Pope backed to reach Vale milestone to see off rivals
THERE’S plenty of confidence from Vale supporters ahead of today’s gamne, despite that disappointing performance at Morecambe last week.
And what are the views on winter breaks, the Checkatrade Trophy and late comebacks?
Debating these points and more are this week’s fans’ panel of CHRIS BENTLEY, from Norton; ANDREW BLAKEMORE, from Denford, and MARK PORTER, from Kidsgrove.
WHAT’S YOUR TEAM? Chris Bentley: Brown; Vassell, Legge, Smith, Gibbons; Montano, Conlon, Oyeleke, Hannant; Whifield, Pope. Andrew Blakemore: I’d go with the same team that got the point at Morecambe, with Leon Legge returning to the bench.
Brown, Rawlinson, Smith, Gibbons, Vassell, Hannant, Kay, Oyeleke, Conlon, Montano, Pope. Mark Porter: Brown, Gibbons, Smith, Legge, Rawlinson, Vassell, Conlon, Oyeleke, Hannant, Pope, Whitfield.
On the bench I would go with Hornby, Clark, Kay, Miller, Dodds, Quigley, Worrall.
WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION? Chris Bentley: There are no easy games in this league, but I fancy us to win 2-0 with Pope and Conlon to score. Andrew Blakemore: We need to be picking up three points, especially going into the festive period. I’m going for 2-1, Vale, with Tom Pope getting a brace to not only cement the points, but to get to his milestone of 100 goals for Vale. Mark Porter: I think we will be strong and we can get a couple of goals, so I think playing two up front will be positive at home and with goals from Pope, Whitfield and Oyeleke we will win 3-0.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS? Chris Bentley: There have been many Vale games over the years where I have sat with my head in my hands when we have been two or three goals down entering into the final 10 minutes thinking it would take a miracle to salvage something from the game.
However, at Morecambe the last 10 minutes were certainly what dreams of football comebacks are made of and served as the perfect reminder as to why we should always live in hope.
There was no question we were poor for 80 minutes, but anyone who decided to head back down the M6 missed an incredible finish, two goals and a penalty save, to ensure we secured a point from a game that looked beyond us all afternoon.
It reminded me of our visit to Huddersfield in the FA Cup 10 years ago which I attended when we were 3-1 down with 11 minutes to play and stormed back to win 4-3 in a remarkable game.
As the great Brian Clough once said ‘It only takes a second to score a goal’ and in football things can change very quickly. Andrew Blakemore: I echo the comments made by Port Vale Supporters’ Club chairman Mark Porter, following the EFL announcement that Checkatrade are ending their sponsorship at the end of the season, along with the agreement in principle in place with clubs to carry on with the current format providing they are happy with funding for at least three years.
Fans have tried to make their voice heard by voting with their feet across the entire country, with Vale’s 554 in attendance against Middlesbrough Under-21s being the lowest recorded at Vale Park.
Another I saw was Carlisle recorded their second lowest gate at Brunton Park against Stoke Under-21s.
I read Ian Holloway speaking in favour of the under-21s’ involvement, stating the competition is now a “much better” format.
He added regionalised draws were “important for supporters, because there is less travel and more local derbies”.
I wonder if Holloway saw anything of what happened at Vale Park last Tuesday to support his comments. Or the fact that Sunderland v Newcastle Under-21s is set to take place in the new year, and Northumbria Police have already put a statement out saying that they will come down hard on any disorder at the match.
We know these are not a “proper derbies” no matter how they may be dressed up.
The under-21 experiment in the EFL Trophy needs to come to an end. Mark Porter: approach Christmas one of the things that always crops up is a winter break.
For me, this should happen during January, from the second right through until the end of the month, give the pitches time to recover and give the players a chance to recover after a busy festive period.
On another note I like to think that some of those in charge at the top of the league have a look at distributing the wealth right through the leagues fairly, a team in League Two obviously doesn’t have the financial clout of the teams in higher leagues, so I think it is about time we got to see the money passed down to help with player development.
Look at Dele Ali, who came through at MK Dons. I think the development of a player can be no better than coming through the bottom divisions of the Football League, but obviously there needs a certain amount of investment in there to achieve the development of home grown players.
Is it time to have so many players in a squad from the local area or do we just allow the bigger clubs to pull further away from us? I know what I would choose bringing homegrown players in through teams like Port Vale and then letting the clubs cash in on their investment when they sell to higher clubs.
That way we will see a rise in fortunes of clubs like the Vale.
Finally I hope to see David Worrall back soon. Last season he was close to player of the season yet he isn’t even in the squad now and a fit and in-form Worrall enhances our team massively.