Port Vale Thread
 

Hello all
Back by popular demand :D

Here's your Port Vale preview - ASFC News Story > 4242

Here are the thoughts of new boy Louis Moult, who's looking forward to getting stick from the Vale fans - ASFC News Story > 4244

Don't forget there will be minute by minute text commentary on the fishy site as well, today coming from Ben Shorrock - livetext

If you're out and about there will be goal flashes on Twitter - Accrington Stanley (@ASFCofficial) on Twitter

And a whole load of stuff will also be on Facebook - Accrington Stanley - Professional Sports Team - Accrington, United Kingdom | Facebook

After the game we'll hopefully have more from Mr. Moult as well as the usual match report, Coley etc.

Thanks!
Dan

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

It will be interesting to see what Coley does as far is the line-up is concerned for this one. We took hold of the game against Bradford when Craney and Lindfield came on and you can fit Craig in by taking out Taylor or Barnett, but you can't drop Procter or Joyce to bring in Craney. The only way to keep the 4-4-2 is to bench Craney. Maybe he'll revert back to 4-2-3-1 for this one, which may be a sensible move at a big away game. There's also an interesting choice between Murphy and McIntyre at the back. And will Moult start?

Who says we have no competition for places? :rolleyes::)

I'll guess at:


Which will be absolutely and entirely wrong, no doubt.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

here goes 4-4-2
Murdoch
murph
deano
hessey
long
barnett
proccy
joycey
mcintyre
fletcher
moult

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Starting line-up: Murdoch, Winnard, Hessey, Long, McIntyre, Procter, Joyce, Murphy, Barnett, Moult, Fletcher

Absolutely no idea what formation is coming out of that with five central midfielders in the team!

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Ok here goes... with the input of Dany Robson!

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The one thing that has changed in the last couple of weeks is what we now have on the bench!!!!

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Concerned that we have absolutely zero pace down the flanks and will have to rely on crosses from deep. Unless Moult is Drogba in disguise I can see us struggling for service, but I hope I'm wrong. Joycey will no doubt be key again; breaking up play and spraying the ball about. Come on Accy.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Looks a pretty fair line up to me, still no coid, whilst i rate him as a player, hope we aint bought a lame duck.:eek:

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Flecture can do a job down the flanks, I would think.

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Afternoon all. Can't be any worse than last Saturday!

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Vale 1-0 rigg.:(

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2-0 Vale. Sinking.

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3-0. Sunk.

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3-0 sunk.:eek:

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Send in the deep sea diving team 4-0

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LOLZ. Peterborough anyone?

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Right, sod it! Off to the pub to get ratted. :(

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Excellent call.

I'm off.

Let me know when they declare.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Well im here, 2 words, absolutely pathetic.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

were going to win 5-4, anything can happen think liverpool champions league final ;)

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Much as I hate to say it; you can't keep selling off the family silver and expect to serve high tea to the rich folks.

That said it's August and very early days. Again we have a raw and very young team built around a couple of old salts, we have to gel and we have to work; above all we have to want it. The biggest hurt is the goal difference so early on in the season.

Let's hope Coley and Jimmy can salvage this situation by working these boys into men of Leather, who will case down the sticks without fear and put them away.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

What a time to be on the wagon.......:o

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Vale 4 Stanley 1

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

full time Port Vale 4 - Accrington Stanley 1

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Dont think they have beaten us by that sort of margin since the season we returned to the League.

Bobby Grant got both Scunny's goals in their 2-2 at Charlton. Jimmy Ryan came on after 68 mins.

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Not to worry,only 3pts off a play off position.:eek:

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

another shambles like this and I'm applying to join the saturday pm knitting circle down at the W I. They will accept blokes under equal ops won't they ?

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

I believe it was a massive error to think we could go away to Vale Park and play that shape with the players we had available. Buck stops with Coley I'm afraid. Bad tactical decisions cost us. We must learn and move on.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Well I can safely say the 1st 45 minutes where without a doubt 1 of the poorest Stanley performances ive ever seen.

No passion, No pace, No will to win, backing out of tackles........... Just simply not good enough. I could understand if we got played off the park by a superb side,,,,, but Vale had nothing special, my opinion they where a better side at the beginning of last season, we where just terrrible. Its very rare that I boo my team off but make no mistake they deserved after that shambles in the 1st half.

The entire team (with the exception of Murdoch who could do nothing about all 4), where absolute garbage.

I thought we had turned the corner after the mid-week win but make no mistake Coley & Jimmy have ALOT of work to do to turn it round again.

I just cant understand why would you change a winning team?????

If Guthrie was injured then ok, but to put Mcintyre straight back in after his ban obviously didnt work, maybe Taylor wasnt fit either, god knows.

7 days to put it right again, as that really was NOT worth my £50 today !!!

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

you have hit the nail on the head shaker.Unbelievable to think you can go 4-4-2 away from home, leave two upfront,and two out hugging the touchline.
They played accis 4-2-3-1 formation,and did to us what we did to teams last year.
There front man Pope was strong and gave our cbs a rough ride,our centre mids tried to hold there shape,but were occupied by there holding mids,and there three mids floated around the gapping holes for fun,
Indeed,we made Rigg (nice boots) look like Messi,although to be fair,he looks made for that role.
The fullbacks were hesitant about keeping there shape,and everytime they went in field with the runners,the balls just got played into the vacated area.
It was like watching Acci last year,with jimmy,shaun and craney interchanging and moving the opposion around.
Only when we removed the widemen and a forward did we get a foothold in the game,but it was far too late,by playing a system were we gave them the width and stopped them running the game

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

disagree about the keeper smudgie,they scored diect from a free kick,and his job was to defend only half of the goal(wall blocked the other half),that was his job,and never got near it

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Ok if you say so, but it still cant be an excuse for how horrific the rest of them where, ALL game.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Like you smudgie,i was there,and just has disappointed,but put that aside for a second.
Match stats say we had 8 shots to there 9.we had 9 corners to there 2,possesion was 50-50.
You have to give them a bit of credit for the conversion ratio.
I remember last year,we had 22 shots in one game and didnt score !!
Dont get me wrong,we didnt deserve anything,but there first goal was the first on target!!
Wrong formation for me,especially away from home,

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Can i ask, how many of the 9 corners were taken long?

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Sorry my opinion, we where simply awful and NOT worth the expense !

Simple.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

NEVER boo your team off! Didnt agree with it at half time today and never will, doubt anyone were booin when we finished 5th only a couple of months ago!

Agreed today we were awful, but every time plays very bad sooner or later..

keep the faith, simples

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

A horrible experience. From the moment our defence parted like the Red Sea for the first goal the writing was on the wall and they were chasing shadows. After such a shambolic first half there was no way back, though we salvaged a little pride with our second half performance. The new guy from Stoke didn't seem to have anything in the tank, but it was a nightmare debut for him in that team. Best bit of the afternoon was the streaker's performance. Go on, Kippax, show us your pics!:D

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Poor Poor performance and gave away too many sloppy goals. Coley has a lot of work to do to get them to gel as a team. No positives from today for me except it can only get better!

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Reckon wi whats departed from the team, whats left,plus the new lads, will need a few more weeks to gel,Patience n support will help in my view.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

To those of you who went down, was it a worse team performance than the Southend game? Don't think I've ever been as exasperated as after that one.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Hard to say - the Southend game was so forgettable that I've forgotten it.;)

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Yes it was worse Lewi.

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I just saw the goals on Football League show and wanted to vom.

How not to defend: Volumes one through four.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Last nights ale may have contributed as well shaker?:D

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Now that the dust has settled,highlights watched,was it really as bad as first thought??.
The first 20 minutes we did ok,indeed,were the better team in terms of field position.
Indeed,they never had a shot of note.Then the wheels fell off and concentration lost for a 25 minute period.
All the goals were due to concentration and could have been avoided.
Indeed,longy switched off for the first goal(went walkabouts),played them on side for third(allowing the cross),and ditto for the fourth.
Hes been the best player this season by far,but he played within himself today,which suggests he may not have been 100% fit.
The second half was more even,indeed,once craney and burton came on we started to play on the deck.
Bad day at the office,but we move on.
ps-- whats going on with corners now?,we used to have set moves,but now just give the goalie catching practice(when we dont give it away trying to play short!!)

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

that was why i asked the corners question earlier, many these days seem short n get us nowhere,:rolleyes: to my mind to play short corners yeh gotta have better, more skillful lads than stanley got.! thats in no way knocking em, its just fact. imho.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Good point well made cashy!

I don't believe it's individual performances that need to be addressed (though it's clear McIntyre is not going to be of use to us as a starting player; perhaps his influence would be better felt on the training ground as John Mullin's was); it's Coley's tactics which leave much to be desired. By all accounts he's a great man-manager but in my opinion tactics have always been his downfall; whether it's sticking with something for far too long in the hope that it'll come good, having no second option when things are going wrong, or just the effective use of subs. I was proud of the way he admitted his error in not changing things sooner in the first two games and subsequently changed the formation to play Bradford. But yesterday he made a massive mistake in sticking with the system which we used to win that game. We played the wrong players in the wrong formation and we were punished by an effective side.
Someone in pre-season (I think it was Doug, apologies if it wasn't) noted that Coley displayed a hint of a defeatist attitude and though I disagreed at the time I've seen hints of it so far this season. Perhaps he is frustrated at the result of the club being run properly; that Eric and Dave aren't around to give him a massive squad that we can't afford. I don't know, maybe that's just negative conjecture after a negative (humiliating) result.
He has said himself that managers never stop learning and I hope that the lessons we've been given already this season will lead to change in the upcoming games. I know this is coming across as doom and gloom and attacking the gaffer but it isn't intended as such. In my view it's better to have glaring weaknesses made obvious in the first few games than to get a few results together and have everything fall apart in October. Perhaps this result will fire Coley into action and we'll have much more positive displays in the games to come. God knows he's got the ability to do that.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Dont get me wrong, we ALL need to be realists in this situation. We all know we over achieved MASSIVELY last season.

The target EVERY season is to avoid relegation, at least until we can move into a new stadium and attract a bigger fanbase.

Its just very annoying to spend my hard earned cash and seeing the blatant lack of effort which I saw after that 1st goal went in yesterday.

As for the alternatives........................ we havent got much. Taylor gives us a different dimension, and I was disappointed not to see him play yesterday, maybe he wasnt fit, who knows??

Moult had a shocker of a debut, but he wasnt helped by the complete lack of service.

As Coley said, "4-1 flattered us" which it did.

They have seven days to put it right, and at least work their BALLS off next Saturday.

Burton are no mugs.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Another positive from the game was pete murphys performance.
Defended ok,good on the ball,some great positive runs,hit the bar and scored!!,fair play to the lad,he never stopped trying

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

To be fair Murphy had a decent 2nd half.

Though he, along with rest was appalling in the 1st.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Right, now my two penn'orth.

I have to be honest and say that I am not as downbeat about yesterday as some other posters. I've not seen the stats but in the first half, I reckon we had at least 50% possession. As Coley has said, they had 4 attacks - and scored 4 goals.

I think the 4-4-2 idea was not a good one and that was one hurdle to be overcome. A second problem was that Charlie Barnett is wasted playing on the right. He needs a more central role. I was also interested to see that Guthrie was kitted out to play. I wonder if he failed an early fitness test.

Three of the four goals were down to lack of concentration. I happen to think that the free kick was unstoppable. Some free kicks are so good that they just cannot be stopped - and that was one. So I attach no blame to Murdoch for that one.

What seemed evident to me was that we still need time to gel as a team. But there are weaknesses. I was disappointed with Moult - too lightweight, I thought. I have an open mind on McIntyre - I'm not sure where he fits into the system. The Vale fans I talked to after the game were impressed by Murphy who certainly improved in the second half. In the first half, he was able to find touch with unerring accuracy.

Football19 has mentioned Long perhaps being unfit. In fact, he was caught very late by two attackers in the first 10 minutes and hobbled for several minutes afterwards.

I happened to think that Port Vale area well-balanced side with two big powerful and dominating central defenders and two strong centre forwards.

We could and should have done better - but I am not sharing the despair of others.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

some good points made,but in reality we had four centre mids in midfield,an holding mid playing at right back,a right footer playing at left back and two forwards with one start between them !!.
It was always going to be difficult,but the system of 4-4-2 is always going to struggle against the system they played.
My moan was no attempt was made to counter act it by either tucking the wide men in field to stop them playing thro us (give them the width) or at least drop a forward back to allow an extra midfielder.
If people can see it from the terrace,surely the coaches can

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

after conceding 4, its time to put Dunbavin back in goal.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Not a chance dav.

Murdoch has been class.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Thats not as daft as it first sounds.
I think Murdoch has given us what Dunbavin didnt ie good hands,coming for crosses,physical presence,but my reservations are his shot stopping and getting down quickly.
Hes not had to make many saves,but the stats on saturday made me wonder,where as Dunbavin is a great shot stopper

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

whilst a fair shot stopper, problem as i see it is the fact 90% of goal kicks,put the opposition on the attack, that just aint acceptable to me.:(

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Cashy,you may be right,but watching them warm up on saturday,you would have thought Dunbavin was the number one.
I do like the new keeper,but do we have a goalkeeping coach who could work on him?

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

aint sure,my bet is not, to me though its a big thing,attacking from defence, thought the reds kept the momentum fer 90mins against bradford n that factor was a major contribution to it.:)

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

You must have been watching a different Murphy than I was watching, when I could find him. He went missing too many times, Long had to cover for him leaving the centre of defence lacking. He is not a full back, he is not a defender, he is not a first team footballer. He was the same against Bradford, their winger walked past him on at least three occasions. OK, he may have never stopped trying, but he is just not good enough.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

He watches a different game to us all every week jeff.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Dont know about that Jeff.On saturday both fullbacks got stitched up on more than one occasion.
Someone had to go in field and press the ball as there three mids were causing all kinds of problems and the space left was exploited.
As a previous post i said our wide men were reluctant to do this and were more concerned with the opposing fullbacks joining in.
I presume they were playing to instuctions,so tactically we were all over the place for 30 minutes.
Murphys not a natural fullback,but i would love to see him in a holding centre mid role,and then we can see his true game.
PS thought Burton did ok when he came on

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Murphy did OK going forward when he wasn't putting the ball out of play and over-hitting his forward passes. However, he was skinned by his winger far too many times for my liking. That is where he is most vulnerable, and totally unsuited to the full back position.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Your probably right redraine,he does struggle against real pace,but put proccy,joycy or any other centre mid in that position and they would struggle as well.

Re: Port Vale Thread
 

Murphy got skinned on many occasions and looked lost when on the ball. At the moment there isnt too many options for a replacement but sure hope Coleys looking for one quick.