Port Vale failure to pull the trigger on key duo earlier could lead to relegation: View | OneFootball

Port Vale are still in danger of relegation from League One after a brief two-year stay - despite sacking their manager and director of football in a tumultuous season.

A dismal run of just three wins in 20 games saw Andy Crosby sacked from his first job as a club manager at the beginning of February - just five days after the transfer window closed.

Crosby had overseen a run which saw Vale fail to win a league game between September 19th and December 9th, and then go winless again in 2024 until his sacking in early February.

But fans fumed at the timing of the announcement, given that any new manager would be unable to make any improvements to the squad unless they signed out-of-contract players.

There had been calls for Crosby to go as early as November when results started to dip alarmingly, but owner Carol Shanahan appeared to attempt to give Crosby a chance to rectify his mistakes, affording him the luxury of a January transfer window to improve the squad.

David Flitcroft to blame for January mess

However, if anything, the squad was weaker after January than it was before, leading fans to protest loudly about the role of David Flitcroft, who, as director of football, had been given the sole responsibility of putting together a capable first team squad.

Out went loan sensations Ollie Arblaster and Alfie Devine, to their parent clubs, Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively - Devine later joining Plymouth in the Championship - while Flitcroft failed to sign a much-needed striker.

It wasn't the first time that Flitcroft had felt fans' ire - January was the third window in succession that he had failed to sign a competent League One striker, and had left his manager hamstrung with some bizarre loan moves.

Experienced League One manager Darren Moore was brought in, but instead of a new manager bounce, Moore oversaw a run of eight games without a win upon his arrival.

It was clear that Moore was trying to figure out the mess he had been left by Flitcroft, playing different formations and giving most squad players a chance to impress. There were even rumours that Flitcroft was still influencing the picking of the team, and that substitutions were made upon his advice from the medical department.

The barren spell of results finally saw the end of Flitcroft in mid-March, once it became apparent that fans would take no more. Rumours of planned protests, and threats to not renew season tickets, saw the former Rotherham man leave the club "mutually".

And with the black cloud lifted at Vale Park, it was no surprise that, in the very next game, Moore finally got his first win with an impressive display at Burton Albion that breathed new life into the season.

He then followed it up with a classy win at home to Bristol Rovers, and although Vale suffered defeat last time out to Northampton, there is far more hope at Vale Park now Moore appears to have sole charge of the team.

Hope that Carol Shanahan learns from her mistakes

The owner, Carol Shanahan, appears to put some blind faith in her employees.

She has been quoted as calling her players "phenomenal", following a heavy defeat, and previously put out a strong press release defending Flitcroft when he came under attack from Vale fans, saying: "Since I became Chair of Port Vale I have made mistakes. Appointing Dave Flitcroft is not one of them," before ending his tenure little more than a month later.

Vale fans will now hope that if the club look to be in peril any time soon, Shanahan is able to make more urgent decisions in an attempt to turn the club around.

The decision to bring Moore to the club eventually looks a good one and, as mentioned, there's a glimmer of hope. That glimmer could have been so much more, though, had senior figures had the trigger pulled on them that little bit earlier.