The Future’s bright, it’s black and white.

It has come to light that there’s a new found confidence at Vale Park this season.  Ok, a 1-0 loss at home to Bury on Saturday – that being the 1st home loss and only the 2nd loss of the season – is a massive improvement on last season already.
With the appointment of Micky Adams as the Valiants’s new head honcho, Vale fans, including myself, are begining to think there may be light at the end of the lower league’s dreary tunnel. With that said, with every new appointment comes – whether you’re stood in the stands or sat in the comfort of that armchair in front of the err radio, auspiciuos expection, heightened more so by a fantastic pre-season and an equally encouraging start.
Unfortunately, as ever, the club’s humbling financial budget has once again helped limit those expectations, once again limited to a reported £1,000,000 allocation for all club expenditure – including both transfer fees and player wages. Limited indeed when when you consider Notts County’s captures of both Sol Campbell’s and Lee Hughes’s and money spent on wages alone.  Please do not think I say this as an attack on the Port Vale board as I think that Bill Brat and co have done well in keeping the club affloat in such hard times; especially as they constantly looked for new investors to help the club survive, and move forward. I merely say this to make the point of what a challenging job Micky Adams has ahead of him.

Looking more positively, Mr Adams, unlike Sinnot and Glover before him, has been able to forgo the money side of things and use his experience and contacts in the game to vastly improve our squad; not only this, but, from what I’ve seen, he’s also been able to improve the confidence anId performances of what were a weary bunch of also rans by the end of last season.
Improvements on the pitch have improved immensely and, more importantly, matches are now a joy to behold.
Our defense is no longer just a rabble of men, who’d incessantly argue about whose job it was to pick up a lone attacker, but who’ve transformed into a well drilled, organised unit; so water-tight, they’ve only conceded two goals on home soil so far this season.  This feat is a personal favorite of mine.  Another is the fact Rob Taylor is back in the starting eleven. His fine performances have seen him emerge as a Vale Park’s new fans’s favourite.  As you may or may not know, Rob Taylor is formally our left back who, to the dismay of many fans, last season found himself frozen out by former boss Dean Glover. But now many, including myself, are sanguine about his triumphant return as an old fashioned left winger. It’s a role he seems to really be enjoying; scoring four goals already this season, putting him just one behind top-scorer, Richards.

With Dodds also playing well, the team seems happy enough with Adams’s new system of a three-pronged attack, and all three look hungary to add to their tallies.  So, as a whole, together with our more organised defence, a new look front line, and a midfield who look capable at both ends of the pitch, so far we are looking fairly tight.
Surely my point has been strengthend by Vale’s more than decent league results thus far and our two fantantic league cup performances – including wins away at Sheffield Utd and then beating the blue half of Sheffield in Round Two.  I doubt if Sheffield will be an overly welcoming city for Port Vale from now on.  Can we do the same to Scunthorpe in Round 3 this evening? By the time you’ve read this, things shall be a little clearer…
The bigest leauge test to date, many forescast, is also just around the corner, with an away trip to the aforementioned Notts County. The original Magpies’ new wealthy status, big name players, and slippery Sven Groran Ericcson pulling the strings behind the scenes, have turned an archaic club into one on the cusp of a team rapidly on the rise in English football – meaning they are now major players in this division.  Will they beat Leeds to the Premiership? I’m really not so sure.
What I am sure of, however, is that under Micky Adams, the Valiants will be up for any challange this season, and will prove many people wrong with our new and improved workrate and never-say-die mentality. I only hope our good start continues and this is a season fans will be anticipating our long awaited return to the Championship, instead of a potentially disasterous drop into Leauge Two, where most in the footballing world feel Port Vale belong.
Believe me: the future’s bright, the future’s black & white !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It has come to light that there’s a new found confidence at Vale Park this season.  Ok, a 1-0 loss at home to Bury last Saturday – that being the 1st home loss and only the 2nd loss of the season – is a massive improvement on last season already.

With the appointment of Micky Adams as the Valiants’s new head honcho, Vale fans, including myself, are begining to think there may be light at the end of a dreary lower league tunnel we’ve been languishing in for the past God knows how long. With that said, with every new appointment – whether you’re stood in the stands or sat in the comfort of that armchair in front of the err radio, comes with it auspicuous expectation, heightened even more so by a fantastic pre-season and an equally encouraging start.

Unfortunately, as ever, the club’s reality-biting financial budget has once again helped limit those expectations; once again limited to a reported £1,000,000 allocation for all club expenditure, including both transfer fees and player wages. Limited indeed when you consider Notts County’s captures of both Sol Campbell and Lee Hughes and money they’ve spent on their wages alone.  Please do not think I say this as an attack on the Port Vale board, as I certainly do not, and think Bill Brat and co have done well in keeping the club affloat in such testing times; especially as they’ve constantly looked for new investors to help the club move forward, and more importantly, survive. I merely say this to make the point of what a difficult job Micky Adams has ahead of him.

Looking more positively, Mr Adams, unlike Sinnot and Glover before him, has been able to forgo the money side of things and use his experience and contacts in the game to vastly improve our squad; not only this, but, from what I’ve seen, he’s also been able to improve the confidence and performances of what looked a weary bunch of also-rans by the end of last season.

Improvements on the pitch have improved immensely and, more importantly, matches are now a joy to behold.

Our defense is no longer just a rabble of men, who’d incessantly argue about whose job it was to pick up a lone attacker, but a group who’ve transformed into a well drilled, organised unit – so water-tight, they’ve only conceded two goals on home soil so far this season.  This feat is a personal favorite of mine.

Another plus is the fact Rob Taylor is back in the starting eleven. His fine performances have seen him emerge as a Vale Park favourite.  As you may or may not know, Rob Taylor formally plied his trade at left back whom last season, to the dismay of many fans, found himself frozen out by former boss Dean Glover. But now many, including myself, are sanguine about his triumphant return as an orthodox left winger. It’s a role he seems to really be enjoying, scoring four goals already this season, putting him just one behind top-scorer, Richards.

With Dodds also playing well, the team seems happy enough with Adams’s new system of a three-pronged attack, and all three look hungry enough to add to their encouraging goal tallies.  So, as a whole, together with our more organised defense, our new look front line, and a midfield who look capable at both ends of the pitch, so far things are looking very promising.

Surely my point has been strengthend by Vale’s more than decent league results thus far and our two fantastic League Cup performances – including wins away at Sheffield Utd and then beating the blue half of Sheffield in Round Two.  I doubt if Sheffield will be an overly welcoming city for Port Vale fans in the near future.  Can we do the same to Scunthorpe in Round 3 this evening? By the time you’ve read this, things shall be a little clearer…

The bigest leauge test to date, many forescast, is also just around the corner, with an away trip to the aforementioned Notts County. The original Magpies’ new wealthy status, big name players, and the enticing Sven Groran Ericcson pulling the strings behind the scenes, have turned an archaic club into one on the cusp of a team rapidly on the rise in English football – meaning they are now major players in this division.  Will they beat Leeds to the Premiership? I’m really not so sure.

What I am sure of, however, is that under Micky Adams, the Valiants will be up for any challange this season, and will prove many people wrong yet again with our new and improved workrate and never-say-die mentality. I only hope our good start continues and this is a season fans will be anticipating our long awaited return to the Championship, instead of a potentially disasterous drop into League Two, where most in the footballing world feel Port Vale belong.

Believe me, the future’s bright, the future’s most certainly black and white.