The Wonder Of P.V.F.C.: Leyton Orient Vs Port Vale Saturday 20th October 2007

Lets face it nobody gave Vale a chance of any result today so the fact we were beaten to a side at the top of the League came as no shock. But for yet another of the caretaker coaching team, this time Mark Grew, to call the players gutless after the defeat today was yet another little reminder to the board that WE NEED A NEW MANAGER IN NOW. The problem we seem to have is the players are not responding to the management set up at the club. They are all training every week, and we are relatively injury free, but out on the pitch the lack of confidence shown is beginning to make us look like relegation certainties and not the Play Off contenders the board promised us after the buoyant pre season results.

Changes were again made to the line up, and this inconsistency cannot be helping the players, with Westwood, Talbot and McGoldrick all being left out for McGregor, Miller and Richards respectively. After Eckersley being sent off against Brighton, Paul Edwards resumed left back duty, and other loanee Atkinson remained on the bench. The home side had the best of the early play and could of scored right from the off when Anyon saved well from a Ibrehre shot. The home side looked to build on the early pressure again on thirteen minutes when Boyd hit the crossbar from a looping header. Vale's back four was looking surprisingly strong and they coped well with the home teams pressure football, but they were struggling to get forward and create in the opposition half.

But their patience payed off when they finally pressured the home teams goal when Rodgers spotted Richards unmarked on the edge of the box and fired in a great pass to release his strike partner. Richards met the cross with his head, but his header flew over the bar. As the home side started to pressure the Vale back line again towards the end of the half, Vale decided that the way forward was route one, and it payed off.

On 40 minutes a long goal kick from Anyon was flicked on by Richards and ran on to by star striker Luke Rodgers, who despite pressure from the home sides defense ran on to fire the ball past the keeper and put the Vale ahead going into the break. Totally against the run of play but when your in Vale's position you need all the breaks you can get.

Half Time Score Leyton Orient 0 - 1 Port Vale

As expected the home team came out for the second half all guns blazing. It didn't take long to get the home fans out of their seats and cheering them on as a header from Mkandawire sent Anyon scrambling. Boyd skipped past the Vale defence just after and was brought down in the area by Hulbert, but the referee waved play on to the disgust of the home fans.Vale then survived a goalmouth scramble as the failed to clear a ball into the box from Chambers was finally kicked away by McGregor. Although they had survived the early scare, Vale soon crumbled under the pressure in a seven minute blitz which saw them concede three goals.

First chance came to Mkandawire, whose header fired past Anyon on 53 minutes and put the home team level. The home side surged forward again an went ahead on 55 minutes when a pinpoint cross from Melligan was met by the unmarked Ibrehre and was headed past the stranded Anyon. With Vale looking like they had been hit by a South African Rugby player and unable to do anything about it, Orient put the final nail in the coffin when Chambers ran past the Vale defence with no challenge put in and was felled by Anyon in the box. Luckily the referee didn't send him off, but the resulting penalty was fired past Anyon by Boyd on 59 minutes, and the seven minute rout was over as were Vale's chances of any point's in the game.

It's difficult to know exactly what went wrong in those seven minutes, but the defence which had looked quite solid in the first half crumbled into shadows of themselves as Orient ran them ragged and put their chances away without any challenges being made on them. Where in the first half they had created opening's for the front men, the back line looked static and just not interested, looking to blame each other rather than take responsibility. Not one of the players looked like they could even mount any effort to at least try and get a goal back. In fact the home side looked more like the team going top of the table with chance after chance almost adding to the lead.

Glover brought on Westwood, Talbot and Willock to try and change the teams morale, but the game was over and the home side played out probably the most comfortable home win they will have all season.

Final Score Leyton Orient 3 - 1 Port Vale

After the match both Mark Grew and Dean Glover had scathing comments to make about the current Vale team and the lack of commitment shown by the players. But the comments made were not enough to stop Vale falling to their fifth defeat in six matches under Glover, a record now worse than Martin Foyle had in the same time in charge.
After the match Glover said " Whoever comes in will have the same problem. Unfortunately you have to work with what you have got and its about getting them to work for themselves. Its not only my position that's in doubt, but some of there's will be too. If they think they can play like this and have a future in football, they are in for a shock. It comes from within and they have got no chance. It's about how too progress as players and as people. If they want a better life after football they have got to do better than they are now, because at the moment they will be looking for other jobs sooner rather than later. It's sad but if they can't instill a bit of enthusiasm, passion and a bit of pride into what they are doing, they should not be playing at Port Vale. I don't think many of them can say they are doing that right now. "
Grew said " I've just told them they are gutless and spineless and the worst bunch of players I have seen here in 17 years. I'm not trying to kid the fans or anyone else they are just gutless. They defend and play OK in the first half, but when we concede a goal they just pack in. To me that's just spineless, no question. I want to tell them some home truths. In the end the players here are not good enough to keep us in the league below never mind this league. Unfortunately if I had my way I would get rid of most of them, but some of them are on bloody good contracts, so there is nothing the club can do about it. I want o see the chairman on Monday as I've had enough of it. Seventeen years I have been at this club and I can say I am embarrassed to be associated with this bunch of players. I'm not sure I want to be a part of it anymore.
It makes no difference if you're playing at home or away you have to have passion on the pitch. They are getting paid well and a bit of pride for he team, well that's what I was brought up on. Some of the players had a night out in London booked up and maybe they thought more about that than the game. Dean and I have our future to think of. The board has been good to us and given us time, but we both know its a results business and we are not getting them.
Myself, Dean, Andy and Martin when he was here, the kit man , the staff upstairs and the Chairman all have the passion for the club. The one's that don't have it are the ones who matter the most, the players. They come in, pick there money up and go home and that's all they are interested in. Not many stop after training unless you ask them. I don't know what we can do with them. We spend a lot of time practicing, but when they cross that white line it's their livelihood, and they have to produce. If they can't do it then they shouldn't be in the game. I've just told them to go to college and learn another trade fast because if another manager comes in this team will be wiped out if they can afford to do it and a lot of them won't deserve other clubs. "

Harsh comments indeed by the men at the helm, but for once I agree with them. The men who are currently at the helm of the club Glover and Grew, Andy Porter and ex manager Martin Foyle were all Vale legends. John McCarthy who commentates for Radio Stoke, and Robin Van Der Laan who worked for the station last year were also legends. It must be a real sickener to turn up and witness this bunch of losers week in week out. There is a lot to be said for keeping what is said in the dressing room in the dressing room, but Vale fans have been kept in the dark about what has gone on since pre season for too long, and if a rant from Mark Grew nudges the board into bringing in a manager sooner then its only going to benefit the club. All the ex players have at least shown they are all passionate about the Port Vale team, its just a shame the current bunch of players does not share their passion for the club. I have to agree it seems that a few of them turn up just to be paid, such as Richards and Lowe, but if the players are going out on the lash in London after the drubbing they got today, then surely the board should step in and take action, fine the culprits a weeks wages and maybe they will start to play for their money. A firmer hand is needed with these overpaid footballers who have never done a real days work in their lives.
I feel sorry for the few players that seem to try, like Pilkington, Anyon and Rodgers, but I fear they will jump ship in January if things don't improve and offers come in for them, leaving the team looking even more down the barrel of relegation than they are now. Its not a tall order for them yet, and there is a long way to got this season, but the F.A. Cup draw is on Saturday, and I hope we don't draw a non-league side as we are ripe for a giant killing act at the moment, and the last thing we need is another demoralising cup exit.

Port Vale Line Up