Returning to this game...
February was possibly my worst month as manager of Port Vale to date. Draws have far too often characterised my reign as manager, and this was no exception, but it came at a crucial time against crucial teams. Playoff rivals Oldham scored a last minute winner, before Scunthorpe who are also in the mixer managed to come from behind 3 times for a 3-3 draw. just HOW Barnsley got a 0-0 draw I will never ever know, we destroyed them from first whistle to last, the only bright point of the month was a win over Exeter. Notably before the Exeter game I dropped Taylor in favour of Kalambay in goal, and it would stay this way for the rest of the season.
March dawned with a Lafon brace to beat Yeovil and then somehow Bournemouth managed a draw, much like Barnsley. Brentford are play off rivals, and finally we did what we should have done to Scunthorpe, and beat them. Hull after thrashing me 5-1 were going to be hard to beat, but a 0-0 draw is a result I am happy with. Now, I have never beaten Hartlepool in 5 previous meetings. So WHAT THE **** happened here, we didn't just beat them, they were a place above me and got annihilated. What an end to the month.
April was to be the crunch month. A goalless draw with Colchester was not the best start. A Willo Flood hat trick (new signing) against Peterborough was good, as was a hard fought win over Luton, and despite going down to 10 men early on against Bristol Rovers they got destroyed. Brighton also got comfortably beaten, moving us into 6th, so the equation was simple, win the last two and guaranteed play offs.
Leyton Orient was just not to be, thrashing us 4-1, Blackman had a goal disallowed at 1-0 which would have changed the game, but we can't dwell on it. Thankfully Oldham only drew so went level on points, but MK Dons closed to within 2 points, so it was tight going into the final round of games.
I never thought Le Fondre would be on the bench for Rotherham, but Miljatovic gave us an early lead. I didn't think this would be enough and sure enough Jordy Brouwer levelled. Blackman's goal on the hour looked to have confirmed our play off place though, a win was definitely needed as MK Dons were winning and would take the playoff place if we failed to win. And sure enough, JORDY BROUWER, I hate him, score in the final final minute, we missed out on the play offs by 11 seconds.
Resized to 94% (was 1024 x 529) - Click image to enlarge
League Table
Resized to 94% (was 1024 x 529) - Click image to enlarge
Season Review
Anger anger anger: defence was terrible, Kalambay was great after he came in apart from the critical error, dropping the ball at Brouwers feet. The defence needs sorting. Good up front though. So glad Rotherham got relegated. I want Le Fondre.
February was possibly my worst month as manager of Port Vale to date. Draws have far too often characterised my reign as manager, and this was no exception, but it came at a crucial time against crucial teams. Playoff rivals Oldham scored a last minute winner, before Scunthorpe who are also in the mixer managed to come from behind 3 times for a 3-3 draw. just HOW Barnsley got a 0-0 draw I will never ever know, we destroyed them from first whistle to last, the only bright point of the month was a win over Exeter. Notably before the Exeter game I dropped Taylor in favour of Kalambay in goal, and it would stay this way for the rest of the season.
March dawned with a Lafon brace to beat Yeovil and then somehow Bournemouth managed a draw, much like Barnsley. Brentford are play off rivals, and finally we did what we should have done to Scunthorpe, and beat them. Hull after thrashing me 5-1 were going to be hard to beat, but a 0-0 draw is a result I am happy with. Now, I have never beaten Hartlepool in 5 previous meetings. So WHAT THE **** happened here, we didn't just beat them, they were a place above me and got annihilated. What an end to the month.
April was to be the crunch month. A goalless draw with Colchester was not the best start. A Willo Flood hat trick (new signing) against Peterborough was good, as was a hard fought win over Luton, and despite going down to 10 men early on against Bristol Rovers they got destroyed. Brighton also got comfortably beaten, moving us into 6th, so the equation was simple, win the last two and guaranteed play offs.
Leyton Orient was just not to be, thrashing us 4-1, Blackman had a goal disallowed at 1-0 which would have changed the game, but we can't dwell on it. Thankfully Oldham only drew so went level on points, but MK Dons closed to within 2 points, so it was tight going into the final round of games.
I never thought Le Fondre would be on the bench for Rotherham, but Miljatovic gave us an early lead. I didn't think this would be enough and sure enough Jordy Brouwer levelled. Blackman's goal on the hour looked to have confirmed our play off place though, a win was definitely needed as MK Dons were winning and would take the playoff place if we failed to win. And sure enough, JORDY BROUWER, I hate him, score in the final final minute, we missed out on the play offs by 11 seconds.
Resized to 94% (was 1024 x 529) - Click image to enlarge
League Table
Resized to 94% (was 1024 x 529) - Click image to enlarge
Season Review
Anger anger anger: defence was terrible, Kalambay was great after he came in apart from the critical error, dropping the ball at Brouwers feet. The defence needs sorting. Good up front though. So glad Rotherham got relegated. I want Le Fondre.
