It’s FA Cup 2nd round weekend, a brief detour from the hideousness of our league situation, a chance to breathe, to galvanise, to overcome, to find some answers in this absolute shitshow of a season. We host Bristol Rovers –  themselves staggering through their own horrors, 21st in League two, six straight defeats – sackable stuff for Darrell, unfortunately. I’ve got time for the bloke, oceans of time, took us to that play-off victory in May 2022 while carrying unimaginable grief. A top man, an absolute diamond. I wouldn’t want him back at Vale Park, mind. No way. Never go back to an ex. It can only disappoint.

And what of our own appalling circumstances? Last Saturday was another grim chapter at Lincoln. Another loss. Another game without us scoring, without us even looking like scoring. Abysmal. Here are the cold, hard numbers: 18 gigs played, ten defeats, just three wins. Five losses in the last six, no goals in any of them. Rock bottom of League One. It has been carnage. A slow motion train crash. Does anybody genuinely believe we climb out of this wreckage?

And yet Darren Moore floats on, untouched, unpressured, like a man walking through rain without getting wet. Carol says nothing. The Shanahans’ must have a plan, a contingency, an exit route scribbled somewhere in the margins. How bad do things have to get before they reveal their hand? Play their cards? He should have gone after the Plymouth game. Right there, right then. Come the end of the season we’ll be looking back at that as a missed opportunity for redemption.

But what about Tuesday night? Tuesday night gave us a completely unexpected fever dream in the Vertu Cup. Five-nil against Barnsley. Five fucking nil! We passed, we moved, we danced. We had an edge. We had a plan and we knew how to execute it. We were resolute. We were everything that we haven’t been this season. Ruari roared, Waine and Brown scored, Mo Faal a wild handful from whistle to whistle. Will those four ever conjure this magic in League One? It’s doubtful.

And on the Ruari situation, do you know what? I would love to be proved wrong about him, I would love to see him suddenly flourishing in league one, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen. I doubted he would give us five league goals this season back in August, and I haven’t changed my mind about that. I want him to have the opportunity to prove me wrong, and he definitely deserves a run of games.

Back to Tuesday night, our shape looked right – four at the back, Byers and Walters holding, four attackers prowling ahead. Sharp, alive. 4-2-3-1. That’s the gospel now. No more 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 bullshit. I’ve nothing against those formations, but they’ve failed us. Time to change the tune. He has to see sense. Hold on though, let’s not lose our heads, let’s not get too carried away. Barnsley weren’t full throttle; it was a glorified training game for them. They won’t bring that performance to Vale Park when league points are at stake. Not a chance.

Injury news? Garrity’s out for a few weeks. Seasons past, that would’ve rattled me. Not now. Not anymore. His best days are gone. We have to be brutal. When he’s not contributing goals, what is he contributing? Fuck all. That’s what. It solves a problem, spares us the sight of him huffing and puffing to no effect while better midfielders sit idle. Byers has to be first name on that team sheet – he’s the metronome, the beat, the rhythm. Everything flows through him. Walters alongside. Funso and Croasdale waiting in the wings. I don’t expect, or want, to see much of Garrity or Shipley for the rest of the season.

And tomorrow? Start the same eleven who lit up Tuesday night. Why not? They’ve earned it. Keep Devante, Ronan and George Hall on the bench, ready for action if the front line fails. And let’s face it, if Faal, Waine, Paton, and Brown can’t deliver against a team clawing for survival in League Two, then who will they deliver against? Hmm? Who?

Expect blood and thunder from Bristol, it won’t be Tuesday night’s stroll through the park. By five o’clock, we should be in the hat for the third round. Never that simple though, is it? And then? Who knows what January might bring? We deserve a bit of joy. A little sprinkle of happiness going into Christmas.