Updates from this Evening's Fans Forum.
Summary
- Carol Shanahan OBE, Dave Flitcroft, Darrell Clarke, Patrick Shanahan, Will Ryder and Matt Hancock are up on the stage to face questions after a short break
- Tom Conlon and Tom Pett have answered questions from supporters, with the majority in the blog below!
- Questions submitted prior to the evening and will also be asked in the room
18:00
Tonight's Fans Forum will be split into two sections
- Part 1 will be with Tom Conlon and Tom Pett.
- Part 2 will be with Carol Shanahan OBE, Darrell Clarke, David Flitcroft, Will Ryder and Matt Hancock.
Questions have been submitted by supporters prior to the event and will also be asked in the room.
19:10
The Fans Forum is underway, with Tom Pett and Tom Conlon on the stage facing questions emailed in from supporters.
19:13
Q: What has been your assessment of the season so far and what would you define as a successful season?
TC: Happy with the season so far but we always want more. TP: Echoes TCs comments, generally pleased but feel we can keep progressing.
19:15
Q: What have you made of League One? Who have been the best players?
TC: I remember coming off the pitch after the Ipswich game and thinking they were a really strong team. In terms of individuals, Mendez-Laing at Derby is a very good player.
19:16
Q: Excluding Wembley and the Swindon Play-Offs matches , what have been your favourite games for the Vale?
TP: Leyton Orient last season.
TC: I know you said we can't say Swindon, but we have to, the gaffer's speech before the game really hit home and I'll remember the night forever.
19:21
Q: Who is the best trainer and are there players who aren't great trainers but you know they will be reliable on Saturday?
TC: James Wilson is a good trainer, he is so technically gifted as you know. Sammy Robinson too.
TP: There aren't any bad trainers. A good story, though, is that Ben Garrity is so competitive and if his team lose on a Friday he gets really angry! That's because he's such a winner. The gaffer always asks him how he is and if he says 'not good', the gaffer says 'excellent'!
19:22
Q: Who are the gaffer's pets? Or are they sat on the stage?
TC: The lads would probably say us, yes. I would say the new boy Matty Taylor and Ellis Harrison, though!
19:28
Q: What is the process for new lads integrating into the dressing room. Will Forrester recently said it's a daunting experience - not specifically at Vale - but young players.
TP: Like you say, it's daunting. So we are conscious of that. I sent Aaron Donnelly a text before he came in the other day, to welcome him, let him know I was there if he needed anything as he settles in.
19:30
Questions have commenced from the audience...
Q: Which player do you think has stepped up most to League One?
TC: Smudge, you can't underestimate his role at this club.
TP: Agreed. Smudge has this label that he's about the horrible side of the game, but he is so much more than that and he has come on a lot with other areas of his game.
19:31
Q: What is the pitch like to play on?
TP: It's not ideal, of course, but we have two options, moan about it or get on with it and use it to our advantage, because we know the pitch better than other teams.
19:34
A question from earlier was around esports/gaming, with Tom Pett being an active gamer.
TP: I play with Ben Garrity, Lewis Cass plays a bit, I am good on Call of Duty and FIFA, Ryan Edmondson tried to take me on at FIFA last season but I put him in his place!
19:37
Q: The players have a busy schedule of fixtures coming up, how do you prepare?
TP: I love it! There's nothing worse than training all week and not playing games.
19:39
The players conclude on stage and Tom Conlon finishes on stage by stating the Vale's supporters have been excellent home and away.
TC: "This isn't scripted, I just want you to know that in the cost of living crisis especially, we really appreciate your support. On behalf of the whole squad, not just me and Petts, it is genuinely appreciated how you spend your hard-earned money backing the lads.
19:40
There's a brief break in the evening now before Carol Shanahan OBE, David Flitcroft, Darrell Clarke, Patrick Shanahan, Will Ryder and Matt Hancock are up on the stage to face questions emailed in and those from the audience.
19:48
Carol Shanahan OBE, Dave Flitcroft, Darrell Clarke, Patrick Shanahan, Will Ryder and Matt Hancock are now on stage for your questions.
19:55
Q: Firstly, thanks Carol and Kevin for everything you have done for the Vale! How do define success moving forward? The last couple of years have been amazing, but clearly it won't be as easy moving forward.
CS: Easy!! It's not been easy... we have been speaking a lot recently about the journey, how we have learned, made mistakes, done some things well.
We have to want to be the best run football club, and we can't just set a position in the table to define that.
I spoke about us being Championship Ready, and I know that has been slightly misunderstand at times as promotion being the immediate objective. Patrick always says promotion from League Two was us reaching Base Camp. We now have the mountain to climb.
We have to prepare and be ready for success, whether that is in one year or five years, we have to be ready.
19:59
Q: Why have we got seven loan players in the squad? When only five can be named on the teamsheet?
DC: I don't think it's unusual. If you look at February, we have a lot of matches and we'll need our squad.
20:09
The conversation has turned to recruitment, with the focus on signings/numbers and why the recruitment was late in the window.
DF: We were proactive in what we were doing and we were happy with Aaron Donnelly coming in because we were comfortable with what we were doing. If we didn't sign a striker, we know we have very good strikers at the club, two of them coming back from injury soon.
Matty Taylor wasn’t avaialble for a long period - I think I called Carol at 5.30pm on Deadline Day and he wasn't available and then late in the day he was.
It wasn't just about the gaffer knowing him, we looked at how we play, the crosses in from Worrall, and we think it really suits him.
DC: We are in mid-table, we have flirted with top half, it is hard to get better players than we have in the world we work in, because we won't jeopardise what we do financially to sign a player. However, Matty Taylor would have been my number one target for a striker, so for him to become available was great.
20:12
The question has been asked about Matty Taylor's arrival and did that influence the decision to allow Tommy McDermott and James Plant to leave on loan?
DC: Not really, this is Tommy McDermott's first men's loan, James Plant went and did really well at Nantwich Town too. They've gone out for 28 days and will get six or seven games and we can reassess from there.
20:15
Will Ryder is asked to talk about the Academy progress and he details the journey the Academy has been on, noting some of the key milestones this season, also telling supporters of his pride that Alex Inglethorpe, Liverpool FC Academy Director, was praising the Port Vale Academy at St. George's Park in front of Gareth Southgate, with the Vale's performance in the FA Youth Cup reminding national team Talent ID scouts that the talent isn't just in Category One Academies, it's also in Category Two and Three Academies like the Vale.
20:25
Matt Hancock now receives a question about Junior Valiants and whether parents of junior supporters who are not attending fixtures can release their tickets as games are being advertised as sold out, when clearly they aren't.
Matt advises that he agrees, he himself has three daughters, who are Junior Valiants. They're young and won't come to the games regularly, so he understands.
Junior Valiants is a great offer and to go from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand is great! I see Junior Valiants as a way in which we create Port Vale families and make the games more accessible for more people.
20:26
When will we know about next season's season tickets?
CS confirms March.
20:29
Further question is asked to Matt about Junior Valiants, and reduced capacity:
MH confirms Junior Valiants will remain but the offering is likely to change next season to eradicate some of the ticketing issues.
CS says we know what we need to do in terms of the stadium development/safety/capacity restrictions, but that takes significant investment and time and it is about prioritising.
20:36
DF asks supporters about why they might leave early? Not as a criticism, but just intrigued, as he felt against Derby the stadium was near empty at the end despite a good performance.
Supporters state it was due to Hamil Road closure at the Derby game. There is a debate about attendances and how the egress issues might be a byproduct of success and regularly getting higher attendances. Supporters reference it was easy to leave when we only had 3,000 on the gate.
20:49
A question has come in on the Stand Swap.
PS and MH discuss the Stand Swap, which PS earlier confirmed will happen for next season.
The reason behind the Stand Swap is that the Hamil Road has better facilities and acoustics for home supporters. There is a safety and policing element too, but it’s also the matchday experience and creating more Port Vale families. So it’s about coming for a Saturday afternoon, not just the football, and we have the Foundation building, Tommy Cheadle’s, we’re looking at a permanent Fan Zone. Win, lose or draw, we want to create a family experience that makes people want to come again.
20:52
Some questions specifically for Darrell:
How do we bridge the gap between League One and the Championship? Clearly we don't have the same budget as the top teams in League One, and we know you don't want to stand still?
DC: It is the toughest gap to bridge. But it can be done. I am excited for the years ahead. Me and Flickers are working hard to make sure every pound we spend on players is improving the team.
I am excited by the project. I don't like standing still but neither does anyone around this table.
20:55
What promotion was better Bristol Rovers or the Vale?
DC: I think it's clear that, for many reasons, the Mansfield game was special. My hometown team, I'd lost my daughter Ellie from Mansfield a few months earlier, so there was a a lot of emotions and I am sure Ellie was kicking in a few goals for us on the day.
21:03
The Fans Forum is coming to a conclusion, clearly there were more questions asked than posted on here - it was difficult to keep up - but we'll hopefully have some video content posted from the Forum tomorrow or early next week!
Supporter thanks Carol and Kevin again for what they've done for the Vale, before Carol concludes by praising the Women and Girls teams at the Vale and speaks of her pride about the growth in women and girls representing Port Vale.
Thanks to those who attended tonight and those that followed on the live blog!