Stoke Fans

[Mowen]

Did you miss the first half?

No, I saw it and we were woefully embarassing. Second half we were the better team and deserved a point though. Even messrs Shearer and Owen agree on that.

 

K mate.  I take it you live outside of Staffs, since you've managed to get an internet connection and all....

I see what you did there mate, I take it you are the comedy genius around these parts then.....  You're fu**ing special son 

As are you.

 

It boils down to First half you tried to pass it about and were mauled, second half you played like a Rugby team and scored twice after we had to make some daft changes.

 

I don't understand your criticism of them, they were as awful in the first half as we were in the second. Didn't think their fans were too bad (in the ground) either, seen far worse at SJP in recent years.

 

He's talking about the quality of Football not how effective each team was.  At least we played some good stuff in the first half.

 

Yes and no. They didn't really play like a rugby team, we were just woeful, asked to be beaten. Didn't see any particularly rough play from them.

[Wullie]

Stoke fully deserved their point for taking advantage of our cowardice. We barely touched the ball in the second half and that wasn't just because we're utter shite. They never really resorted to long balls unlike us, fair play to them.

[Teasy]

They never resorted the long balls?  What?   There entire game plan revolved around getting the ball high into the box by any means necessary.

 

Nobody said they didn't deserve to get the draw, they did because they put a lot of pressure on a very unbalanced Newcastle side in the second half.  That doesn't mean I'm going to pretend they played good Football.

[Mowen]

They never resorted the long balls?  What?

 

I'd wager they player fewer long balls in the second half than we did.

[Teasy]

They never resorted the long balls?  What?

 

I'd wager they player fewer long balls in the second half than we did.

 

If they did that still doesn't mean they played good Football.  We were fucking terrible in the second half!

[Guest whydelilah]

We are a direct team and we play long balls, so what? It's up to other teams to beat us, you weren't good enough and that's why you're struggling. You won't go down, but until big changes are made at your club you won't win anything for many years to come.

 

If Owen has any sense he will jump ship as soon as he gets chance, he is too good for you.

[Mowen]

They never resorted the long balls?  What?

 

I'd wager they player fewer long balls in the second half than we did.

 

If they did that still doesn't mean they played good Football.  We were fucking terrible in the second half!

 

What's that got to do with the point of your's I quoted? They didn't play great football, but it was good enough against a terrible team in the second half. The same way our football was good enough against a terrible team in the first half. Don't really know what you're arguing here.

[Wullie]

They never resorted the long balls?  What?   There entire game plan revolved around getting the ball high into the box by any means necessary.

 

Nobody said they didn't deserve to get the draw, they did because they put a lot of pressure on a very unbalanced Newcastle side in the second half.  That doesn't mean I'm going to pretend they played good Football.

 

Fairly obvious difference between getting high balls into the box and just lumping it forward from defence to some brick shithouse.

[Teasy]

We are a direct team and we play long balls, so what? It's up to other teams to beat us, you weren't good enough and that's why you're struggling. You won't go down, but until big changes are made at your club you won't win anything for many years to come.

 

If Owen has any sense he will jump ship as soon as he gets chance, he is too good for you.

 

One bit of direct running and a cross for a tap in is hardly amazing Football..  I mean maybe it is to you but it certainly isn't to the rest of the league.  Look you're a pretty awful Football team but if your manager can keep you up by playing that way then he'll have done a fantastic job, given what he has to work with, that's all that matters.

 

I never complained or said you shouldn't be allowed to play that style of Football, I just disagreed when you tried to make it sound like you played good Football.  No idea what your opinion on our club and its situation has to do with it either.

 

They never resorted the long balls?  What?

 

I'd wager they player fewer long balls in the second half than we did.

 

If they did that still doesn't mean they played good Football.  We were fucking terrible in the second half!

 

What's that got to do with the point of your's I quoted? They didn't play great football, but it was good enough against a terrible team in the second half. The same way our football was good enough against a terrible team in the first half. Don't really know what you're arguing here.

 

Everything considering its the point of my argument.  I'm saying that we played some good Football in the first half, they played ugly yet effective Football in the second half.  No idea why that opinion has to escalate into an argument in the first place.. only on this forum.

[Teasy]

They never resorted the long balls?  What?   There entire game plan revolved around getting the ball high into the box by any means necessary.

 

Nobody said they didn't deserve to get the draw, they did because they put a lot of pressure on a very unbalanced Newcastle side in the second half.  That doesn't mean I'm going to pretend they played good Football.

 

Fairly obvious difference between getting high balls into the box and just lumping it forward from defence to some brick shithouse.

 

Not really, either way its not good Football.

[Guest Jawesome]

Go on Teasy sunna!

 

[Syrette]

One bit of direct running and a cross for a tap in is hardly amazing Football..  I mean maybe it is to you but it certainly isn't to the rest of the league.  Look you're a pretty awful Football team but if your manager can keep you up by playing that way then he'll have done a fantastic job, given what he has to work with, that's all that matters.

 

You are of course correct, compared to the likes of the big teams in the league we are pretty awful. There are also teams in the league who are even worse than us, they currently lie below us in the league. 

No wonder your fans are so universally hated.

 

Hardly. He's not said much incorrect there either.

 

Ok then you tell me which teams currently below Stoke in the league are worse Footballing sides?  In fact tell me which ones are in the whole league.

 

He didn't say "worse Footballing sides", he said who are currently worse than them going by league position. That's how I took it.

[Guest whydelilah]

He didn't say "worse Footballing sides", he said who are currently worse than them going by league position. That's how I took it.

 

Sunderland and West Brom were utterly shocking when they played us at The Britannia. Considering Blunderland have spent around 80 million over 2 years you couldn’t tell the difference between us and them, in fact we were the better “footballing” team and deserved our win.

 

In comparison to most of the teams who have spent tens of millions of pounds over a period of years in the prem our play at times falls short. If we were to come up and try and match Man Utd and Chelsea at their own game we would find ourselves in a position similar to the baggies. People bang on about their style but I wouldn’t swap to be in their position in a million years.

 

We play how we play and we are who we are and we make no apologies about it. Having said that we can play a bit too and we’ve already scored one of the best goals of the season so far (Fuller against Villa). If Ronaldo had scored it they would have banged on about it for weeks. Yes, we’ve scored from long throws too but why not use that weapon if you have it? Yes, it’s not pretty but we have to do whatever we can to stay in this league, if we can stay up and invest the extra income for better quality players then I have no doubt our style of play will change also but we need to do whatever we can to stay up in the mean time and we are competing in this league which most people said we wouldn’t before a ball was kicked.

 

None of our goals against you came directly from a punt up field or a long throw but again that doesn’t get mentioned.

 

[Guest toonlass]

He didn't say "worse Footballing sides", he said who are currently worse than them going by league position. That's how I took it.

 

Sunderland and West Brom were utterly shocking when they played us at The Britannia. Considering Blunderland have spent around 80 million over 2 years you couldn’t tell the difference between us and them, in fact we were the better “footballing” team and deserved our win.

 

In comparison to most of the teams who have spent tens of millions of pounds over a period of years in the prem our play at times falls short. If we were to come up and try and match Man Utd and Chelsea at their own game we would find ourselves in a position similar to the baggies. People bang on about their style but I wouldn’t swap to be in their position in a million years.

 

We play how we play and we are who we are and we make no apologies about it. Having said that we can play a bit too and we’ve already scored one of the best goals of the season so far (Fuller against Villa). If Ronaldo had scored it they would have banged on about it for weeks. Yes, we’ve scored from long throws too but why not use that weapon if you have it? Yes, it’s not pretty but we have to do whatever we can to stay in this league, if we can stay up and invest the extra income for better quality players then I have no doubt our style of play will change also but we need to do whatever we can to stay up in the mean time and we are competing in this league which most people said we wouldn’t before a ball was kicked.

 

None of our goals against you came directly from a punt up field or a long throw but again that doesn’t get mentioned.

 

 

I think there are worse footballing sides than Stoke to be fair, Bolton and West Brom immediately come to mind.

[Dave]

I think there are worse footballing sides than Stoke to be fair, Bolton and West Brom immediately come to mind.

 

 

They played some excellent football up here IMO, they just lack a cutting edge.

[Guest toonlass]

I think there are worse footballing sides than Stoke to be fair, Bolton and West Brom immediately come to mind.

 

 

They played some excellent football up here IMO, they just lack a cutting edge.

 

I meant in general, not just up here though.

[Dave]

Ah right. I've only seen them a couple of times and each time their style of football was admirable for a promoted team iyam.

[Ash]

I think there are worse footballing sides than Stoke to be fair, Bolton and West Brom immediately come to mind.

 

 

They played some excellent football up here IMO, they just lack a cutting edge.

 

I meant in general, not just up here though.

 

To be fair to West Brom, they always try and play good football and at times come up with some good stuff, however I do agree with Dave that they just lack a cutting edge.

[Guest whydelilah]

That’s exactly my point, West Brom will go down if they carry on like they are. If it’s a choice between going down and playing some decent stuff which gets you praise or playing direct, getting slated by other teams and the media but staying up then it’s a no-brainer. I wouldn’t swap with the baggies in a million years. They seem to get accolades from all and sundry but points on the board is what counts. It’s hard enough escaping the championship and getting into The Prem and it’s even hard staying there when you get there, Mowbury needs to wake up and realise that. Pulis has already said this season “some teams are happy to go sideways then back, sideways then back, but I prefer to get through teams and create goalscoring opportunities”…….it’s obvious which has been the most successful tactic this season.

 

P.S. for the record, considering The baggies have received all the plaudits for their style of play this season they were shocking against us and hoofed the ball more than we did.

 

[Benwell Lad]

That’s exactly my point, West Brom will go down if they carry on like they are. If it’s a choice between going down and playing some decent stuff which gets you praise or playing direct, getting slated by other teams and the media but staying up then it’s a no-brainer. I wouldn’t swap with the baggies in a million years. They seem to get accolades from all and sundry but points on the board is what counts. It’s hard enough escaping the championship and getting into The Prem and it’s even hard staying there when you get there, Mowbury needs to wake up and realise that. Pulis has already said this season “some teams are happy to go sideways then back, sideways then back, but I prefer to get through teams and create goalscoring opportunities”…….it’s obvious which has been the most successful tactic this season.

 

P.S. for the record, considering The baggies have received all the plaudits for their style of play this season they were shocking against us and hoofed the ball more than we did.

 

 

You put across a very rational and reasoned argument and I agree with what you say. In any sport you use the resources at your disposal to achieve the best possible result and Tony Pulis is doing just that. 

He also made a very shrewd signing in Abdoulaye Faye, knowing what kind of season you had coming up. Faye was undoubtedly one of Newcastle's best performers last season.

 

That said, I hope you are relegated. Not because of the admirable Tony Pulis or the many decent fans like yourself, but because of the vermin who have attached themselves to Stoke City.

Last season I saw them randomly hitting anyone including pensioners and women outside St. James and saw a few who were just spoiling for trouble on Saturday. It's the small town mentality of yesteryear.

I'm sure they know very little about football but a lot about pre meditated violence. Decent fans like you should do everything you can to rid your club of the scum if you ever want to be made welcome in pubs around Newcastle as most away fans are nowadays.

[Guest whydelilah]

That said, I hope you are relegated. Not because of the admirable Tony Pulis or the many decent fans like yourself, but because of the vermin who have attached themselves to Stoke City.

Last season I saw them randomly hitting anyone including pensioners and women outside St. James and saw a few who were just spoiling for trouble on Saturday. It's the small town mentality of yesteryear.

I'm sure they know very little about football but a lot about pre meditated violence. Decent fans like you should do everything you can to rid your club of the scum if you ever want to be made welcome in pubs around Newcastle as most away fans are nowadays.

 

I can’t comment on the incidents you refer to as I didn’t witness them, I will however say that the stigma of our past seems to live with us today and we get a lot of criticism based purely on that. Ever since we introduced the ID card system a few years ago the number of crowd related violent incidents has drastically reduced. We had a problem in the 70’s and 80’s but the club has taken active steps to eradicate that and I believe we’ve been successful. We have a minority of morons, but as does every club. If these morons find other morons and kick 6 layers of sh*t out of one another then I don’t have a problem with it, it’s their funeral at the end of the day. If these idiots target random, innocent people then that’s where the problem lies but I do believe as a club we have taken big steps over recent years but I’m not going to deny we have a minority who shame our club, but that applies to almost every club up and down the country.

 

I think it’s unfair to say you want to see us relegated because of our hooligans but that’s your opinion, in my opinion we are no worse than any other in The Prem. 

 

The majority of Stokies just follow their team to support them, not to seek out trouble.

 

[Guest whydelilah]

Can I also add that I stopped over in Newcastle on Saturday. We had drinks in Shearers bar before and after the game and went around town at night and experienced no trouble at all. Shearers Bar is a great place, I wish we had something similar at Stoke. The Geordie people were great, excellent night out.

[marko1892]

Tbh Delilah, I agree with you about the stigma attached to stoke, I went to the britannia last season but me and my mates drank in birmingham before hand seeming we live in Birmingham (I listened to the hype and thought we'd run into trouble at stoke). When we got there, I didnt get one bad word directed towards myself.

 

Now, Has this story actually been confirmed about the stabbing in Newcastle, at the moment it just seems like rumour. Regarding your club, I think you will stay up because the team seems effective at what it does. You wont win many fans in the way you play but like you've said, play to your strengths and whatevers effective.

[Guest whydelilah]

Marko, I’ve heard rumours about the policeman being stabbed story but I honestly have no idea if there is any truth in it or what the actual facts are. I’d hope there’s nothing in it but I can’t make any comment as I don’t know the details or facts.

 

As for the stigma attached to Stoke, I honestly believe you can visit The Britannia without fear of being attacked by some hooly. If you are looking for trouble then you can probably find it because as I’ve previously said, all teams have their minority of morons. The majority of Stokies have no intention of inciting or looking for trouble, I’ve been following them regularly over the past 10 years or so and can honestly say the amount of trouble over those years has been minimal.

 

We still have the stigma though and that’s disappointing, people seem to judge us on past reputation.

 

[marko1892]

its always going to be the case though with clubs with old reputations, I've 'heard' Millwall isn't as bad as people go on about since they've moved to their new place but still, if i ever went i'd be cautious.

 

So does this mean this year i shouldnt hold any fear of pre & post match drinks in stoke city centre?