Port Vale: Adams puts entire squad on transfer market after County defeat
Port Vale 1
by Steve Shaw
ONLY time will tell whether Micky Adams's bombshell decision to put his entire squad on the transfer list proves to be a managerial masterstroke or a disastrous mistake.
While Notts County exorcised the ghost of Sol Campbell, it was Vale's under-performing players who crawled from the wreckage of a third successive defeat as condemned men.
The Vale boss will place every single member of his squad on the transfer list today after slamming their lack of motivation against the promotion contenders.
Campbell's exit from County last week injected more spice into the clash after the former England international quit the club last week.
A County defeat, coupled with the decision of former England defender Campbell to walk out on the club last week, would have piled more pressure on boss Ian McParland, with director of football Sven Goran Eriksson peering down from the stands.
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But as a posse of reporters made their way to pitch-side after the final whistle, little did they know that the story of the day was unfolding in the visitors' dressing room.
When Adams finally appeared he took centre stage to announce his punishment with cold-blooded clarity.
The Vale boss said he simply couldn't accept the limp nature of Saturday's defeat and was therefore keen to free up funds which would allow him to recruit "his type of player".
Adams may be deadly serious about flogging his squad, but alternatively, he may also be playing clever mind games to provoke a volcanic-strength reaction.
Some answers could be provided tomorrow when Vale host League Two rivals Accrington Stanley (7.45pm), Friday's 5-3 conquerors of Crewe.
Adams showed signs of frustration a week earlier when he admitted to feeling let down by some of his players after Vale's 1-0 home defeat by Bury.
However, his tone changed three days later when he praised their commitment following the 2-0 extra-time Carling Cup defeat at Championship side Scunthorpe.
Prior to their recent poor run, Vale had only lost one out of seven league clashes and had seen off Sheffield's two Championship clubs – United and Wednesday – in the Carling Cup.
Adams refused to offer their late-night efforts at Glanford Park as a factor behind Saturday's uninspiring display, saying such excuses would merely "paper over the cracks".
Such a grand gesture of dissatisfaction from irate managers is not without precedent.
Phil Brown's very public half-time rollicking of his Hull City players in last season's 5-1 Boxing Day defeat at Manchester City springs to mind.
But Brown's decision to sit his players down in front of their travelling fans attracted criticism from some quarters as the Tigers continued their slide down the Premier League table.
Adams' dramatic course of action stirs memories of a charismatic former Valiants boss who took exactly the same path nearly three decades ago.
After just six weeks in charge John McGrath transfer-listed his entire 15-man squad in early 1980 when Vale were also in the basement division (old Fourth Division.
That squad included the highly-rated Chamberlain brothers, Mark and Neville.
McGrath took the decision after criticising his players for their lack of appetite, enthusiasm and character – sound familiar?
All 15 players survived that proposed cull, though, as the Valiants finished fifth from bottom in 1979-80.
Then, Stoke City, under former boss Chic Bates, sparked fury from nine players who discovered they had been transfer-listed through the press in January 1998.
In their next game the Potters suffered a 7-0 home thrashing by Birmingham, while Bates' six-and-a-half month reign came to an end later in the month. At the end of the season, Stoke were relegated.
Poor Joe Anyon must have wondered just what he had let himself in for after returning to the Vale squad for the first time in six months following his broken leg.
But midfielder Doug Loft was spared his manager's fury after missing the match because of a gashed heel.
County, who climbed into the play-off zone after Saturday's win, have become genuine promotion contenders since being bought by their new Middle Eastern owners Munto Finance.
But Vale made some of their stars look like world beaters on Saturday, particularly striker Lee Hughes and former Vale forward Luke Rodgers, who made his first start for County since mid-August.
The duo could have scored a hat-ful of goals between them, courtesy of some sharp attacking play and shabby defending.
Vale trio John McCombe, Gareth Owen and Marc Richards failed to test keeper Kasper Schmeichel, son of Manchester United legend Peter, from close range early on.
Magpies defender John Thompson also hooked a volley over after keeper Chris Martin spilled a Ben Davies set-piece.
Former Premier League marksman Hughes settled for a brace in the end and boosted his personal goal tally to nine for the season. already.
His first goal came from a 16th-minute corner as Vale switched off. Davies fed a short corner from the right, into feet of Johnnie Jackson, who was afforded acres of space to turn and deliver a precise centre on to the head of Hughes.
The striker expertly guided the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the Vale goal from eight yards out.
On 22 minutes, Schmeichel palmed away Kris Taylor's deflected free-kick from 25 yards. Rodgers, who recorded 20 goals in 66 appearances for Vale before leaving the club in January, proved to be a handful, although his end product betrayed a tireless display.
In the 34th minute he stole the ball from a hesitant Lee Collins, but was well off target with an audacious long-range lob before midfield team-mate Matt Ritchie fired wide.
Hughes failed to test Martin with two volleys before Vale scored an unlikely equaliser from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute.
It was awarded when loan striker Lewis Haldane burst inside from the left only to be stopped his in his tracks by Thompson's foul. from behind.
Richards notched his sixth goal of the campaign by driving his spot kick beyond Schmeichel's out-stretched hand into the bottom right-hand corner.
Rodgers angled a shot wide in first-half injury-time before drawing a clumsy, and unnecessary, challenge from centre-half McCombe in the box on 48 minutes to give County a penalty of their own. Hughes restored their lead by crashing his shot into the centre of the net.
After the break, Hughes set Rodgers free in the left-hand channel, but the striker's careful side-footer was easily saved by Martin.
The The Magpies did had chances after the break and extended their lead, however, in the 58th minute from Davies's right-flank set-piece.
The midfielder swung the ball ver to the far post where Collins turned the ball into his own net with Hughes breathing down his neck.
Adams threw on Louis Dodds, Damien McCrory and Simon Richman, reverting from a 3-5-2 system to 4-4-2, in a bid to reverse his team's fortunes.
McCrory, aged 19, was making the last appearance of his one-month loan spell from Plymouth.
Richards should have reduced the deficit on 71 minutes, but couldn't steer his unchallenged header from Haldane's centre on target.
Davies hit the woodwork and forced Martin into a good save late on.
Other Port Vale stories online today:
Prove your worth or go, Adams tells under fire squad
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