MATCHWATCH : Port Vale (h)

[windermereROYAL]

Happy with the result but a bloody shame the 12 year olds at the top of 1871 embarrassed us again by giving it big to the vale fans who are a credit to their club when the 2nd goal went in.
Cringe.

[Royal_jimmy]

Happy with the result but a bloody shame the 12 year olds at the top of 1871 embarrassed us again by giving it big to the vale fans who are a credit to their club when the 2nd goal went in.
Cringe.

They unfortunately do that every game. They're just idiots.

[72 bus]

Yeah but I have a good feeling about this.

If we don't lose and also manage to avoid a draw I'm certain we'll win.

[scumbag]

Happy with the result but a bloody shame the 12 year olds at the top of 1871 embarrassed us again by giving it big to the vale fans who are a credit to their club when the 2nd goal went in.
Cringe.

I can’t say I’m surprised. Unfortunately it seems most clubs have to endure these sort of morons.

[leon]

A woeful 70+ mins followed by a cracking goal and a bit of a mad finish. We are a very frustrating team to watch.

We are crying out for movement in midfield from Wing etc to make space to receive and play the ball.

The defence runs the ball into trouble or launches it for Smith who’s invariably up against two defenders.

And yet we have the quality to produce something out of very little.

[72 bus]

Christ, come on Kelv. Had to bury that.

Bizarre. He's so good on the ball. Confident with it. The second it comes to shooting he's all over the shop.

But at least he's getting chances.

So was Ejaria

[Royal_jimmy]

Looking at the games in hand teams have on us, a few of them are against sides in and around us in the league too, so both teams can't gain points on us.

3 points on Saturday are a must. It builds a barrier and more confidence as well as more protection from further sanctions from the EFL. If we win the next 2 games we'll be on 44 points. We'd need a hefty points deduction to be back in trouble.

[Royal_jimmy]

Happy with the result but a bloody shame the 12 year olds at the top of 1871 embarrassed us again by giving it big to the vale fans who are a credit to their club when the 2nd goal went in.
Cringe.

I can’t say I’m surprised. Unfortunately it seems most clubs have to endure these sort of morons.

Thought the 250 Port Vale fans tonight were an absolute credit to their club. Having to come back down here after the abandonment, backed another protest despite their tough position in the league themselves. I thought we were lucky not to be a goal down. I think they'll be alright if they can win their first game in hand Vs Fleetwood at home. Darren Moore is a great manager he'll turn them around.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

That was much more of a struggle then it needed to be. Vale were mostly poor. Persistence and hard work won it for us, even if quality was in short supply.

Even before his goal Wing was my MOTM. And what a strike that was. But then he’s my player of the season, so I may be biased.

Mbengue, Binden and Yiadom were, I thought, outstanding; Mola mostly good too. Not everything worked for Knibbs but a lot did, and his work rate cannot be questioned.

Much as I like Craig, I got why he was switched for Savage, and the switch worked.

This may be super critical because he does work so hard, but I feel Smith’s movement could be improved off the ball, especially when we’re on the break. He’s either offside or not losing his marker so he can receive the ball. He’s a good target man for long balls, but rarely looks like scoring. A bit more guile would be good. Maybe the coaches could get him to watch some videos of Le Fondre in his prime to learn a thing or two.

From ten points adrift to six points above the relegation zone is a fantastic achievement. Selles is delivering.

[traff]

That was much more of a struggle then it needed to be. Vale were mostly poor. Persistence and hard work won it for us, even if quality was in short supply.

Even before his goal Wing was my MOTM. And what a strike that was. But then he’s my player of the season, so I may be biased.

Mbengue, Binden and Yiadom were, I thought, outstanding; Mola mostly good too. Not everything worked for Knibbs but a lot did, and his work rate cannot be questioned.

Much as I like Craig, I got why he was switched for Savage, and the switch worked.

This may be super critical because he does work so hard, but I feel Smith’s movement could be improved off the ball, especially when we’re on the break. He’s either offside or not losing his marker so he can receive the ball. He’s a good target man for long balls, but rarely looks like scoring. A bit more guile would be good. Maybe the coaches could get him to watch some videos of Le Fondre in his prime to learn a thing or two.

From ten points adrift to six points above the relegation zone is a fantastic achievement. Selles is delivering.

wing has too much class for League one. Hopefully, if we have a club next year we can build a team around him.
How does he not have a song yet? His name ends in ing ffs

[Stranded]

Why have we played so many more games?

Is it because we are rubbish at cups?

Part of it yeah, some teams below/above us got further in the cups so had to rearrange their fixtures. Course some got some games postponed also. Sucks but all we can do is stay consistent and hope teams below us don't gain a lot of points with their games in hand.

Also mainly that we rearranged our postponed games relatively quickly whilst others have left it later. Oxford, Derby, Vale & Stevenage all rearranged for pretty much the first free midweek.

Means at the business end we are now mostly Saturday to Saturday whilst a lot of the teams around us have to play Sat-Tues-Sat.

The Bristol Rovers game will likely get postponed so we only have 1 midweek game in March & 1 in April. That is likely to br a benefit especially with a relatively small squad.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Happy with the result but a bloody shame the 12 year olds at the top of 1871 embarrassed us again by giving it big to the vale fans who are a credit to their club when the 2nd goal went in.
Cringe.

They unfortunately do that every game. They're just idiots.

Every fanbase has their share of dickheads. Ours are attracted to C1871 precisely because they can antagonise away fans. It is what it is, doesn't take away from the fact that C1871 has been a mostly positive initiative that has improved the atmosphere. Maybe make it an over 21s stand if you want to mitigate the downside.

[Stranded]

View on last night

Bright start for the first 5 mins or so but after that we seemed to struggle with Vale's shape - I think Selles said it was different than they expected mainly as it is a new manager. We did improve as the half went on without looking great but Ehibhatiomhan really has to do better with the free header or the shot after taking it down so well. We go in at 1-0 and likely pick them off in the second half.

As for the second half, Savage on for Craig gave us better balance against Vale's set up and we improved throughout the half - we created plenty of decent opportunities but either wasted them via a poor pass/cross or a terrible shot - as so often seems to have happened this season took a real thunderbastard from Wing to break the deadlock. Wing, Azeez and to a lesser extent Savage seem to be having their own goal of the season competition this year - we are very lucky to have a midfield with that ability.

After that, we always looked likely to get a 2nd and would have been great to see Smith get it but good to see us get a scrappy one. We probably should have at least got a 3rd but all in all ended up being a comfortable win, which sets up nicely for 3 more winnable games now.

[windermereROYAL]

Just a word on Button, what on earth was a doing punching that ball at the end there that my gran could have caught if she was still alive? simple catch into his chest, and they nearly scored from it.

[NathStPaul]

Just a word on Button, what on earth was a doing punching that ball at the end there that my gran could have caught if she was still alive? simple catch into his chest, and they nearly scored from it.

It's called a lack of confidence brought on by supporters such as yourself criticising him for everything he does. HTH.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Why have we played so many more games?

Is it because we are rubbish at cups?

Part of it yeah, some teams below/above us got further in the cups so had to rearrange their fixtures. Course some got some games postponed also. Sucks but all we can do is stay consistent and hope teams below us don't gain a lot of points with their games in hand.

Also mainly that we rearranged our postponed games relatively quickly whilst others have left it later. Oxford, Derby, Vale & Stevenage all rearranged for pretty much the first free midweek.

Means at the business end we are now mostly Saturday to Saturday whilst a lot of the teams around us have to play Sat-Tues-Sat.

The Bristol Rovers game will likely get postponed so we only have 1 midweek game in March & 1 in April. That is likely to br a benefit especially with a relatively small squad.

Agree - its good we've caught up with re-arranged games so early particularly as the international break will take a chunk out of the remaining weeks. Sat - Sat largely now will give us a big advantage

[Hendo]

Goal of the Season competition is going to be a difficult one this year.

Scored some absolute screamers.

[Stranded]

Part of it yeah, some teams below/above us got further in the cups so had to rearrange their fixtures. Course some got some games postponed also. Sucks but all we can do is stay consistent and hope teams below us don't gain a lot of points with their games in hand.

Also mainly that we rearranged our postponed games relatively quickly whilst others have left it later. Oxford, Derby, Vale & Stevenage all rearranged for pretty much the first free midweek.

Means at the business end we are now mostly Saturday to Saturday whilst a lot of the teams around us have to play Sat-Tues-Sat.

The Bristol Rovers game will likely get postponed so we only have 1 midweek game in March & 1 in April. That is likely to br a benefit especially with a relatively small squad.

Agree - its good we've caught up with re-arranged games so early particularly as the international break will take a chunk out of the remaining weeks. Sat - Sat largely now will give us a big advantage

Yep and if we win on Saturday (which if play as we can we should do - Shrewsbury have lost 8 of the last 12 as well) then we can sit back and watch next Tuesday's fixtures from a position of relative comfort.

27th Feb fixtures:

Derby V Charlton
Port Vale V Fleetwood
Wycombe V Cheltenham
Stevenage v Cambridge
Lincoln v Shrewbury

Of the teams at the bottom - surprised to see Cheltenham are on a 3 match winning streak and have a very favourable run of games - can see them pulling away as much as we look like doing.

[Stranded]

Goal of the Season competition is going to be a difficult one this year.

Scored some absolute screamers.

Have to have separate ones per player.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Also mainly that we rearranged our postponed games relatively quickly whilst others have left it later. Oxford, Derby, Vale & Stevenage all rearranged for pretty much the first free midweek.

Means at the business end we are now mostly Saturday to Saturday whilst a lot of the teams around us have to play Sat-Tues-Sat.

The Bristol Rovers game will likely get postponed so we only have 1 midweek game in March & 1 in April. That is likely to br a benefit especially with a relatively small squad.

Agree - its good we've caught up with re-arranged games so early particularly as the international break will take a chunk out of the remaining weeks. Sat - Sat largely now will give us a big advantage

Yep and if we win on Saturday (which if play as we can we should do - Shrewsbury have lost 8 of the last 12 as well) then we can sit back and watch next Tuesday's fixtures from a position of relative comfort.

27th Feb fixtures:

Derby V Charlton
Port Vale V Fleetwood
Wycombe V Cheltenham
Stevenage v Cambridge
Lincoln v Shrewbury

Of the teams at the bottom - surprised to see Cheltenham are on a 3 match winning streak and have a very favourable run of games - can see them pulling away as much as we look like doing.

Cheltenham keep going on these runs as they start getting cut adrift, but never finish the job and climb out. I think they may still go down.

I'd say Port Vale, Charlton and Shrewsbury also look weak, so it's probably 2 from 4 joining Carlisle and Fleetwood. I think we'll get 7 or 9 from the next 3 and simply not be in the equation.