“I’m Absolutely Sickened.”

County boss Paul Simpson has tore a strip and a half off his squad after a 5-0 thumping at the hands of impressive Port Vale at Edgeley Park on Tuesday night.

The defeat, our fourth 5-0 loss of the season and third this month, came as County had Manny Assoumani sent off for a ‘professional foul’, as we conceded a penalty in either half.

And Simpson made no effort to disguise his disgust at his side, as he let rip just half an hour after the match.

“I don’t know where they think they’re going to go or how long they think their careers are going to last if they keep churning out performances like that.”

“People have to take responsibility for themselves, for their lives, for their profession and for the shirt they’re wearing.”

“You don’t have to be a Stockport County fan to take pride in your performance but I don’t think anyone can be proud of their performance tonight”.

“We showed a side of the character in the squad that unfortunately has been evident too many times over the last month or so.”

“If thats the mentality that is going to keep surfacing I think we’ve got to be prepared for a few more of these hidings.”

The ex-Shrewsbury manager’s departing shots were perhaps the most telling of his whole rant though.

“The fans wouldn’t appreciate it if I came out and pretended I was loving it and we were unlucky to be losing 4 and 5-0, and I’m not going to lie to them because I’ve got massive respect for how they’ve stuck with the club over the past two years when the average fan would have walked away. It’s very tough managing this football club, I’m finding it very tough.”

“But we’ll keep going, don’t worry about that.”