OPPOSITION VIEW: PORT VALE

Ahead of our fifth round FA Cup trip to Port Vale, we've spoken to Michael Baggaley, editor of The Valiant newsletter, to gain some insight into how the opposition camp are feeling with a spot in the final eight on the line.

Bottom of League One, but Port Vale have done well in the cup! What's the difference between league performances and what's happening in the cup?

There’s certainly a contrast. In fact, Vale have only lost two out of 13 games in cup competitions this season and one of those was to Arsenal. Being drawn at home five times in a row in the FA Cup has helped. Beating Maldon & Tiptree, Bristol Rovers and Fleetwood wasn’t a great surprise in the opening three rounds but Tuesday’s win over Bristol City was a different matter as Vale deservedly beat Championship opposition. City dominated possession but Vale’s work rate and their organisation were tremendous and they created the better chances.

Do you think there's any chance of survival? And what were the aims at the start of the season?

I think there’s a very slim chance of survival but that’s more than I would have said a few weeks ago. Jon Brady has made them competitive and results have started to follow. The aims at the start of the season were to finish somewhere between 12th and 18th which would have been roughly in line with the budget. But the Vale have fallen well short and Darren Moore paid the price with his job at the end of December. He’d won automatic promotion at the first attempt last season but Vale are now facing a second relegation in three seasons.

Jon Brady was appointed at the start of January, thoughts on your new(ish) manager?

I like him. Apparently Vale’s first Aussie manager has a tattoo of a boxing kangaroo. He’s brought that pugnacious approach to Vale as a team which looked down and out has given supporters reason to get behind them. It might be too late for Vale in the league this season but the improvement under him bodes well for next year. 

What did you make of Port Vale's victory over Bristol City? Did the better team win?

Yes they did and it was nice to see them rewarded for the strides they have made under Brady. The season looked a write off a few weeks ago so the improvement in the league and the FA Cup progress has been a pleasant surprise. The mood around the place has changed so I think you’ll find the home support more buoyant on Sunday than you might expect for a team who are ten points from safety. 

Much has been made of the state of your pitch ahead of this game, do you think it will be somewhat of a leveller?

It’s played better than it looks - honestly! Having said that, it’s definitely an old school surface. Vale’s goal scorer Ben Waine said after Tuesday’s win: “We’ve been playing on this pitch for a while now so we are reasonably used to it. But whenever a team comes out and warms up on it, it’s like a win in the battle already because you can see them going, ‘what’s this’!” There is a nostalgic element to all this. One of Vale’s finest FA Cup wins was over Spurs in 1988 when Terry Venables inspected the pitch, felt the mud ooze over his shoes and decided it was best to leave out Ossie Ardiles. The current surface is better than that though and I would be surprised if Sunderland let it affect them.

Who are some of your best players? 

Kyle John has done extremely well and been made captain in the absence of injured skipper Ben Garrity. The Everton academy graduate can play right-wing back or right of the back three and is a fans’ favourite for his battling, never-say-die performances. Ben Waine is also doing well. The New Zealand striker is quick, never stops working, has scored seven goals and looks a player transformed from when he first signed in the summer. Andre Gray is likely to feature at some stage. He’s 34 and still a bit short of match fitness having only joined as a free agent in February after a spell in Turkey. There are moments though when his touch and vision remind us he’s played in the Premier League. 

On the other hand, which Sunderland player worries you the most?

Granit Xhaka. You’ll know better than me but he looks a class act. 

What's your score prediction for this game? Goalscorers?

My head says 2-0 to Sunderland but I’ll go with my heart and say Vale to nick it 2-1 with goals from Ben Waine and Ethon Archer overturning Dan Ballard’s early header. For what it’s worth - and tell me if I'm clutching at straws - there is a bit of history on Vale’s side. Vale have managed to beat Sunderland twice in the FA Cup, and only once in the league, and fans of a certain age still talk fondly of a fourth-round replay win in 1962. Vale’s keeper in that tie, Ken Hancock, sadly passed away last year but I remember interviewing him years ago about that game. He recalled running out at Roker Park in the first game: "I had heard all about the Roker roar and how it was supposed to be the loudest noise at any sports stadium in the country, but it was still a shock when I ran out on the pitch. The wall of noise just hit me, it was like a huge pressure on my chest and I ended up falling head over heels. All I could do was turn my fall into a forward roll and just carry on running. A supporter who was at the game told me years later he was standing next to his dad as we ran out. Apparently his dad turned to him and said any 'keeper who had the confidence to run out at Roker Park and do a forward roll was going to take some beating."

Finally, how far do you think the winner of this match will go in the FA Cup?

If it’s Vale, I’ll allow myself to get massively carried away and say the semi finals. That sounds ridiculous just reading it back. But reaching the last four would match the team of 1953/54 that knocked out Stan Matthews and holders Blackpool in a cup run that was only ended by West Brom in front of nearly 70,000 at Villa Park. Back to reality and if it’s Sunderland then I’ll say the final. I was born in 1973 so don’t remember that one but, if it’s not Vale’s day on Sunday then I’d like to see you win it again.