Home woe for Vale as high-flying rivals take the television spoils

PORT Vale hit a bump in the road as fellow high-fliers Walsall took the points in their televised clash. CLIVE YOULTON continues his review of the Valiants’ season...

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IFELONG fan and BBC Radio Stoke commentator Phil Bowers told listeners he thought Port Vale would win promotion but that the League Two title “should be the aim for this group of players.”

There weren't many Valiants supporters who would have disagreed with that as Darren Moore's side looked forward to a top-of-the-table clash with Walsall at Vale Park.

Bowers listeners: “There are teams in this division who are spending money and I’m thinking of Bradford and Salford.

“Every year they are tipped to be up there because they spend a few quid. They never seem to get it right.

“So it isn’t as easy as saying your budget is going to get you promoted. It won’t. You need somebody who can craft them into a good team. Darren Moore has experience of managing at the highest level in this country so he should have that experience and he should be able to create a team out of the resources that he’s got that is going to be, at the very least, getting automatic promotion. That to me is the big debate for Vale. Are they happy with automatic promotion? “This bunch of players are good enough to do that, but why be good enough when you can be better and go on and win the title? Because I think that should be the aim for this group of players.”

Chief executive Matt Hancock has since declared that Moore had overachieved in getting automatic promotion when it was clear many pundits and fans expected it.