Port Vale: Bratt and fans drink to brighter future
The crowd had gathered on the Lorne Street car park as Bratt and five of his directors – Dave Smith, Mike Lloyd, Graham Mudie, Glenn Oliver and Paul Humphreys – were in the board room debating the vacant manager's position.
By the end of the evening, the supporters had joined Bratt and Oliver in Burslem's Leopard Hotel, where the chairman answered every question he could without breaking board confidentiality.
No decision on a permanent replacement for Lee Sinnott was reached in the two-hour board meeting as the numbers outside grew.
All the supporters wanted answers by the time the directors came out of the stadium, so Bratt, Oliver and fellow board member Paul Humphreys strode over to address them.
Some fans were unhappy with Dean Glover's emergence as favourite for the job and said Glover was culpable for the team's problems when he was assistant to Martin Foyle and then Sinnott.
Bratt said that was unfair on Glover, who didn't make any of the major decisions when he was number two to Foyle.
He also said Glover had shown his eye for a player when he recommended Billy Sharp to the Valiants when the striker was still an unknown in Sheffield United's reserves.
Bratt also denied Sinnott had been forced to accept Glover as his assistant.
He said: "Lee had the chance when he came in. We asked if he could work with him or not.
"After three weeks, Lee came in and said yes he could work with him so to give Dean a contract. That's what happened. He had the choice."
Bratt is thought to have been in favour of giving Sinnott more time to turn the team around.
However, he said he shared some of his fellow directors' fears about the way the club was heading under Sinnott.
He added: "We have gone backwards in the way we have played in our last four games.
"If we don't win games we will be in the Conference and that is what we can't afford."
Bratt agreed it was far from satisfactory that Vale couldn't afford to consider looking outside the club for a manager.
He said he had stepped up his search for investment, but would not sell the club to anyone who would endanger its future.
He said: "We are custodians of the club. We have to do what is right for my kids and your kids.
"We are looking for investment. People say we want this club for ourselves, but we don't.
"What we want is success for Port Vale. But what we can't do is let people in who are going to ruin the club."
Bratt apologised for having to cut short the car-park conference because he needed to use the toilet, but he and Oliver happily joined the fans in the Leopard.
Railway Paddock season-ticket holder Phil Thomas, aged 19, said he was surprised, but delighted, to chat to the two directors in the pub.
Phil, from Burslem, said: "I think it showed the kind of man Bill is. He wasn't going to shy away from bad opinions of himself and the board.
"He couldn't say too much about the board, but he came out and gave his opinions to the fans. He's just a normal fan like the rest of us.
"Both he and Glenn looked as though they were genuinely feeling for the club as much as anyone else."
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