Match Thread Port Vale (H) @ 15:00 19th March

The kind of referee I loathe. The Referees Association handbook should henceforward have as it's number one rule/piece of advice at the very top of page one...'No-one has come to watch you'.

 

No loss mate in truth.

 

Disagree. I would hope that we can persuade Paudie to sign new contract.

We need to bring in another dominant centre half to play alongside him though.

 

A centre half with a bit of pace would be a help. Don't think we've ever had such a slow centre back pairing.

 

Tell you what he made the tackle of the season to prevent a certain goal

 

It was a helluva tackle park, but rewind a few seconds and you’ll see why he had to make it.

 

Immediately following his own mistake that lead to the goal scoring chance.

 

Agreed. But all you can ask of any player selected to play by the manager is that they play to the best of their (limited) ability and put it all on the line.

 

I'd like to keep him because he's improved not exactly game by game, but certainly over time. But he's going anyway. To get out of Lg 2 we need two big, bad mobile centre backs who can pass.

 

I'm probably Paudies harshest critic but in reality he's be OK assuming we can get some mobility around him in that back line.

As it is, with Songo'o also running in treacle it's a painfully slow partnership that gets exposed far too easily.

 

I don’t think I’ve seen enough of them yet to make a call. Early indication is that they seem to have decent attributes, but perhaps injury prone.

 

I’ve only seen 2 games this season but in each one he’s made several good tackles and a couple of goal savers including the one yesterday and a bonecruncher against Bristol. I keep reading about his blocks and putting it in the line. I have to say he is certainly not a shirker and agree that he always seems to be doing his best.

 

Or even wider - back at Bolton!

 

I reckon Adams will come back for Songoo when Morecambe are relegated. City won’t stand in his way if they do.

 

GOOD!

 

So true how many times this season have we seen one of our players lose the ball and never tracked back to try and recover his mistake.

 

He's been the better half of every centre back pairing he's been in.

Now I'd like to see him be the second best centre back of the pair.

 

If you're not noticed, you've done your job properly.

If you've done your job properly, it won't even be a dirty game.

 

I find it interesting in that MH has now had five games and the away side has won all five.
It seems to me that the quality of the coaching and analysis done by travelling teams is very effective in nullifying the way home teams setup
and play given home teams are expected to dominate and play attractive football in front of their own fans.
In this league you have to have a very structured way of playing drummed into the players and a strong aggressive formula to control your home games.

 

There are 7 teams that have won more away games than home games, and we're one of them.

Generally speaking, League Two teams still win more home games than away games, so I don't think it's a case of effectiveness - particularly when you realise it's generally rubbish teams that win more away games than home games.

Swindon Town are the only team in the top 12 to have won more away games than home games, the rest of the sides are dross.

There might be a reason dross sides are winning more away from home than at home, though, but it's definitely not a division-wide phenomena.