FITNESS FIRST FOR VALE AS THEY PLAN AHEAD FOR SUMMER SHAPING
PORT Vale director of football David Flitcroft says fitness records will be a major part of putting a squad together this summer.
The Vale are hoping to take another step towards Football League safety when they are away to Crawley Town tomorrow.
Vale are nine points clear of the relegation zone, with nine games to play, after back-to-back wins at home to Newport County and away to Colchester.
Flitcroft told BBC Radio Stoke he and manager Darrell Clarke will study the fitness stats of the current group and potential signings when the squad is rebuilt this summer.
Asked about the criteria for contract renewals, he said: “Work ethic, running, wanting to run, being capable of running and working hard. We are looking at that all the time. We are looking at the stats, the figures and the numbers completed – distance running, decelerations, accelerations.
“We are studying all that at the minute to make sure who is capable, and that is an ongoing process. So, we are monitoring and assessing the squad. It is really important that we have that detail and that data around the players that we are potentially recruiting, but the players that are currently here – and giving them an opportunity to earn or win a contract at Port Vale FC.
“I won’t be making emotional decisions, and the manager won’t be because we don’t do that. It is getting the balance right. That is going to be the key to how we recruit and from a football balance, that is important for myself and the manager.
“We have spoken for hours about the balance of squad and combinations of players, certainly combinations of strikers and wide players. There is an assessment period going on, a review period.”
The director of football has also suggested players haven’t been written out of Vale’s plans at this stage as he and the manager review the data.
He said: “I am not skirting around it, but I am not committing to what is needed because we are really reviewing this group of players and also previewing players that might come in.”
Since Flitcroft was brought in on February 8, the club has recruited manager Clarke, fitness coach Daryl Taylor, first-team coach Andy Crosby and head of coaching Nathan Rooney.
Flitcroft said he is looking to bring more people in. He added: “There will be some strategic people coming in, consultants coming to advise us on certain things. Potentially a recruitment analyst that comes in to make sure that we have a really robust recruitment process.
“So, we have a panel of people that are gifted in what they do, they are knowledgeable in what they do, absolutely work crazy, great work ethic. I have a lot of people out to games at the minute to cover five or six games every time there is a programme of games on.
“So, yes, we are really driving forward with it behind the scenes. There has been a hell of a lot of work done, plus so much work to do.”
Flitcroft also said he is looking at the possibility of a college at Vale Park and he wants to give the club’s youth academy more support.
He said: “We have had people in to assess the potential of getting a real football college and a university system going to generate money.
“Covid has hit everyone hard. It has hit football clubs really hard, it has hit the hospitality industry, which is what we are in, the entertainment industry.
“We have to be ready if there is another wave or something next year.
“The club has to make money 365 days a year, it has to make money. And this has got potential.
“The academy has not performed to the level that I believe it can perform. I think it is an underperforming academy and it has not been supported like an academy should be. But we are looking at the whole aspect of that.
“We have got Nathan Rooney in from a head coach point of view that will drive the academy, who has loads of energy, passion and knowledge. His drive and passion to just ignite it so we do end up getting the best players possible to support the football club.”