Thomas Roberts

Right Back - Port Vale
30 Jan 2036
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Thomas Roberts

411 Edition

The Port Vale Herald

12 Jun 2034
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Port Vale's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Port Vale has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Port Vale say no — this time

The offer from Racing Club for George Hall was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Lenix Conde asks to leave Port Vale

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Oscar Glover is a Port Vale player

The fee is $610.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Bristol Rovers drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Squad

Ryan Giles in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A move Christopher Hawkins would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Christopher Hawkins is living that version at Port Vale, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ben Garrity is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

Port Vale agree a free transfer for Jack Phillips

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Market

Eyes on Marcel Clément again

The phone has started ringing about Marcel Clément again, and this time the name on the line is Shrewsbury Town. Port Vale are listening politely and promising nothing.

In brief