League Two Table

		P	GD	Pts
1	Stockport	45	+49	92
2	Mansfield	45	+43	85
3	Wrexham	45	+36	85

4	MK Dons	45	+15	77
5	Doncaster	45	+5	70
6	Crewe	45	+4	70
7	Barrow	45	+6	68

8	Crawley Town	45	+4	67
9	Bradford	45	-1	66
10	Walsall	45	0	65
11	Gillingham	45	-11	63
12	AFC Wimbledon	45	+9	62
13	Harrogate Town	45	-9	62
14	Notts County	45	+4	61
15	Tranmere	45	0	57
16	Morecambe	45	-14	57
17	Newport County	45	-11	55
18	Accrington Stanley	45	-11	54
19	Swindon	45	-6	53
20	Salford	45	-16	50
21	Grimsby	45	-15	49
22	Colchester	45	-21	44

23	Sutton Utd	45	-25	41
24	Forest Green	45	-35	39

Full League Two Table
Prem|Champ|L1|L2|NL|NLN|NLS
SPL|SC|S1|S2

Question of the Week

Where will Grimsby be next season?

Vale Park

Port Vale v Grimsby Preview

By: Alex Green
Date: 05/12/2008

A week off has left the Mariners refreshed and raring to go against relegated Port Vale. Well hopefully.

Home > 2008-2009 Season > Previews > Port Vale (a)

The Opposition

Overview

How much us and the Valiants have in common as we both languish in the bottom league and while we suffer one of our lowest points we watch our local rivals bask in Premiership glory. For the last time we don't care how far Delap can throw a ball nor do we care how Hull have that little bit of creativity in Geovanni. Anyway how does a fairly prestigious club with a healthy fan base in a big city and with a large stadium and a stable foundation end up down here and struggling in mid-table? If it wasn't for Luton been deducted 10 points last year then Vale would have found themselves finishing rock bottom with a goal difference -34. And this season with a tighter budget and a less secure future rumours have been circling that the Staffordshire outfit are worrying more about the day to day running then returning to The Championship which was a good home to them in the 90's. At the end of the day Port Vale are no different to the rest of us larger sized clubs in League Two: a club fallen on harder times with disillusionment echoing throughout the 4,000 odd crowd remembering the better times not long gone and with the deathly shadow of administration not far away. At least it's only their first year here, maybe they can rescue themselves from a fate worse then death to play Macclesfield and Rochdale for eternity (insert evil laugh).

The Team

Now correct me if I'm wrong eagle eyed net warriors or passing Vale lovers but it says on the bible of all football (soccerbase) that Dean Glover has no number two and he does it all on his lonesome. Either that or he has a number two with the same name. I had the same thing with a guy from school who waltzes in with the exact same name then does some political assembly on youth government when we were meant to be having football practise! It was slightly disheartening to walk to English to see Greenie is a w****r written on the science block wall, I just hope they meant the other one, probably not. Anyway before I start rambling money is tight such as no number two and the 3 million loan signings Vale have made so far this season. Well ok 7 but it's a fair number considering its only just December. The clubs concerned vary from Chelsea to Plymouth so in theory have the right pedigree to make an impact. So far it's been far from rosy as all the relegated sides find out how hard it is to bounce back. Currently 14th Vale have failed to win at home since October 25th and with just one win in 5 and only 2 wins throughout the season at home Town will have a chance to take something from Burslem (which sounds a lot like Bedlam, the irony.)

During the Summer Vale let six players leave for pastures new all of whom have become instrumental in their new clubs' race for success. Robin Hulbert has become a driving force in the Darlington midfield along with that Liechtenstein bloke and Joe Cardle scored in Airdrie cup match on Saturday. Louis Dodd's arrived from Leicester, Sam Stockley from Wycombe and Anthony Griffith finishes off the summer signing trio. Oh and they have Chris Martin play in goal on occasions when Coldplay aren't on tour.

One to Watch

Marc Richards. Another striker to look out for on Saturday at 3pm Richards is Vale's leading goal scorer with 7 in the league from 18 games. The number 9 is one of the highest scorers in the league so far this year and though the Brummy went through a small dry patch back in September the forward is well on the way to becoming an instrumental piece in this year's promotion push. The former Blackburn striker has been loaned out to all and sundry in his career before signing for Northampton on a free. Richards has donned the shirts of Crewe, Oldham, Halifax and Swansea. Since then Richards have found homes at Barnsley, Rochdale and now Vale and the stats suggest he averages a goal every 3 games or so and he hasn't scored in the last 2.

Recent Form

Town

Port Vale

L	Macclesfield	(a)	0-1
D	Bournemouth	(h)	3-3
W	Bury	(a)	2-0
L	Morecambe (FAC)	(a)	1-2
L	Darlington	(h)	1-2

Currently 22nd in League Two.

W	Macclesfield (FAC)	(a)	3-1
D	Barnet	(a)	1-1
L	Wycombe	(a)	2-0
L	Brentford	(h)	0-1
W	Huddersfield (FAC)	(h)	1-2

Currently 14th in League Two.

Top Scorers

Town

Port Vale

North	2
Till	2
Hegarty	2
Trotter	2
Jarman	2
Bennett	2

Richards	8
Dodds	6

Team News

Town	Port Vale
New French signings Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Mickael Buscher are now available, with the former believed to be the more likely starter.	Port Vale are expected to name the same line-up that lost at Macclesfield last week.

Squads

Town

Port Vale

1	GK	Phil Barnes
2	DF	Robbie Stockdale
3	DF	Tom Newey
4	DF	Ryan Bennett
5	DF	Matthew Heywood (c)
6	DF	Richard Hope
7	MF	Peter Till
8	MF	Paul Bolland
9	MF	Adam Proudlock
10	MF	Chris Llewellyn
11	MF	Danny Boshell
12	DF	Jamie Clarke
13	GK	Gary Montgomery
14	MF	James Hunt
15	DF	Matthew Bird
16	MF	Jean-Paul Kalala
17	MF	Nick Hegarty
18	MF	Peter Bore
19	FW	Danny North
20	FW	Andy Taylor
22	FW	Nathan Jarman
23	MF	Grant Normington
24	MF	Liam Trotter
25	MF	Rob Atkinson
27	GK	Leigh Overton
?	FW	Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro
?	MF	Mickael Buscher

1	GK	Joe Anyon
2	DF	Sam Stockley
3	MF	Rob Taylor
4	MF	Anthony Griffith
5	DF	John McCombe
6	DF	Luke Prosser
7	MF	Shane Tudor
8	MF	David Howland
9	FW	Marc Richards (captain)
11	MF	Paul Edwards
12	GK	Chris Martin
14	FW	Louis Dodds
15	MF	Scott Brown (on loan from Cheltenham Town)
16	FW	Kyle Perry
17	FW	Steve Thompson
18	MF	Danny Glover
19	MF	Simon Richman
20	MF	Ross Davidson
21	FW	James Lawrie
22	DF	Danny Edwards
23	MF	Luke Chapman
24	DF	Lee Collins (on loan from Wolves)
25	MF	Damien McCrory (on loan from Plymouth Argyle)
26	MF	Dave Brammer (on loan from Millwall)
27	DF	Gareth Owen (on loan from Stockport County)
28	MF	Neil MacKenzie (on loan from Notts County)

Head to Head

Grimsby have only won two out of the last nine games.

P 81 W 35 D 16 L 30 F 139 A 124

Port Vale Head-to-Head (26th on The Opposition Ladder)

Last Meeting

Port Vale 5 Grimsby 1 (Sat 17th Jan 2004)

A 5-1 hammering in Town's last relegation season.

Report

Prediction

A week of rests signings and rumours should give the team a much needed boost bring on the 3 points!

Port Vale 1-2 Grimsby Town

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League Two Table

Question of the Week

Port Vale v Grimsby Preview

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