Head coach says Bell has done a fine job
Head Coach Rob Page was quick to recognise the work of Jimmy Bell following Bell’s departure from the club yesterday.
Bell was in charge of the Development Squad and has done with the players he inherited – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the Port Vale staff.
Page said: “Jimmy has come into the club and he has taken the development group and I have wished him the best of luck.
“Once you have been a number two at League level, at Rochdale and at Accrington Stanley, to go and take a small squad it is a lot different going from managing a squad of eighteen and then having just five or six players on some days, you miss that.
“Jimmy was good to work with, he got on with his work and I wish him all the best for the future.”
Jordan Hugill is one player to benefit from working with Jimmy Bell, and when he left the club yesterday he said he felt there were one or two other who are not far off making the first team.
Page said: “Jordan Hugill came in the other week, and that is good management from Micky. He goes out to non-league, he scores I think it was four in five at Gateshead.
“Micky recognised that although he was playing at that level, the goals and the manner in which he scored them, he felt he could do a job for us.
“That’s what it is all about in the Development Squad, it is managing them and nurturing them and giving them enough experience.
“That is the idea of the Development players, to benefit our team and he has certainly done that. We thought it was the right time to put him in against Crawley away and I thought he was magnificent hat day.
“He played in another couple of games after that and held his own and did really well, but just as you have to manage them to get them into the team, it is really important to manage them to get the best out of them to give them a little rest and wait for them to come again.”