Archived News from October 2016
|
PORT VALE EFL TROPHY PREVIEWS AND OPINION
|
 |
|
twitter @mansfieldtownfc Monday October 03, 2016
TEAM NEWS: Stags’ boss Adam Murray has revealed that defender Kyle Howkins and midfielder Jack Thomas have returned to training this week. Defender Alex Iacovitti will miss the trip to Vale Park as he is away on international duty with Scotland under 21s. ----------------- Opinion, by Martin Shaw Before the first game in the EFL Trophy (Checkatrade Trophy) against Doncaster Rovers, I wrote extensively on Stagsnet and in the CHAD why I thought the whole idea of the EFL Trophy this season is flawed, but why I thought we will not see Premier League U23 sides in the Football League in the future. Subsequently, the EFL has indeed confirmed that it has completely ruled out the possibility of including Premier League U23 teams in the Football League as part of its Whole Game Solution. The EFL though is still considering restructuring to 4 divisions of 20 clubs because the clubs are playing too many games. That’s utter nonsense in my opinion especially given the ludicrous inclusion of extra games in the EFL Trophy this season. Adam Murray has made his position on this competition clear, even more so after losing Kyle Howkins and Danny Rose to injury in the Doncaster game. Don’t expect to see him giving the Port Vale game a high priority. Mansfield played at Crewe on Saturday, the first time the teams had met for 14 seasons. Port Vale is another club the Stags haven’t played for 14 seasons. -------------- Port Vale: Bruno Ribeiro to make sweeping changes after Coventry shock By MikeBaggaley, Monday October 03, 2016, stokesentinel.co.uk Port Vale manager Bruno Ribeiro plans to make six changes for tomorrow night's Checkatrade Trophy game at home to Mansfield after saying some players looked tired in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at home to Coventry. Vale dropped a place to sixth in League One after they were outplayed by a Coventry side who started the day bottom of the table without a win. But Ribeiro saw their 2-2 draw at home to AFC Wimbledon in mid-week and warned his players against complacency before the game. He questioned whether that message had sunk in after seeing the Sky Blues win comfortably with goals from Marvin Sordell on 36 minutes and Chris McCann on 72. The manager said his players hadn't turned up, adding: "Maybe we thought Coventry were last in the league and it may be easy. I said to the players before the game that I watched Coventry's game last Wednesday and they played good football and the position they are in the league is not correct because they have good players. It was very bad. "It was one more bad day - but I don't want more bad days. I want my team to work hard and if they do that for 95 or 96 minutes and we lose then I say okay, but we didn't come in for the game. "I will make six changes because some players are tired. Some players are very tired and need rest." Competition rules say Vale have to start with six of the 14 players who appeared on Saturday. Read more at http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/port-vale-bruno-ribeiro-to-make-sweeping-changes-after-coventry-shock/story-29769474-detail/story.html?#CTIKkWYPAz4jBewj.99 Meanwhile, Ribeiro will speak to his medical staff and players after Anton Forrester was forced off on 53 minutes having only come on as a half-time substitute. The striker had been out of action for a month with a muscle injury, and pulled up quickly after his introduction on Saturday. A clearly disappointed Ribeiro pointed to a similar incident with midfielder Anthony de Freitas who lasted only 16 minutes of Vale's 4-1 defeat at Bury a month ago. The manager said: "It is the second time, Anthony de Freitas was the same. We need to speak about this because he (Forrester) is an important player for us. "If the players are just coming to play for five minutes and are injured for one month again it is bad for me and bad for the team. We need to change this." ----------------- |
Latest | October 2016