SWEEPING CHANGES WILL HAVE TO HAPPEN IN VALE SQUAD, SAYS YATES
ADAM Yates gave a damning assessment of Port Vale’s lame defeat against Oxford United and reckoned, “you can count on one hand the players who deserve to be at Vale next year irrespective of what league they are in.”
The former Valiants defender is refreshingly honest with his summarising on BBC Radio Stoke and is not one to skirt around the issues that need to be addressed.
Yates, aged 40, knows what it takes to be successful and wore his shirt with pride at Vale in more than 200 appearances.
He is not seeing enough of that from the present crop.
Before the game against Oxford he said: “You’re better off going and being expansive with your play and try and score as many goals as you can, even if the game becomes open because points [single] are just not good enough. They are not going to be good enough to get them out of the position they are in.
“The clean sheet at Leyton Orient was a building block, but you have to go and build on that.”
He added: “I think they have to find consistency and belief and confidence. It’s easy to say, but one result will change it.
“It means the mindset is completely different going into the next game. Similarly, taking a bit of a pasting. And it’s the manner in which you lose. If you are going to lose a game it’s losing when you’ve had a real go and you have fully tested their goalkeeper and caused them problems.
“There’s not been enough of that this year but there’s still enough games to go. There will be teams around them that will slip up and Vale will as well.
“It’s going to take a bit of luck but certainly really strong performances.”
Yates’ mood changed, as did everybody else’s, after a first half when Oxford had Vale’s players chasing shadows.
Yates said just before half-time: “I would either go in there and go absolutely ballistic. Or go in and say very little and say, ‘if you think that’s good enough to be part of this football club you can pack your bags and get out of the door’ because a lot of those players on that pitch have not got anywhere near the Oxford players in that first half.”
As the second half progressed he said: “It’s just a difficult watch. They’ve [the fans] not seen much worse.
“Fans are walking out with their hands up, throwing their arms towards the pitch and getting themselves out of the ground on 83 minutes and it’s not often you see this.
“There’s not enough fight in them [players]. Ben Garrity, yes, Funso Ojo, yes he has competed a bit better than he has done in recent weeks. James Plant has come on and done himself justice. I think Gavin Massey at times has. I’m not sure you can really say much after that.
“It’s difficult to keep coming and watching. The fans have been supportive but it’s really difficult to stay buoyant and positive when performances are what they are and with the position they are in the league.”
Later he continued: “Getting towards the end of the game you are not seeing Port Vale players running round and chasing it down. Oxford were dictating the pace and Vale standing off them. It’s a really disappointing afternoon and one that doesn’t fill us with any hope they can mount a fight to stay in the league.”
Commentator Phil Bowers said: “It seems like there isn’t any hope. Even when things are going against you, the hope keeps you going but that seems to be evaporating now.”
Yates answered: “When you get to a position where there’s no hope that’s the absolute worst for me.
“You are looking at the side and you can count on one hand the amount of players who have done enough to be at this football club next year irrespective of whatever league they are in. That for me is the telling factor.
“I would have expected the players to be in the next day to have a good look through this video because there’s just been so many holes to pick in that performance.
“And really the gulf in class between the two sets of players is well, they’ve made Oxford United at times look like a Premier League side.”