‘CLARKE DOES DESERVE CREDIT, BUT AN ELEMENT OF SELF-PRESERVATION HAS ALSO BEEN IN PLAY’
PHIL Sproson says he was always confident Port Vale would survive the drop, but admits he’s surprised by their resurgence in form.
The Valiants were looking over their shoulder at League Two’s bottom places after new manager Darrell Clarke found points tough to come by in the early part of his tenure.
He has since masterminded a stunning recovery with last Saturday’s 1-0 home victory making it six successive league wins - and in the process matching the achievement of John Rudge’s 1996 Championship side.
If they win at Carlisle tomorrow, that will equal a seven-match winning sequence not seen since 1893. The overall club record is eight straight wins.
Former Port Vale defender Sproson, who is now an agent, insists he always felt the Valiants would drag themselves clear of trouble.
“I never really thought they would go down because the squad should be somewhere between 10th and 13th in the table,” he said.
“I said that before the first game and I haven’t changed my opinion. I only became alarmed at Walsall with the second-half collapse and the poor goals we shipped in.
“Then there was the game at Mansfield where we had lost the identity of what we were trying to do.
“At that stage I was as fearful as I was when John Askey first took over once Neil Aspin left. In that season you felt we were on a runaway train and could have become a Notts County.
“This year, though, I thought we would slam the brakes on at some point because there’s enough quality in the squad, plus there’s poorer sides than Vale.
“It’s already been a remarkable run and even more so if they manage to keep it going.
“Confidence is everything in professional sport. The players will be floating going into training and won’t be thinking about the troubles they had in November and December.
“You can only deal with the present and the momentum is there.
“Are they going to get beaten? Of course they are at some stage because we are talking about Division Two football. Even the great teams in the Premier League lose matches.”
Sproson says he has been impressed by Clarke’s tactical flexibility during Vale’s turnaround.
And he pointed to the victory over Morecambe as the perfect example.
“I’ve enjoyed how they changed systems quite frequently, instead of just sticking with 4-3-3,” added Sproson, pictured.
“On Saturday they started with three centre-halves and wing-backs and then after the snow interval changed to four at the back. Darrell then switched to three at the back again later on.
“It’s ok changing formations, but the players have to implement them and embrace them, which they have done.”
Sproson, though, says that the time of the season has also had an impact on PORT VALE