CITY 0 PORT VALE 0

APART from Walsall two years ago, every team that has kicked off the season against Port Vale since 2008 has finished up either promoted or relegated.

Four have gone up, three down – with Crewe the most recent fall guys.

So when people say not to read too much into the opening day, perhaps they should look at the Vale fixture list first.

Whether City will fit into that equation, only time will tell. But despite witnessing the first goalless stalemate of the EFL campaign, the majority will have headed home reasonably satisfied.

Saturday shed the first light on the new Stuart McCall era, although it wasn’t a true reflection given the list of absentees.

It did highlight something we already knew – goals remain a problem. For all the territorial advantage, especially in the first half, the absence of a cutting edge to open up stubborn opponents felt a familiar frustration.

Chairman Edin Rahic had declared himself excited and “never” nervous before kick-off. Joined by joint owner Stefan Rupp, the duo were shadowed by a German TV documentary crew as they went through the agonies of watching their new club in serious action for the first time.

The cameras will have caught generally happy expressions at the standard of football on offer in the first hour – something certainly appreciated by the home crowd – mixed with the angst of seeing good build-up play come to nothing.

It’s a recurring issue for the regular watchers and maybe a 1-0 win might have papered over the cracks when it needs to be solved. At least Rahic and Rupp are now well aware that money still has to be spent up top.

McCall’s team selection featured four debuts as well as a first senior outing for Danny Devine, pressed into service because of the enforced reshuffle.

With Nathan Clarke and Timothee Dieng both ruled out with calf problems – McCall typically taking the blame for that himself for over-extending them in a tough running session – the manager’s return had begun with a game of musical chairs.

McCall could name only six subs and he admitted latest capture Matt Kilgallon could not have been risked for more than 15 minutes. “He’s only been training with us for seven days, the three months before that he’s just played tennis and done some jogging.”

So Romain Vincelot was pressed into central defensive duty for the first time since he started in his native France and Devine got the nod to partner Nicky Law in front of him.

The teenager has been a revelation in pre-season but it was still a major ask replacing the man earmarked to be the driving force of the side – and he rewarded McCall with an assured display to be proud of.

Of course the rookie tired around the 70-minute mark, as did much of the team, but he used the ball well and nipped in with a couple of tidy tackles. How the fans enjoyed cheering on one of their own.

Alongside Devine, Law put an indifferent pre-season behind him in aggressive all-action fashion to seize the extra responsibility as the senior man.

He hunted possession, and wasn’t put off by giving it away on occasions, and always looked to get forward.

Law twice shot past the far post in a first half when City did everything but score. Yes, that sentence trotted out once again.

There was a positive intent about the home side from the start as they attacked the Kop. But still Vale keeper Jak Alnwick had only one save to make.

Admittedly it was a blinder, though, stretching every sinew to claw Billy Clarke’s lob away from the top corner and on to the bar.

The other close call came from Nathaniel Knight-Percival, a class customer at the back and keen to show that goal-scoring touch that he carved at Shrewsbury.

He did beat Alnwick with a low shot after a bout of goal-mouth ping pong but Vale skipper Ben Purkiss was positioned on the line to block.

Knight-Percival did his main defensive job with the minimum of fuss and a lightweight Vale attack rarely threatened to expose the join in his emergency partnership with Vincelot.

With Dieng only ruled out late on, skipper Tony McMahon revealed that the makeshift back four had not had chance to train as a unit.

“Nope, we just got chucked in,” he said.

“We just did a little team shape on Friday about how they were going to play. We didn’t really have time to work on it.

“But we’re all good players and Vince has played there before. It was just nice when he slotted in we kept a clean sheet and Doyler (Colin Doyle) didn’t really have a save to make.

“I thought we did everything but score – we could have easily won 3-0 or 4-0 and nobody would have questioned it.

“We want to play football, get the ball out wide and put balls in the box. That’s the manager’s style and the lads have taken on board everything he’s said.”

The rapturous reception when McCall walked along the touchline towards the City dug-out underlined the public warmth, whatever the reservations about his return.

He joked afterwards that a draw was “nailed on” because all of his previous managerial debuts had ended the same way. But this felt very different to the scrambled effort against Macclesfield nine years earlier.

Fatigue set in during the second half as the realisation grew that Vale weren’t for breaking. New boss Bruno Ribeiro was happy with the way they shackled City and centre half Nathan Smith, who spent last season with non-league Torquay, had a good game against James Hanson.

Hanson was playing his first full game in three months as was James Meredith. With wingers Mark Marshall, a confident revelation after the at times forlorn figure under Phil Parkinson, and Filipe Morais seeing so much of the ball, the team inevitably grew leggy.

The chances dried up after Hanson’s flick header from a Morais cross flashed inches wide.

And there could have been a horrible sting in the tail in stoppage time.

This fixture traditionally has a history of late drama and Vale would have sneaked a last-gasp winner if substitute Christopher Mbamba had made a proper connection when Paulo Tavares drilled a low ball along the six-yard line.