Two minutes with… Port Vale

Last weekend saw the league leaders Port Vale visit Underhill. Vale fan Dan gives his thoughts in this instalment of ‘Two minutes with…’

Pre-match

Had you been to Underhill before?

Yes, this was my fifth visit to Underhill since we were relegated to League Two.

How did you get to the game?

I travelled down on a combination of the train and underground with three others

The match

Whereabouts in the ground did you sit/stand?

I stood in the away terrace, relatively close to the home supporters.

What did you make of the game?

In all honesty, I thought it was a pretty drab affair with very few clear-cut opportunities. It was one of the poorest performances from our point of view all season. Barnet passed the ball around really well but lacked an end product in the final third of the pitch.

Who (from either side) do you think deserved to be man of the match?

Without question, Edgar Davids and John Oster were outstanding in the middle of the pitch, and totally dictated play in that area. A special mention to Andy Iro, who I also thought was very impressive and helped to stop top goalscorer Tom Pope from having any sort of effect.

Post-match

Was the score line a fair reflection on the game?

I think it was, in fairness. Barnet were the better side but for all their great passing play and build-up, they didn't really test our goalkeeper too much and ironically, it was Vale that had the best opportunity of the game as Tom Pope saw a header come back off the post.

Who do you play next, and how do you think you’ll get on?

Our next fixture is on Saturday where we play Morecambe at home. I should be really confident of a convincing home win but Morecambe are just the type of side to come to Vale Park and catch us with a sucker punch and take a 0-2 victory. I still think we'll win though.

Ratings

Cost of match day ticket

I think the majority of match day tickets in this division are an awful price. However, a discounted price of £13 wasn't too bad for Saturday's game but I still think every club in League Two should have a re-think as to what they are charging for fourth division football ––– 8/10

Purchases made at ground

I have taken it upon myself to rename the burgers at Underhill as 'Death Burgers' purely because they are not fit to be served anywhere, in my opinion. They consisted of a stale bun and a half-cooked, watery burger and a freezing cold cheese slice. Not good at all. However, no problem with drinks whatsoever and the programme is always an enjoyable read ––– 6/10

View

––– 7/10

Quality of football

I thought that there were a few glimpses of really fluid football played on Saturday, but mainly from The Bees. We struggled on the narrow Underhill pitch and were out-fought and out-ran thanks to Barnet's game plan of sticking an extra body in midfield with one up front ––– 6/10

Overall experience

I enjoyed the day as Barnet has been a favourite away day of mine for several seasons now. The train journeys were a bit problematic, but that isn't anything to do with the club. It's a great little ground with a lot of character, good acoustics, but it loses marks for its awful food and the lack of atmosphere from both sets of supporters on the day itself; coupled with a drab 0-0 scoreline and no real exciting moments. Going to miss Underhill ––– 7/10

Total ––– 34/50

And you can follow Dan on Twitter @DanPhillipsPVFC

Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part three

Gillingham

Michael – @mikeywoods89

8^th in League Two – “Just fallen short”

We lost a few players, in particular Paulo Gazzaniga who has joined Southampton, but we have brought in some good replacements and perhaps strengthened in areas that were otherwise weak last season such as the defence.

With the quality of players we have this season and Martin Allen in charge (hopefully he'll last the season), I expect us to make the play-offs as a minimum. I believe the highest we can aim for is 3rd but there are some strong teams in this league.

Rotherham and York are of particular interest – Rotherham because of the new ground and York because of the place itself, and it's a team I haven't seen us face before. Also looking forward to Burton Albion as it's the final game of the season and I have yet to visit Burton.

Morecambe

Jack – @MorecambeJack

15^th in League Two – "Room for improvement"

We have lost Lawrence Wilson our left back with a great attacking threat who I think we will miss terribly. We have brought in Robbie Threlfall as a replacement but it remains to be seen whether he can fill his boots. Garry Hunter was released, despite being Morecambe born and bred, but we have brought in Championship-level experience through Andy Wright from Scunthorpe.

Expectation is to stay in the league and with a reduced squad this year, anything more than that will be a success. We are going to heavily rely on youth this year and hope that we do not suffer many injuries. Showing relegation form over the last 7 months of last season, we really need a good start again this year to avoid being in a scrap at the bottom.

I think most Morecambe fans are looking forward to the Fleetwood games this year, as they become our nearest "rivals" once more. The York game also has some interest as we beat them in the play-off semis the year we got promoted (with a bit of controversy!). Other than that, I am looking forward to the Bradford games particularly at home on New Year's Day and our away game at Accrington which for the first time I can remember, is on a Saturday in spring rather than a cold Tuesday night in winter!

Northampton Town

20^th in League Two –

Oxford United

Jennie – @x_Jen_xx

9^th in League Two – “Disappointing, frustrating, inconsistent”

We've kept a lot of our key players, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, because something needs to dramatically change in our squad! I’m glad that we've kept Constable and Craddock, so I’m expecting a lot more from them this season. We've signed a couple of players who could be vital for next season and have a couple more on loan, such as McGinty and Cox, which should hopefully get the players fighting for their places instead of becoming too complacent!

I think a lot of Oxford fans will expect us to be in the play-offs by Christmas and if we're not... then I think Wilder will be sacked. It's a shame because I do like Wilder, but we can't just keep finishing in mid table in League Two because people will just stop going. By the end of the season, I think realistically we would be lucky to get in to the play-offs, but anything less would be heartbreaking for the club. We have a new chairman so hopefully that should push the club forward. A play-off place will be good enough.

I’m looking forward to Wycombe away – bit of a local derby and it's always a game that we look forward to. Exeter away too, just because there's some old rivalry there from when we were in the Conference with them! I’m hoping for a good cup run going as we haven't had one in a very long time, but knowing Oxford, this will not happen this season either!

Plymouth Argyle

Edward – @ArgyleEd

21^st in League Two – “Difficult, stressful, successful”

Our biggest loss is Simon Walton who we let go to Hartlepool for personal reasons. Walton was never universally popular but in my opinion really came through for the club last season during difficult times. He was made captain after Fletcher became manager and I believe his leadership made a big difference to a young and inexperienced team that were really struggling. He was also our top scorer, they were mostly from the penalty spot but by keeping his head under pressure he scored several goals that turned out to be vital in our League survival. He was never as good as we thought he would be considering what we paid for him back in our Championship years and some fans always held that against him but I believe that in League Two he'll be missed. Other than Walton our only losses are the loan players who returned to their clubs, they all played a part in our improvement in the second half of the season, MacDonald, Hemmings and Tsoumou all gave us a greater attacking threat that what was provided by our permanent players.

Jamie Lowry was brought in not long after Walton's departure, he's got a poor injury record but fans of his previous clubs mostly think well of him and think he'll do a good job in League Two, unfortunately he has suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out for three months. I'm hoping to see Luke Young play a big role for us, he's only 19 but has shown a lot of promise despite mostly playing out on the wing which is not his best position, if he gets a chance in centre midfield I believe he could have a very good season. We really lacked a genuine goal-scorer last season, it was a position that needed sorting, I like Nick Chadwick and Warren Feeney but neither of them will score the goals to keep us out of a relegation scrap. Fletcher's solution appears to be Welsh striker Rhys Griffiths, he's got a fantastic record in the Welsh league (180 goals in 181 appearances for Llanelli) but no experience at a higher level and at 32 years old quite a bit older than most players who make the step up to League football. If he can reproduce anything like the coring form he's had in Wales it'll be a fantastic signing but if he can't then we'll be left with a real goal-scoring problem. Andres Gurrieri signed after being released by Burton, he impressed here on trial last summer (supposedly we couldn't sign him then due to his previous club wanting compensation) and Burton fans seem to think he was ok for them, I'm happy enough with the signing and he's not the only new winger, we've also signed Johnny Gorman from Wolves on loan until January. If they can replace what we had with Hemmings and MacDonald and allow Luke Young to play in the centre of midfield rather than on the wing I'll be very pleased. Our only other signing so far is goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin who was released by Watford who says he has signed to challenge Jake Cole for the number one spot rather than to be back up, Cole however was impressive for us last season and I'd expect him to at least start the season as number one.

I honestly don't know where we'll finish this season. I'm not expecting a promotion challenge despite our owner's comments on expectations and wage budget. We came very close to going down last season and at the moment I'm not convinced our team is much stronger, what we've lost has mostly been replaced but as yet the quality of the replacements is yet to be proven. Without the stress of administration and no wages and the experience gained last season I don't think we'll be in quite the same struggle as we were last season but I'm expecting to be paying more attention to the bottom of the table than the top. I don't think we'll get relegated but if we are to leave League Two at the end of the season it seems likely it would be into the Conference rather than League One. It's important for our fans to remember that rebuilding from the disastrous period in administration will take time and if we can't yet afford to immediately compete for promotion then we shouldn't try to, if spending within our means signing cheap, unproven players for now and having a few disappointing seasons then that's a price worth paying, I hope our fans don't demand we put our future at risk again if things don't go too well. Right now I'd be content with a mid table finish and a season without the constant worry of relegation, after four desperately stressful relegation battles in a row I think we deserve a relaxing year. I'm also hoping to see some more attacking football, our ultra defensive set up worked for us in the desperation of last season but it was not much fun to watch, Fletcher has said he'd prefer a more attractive style of football and I think we have the players to do it if they're allowed to and there's not the immediate pressure to get results that a relegation battle creates.

With all three of Devon's League clubs in the same division the obvious fixtures to look forward to are the derbies between us, Torquay and most importantly, Exeter. However, as I am not too confident about our chances there's a fair bit of worry mixed in with the excitement and as I'm not a season ticket holder I won't be able to get tickets for the away games and so will have to follow them from home which never helps the nerves. Living in London I usually look forward to our away trips to the capital and some shorter journeys to make, AFC Wimbledon will again be my local game so that's a game I'll definitely be attending.

Port Vale

Matt – @pvfc_matt

12^th in League Two – “A complete mess”

We saw a few of our key players take up offers from clubs elsewhere.  The main two were definitely last season’s top scorer Marc Richards and tough tackling midfielder Anthony Griffiths.

Richards leaving was always on the cards and once Chesterfield offered him a substantially better wage than what we could he was on his way; mixed views from Valiants as to how much he will be missed. The bigger and more surprising loss was that of Anthony Griffiths who decided to make the move to London to join Leyton Orient.  A tough tackling, fully committed, hard working midfielder who would put his body on the line for the sake of breaking up an oppositions attack.  His distribution was not always the best but was certainly a part of his game he had improved upon during the last season.

We have completed the ‘signings’ of six players to date, although these are still currently subject to the ongoing administration process.  At time of writing this we are under the belief that the Football League have authorised us to complete the deals whilst still in administration.  These players are:

Goalkeeper Chris Neal who played a full part in Shrewsbury’s promotion from this very league last season and will make a very adequate Number 1 for us.

Defenders Dave Artell, who captained Crewe to playoff victory last season and is a natural leader and Richard Duffy who played in League 1 with Exeter last season and comes to Vale with a lot of good reviews.

Midfielders Jennison Myrie-Williams who showed a lot of promise with his speed and trickery on the wing whilst on loan with us last season, Ashley Vincent who is another pacy winger and joins us from Colchester and finally Darren Murphy who we are lead to believe could do a similar job to what Griffiths has done for us in recent seasons.  Murphy was part of the Stevenage side which one back-to-back promotions from BSP to League One.

We also have Liam Dickinson who has agreed a deal in principle providing he can prove his fitness after fighting back from a broken ankle.  Hopefully Dickinson can prove to be the replacement to Marc Richards after scoring goals at this level for Southend, providing he proves to Micky Adams that his ankle is fully recovered.  We have also had Tadhg Purcell on trial following his release from Northampton and he’s been banging goals in for fun during our friendlies. All in all Vale fans are very impressed with the standard of players we have signed so far this summer after seeing plenty of dross and deadwood brought into our club on the ‘cheap’ in the past.

I’m not too sure how we will get on at the moment.  Back in July it seemed as though we had everything falling into place.  We had announced the signings of six players, all of which are so much better than the usual standard of player we bring in. Our preferred bidder was seemingly a signature away from taking control of the club and building on his vision to see us back in the Championship in the coming years.  There was a real buzz around Port Vale again (something we have not had for many years now) and there was genuine expectations of us fighting competitively in the top seven and finally getting ourselves back out of this league. Then everything just seemed to go stale and for weeks now there has been nothing positive coming out of the club.  It seems our ‘saviour’ Keith Ryder is struggling to complete his takeover with talk of him not having the funds to do so and we are now back to square one with our administrators re-opening the door to other prospective owners.  We apparently have two other bidders looking into buying us out of administration but this will mean the process beginning over and will almost certainly mean we start this season in administration. Despite this dark cloud hanging over us, we could still have a decent season providing the stories of the Football League allowing us to officially sign the players we have brought in during the summer are true, and providing the CVA we have in place stays in place for any new bidders and we are not hit with any further points deductions. If things take a turn for the worse with regards to the administration then who knows what this season will bring.  In fact I don’t even want to think about it.

Well we lost some of the closer games that Vale fans always looked out for. Crewe and Shrewsbury both went up and Macclesfield suffered relegation. These were all fixtures that saw a large away following from Vale and were always the ones to look for first. With the clubs that are in this league for this coming season, I think it has to be York followed closely by Torquay.  Never been to York’s ground so it will be another one ticked off the list plus I am told there is a cracking weekend to be had up there.  We always spend the weekend in Torquay and this season will be no different and can safely say it is one of the nicest places in the UK – there is nothing like an away win at the seaside!

Pre-Morecambe thoughts (17.03.12)

So for those of you that don’t know, from time to time I get the opportunity to interview the Barnet captain to get his thoughts leading up to our next home game. It’s been a great chance to showcase some of the skills I learnt whilst studying for a journalism degree, as well as doing something that not only interests me, but is also a passion of mine. I started helping out last season, when our captain was Glen Southam. This season, our captain is Mark Hughes. Here is my first instalment for Look Black n Amber – seen in the match day programme for the Morecambe game last Saturday.

"It seems a while since we played Rotherham at home, with a couple of away games in the meantime. I thought we started that game well, creating chances and we got the early goal through Byrner. At the end of the first half though, having such a narrow lead always means you’re prone to throw that away, and had we been further ahead at the break, I think we would have got all three points. With Ricky and Izale in the side, always going forward, we had a fair few opportunities to extend our lead. As it was, Rotherham had a good spell in the second half, getting that equalising goal, and once we got reduced to ten men the game clearly swung in their favour. It was definitely a game of two halves. At the end of it though, I think we were all happy to get a point – they put us under the cosh a fair bit – but I think we played well with a man down, especially given the way we capitulated against Bradford previously.

We went into the Gillingham game the following Tuesday feeling positive and confident. Again, I believe we started well and created chances – when you have players of our quality going forward, you’re always more than capable of getting goals! Again we went into the break with a narrow one-goal lead, despite having chances to kill the game off before half time. Gillingham are a good side going forward, and there always seems to be a hatful of goals in their games. Once they got their equaliser quickly in the second half, we flapped a bit. Our heads didn’t drop when they got their second, but after scoring a third in quick succession it was definitely game over! Like the rest of the squad, I was frustrated at the end of the game because we hadn’t played badly, in fact I think it was one of our better performances of late – the scoreline definitely didn’t reflect the way we played!

We went into Saturday’s game against Port Vale knowing we needed to forget about the defeat at Priestfield, and if we played half as well as that, would be likely to get a result. We hadn’t been in good form, so to win our first game since the end of January was such a relief, and a real confidence boost for the boys! It’s always nice to score a winner in the final minutes of a match, and given the manner we have been conceding recently, it was good to finally have that little bit of luck. Ben scored on his debut, but I’d like to say congratulations to Andy for getting his first goal for the club – he came off the bench and was in the right place at the right time, with his first touch of the game! Hopefully now they’ll both get a couple more goals as well.

With Ben in the side now, and a couple of the youngsters coming off the bench, there is definitely competition in the side for places. We didn’t know until Friday that Ben was joining us – I’m not sure how long he’d known either. He was on the bench on Wednesday for Stevenage, so it was a case of White Hart Lane to Vale Park in four days. But we were all delighted he managed to get on the score sheet in his first game, and I’m sure he was as well – particularly on his birthday! He just wants to get the opportunity to play first team football.

We are expecting a test today against Morecambe; they’re a big, strong side with tonnes of experience, whereas we are a much younger side with players wanting to prove themselves. That doesn’t make them better than us though. We won 1-0 in the reverse fixture so I’m sure they’ll be looking to put one over on us this afternoon. Hopefully Pricey doesn’t cause us too many problems after Obita scored for Gillingham in that midweek game, although he’ll be wanting to show what the club missed out on! Going into games, we always look at how we fared in the previous match, so to win and ‘do the double’ over Morecambe would be very pleasing. A win would see us hit the 40 point marker, which would also drag a couple of teams back into the scrap again.

Enjoy the game"

Mark Hughes was talking to Lucy Waldon

League 2 season preview - part four

I thought I’d do something a little different and after completing the Twitter92 a month or so ago, I thought it’d be apt to see what my fellow League 2 supporters thought about their aspirations and expectations for their teams in the coming season. Here is part four (of four):

Port Vale       

Josh Green – Twitter

“I can see another bumpy season ahead at Vale Park! With all the off the pitch aggro we will be lucky to stay in the top half as everyone need to pull together for a promotion push and I can't see that happening any time soon. With attendances dropping (www.starve-em-out.co.uk) and increased pressure on the board all of this will overshadow anything that happens on the pitch!

Look out for John McCombe! Took pretty much every club award last season and I have every faith that he will do it again. With us not having much fire power our defence will have to be on top form once again.

I would say Crawley first game as this should give a glimpse of what we can expect this season not only with new players but with attendances/protests. Other than that Crewe and Shrewsbury are always tasty games as for some reason they seem to hate us.

With Micky back who knows what could happen over the next 46 games but it won’t be short of ups and downs. Enjoy the new season of Emmervale! V2001 OUT”.    
      
Rotherham United     

Gareth Simmons – Twitter – Blog

 “In all honesty, I really don’t know. It’s going to go one of two ways. We’re either going to be really good and be challenging for promotion, or, it’s not going to work and we’ll end up in the bottom third. This is due to the complete overhaul we’ve had this summer both with the backroom staff and playing staff. Also, we’re still two signing away from challenging for promotion.

From the games I’ve seen so far it has to be Lewis Grabban. He’s got a touch of pace, a trick or two and seems to have an eye for goal. He’ll certainly trouble opposition defenders and with the right partner, we could have a good strike force on our hands.

Not really got any games to look forward to, sadly. After Chesterfield went up our closest game is Bradford. Burton away is always a good day out, and obviously, I look forward to the game that will hopefully send us up, if we’re going to be challenging.

If Andy Scott can get two more signings, especially a big target man, then it could end up being a good season. Looking at our squad now, we just seem to lack a physical presence and some height. Another centre back wouldn’t go a miss as well as a left back. Then we could possibly be talking about promotion”.

Shrewsbury Town    

 Steve Bradford – Twitter

“I think this season will produce a similar finishing position to the last (4th), however I feel this will be our year to succeed in the play offs and gain promotion to League 1. The last few years we have suffered some bad lack with the Gillingham play off final winner in 2009 coming from a corner that never was in the 90th minute and last season’s phantom goal by Wycombe which went on to cost us an automatic spot. I feel lady luck may just be on our side this season and all will end on a high.

We have the ever reliable centre backs of Ian Sharps and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, but new signing Reuben Hazel won’t have dropped a league to sit on the bench so competition for places is high. I think this year in midfield Sean McAllister and Lionel Ainsworth will offer us more than they did last season, they both will have had a full pre season behind them and providing they keep fit I feel they will create a lot of chances. These chances will hopefully be converted by new signing Marvin Morgan who in my opinion is an improvement on Matt Harrold who we have sold to Bristol Rovers. James Collins, another new signing Terry Gornell from Accrington and promising youngster Tom Bradshaw will be fighting for a the remaining place alongside Marvin Morgan.

One game I was looking forward to before the fixtures were announced was AFC Wimbledon away as I have great respect for what they have achieved in such a short space of time. Hereford away is always one I look forward to as it’s an easy 3 points for us. Weekenders are possibly Southend in September and Plymouth in March next year. As well as grounds I have not yet visited which I want to knock off this year: Derby County (League Cup), Gillingham, Bristol Rovers, Southend, Crawley Town, Swindon Town and Plymouth.

Southend United    

Tom Ross – Twitter

“Anything less than promotion in my (and the rest of the Southend fans) eyes would be a failure we have a good squad which have jelled well during the last 12 months after everything that happened last season.

Ryan Hall and Jemal Johnson on the wings and Barry Corr and Neil Harris upfront banging in the goals are players to look out for. Alassane N'Diaye looks a beast with no-one getting past him. Kane Ferdinand cousin of Rio came in from the youth teams at the beginning of 2011 and has made the defensive-mid position his. And cannot forget about the defensive tank that is Bilel Mohsni, a bit of a loose cannon but when on form he is unstoppable! And can do a decent job upfront.

Looking forward to all of our games, most notably our local-ish games as once again not playing Colchester: Orient in the cup, Crawley, Wimbledon, Barnet and Gillingham”.

Swindon Town  

James Spencer – Twitter

“A few weeks ago when we hardly had a team I would have said we’d finish mid table at best but now we have signed a few quality players and done well in a few pre-season games I think we will certainly be challenging in the top 3.

I think Matt Richie, Paul Caddis, Jonathan Smith and also Alan Connell will be key for us this season.

It’s been a long while since we played Oxford so that comes about quite soon in late August – definitely one to look forward to; as well as the League cup game against Bristol City, which should be good”.

Torquay United  

Andy Charles – Twitter

“If you had asked a couple of weeks or a month ago I'd have struggled to find much positive to say. The appointment of Martin Ling was met with derision and we lost the heart of our team from last year (Bevan, Branston, Stanley, Zebroski) but pre-season and Ling's signings have changed all of that. Suddenly from being told we were looking a value price to be relegated we have pundits claiming we could repeat last year's play-off run. I'm looking forward to it now but we have a really tough start to the season so that will probably tell us everything we need to know.

Eunan O'Kane, now seemingly established in a central midfield role, has the ability to play much higher than League Two. He's been linked with a few Championship sides already and our worry is that we don't get to see much of him this season. Hopefully long enough to make an impact at least. The rest are all new boys, ones we are looking forward to see build a heart to the team. Keeper Bobby Olejnik is an Austria U21 international, Brian Saah has it to prove in the league all over again and striker Rene Howe can hopefully build a career now he is with a team that actually wants him unlike Peterborough. Most exciting signing is probably Ian Morris - a proper left-winger with a left-foot, something we haven't had in a decade. Look out for youngster Saul Halpin as well - real prospect who went for a trial with Derby last year and scored a hat-trick in his only game for their reserves.

Bristol Rovers home and away will be interesting to say the least after former manager Paul Buckle's questionable departure this summer - fair to say the fans do not like him a lot these days. Crawley because we just don't like them or their managerial staff and Plymouth because of the local factor. Hard to say we are actually rivals because we've played each other so infrequently - I just hope they don't go out of business before then which would be a tragedy for their fans. And personally, Barnet because it's nice and local for me and a lovely club to visit.

I'm just hoping the 'dark siders' we have among our support give Martin Ling and the new players a chance to build into a team. It's tough having so many new faces around at the same time after four seasons of almost complete stability and some of the signings (Chris McPhee, Martin Rice) returning to the club have been met with a mixture of laughter and disgust. And anyone hoping to come to Torquay as an away fan and sit down will be unlucky - our creaking main stand is being demolished and replaced with something bright and shiny - won't be ready until February at the earliest, meaning it's standing room only for visitors”.

And I would like to take this opportunity to thank all 24 fans for their input – it is much appreciated. Hopefully I’ll get to meet a couple of them (as well seeing a few familiar faces again) this season.

Read their blogs, follow them etc.