Port Vale v Gillingham

[leedsvaliant]

Back at home again after two consecutive away games. We got a decent point against Peterborough after a disastrous performance at Bury the week before. The top of the league is still very tight and it appears that no-one is going to run away with it, lots of draws etc.Even with 1 point out of 6 we're still only 4 points off the top which proves the point.

We're strong at home and I expect us to go out and take the game to Gillingham (after our usual slow start). I'm a bit more confident when we play at home, although we've got a 100% record so far, so it's bound to come to an end at some point. Our best midfield is back and gives us a more solid base, but we've given away some really soft goals in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we've worked on this in training. I hope that Forrester is back but we have a goal threat in Jones from wide, who has 4 goals.

I don't know what to make of Gillingham. On the face of it, they've had a decent enough start but there appears to be some unrest amongst fans and a bit of dissent towards JED. They've got a decent squad, although I believe they still have one or two out injured and play quite narrow. We need to try and exploit that by pushing on the full backs. Again, Gillingham appear to be stronger at home, so I assume they'll be a bit more cagey at our place. JET once teared us a new one when playing for Bristol City, he literally bounced people out of the way and had a field day, so we need to be on our guard, but there's a reason he is playing in this league and not higher and I suspect it's because he's very inconsistent.

I'll go for a 2-1 win but a draw or narrow defeat wouldn't surprise me.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

I hope you don't have a decent left winger!

 

[leedsvaliant]

I hope you don't have a decent left winger!

We do actually in Jerome Thomas, he's getting on a bit and doesn't have the pace but he's a class act.

 

[valefan16]

Home I back us to win (four defeats since May 2015 I believe)

Toughy although we have had a decent record against Gills of late for a change.

On honeymoon so will miss it but hopefully a 2-1 win. Alex Jones and Sam Foley... JET for Gills.

 

[valefan16]

I hope you don't have a decent left winger!

Jerome Thomas. Started slow but starting to show some real quality now he's getting fully fit.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Jerome Thomas. Started slow but starting to show some real quality now he's getting fully fit.

Well we only have one right back at the club and he is suspended.
Our options are:
1) Play Deji there. Tried this before and he was an absolute fucking disaster. Bloody good centre half but looks like a paraplegic at right back.
2) Play Pask there. Tried this and was pretty much on a par with Deji. Though on the upside I guess the temptation to catch the ball won't be as great out there.
3) Play three at the back and wing backs. There are two problems with this, firstly we don't really have anyone who can play wing back, and secondly we are seriously shit at playing three at the back.

Oh, and congrats on getting hitched.

 

[PuB]

Nailed on Vale win

 

[joethegill]

We're actually better away than home this season. JET seems to turn up for away games which is a bonus.

Fancy us to get at least a point out of this. Dack should be back in the squad, and Wagstaff could start as we're struggling a little on the right - I believe he played RWB for Bristol City on occasion, a tactic we may employ on saturday. Don't feel the loss of Jackson is that big a deal really, he's been quite shit this season so far bar the Bury game (which I wasn't at, just from reports).

The midfield on paper is one of the strongest in the league but hasn't gelled yet. Doesn't help that Josh Wright feels that as captain he has to sprint all over the pitch leaving massive gaps where he should be, meaning we get overrun at times.

Bond
Deji - Pask - Ehmer
Wagstaff - Wright - Osadebe - Konchesky
Knott
JET - McDonald
​

Nelson, Hessenthaler, Byrne, Donnelly, List, Oldaker and Dack on the bench.

1-1.

 

[Randolph Haggerty]

How's knott doing? Really rated him when he was here

 

[joethegill]

He's alright, we haven't really found his position yet though.

 

[leedsvaliant]

We're actually better away than home this season. JET seems to turn up for away games which is a bonus.

Fancy us to get at least a point out of this. Dack should be back in the squad, and Wagstaff could start as we're struggling a little on the right - I believe he played RWB for Bristol City on occasion, a tactic we may employ on saturday. Don't feel the loss of Jackson is that big a deal really, he's been quite shit this season so far bar the Bury game (which I wasn't at, just from reports).

The midfield on paper is one of the strongest in the league but hasn't gelled yet. Doesn't help that Josh Wright feels that as captain he has to sprint all over the pitch leaving massive gaps where he should be, meaning we get overrun at times.

Bond
Deji - Pask - Ehmer
Wagstaff - Wright - Osadebe - Konchesky
Knott
JET - McDonald
​

Nelson, Hessenthaler, Byrne, Donnelly, List, Oldaker and Dack on the bench.

1-1.

Midfield looks very strong, especially with Dack to come off the bench if needed. We generally have three central midfielders, Grant and Tavares sitting slightly deeper with Foley slightly further forward, so I'm hopeful that we can combat a fairly packed midfield. Is this a formation you've ever played with wing backs?

You can bet your bottom dollar that JET will have one of his consistent games where he's virtually unplayable against us. McDonald I feel that injuries are catching up with him but Wagstaff is a good player. Knott is one who can be very inconsistent but is capable of scoring from distance.

My area of hope is your defence as it looks fairly inexperienced to me - if we can get the ball high up the pitch, we have the players to stretch 3 at the back.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Nailed on Vale win

There are few guarantees in life and a 'nailed on' Vale win is certainly not one of them. I wouldn't have it as a nailed on win even if you had lost 100 in a row and we had won 100. We're the patron saint of helping teams in a low ebb.

Plus, we equal a record of winning our first 5 games at home for the first time since something like 1934 if we win on Saturday - bound to come a cropper!

 

[joethegill]

Midfield looks very strong, especially with Dack to come off the bench if needed. We generally have three central midfielders, Grant and Tavares sitting slightly deeper with Foley slightly further forward, so I'm hopeful that we can combat a fairly packed midfield. Is this a formation you've ever played with wing backs?

You can bet your bottom dollar that JET will have one of his consistent games where he's virtually unplayable against us. McDonald I feel that injuries are catching up with him but Wagstaff is a good player. Knott is one who can be very inconsistent but is capable of scoring from distance.

My area of hope is your defence as it looks fairly inexperienced to me - if we can get the ball high up the pitch, we have the players to stretch 3 at the back.

Our defence is just poor. Ehmer and Deji both have decent enough experience at this level now but Pask is just a kid. Can't get much more experienced than Konchesky at left back though.

 

[ColB]

We'll smash the cretins.

Nah, it will be a difficult game tomorrow as Gills have a pretty good side on paper, especially up top. I was never one of those who rated Billy Knott during his short stay at the club. He's busy, sure. But so is a bumble bee. The obvious threat will come from JET and McDonald, the latter who I think is a pretty basic footballer but is a goal threat.

I fancy a draw, either 1-1 or 2-2. We have started to let in goals and don't look anything like as solid at the back as we did early doors, but we generally play very well at home and have some real quality about us ourselves in the likes of Grant, Thomas and Jones. Just a real shame that Forrester is out as I don't rate any of his replacement in Patersen or Cicilia.

 

[valefan16]

Thanks Last Waltz been a busy week!

In terms of how we go up top why not go with Alex Jones out and out after his four goals from out wide and have Shalaj and Thomas on the flanks in behind! Pace and quality up front. Would like Anton fit to bully them a bit as Gills have tended to be physical at ours in the past.

 

[MJA]

Looking at the league table there is very little splitting the teams but Gillingham clearly have defensive frailties considering they have conceded the most in the league so I would hope that Bruno sets us up to be an attacking force and to pressure Gillingham from the off.

We have been pretty tight at home so if we can get our noses in front I would expect us to go on and claim the points

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

The thing with us is that we actually better away than at home this season.
We have won 4 out of 5 away games so far.
It is when teams set up solid and we have to break them down that we seem to struggle, so I will be happy if Vale do come out all guns blazing.
Dack, Cody and JET love exploiting the space when teams push on against us.
Oh, and regarding you getting your noses in front, in each of the 4 away games we have won this season we went behind in every one!

 

[valefan16]

I don't see us going all guns blazing to be honest. At home we've conceded once because we play a cautious game and try to probe where possible for chances. Hence the one up top formation (which I usually detest) Bruno so far at home has it spot on. Always close and tough games with Gills though, expect a tougher game than the first three (although Scunthorpe have done well either side of us cruising them).

 

[Monkey]

Really looking forward to this one tomorrow. 3-2 Vale.

 

[ColB]

Nice weather, good pitch, should suit us today. Not sure how much of a footballing team Gillingham are, but from recent seasons I remember them more for their physical side than anything else. Not saying there's anything at all wrong with that as Bury were more physical and put 4 past us - Though a lot of that did have to do with the terrible weather on the day, and I'd fancy us to batter them at Vale Park despite the result a couple of weeks ago.

Dack and Emmanuel-Thomas are obviously two very dangerous and good players at this level and how they perform, or how much they aren't allowed to perform by us, will dictate which way this game goes.

 

[ColB]

Just for a bit of fun -

Bond (Just because of his surname)

Purkiss
Streete
Smith
Konchesky

Thomas
Grant
Dack
Foley

Emmanuel-Thomas
Jones

Would definitely be a top 3 side that. And yes, it's obviously a biased 11, so don't get your knickers in a twist!

 

[joethegill]

Just for a bit of fun -

Bond (Just because of his surname)

Purkiss
Streete
Smith
Konchesky

Thomas
Grant
Dack
Foley

Emmanuel-Thomas
Jones

Would definitely be a top 3 side that. And yes, it's obviously a biased 11, so don't get your knickers in a twist!

OMG THAT'S LIKE SO BIASED.

We don't really have many stand out players to be fair so it's probably a fair assessment. Maybe Wagstaff right wing but otherwise most of our lot are relative unknowns I guess. I don't know much about Vale these days to be honest, the lad Jones looks alright on the highlights I've seen, tidy finisher. I know Thomas played top level a few years back but no idea what he's like now, and Grant is decent enough. Other than that I don't really know!

 

[ColB]

OMG THAT'S LIKE SO BIASED.

We don't really have many stand out players to be fair so it's probably a fair assessment. Maybe Wagstaff right wing but otherwise most of our lot are relative unknowns I guess. I don't know much about Vale these days to be honest, the lad Jones looks alright on the highlights I've seen, tidy finisher. I know Thomas played top level a few years back but no idea what he's like now, and Grant is decent enough. Other than that I don't really know!

Same pal. Though anyone who knows anything about football knows that at this level Dack and Emmanuel-Thomas are quality players and would be certainties in any combined side in this league. Wagstaff and our Foley our two 'busy' players, not without some quality, and there's probably little between them.

Jones has surprised me, in that I knew nothing about him whatsoever, didn't expect anything from him and yet he's been scoring goals despite not even played as a striker which is his position. Thomas looked unfit in his first game or two but his ability is obvious, and although he doesn't have a lot of pace these days his intelligence and ability on the ball will make a mug of plenty of full-backs in League One.

You'll definitely score today, perhaps two. But I'm almost certain we will too, so should be a good game with goals. 2-2 I reckon, though it could finish 2-1 either way. There's no way in hell this game finishes 0-0, and you can quote me on that!

 

[joethegill]

Same pal. Though anyone who knows anything about football knows that at this level Dack and Emmanuel-Thomas are quality players and would be certainties in any combined side in this league. Wagstaff and our Foley our two 'busy' players, not without some quality, and there's probably little between them.

Jones has surprised me, in that I knew nothing about him whatsoever, didn't expect anything from him and yet he's been scoring goals despite not even played as a striker which is his position. Thomas looked unfit in his first game or two but his ability is obvious, and although he doesn't have a lot of pace these days his intelligence and ability on the ball will make a mug of plenty of full-backs in League One.

You'll definitely score today, perhaps two. But I'm almost certain we will too, so should be a good game with goals. 2-2 I reckon, though it could finish 2-1 either way. There's no way in hell this game finishes 0-0, and you can quote me on that!

Likewise, despite on paper having some excellent defenders we can't actually defend so we'll concede at least once. I just hope Josh Wright remembers he's a holding midfielder and stops trying to charge all over the place leaving huge gaps all over the place. That'd be a massive improvement since last week at least.

 

[joethegill]

We've changed it up a bit.

Bond
Pask - Ehmer - Deji - Konchesky
Wright - Byrne
Wagstaff - Dack - Osadebe
McDonald
​

I assume.

Or could be:

Bond
Pask - Deji - Ehmer
Wagstaff - Wright - Konchesky
Byrne - Dack - Osadebe
McDonald​

JET definitely deserved to be dropped after last week, good to see JED had the balls to do it.

 

[valefan16]

Sounds like we just haven't got going, lucky to be 1 down.

 

[GFCSludge]

COYG, make this pressure count.

 

[MJA]

Sounds like we just haven't got going, lucky to be 1 down.

Isn't that how the trouncing at Bury started?

 

[valefan16]

Isn't that how the trouncing at Bury started?

Yep. Let's hope our record of being far better second half under Bruno continues although sounds like Foley should of buried a header.

 

[ColB]

Terrible half from us. Gillingham have been solid (far from brilliant) and more than deserve their lead. We haven't turned up yet and Bruno needs to shove a rocket up some collective holes.

I'd rather Smurf start himself up front than Patersen. He really is awful, little shitbag fucktard.