams to get consistent as well with Covid isolations and the amount of games seeing injuries more likely. Not to mention the lack of fans making home games less of an advantage. I felt for example once Carlisle went ahead it’s difficult because normally the Paddock would be roaring the boys forward or trying to push them on yet there isn’t any of that. Assume this is a problem for all clubs too potentially. Mentally harder to get back into games or even in cases harder to hold on to games under pressure without your fans.

Could be a huge leveller this situation across the division.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

He fell out with their fans didn’t he? His goal ratio was excellent for a winger but does seem to have the baggage. Amoo is quality on his day of course we saw that last season; I always hear at this level about a winger being frustrating but that’s why they are at this level, consistency is what gets them higher up the ladder.

We have a very good squad but doesn’t always matter, look at Mansfield and Notts Co for instance and even Salford.

We probably over achieved with the squad last season, it’s clearly better man for man now but need to integrate and ideally get them fit as we’ve struggled to get the likes of McKirdy, Cullen, Amoo and Manny right yet fitness wise. Not ideal with the amount of games and so forth but that’s the same for all the sides.

I think it will be a close division this year, the cap, covid and the max squad size has probably pushed the quality further down and some teams have picked up players they wouldn’t normally be able to so can see it being much closer than usual, maybe a lower points tally needed to go up and higher to stay up potentially.

It’s going to be tough for teams to get consistent as well with Covid isolations and the amount of games seeing injuries more likely. Not to mention the lack of fans making home games less of an advantage. I felt for example once Carlisle went ahead it’s difficult because normally the Paddock would be roaring the boys forward or trying to push them on yet there isn’t any of that. Assume this is a problem for all clubs too potentially. Mentally harder to get back into games or even in cases harder to hold on to games under pressure without your fans.

Could be a huge leveller this situation across the division.

I can only see us getting better as the season goes on. Maybe most clubs would say that. But we're in 8th now despite playing nowhere near to what we would hope is our best, and haven't once had our best 11 out yet. For me our best 11 is the below, and that's a team that's good enough for promotion if the manager gets the most out of them. I'm on the fence somewhat about Askey. He's done a great job for us so far and I like the bloke. But I do think he tends to sit on the defensive/negative side and wonder his team selection a couple of games ago was just baffling.

Brown

Clark
Legge
Smith
Montano

Joyce
Conlon
Oyeleke

Worrall
Amoo

Robinson/Cullen/Pope

For me, that side goes up automatically if we can play it most weeks. But realistically it's not going to happen as Oyeleke alone just can't seem to string a few games together. Amoo gets injured a lot too, and that seems to be the case for previous clubs as well.

 

[Huntsman94]

Seems Cambridge v Port Vale is the only game anyone cares about!

Home to Orient who haven’t had the greatest start but neither have we. That said we’ve had a tough run of fixtures and hoping we can really start to kick on now starting with tomorrow. Think we’ll still be without Vaughan due to isolation so new striker Sam Smith might get the go ahead up top alongside Feeney and Woolery.

Going to go with a 3-1 home win.

 

[SVH]

What were Salford like on Saturday? I notice they had 60% possession at your place which is quite high for an away team.

Do you play deep and hit on the break?

 

[valefan16]

What were Salford like on Saturday? I notice they had 60% possession at your place which is quite high for an away team.

Do you play deep and hit on the break?

Varies we had 70% at Morecambe and lost!

Salford played the ball around a lot but despite their obvious talent we fairly average similar to last season I thought.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

Seems Cambridge v Port Vale is the only game anyone cares about!

Home to Orient who haven’t had the greatest start but neither have we. That said we’ve had a tough run of fixtures and hoping we can really start to kick on now starting with tomorrow. Think we’ll still be without Vaughan due to isolation so new striker Sam Smith might get the go ahead up top alongside Feeney and Woolery.

Going to go with a 3-1 home win.

Because we're both massive. Lol.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

What were Salford like on Saturday? I notice they had 60% possession at your place which is quite high for an away team.

Do you play deep and hit on the break?

Generally we like to keep possession but I actually think we're better when the other team has more of the ball, or at least we are generally more dangerous. I genuinely believe tomorrow's game will bring out the best in us, but it's League Two, so no result would be too surprising. In this league there's generally about 2 players that really make a difference for the better sides. There's usually next to nothing in it as even the better players in L2 can be somewhat inconsistent, which is why they aren't playing higher.

 

[valefan16]

Generally we like to keep possession but I actually think we're better when the other team has more of the ball, or at least we are generally more dangerous. I genuinely believe tomorrow's game will bring out the best in us, but it's League Two, so no result would be too surprising. In this league there's generally about 2 players that really make a difference for the better sides. There's usually next to nothing in it as even the better players in L2 can be somewhat inconsistent, which is why they aren't playing higher.

We love to allow teams possession and high press, hence why we beat most of the top sides last season we’d let them have it and suffocate them. Our problems have been poorer sides or more negative sides who sit deep and lump it clear or let us have all the ball as we don’t generally break teams easy. Better on the break with the pace and pressuring teams around their own box.

 

[Valiant Tyler]

We love to allow teams possession and high press, hence why we beat most of the top sides last season we’d let them have it and suffocate them. Our problems have been poorer sides or more negative sides who sit deep and lump it clear or let us have all the ball as we don’t generally break teams easy. Better on the break with the pace and pressuring teams around their own box.

Because we don't score enough goals at the moment, and also in the past to an extent, one of the problems is that we generally don't score early goals. If you score early against those sides that come to sit in then at some point they have to change their game plan. We should be after teams that do this from the off but rarely do it. Against Morecambe for one example it was just 5 yard pass-pass-pass and it got us absolutely nowhere. Even if you have to go direct against these sides, then just do it and make sure you have bodies in the box. That's all it takes sometimes to get that first goal, and then everything changes. It's why I'm still a fan of starting Pope in games as long as he's match fit, as we can mix it up with him up top and get the likes of Rodney, Worrall and Amoo around him.

 

[Son of Cod]

He looked good on Saturday.
Like a lot of players he seemed behind on his fitness levels and that led to some positional faux pas but hopefully he is back up to speed now.


Casey

Yeah he needs to have a full tank for you to get the best out of him due to the type of player he is. He's also coming back from an absolutely pummelling challenge against Stevenage too. His positioning was always decent for us, but he definitely sat deeper than then the rest of the midfield for a lot of his time with us. Sounds positive though, sticking to what I said in pre-season in that he'll be a great signing.

 

[chipmunx]

notloB at home for us - the game all Barrow fans looked for when the fixtures came out (no not because they are a big team Maisy). Annoying we can't watch in person and have to resort to iFollow.
We've drawn all 3 home games 1-1, but should have won all 3. If Quigley and Reid both play we'll win this one... 3-1 to Barrow, hopefully.... and hopefully followed by a great read in the Bolton (relegation) thread.

 

[Back in the DHSS]

Prenton Park isn't a ground we do well at, we usually lose there. Plus we cannot defend.

This could end up as another 3-2 either way or another 2-2 for us, I look forward to us creating chances and maybe scoring a few only for my expectations to drop as we concede for fun as usual and pick up more silly bookings due to our poor team shape.

Both managers are under a bit of pressure here, I'm not confident we'll win but if we're lucky we may sneak another 2-2 draw.

Can’t see there being many goals in this game. We are the total opposite to you at the moment in that we’re fairly decent defensively but awful in the final third. We are not helped by the absence of Blackett Taylor, Ferrier, Vaughan and Payne. Good time to be playing us really!

 

[kieran_vale]

Our squad is more than good enough for the top 3. If we don't score enough goals with the players we have then the fault lies with the manager, nobody and nothing else. Most teams in League Two would give a bollock for players like Pope, Cullen, Robinson, Amoo, Worrall, McKirdy, Montano and Oyeleke.

Whilst yes I agree these are all in their own way decent players it’s hardly Askeys fault that Pope took an absolutely abysmal penalty against Carlisle or Rodney misses an easy header from three yards out.

His job is to organise the team into a solid unit where everyone knows their role within it and by and large he has done that during his time as manager. The onus is on the players to do what we pay them to do so as far as I’m concerned it’s on them not the manager if we fall short.