Port Vale: Fans have their say on Port Vale's defeat at Oxford United
IN order to go forward positively, it's time to admit the wheels are coming off. It is no good hiding behind previous form, or saying we're going through a blip, or that we only need six more wins to go up.
What I saw at Oxford, and similar to last Tuesday, was a team lacking belief, possibly due to the lack of direction from the management on how to deal with what's happening.
Tom Pope needs some time off; he's run out of steam. Our stretched midfield two get overrun, leaving Doug Loft with only enough energy for 70 minutes.
Everybody is blaming the wingers, but I see a defence making woeful mistakes and a forward line that could play all day without scoring.
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There was no blaming the fans at Oxford. They backed Vale to the hilt, just like they always will.
RICHARD MURPHY, Brown Edge
IF Vale's great away run was to come to an end it was always going to be at this unhappy hunting ground.
After Darren Purse's soft back pass it looked even more likely until Doug Loft's super effort.
The match was patchy, with both teams playing some good football between long spells of ordinary stuff.
The second goal knocked the stuffing out of the Vale, but our substitutions robbed us of any pace up front.
Tom Pope's lean spell will continue until the service improves. Loft looked dejected at the end. We will need to get our heads back up for the run-in.
ROB RHEAD May Bank
WE started a little better than in the last few games, but Vale's attention and guard soon dropped when Darren Purse made a horrendous mistake to let in Alfie Potter.
We were all right for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but once their second goal went in Vale hardly got out their own half, which was disappointing.
Yet again the service to the forwards was very poor, the midfield were overrun and the defence weren't as solid as they had been at the start of the season.
Things need to improve, and fast, if Vale are going to secure promotion without having to run the gauntlet of the play-offs.
KEV WALSHAW Cobridge
IT looked like a game between two mid-table sides, which is alarming.
We produced another ordinary performance, but I still thought we should have got something from the game.
We're misfiring up front right now and a lot of that seems to be down to the form of our wingers.
While they were great earlier in the season, they have lost effectiveness lately.
It has a knock-on effect for the strikers, and Tom Pope looked like a lost soul at times.
It's a rare defeat on the road, but one that puts pressure on us with two tricky home games this week.
ANDY McCORMACK Cobridge
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