Players playing for a contract v The Valiants | Vital Football

Players playing for a contract v The Valiants

jocklatic

jocklatic

Vital 1st Team Regular
Well it's Port Vale up next & I wonder what team selection SM will pull from his tinkering box. With so many players not knowing if they'll be with us next season or looking for a new club then you'd have thought any players selected would be pulling their tripe out....alas, given the last few displays / performances it doesn't seem that way.
Given that PV are in around the relegation zone you'd have thought they'll be up for it so should give a good account of themselves. We on the other hand seem unable to get up for it unless it's a top 6 side. From what I remember in the corresponding fixture we were our usual self, lacklustre in attack, poor in defence & only started playing when 2 nil down. Their midfielder went on to score a hatrick that day & has only scored once since that match.
I don't see us changing much from our last 2 games as it appears that the beach / holiday mentality has set in & SM imo just isn't tough enough on these players to break that cycle....going for a 0-2 to Port Vale 🙁🙄
 
I sometimes write about the opposition stats to see what they are good and bad at, but I couldn't be bothered for Cambridge or this game as there doesn't seem much point. It tends to always be the same for these type of games, they have a lot of weaknesses but despite that if they are up for it and we aren't they've got a pretty decent chance of taking points.

We know the pattern by now, but after the listless Burton game and how critical Maloney was about the performance I hoped we may see a little bit of a reaction but we were even worse against Cambridge but he was inexplicably happier with that. So I'm not optimistic we'll see a reaction this week - but you live in hope.

I just want to see us show some desire and positivity. Port Vale are fighting for survial so they will be up for it, so bare minimum is match their effort.

They will sit deep, try to frustrate us and look to hit us on the counter. That can be tough to break through but you guarantee you wont break through if you pass the ball at a glacial pace backwards and sideways and no one is making runs or showing for the ball to give each other the option to pass forward. Maybe we are only playing for pride but we certainly need to get some of that back - so just give it a decent go.
 
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The other thing I'd say is we need to stop changing the team so much every game. By now Maloney should know what every play brings and he probably has a good idea of who he wants to keep and let go.

I'm not saying drop the likes of Godo or Chambers who are our better performers but if Maloney wants Goode / Kerr to stay and be first choice next season then might as well start whichever one with Hughes for all the remaining games so they can work on their partnership - rather than putting them in and out constantly.

If Maloney sees Scott Smith as a central mid or right back starter next season start him in whichever position for the remaining games so he can settle into the role. We've played Aasgaard up front a few times, if we see that as his future role then play him there for the remaining games to get more used to it.

Matt Smith, Clare, Johnny Smith, Sessegnon are all under contract next season some of them have been very poor - but if Maloney believes they are going to be starters next season then he probably should start them to try and get them into some type of form.

We change formation constantly so whatever we think our preferred system will be next year - probably worth while getting players who stay as used to it as we can.

If there's young lads in the u21s we want to bring into the squad next season them is it worth giving one or two a spot on the bench and some mins as a sub late in games?

We've got a handful of games left so might as well be trying to use them as extra games to prepare the best we can for next season. Not ideal but if the handful of players we have under contract next term aren't good enough to start now they probably won't be next term either and will need moving on.
 
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The club are giving away stacks of tickets to schools and grassroots clubs and are desperate for good crowds for the last few games as we enter the ST renewal window. The only way to make this work is to play a strong team and attack. I know a young fan who went for their first match to Burton. They thought it was boring and aren't in a rush to come back. While no team can guarantee goals or a win, we need to let our attackers off the leash and try and get people excited in this club.
 
Pubey said:
The club are giving away stacks of tickets to schools and grassroots clubs and are desperate for good crowds for the last few games as we enter the ST renewal window. The only way to make this work is to play a strong team and attack. I know a young fan who went for their first match to Burton. They thought it was boring and aren't in a rush to come back. While no team can guarantee goals or a win, we need to let our attackers off the leash and try and get people excited in this club.
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Mentioned this the other day. I’m not knocking the initiative, it’s welcome. However it’s counterproductive and suicidal at this moment in time as the entertainment on offer is non existent and will only serve to put young fans off rather than entice them back.
 
As for the game I’m expecting nothing but another borefest. Sadly due to train strikes I’ll have to drive and the prospect of watching this bilge sober is not an appealing one.
 
Made in Wigan said:
As for the game I’m expecting nothing but another borefest. Sadly due to train strikes I’ll have to drive and the prospect of watching this bilge sober is not an appealing one.
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I know Stones is back training, i have no idea if he's fit enough to play but if he is i'd have no hesitation to start him and keep him in for the rest of the season to give him valuable game time.

If he's not ready yet I'd probably feel Aassgaard would be the best of our limited striker options. It's not ideal but on a couple of occasions we used him there with Humps on his right and Godo on his left he did ok.
 
Living down here in Stoke and with all my mates being Vale fans, I have told them that Wigan should be considered a registered charity for all teams at the bottom of the league as we gift points to all teams struggling in and around the relegation zone so they should be good for 3 points on Saturday.
Vale have been in shocking form since they battered us just before Christmas (They should have been 5 up at half time) and then Maloney did his usual mass substitutions at half time and just after which got us back level, only to lose it again late on and thus most Vale fans are resigned to going down this season but we might just give them some hope in their relegation fight with our usual roll over and surrender performances as per Cheltenham, Fleetwood, Burton and Cambridge etc.
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
I sometimes write about the opposition stats to see what they are good and bad at, but I couldn't be bothered for Cambridge or this game as there doesn't seem much point. It tends to always be the same for these type of games, they have a lot of weaknesses but despite that if they are up for it and we aren't they've got a pretty decent chance of taking points.

We know the pattern by now, but after the listless Burton game and how critical Maloney was about the performance I hoped we may see a little bit of a reaction but we were even worse against Cambridge but he was inexplicably happier with that. So I'm not optimistic we'll see a reaction this week - but you live in hope.

I just want to see us show some desire and positivity. Port Vale are fighting for survial so they will be up for it, so bare minimum is match their effort.

They will sit deep, try to frustrate us and look to hit us on the counter. That can be tough to break through but you guarantee you wont break through if you pass the ball at a glacial pace backwards and sideways and no one is making runs or showing for the ball to give each other the option to pass forward. Maybe we are only playing for pride but we certainly need to get some of that back - so just give it a decent go.
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Why would they sit deep? Got at us at home and battered us. They'd be smart to do the same again.

Prepare the tombola!
 
C_Latic said:
Why would they sit deep? Got at us at home and battered us. They'd be smart to do the same again.

Prepare the tombola!
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I don't think they would come into the game sitting deep out of a sense of fear, but if they've done their homework they'll know playing a low block and hitting us on the counter is a tactic that has been very effective when other teams have done it to us.
 
Maloney's pre match interview is like he's been reading off some of the posts on here from the past few days talking about needing to match opponents for effort as a bare minimum, the mentality dropping, lack of aggression intensity and desire to out run and outfight teams, taking foot off the gas and coasting.

I'm glad he is saying all that rather than pretending it's all OK, all of those are motivational issues and we really need to see some progress on that.

But it's really strange how he was quite positive about the Cambridge performance despite it being probably one of the worst of the season and certainly worse than Burton which he was very critical of.

wiganathletic.com

Shaun Maloney | Port Vale (H) Preview

Shaun Maloney previews Saturday's Sky Bet League One clash against Port Vale
wiganathletic.com wiganathletic.com
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
I don't think they would come into the game sitting deep out of a sense of fear, but if they've done their homework they'll know playing a low block and hitting us on the counter is a tactic that has been very effective when other teams have done it to us.
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I fell asleep watching it....😴😴
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
Maloney's pre match interview is like he's been reading off some of the posts on here from the past few days talking about needing to match opponents for effort as a bare minimum, the mentality dropping, lack of aggression intensity and desire to out run and outfight teams, taking foot off the gas and coasting.

I'm glad he is saying all that rather than pretending it's all OK, all of those are motivational issues and we really need to see some progress on that.

But it's really strange how he was quite positive about the Cambridge performance despite it being probably one of the worst of the season and certainly worse than Burton which he was very critical of.

wiganathletic.com

Shaun Maloney | Port Vale (H) Preview

Shaun Maloney previews Saturday's Sky Bet League One clash against Port Vale
wiganathletic.com wiganathletic.com
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Interesting how he includes himself and his staff in the collective dropping off of intensity problem. And goes on to say it’s been a problem all season. Accepting personal responsibility is good but you have to question if it really is the case that he’s personally dropped his levels or this is just a we’re all in this together remark. Hopefully it’s the latter as anything else would be him not doing his job. He bothers me when he says he’s seen some worrying signs in training - we’ve heard this a few times after a bad defeat. There’s no doubt for me he’s having problems with this squad.
 
springy-park said:
On 13th April 1979 (Good Friday) .

Wigan Athletic came back to beat Port Vale 5–3
after being three goals down.

Goalscorers: Houghton (3), Brownbill, Moore.
Att; 8,452.
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I was at that game. Discarded season tickets were picked up near the home dugout at half time. Some things never change! The 2 Easter games to follow were a big let down. 1-1 at re-election threatened Crewe and then more dropped points at home to a poor Hartlepool side. We then went down 1-0 at Aldershot, which effectively ended our promotion push, but it was a brilliant first season in the league with some fantastic performances and exciting games. We played attacking football and I recall Tommy Gore bombing forward, great triangles on the left between Joe Hinnigan and Ian Purdie, Jeff Wright getting dogs abuse for playing like Glenn Hoddle, and of course Peter Houghton, one of the most fearless strikers we’ve ever had. In those days we used to go home hoarse from shouting, now it’s like a morgue on a good day.
 
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