Week: - Tuesday 11th October & Saturday 15th October

[LeonTheGreen]

The Green train keeps steaming on, another good performance and 4 goals scored away from home. MK were very bad.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Our away support is fantastic compared to our home gates.

I will say it again, where is your energy for the likes of Accrington, Fleetwood and Morecambe? All these clubs have worse away support than FGR.

I'd say exactly the same. Where is the sustainability? Surely FFP rules must be broken?

We took nearly 20 times that number to Derby last week, yet here we are, both competing at the arse end of division 3.

 

[leedsvaliant]

The Green train keeps steaming on, another good performance and 4 goals scored away from home. MK were very bad.

I have to say, I thought MK dons were dreadful when we played them. Another game where I'm dismayed that we walked away with a 2-1 defeat. I can see them being relegated.

 

[leedsvaliant]

How are Shrewsbury in 8th? They were dreadful against us. So frustrating that we've let probably at least 8 points go from games we really should have been getting more from. However, we looked like a conference side today!

 

[FGR-Star]

I'd say exactly the same. Where is the sustainability? Surely FFP rules must be broken?

We took nearly 20 times that number to Derby last week, yet here we are, both competing at the arse end of division 3.

Don’t get all Billy Big Bollocks.

A game at Derby is really close to you and at a huge historic club. Of course you would take a lot of fans.

If Derby was as close to FGR we would take loads.

You are Port Vale a very average-sized League 1 club from a very large town. Not bloody Sheff Weds or Ipswich!

Port Vale have never particularly impressed me with their support away from home with numbers or noise.

 

[Chris FGR]

For FFP you’d need to be looking at home crowds more then what we take away tbf. Clearly we are higher up the leagues then our natural level, but crowds don’t win games.

We’ve had over 300 at a couple of our away games this season and had 173 at Posh on Tuesday. Think our average will be around 10% of our home attendance over the season which is acceptable imo.

 

[Fuzzyvalefan]

Don’t get all Billy Big Bollocks.

A game at Derby is really close to you and at a huge historic club. Of course you would take a lot of fans.

If Derby was as close to FGR we would take loads.

You are Port Vale a very average-sized League 1 club from a very large town. Not bloody Sheff Weds or Ipswich!

Port Vale have never particularly impressed me with their support away from home with numbers or noise.

I think if you look at our away numbers as a percentage of our home numbers over recent years, you will find it is superb.

 

[Chris FGR]

So last season in League 2 we averaged 227 and Vale 832.

So on average Vale took around 4 times as many away as we did, which seems about right comparing the size of the two clubs and catchment area. We are undoubtedly a small club, don’t think most of our fans have ever argued anything else.

 

[valefan16]

Don’t get the FGR bashing personally. They are a club punching above their historical weight and deserve to be here. Having been the place is tiny so do well to garner the support they do.

The positive is today again over 7000 there which is massive progress on our part and should be the focus not the away following.

 

[Laker]

We made it too easy for Wednesday today, did exactly the same as against Derby by giving away a soft goal from a defensive mistake early on and never looking like getting back into it. We pushed forward a bit more but we didn’t put Wednesday under enough pressure for me, we look like we’re playing in second gear at the moment.

Result was fair mainly because we were so laboured. Wednesday didn’t have to do a lot to beat us.

 

[thewwfc]

I have to say, I thought MK dons were dreadful when we played them. Another game where I'm dismayed that we walked away with a 2-1 defeat. I can see them being relegated.

Whilst we have yet to play them this season, relegation surely won’t happen - yeah I know they’ve been in L2 recently, and no-one is too good to go down, but I just feel like a change of manager and maybe some emergency loans in January, and they’ll be back up towards safety.

I think after last season’s rare case where there seemed to be quite a gap between the top teams and the crapsters, with a couple of exceptions it seems like the L1 table is returning to normal service where a couple of wins will put you right back in it and a couple of defeats will shove you right down the arse end of the table, so it’d be easy for them to turn it round.

 

[GeneralLee]

We are not a good side. That makes Exeter off the charts level of terribleness.

I don’t think they had a shot in the first 60 minutes. The effort they showed was embarrassing up until this point - What was that performance about/there didn’t appear to be much fuss by your supporters either when we went 3-0 up by half-time? They didn’t appear to receive much flack for it either. Eventually the combination of our own frailties and taking our foot off the gas at 4-0 let them back in the game with two unnecessary goals.

A genuine question - I am aware that we have our own three-sided budget stadium, however why is the new stand not covering the full way across the pitch? Visually it’s actually a brilliant looking stand but.

 

[Floreat Salopia]

How are Shrewsbury in 8th? They were dreadful against us. So frustrating that we've let probably at least 8 points go from games we really should have been getting more from. However, we looked like a conference side today!

Plymouth lost 5-1 to Charlton earlier on in the season. Plymouth sit top and above 7th place by 13 points whereas Charlton are 5 points outside the play offs and are a hefty 18 points behind Plymouth and most likely won’t be above them all season now. One game doesn’t define how a team has played over the past 12/13/14 games.

We’re where we are on merit and arguable could be a few more places higher up if other games went in our favour but that’s football.

I did expect us to be atleast top half and if not play offs when the first ball was kicked in July but our recent injury crisis has made me question that. However, we continue to keep picking up wins here and there and the job Cotterill is doing with us is brilliant. He’s proving myself and many other Salop fans wrong so far and long may it continue!

 

[kieran_vale]

I'd say exactly the same. Where is the sustainability? Surely FFP rules must be broken?

We took nearly 20 times that number to Derby last week, yet here we are, both competing at the arse end of division 3.

Have to be honest I don't get the point here. Away support is no indicator of FFP for a start and secondly it's not actually FFP we in the bottom two leagues have to adhere to its SCMP. None of them are violating that in so far as am aware and if they have an owner who is willing to invest money to make up the difference then that's a good thing surely? The Shanahan's have had to do the same with us. Would also say certainly in the case of Accy it is built on having a good owner and for my money the best manager in this league in Coleman.

 

[stevowanderer]

View attachment 17799

Where did you get the Bolton attendance from mate? Official attendance was 18415? Or am I missing something?

 

[denzel ecfc]

We are not a good side. That makes Exeter off the charts level of terribleness.

I don’t think they had a shot in the first 60 minutes. The effort they showed was embarrassing up until this point - What was that performance about/there didn’t appear to be much fuss by your supporters either when we went 3-0 up by half-time? They didn’t appear to receive much flack for it either. Eventually the combination of our own frailties and taking our foot off the gas at 4-0 let them back in the game with two unnecessary goals.

A genuine question - I am aware that we have our own three-sided budget stadium, however why is the new stand not covering the full way across the pitch? Visually it’s actually a brilliant looking stand but.

Rumours of a bug around the camp, which explains Key not being in the squad and only naming 6 subs.
The fans recognise that we are without defenders at the moment, which won't get any better with Sweeney going off injured. A poor performance but not off the scale. I actually thought Oxford harried us well and pressured us into mistakes.
The stand is like that because there's a railway line in the corner and Network Rail have an easement

 

[Rendlesham]

Personally I thought Lincoln City’s defence were awesome, and I don’t think they were particularly bad at time wasting either. Second half we should have had some reward for our dominance but that’s only our fault.

 

[Si Robin]

Rovers will never, ever get a bigger help than they did today. They weren't amazing, but they really didn't have to be. The first two goals are two of the worst I have ever seen us concede, the third was a corner, and I was queuing for a pint when they scored their 4th.

Weirdly, we looked ok going forward (though not likely to score), but defensively we were an absolute joke. 2-0 at half-time, it could have been an interesting second half. At 4-0 though, the game was gone, so Rovers could afford to let us huff and puff.

One of those games where you take your hiding on the chin, put it to one side, and move on to the next game.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Have to be honest I don't get the point here. Away support is no indicator of FFP for a start and secondly it's not actually FFP we in the bottom two leagues have to adhere to its SCMP. None of them are violating that in so far as am aware and if they have an owner who is willing to invest money to make up the difference then that's a good thing surely? The Shanahan's have had to do the same with us. Would also say certainly in the case of Accy it is built on having a good owner and for my money the best manager in this league in Coleman.

I agree that away support is no indication but I just don't see how it's sustainable in the long term. The guy who owns them is very rich but he's not got an endless supply of money. He must be chucking away millions every season.

Our owners, like most, have had to put some in over the last couple of years because of the nonsense of playing games behind closed doors but we are surely generating a good income and will ultimately become fairly self sufficient at some point.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Don’t get all Billy Big Bollocks.

A game at Derby is really close to you and at a huge historic club. Of course you would take a lot of fans.

If Derby was as close to FGR we would take loads.

You are Port Vale a very average-sized League 1 club from a very large town. Not bloody Sheff Weds or Ipswich!

Port Vale have never particularly impressed me with their support away from home with numbers or noise.

No Billy bollocks from me. I understand our place in things. We're probably half way in terms of the size of clubs in this league but we actually do quite well considering that Stoke has a population of about 250k and has 2 professional teams. In terms of our size, we're probably at our optimum level.

I'm pleased that you've managed to get to this level. It's a real achievement for what is essentially a village team. I'm just questioning whether it's sustainable long term. I'm eternally amazed that Accrington manage to do it, but as others have said I suspect it's down to their manager.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Plymouth lost 5-1 to Charlton earlier on in the season. Plymouth sit top and above 7th place by 13 points whereas Charlton are 5 points outside the play offs and are a hefty 18 points behind Plymouth and most likely won’t be above them all season now. One game doesn’t define how a team has played over the past 12/13/14 games.

We’re where we are on merit and arguable could be a few more places higher up if other games went in our favour but that’s football.

I did expect us to be atleast top half and if not play offs when the first ball was kicked in July but our recent injury crisis has made me question that. However, we continue to keep picking up wins here and there and the job Cotterill is doing with us is brilliant. He’s proving myself and many other Salop fans wrong so far and long may it continue!

Fair play to him and you. I saw nothing to suggest play offs from you but you're clearly picking up points and as you say, it was a one off game.

 

[HutchECFC]

What a load of shite that was.

As as been mentioned, there's been a virus going round the club, only 3 members of playing staff weren't effected by it. Sweeney is mates with one of the lads I go with, and text him mid way through second half the info on it.

But least we won the second half I guess?

 

[Rendlesham]

Don’t get all Billy Big Bollocks.

A game at Derby is really close to you and at a huge historic club. Of course you would take a lot of fans.

If Derby was as close to FGR we would take loads.

You are Port Vale a very average-sized League 1 club from a very large town. Not bloody Sheff Weds or Ipswich!

Port Vale have never particularly impressed me with their support away from home with numbers or noise.

Have I just witnessed a Forest Green Rovers fan telling somebody who supports a team who have spent the highest number of seasons in the football league without reaching the top division, not to be billy big bollocks. I think if you support a team who have such an underwhelming history, then you’re nothing less than loyal. I se FGR fans in the same light. Loyal fans of what I assume is their local team

 

[valefan16]

The Shanahans paid 4.5 million to save us (far above the market value) and have pumped over a million to sustain us through Covid and £1.5 million on ground improvements. So at the moment we have a far bigger outlay than income. Granted that’s changing due to massively improved home attendances etc but shows that most clubs do need investment that likely isn’t coming back to the owner pockets.

Anyone who thinks football is a good ‘investment’ is a fool. They are cash hungry hobbies if you want success. (Although Smurf clearly did ok we were left in a bad position).

FGR have invested im sure above their usual income but on they do seem to invest in non league rough diamonds successfully. Accrington have a great owner and manager and Morecambe have done miraculously well but look like it’s short lived.

Overall I flip back to the 1-1 draw when Vale and FGR first met at Vale Park a few short years ago… both teams going onto 5 points about this stage of the season and looking in serious threat of losing their EFL status… both just survived that season and now we’ve drawn as we always seem to do when we meet at Vale Park oddly in League One… a week after we both beat ex Premier League clubs. Let’s enjoy the progress rather than bemoaning their support. They are here on merit as are we.

Plus they owed us that late equaliser for us sorting them out with the title!

I for one hope this is a league one fixture again next season.

 

[kieran_vale]

Still not totally sure what the ref gave our penalty for to be honest. Did any FGR fans down that end have a good view of it? I’m assuming it was a handball but hard to tell.

I will take one thing from today, I’ve seen Vale teams in the past that would have just given up at 2-0 down and 10 to go but say what else you will about this squad they will keep trying to the end and got somewhat of a reward for it today.

 

[leedsvaliant]

The Shanahans paid 4.5 million to save us (far above the market value) and have pumped over a million to sustain us through Covid and £1.5 million on ground improvements. So at the moment we have a far bigger outlay than income. Granted that’s changing due to massively improved home attendances etc but shows that most clubs do need investment that likely isn’t coming back to the owner pockets.

Anyone who thinks football is a good ‘investment’ is a fool. They are cash hungry hobbies if you want success. (Although Smurf clearly did ok we were left in a bad position).

FGR have invested im sure above their usual income but on they do seem to invest in non league rough diamonds successfully. Accrington have a great owner and manager and Morecambe have done miraculously well but look like it’s short lived.

Overall I flip back to the 1-1 draw when Vale and FGR first met at Vale Park a few short years ago… both teams going onto 5 points about this stage of the season and looking in serious threat of losing their EFL status… both just survived that season and now we’ve drawn as we always seem to do when we meet at Vale Park oddly in League One… a week after we both beat ex Premier League clubs. Let’s enjoy the progress rather than bemoaning their support. They are here on merit as are we.

Plus they owed us that late equaliser for us sorting them out with the title!

I for one hope this is a league one fixture again next season.

Fair enough. I'd prefer to be playing Wednesdays and Boltons who fill the away end but I don't disagree that they are here on merit and it's remarkable that they have got to this level in the first place.

Amazingly for 150 people I could actually hear them singing, which is unlike some teams who bring 10 times as many!

 

[leedsvaliant]

Still not totally sure what the ref gave our penalty for to be honest. Did any FGR fans down that end have a good view of it? I’m assuming it was a handball but hard to tell.

I will take one thing from today, I’ve seen Vale teams in the past that would have just given up at 2-0 down and 10 to go but say what else you will about this squad they will keep trying to the end and got somewhat of a reward for it today.

Absolutely no idea what it was given for, although I was at the other end of the ground. None of the players seemed to appeal but likewise none of their players seemed to angry.

 

[Gassy]

Rovers will never, ever get a bigger help than they did today. They weren't amazing, but they really didn't have to be. The first two goals are two of the worst I have ever seen us concede, the third was a corner, and I was queuing for a pint when they scored their 4th.

Weirdly, we looked ok going forward (though not likely to score), but defensively we were an absolute joke. 2-0 at half-time, it could have been an interesting second half. At 4-0 though, the game was gone, so Rovers could afford to let us huff and puff.

One of those games where you take your hiding on the chin, put it to one side, and move on to the next game.

Yeah it’s gonna be a very interesting few weeks for us. We’ve definitely improved and are becoming a lot more clinical while generally getting better at the back - taking 10/12 points recently.

However, our next 3 games are Plymouth, Wednesday & Derby (Plymouth home the rest away) which I’m sure will be a very very different test.

 

[valefan16]

Fair enough. I'd prefer to be playing Wednesdays and Boltons who fill the away end but I don't disagree that they are here on merit and it's remarkable that they have got to this level in the first place.

Amazingly for 150 people I could actually hear them singing, which is unlike some teams who bring 10 times as many!

Unless we get to the Championship that won’t happen every week, although fair bloody play to Ipswich; sold 1500 and having an extra batch for a Tuesday night is pretty good going considering the distance.

 

[valefan16]

Absolutely no idea what it was given for, although I was at the other end of the ground. None of the players seemed to appeal but likewise none of their players seemed to angry.

Handball, it’s hard to tell on the highlights. Oddly 73 games without a penalty then 3 in 2! We are owed a few I guess!

Although only on the steam what a bonkers away kit FGR have. Quite like their “out there kits” will look like a right art attack gone wrong at their place if we wear our blue one at theirs.