PLENTY OF HOPE AND EXPECTATION BUT VALIANTS KICKED OFF CAMPAIGN WITH DISASTROUS BARNSLEY DISPLAY
PORT Vale writer CLIVE YOULTON is taking a look back, week by week, at the Valiants’ campaign. In the second feature, he recalls the opening-day thrashing at Barnsley and a tense Carabao Cup win against Fleetwood...
IF Port Vale were a lifeboat, they inexplicably sprung a few leaks from day one of the 2023/24 season. Losing 7-0 to Barnsley was a result that was to have irreversible ramifications for Vale in their ultimately futile bid to stay in League One.
Even now it’s hard to believe that Andy Crosby should lose his first-ever game as a permanent manager by such a margin.
Storm Antoni had ravaged the Cornish coast on the day Vale were blown off course in embarrassing fashion in south Yorkshire.
They were 6-0 down in 63 minutes on that opening day and the fact they only conceded one other goal was a blessing in itself.
By that time many of the visiting fans were on their way back to The Potteries.
“Unbelievable business” in the transfer market was how Crosby had described it. Unbelievable indeed. This truly was a scarcely believable result.
Fans couldn’t have felt lower if they had been told they were required to visit the dentist every day for a month.
The statisticians soon announced that Barnsley’s win was the biggest on the opening day of the Football League since the 1962/63 season.
It was one of many stats during the season that broke new ground for Vale.
Former Vale defender Adam Yates, summarising on BBC Stoke, said: “It was as bad a performance I can ever remember since being involved with the club.”
Keeper Connor Ripley had no chance with the goals thanks to the abject defending.
He and Funso Ojo were among three or four who could escape criticism. The rest were awful.
Dan Jones handed Barnsley the ball and the first goal, then scored an own goal. Not a great start to the season for a man who missed a large chunk through injury.
Crosby had opted for last season’s rearguard Lewis Cass, Nathan Smith and Jones despite having signed height and strength in defence during the summer.
Four of the 11 new boys started, the squad number bolstered by the loan signing of Swansea City’s Josh Thomas, while James Wilson was given a new deal.
It was a case of great build-up, lovely passing, but no end product.
Had the referee given Vale a spotkick for a shove on Ellis Harrison, the result may have been different.
Incredibly, Barnsley hadn’t had a kick in the opening 20 minutes and the natives were getting restless. Which makes the visitors’ capitulation even more incomprehensible.
Disaster struck when Jones tried to feed Conor Grant on the left flank on halfway and the ball was cut out by the flying Corey O’keefe.
He scampered forward, angled in a low cross behind the Vale defence where the predatory Devante Cole scored the first of his three goals with a simple finish under Ripley.
It was the first time Barnsley had threatened.
Harrison’s thumping header was brilliantly turned aside onehanded by on-loan Middlesbrough keeper Liam Roberts.
But then Vale started to look a bit ragged in their passing from the back with Smith and Cass both culprits.
Going in 1-0 down at half-time might not have been too damaging for Crosby’s side, but they conceded again in stoppage time.
Mitch Clark was unable to put pressure on a cross that flew across the box in between Ripley, Smith and Cass and the ball found its way to the far post where it was inadvertently turned into his own net by Jones.
An avalanche of goals crushed Vale after the break and Crosby was shell-shocked.
How do you walk into the bar after a game with your head held high and face the owners after that?
An amiable man, Crosby reportedly ripped into his players.
“If they want to be part of this club going forward I can’t accept these things on a regular basis,” he insisted.
“I didn’t expect that, a heavy defeat on the first day of the season against a team that did very well last season,” he added with a classic understatement.
The players and Crosby were left
in no doubt what the supporters – at least those that were left – felt after the final whistle.
Crosby added: “My message to
the fans is to stick with us. We value them. It’s really important when you’ve won or you’ve lost or you’ve drawn a game that you go over and show your appreciation for the supporters. They’ve paid their money to come and watch and I’m sure they didn’t pay that money to watch a 7-0 defeat.”
Crosby was obviously hurting and when asked whether the players were told of their shortcomings he added: “If you allow teams to put the number of balls they did in the second half into our box and you don’t mark in the box you are waiting for and accepting trouble.
“Certainly against the quality they have got at the top end of the pitch. They were ruthless with their opportunities.”
Crosby went on to defend Ripley, apportioning zero blame for goals, and said: “I don’t think Connor had a chance with any of the goals.
“It was the ease of how the opposition finished and where they were unmarked in our box which was the most concerning thing to me.
“We have brought in League One’s best goalkeeper.
I already thought that and I’ve learned that in the period of time he’s been with us.
“Off the pitch he’s a fantastic personality. He has got all the tools to be playing higher in my opinion. He will be massively important for us going forward and I don’t attach any blame for the goals to our goalkeeper.
“We will have to accept plenty of responsibility, me more than anyone else as I picked that team. I came here with the tactics to try and prepare for this game and highlight weaknesses we thought were in the opposition but we walk away being defeated.
“I am sure I will process this over the next few hours. I will learn a lot about myself in terms of my reaction and how I then transmit towards the group.”
Crucially, Vale had the chance to bounce back on the Tuesday night with a home League Cup game against Fleetwood Town.
They went a goal down after four minutes and everyone feared the worst.
Then Ethan Chislett showed Vale fans what they could look forward to for the rest of the campaign.
For all Crosby’s work ethic and emphasis on the team, it was individual brilliance that saved the team’s skin.
Chislett’s brilliant goal from the edge of the box to equalise sparked Vale into life.
The 3-2 win was a much-needed shot in the arm for Crosby and his squad.
Ripley, Cass, Smith, Harrison, Ojo and Grant retained their places from the mauling at Oakwell.
But there were starts for Chislett, Alex Iacovitti, Ollie Arblaster, James Plant and Thomas.
It made a difference. Among the substitutes were Jones, Tom Sang, Ben Garrity and Gavin Massey who all started in the weekend’s fixture.
Thomas was darting around like a fly around sandwiches on a picnic rug. An irritant to Fleetwood, he caused all sorts of problems but naive defending again did for Crosby’s side as they conceded just two minutes into the second half.
Vale showed a togetherness, though. Chislett’s delightful ball over the top found Harrison who prodded past the keeper and wide.
And despite Fleetwood having too much time in midfield, Thomas worked his way into the box and fired a deflected shot in for 2-2 on 58 minutes.
It got better for Vale when their best player on the night Chislett made it 3-2 with a diving header after Plant had played in Massey who clipped to the far post.
So, a morale boost was achieved and the supporters were treated to what would become a rare threegoal performance even though the defensive frailties remained.
But it was all very well doing it in the Carabao Cup.
Now Vale had to produce it in the league.