WHY,WHY WHY....RICARDO?

Chelsea are not the team they used to be at the moment.The team rebuild that Villas-Boas was attempting is no more,unwisely I suspect.Di Matteo is unlikely to be given the time or money for the major surgery that is necessary.His inclination for this match was to bring back into the side some of the players who have caused AVB to fall short.

Stoke, you felt,had their best chance to take points away from Stamford Bridge since promotion to the Premiership.Certainly,looking at the teamsheet they were set  to do so.We rode our luck early doors,looked to be blunting the home side's edge,when Ricaro Fuller - so often our saviour over six wonderful years - applied a one man wrecking ball to our masterplan.

So often he has turned a game in our favour with his magical skills, close control,and eye for goal.Selected to start the game perhaps he could snatch a goal from nothing as he has done so often.No-one who has seen him play could have been in any doubt that he has a short fuse.

Only he can know what was going through his mind,when, following several niggles with Serbian defender Ivanovic,following a further challenge on 25 minutes, our man turned back and stamped on his man.An immediate red card,and realistically an end to our chances of getting anything from this match.

Chelsea were poor,taking a further 40 minutes to break the ten men down.Mata put Drogba in to score from close range on 65 minutes.

WORKMANLIKE POTTERS

STOKE CITY FC  1 NORWICH CITY  0

Two successive solid ,if unspectacular home wins see The Mighty Potters return to 8th place in the Premiership.With 36 points in the bag and 11 matches to play we look to be in for another season at the top table,barring major disasters,and miracle runs from the teams below us.

Like Swansea last week Norwich did not really have a look in,though they were much more streetwise than the Welshmen.Pushing,shoving,niggling in the best Stoke fashion,it looked increasingly as if The Canaries would escape with a point,despite Stoke creating  a number of good chances.

Our play was creative at times,but our finishing was far from clinical.Three really good chances spring to mind from the first half.Walters,trying hard and with some nice linking touches (but still looking tired in my view) was unfortunate with a strong shot.Some fine one two interplay put Whitehead in,clear on goal,but he scuffed a weak shot,which the Norwich keeper had little trouble saving.Crouch was given a rough ride by the Norwich defenders,throughout his time on the pitch.He found himself free just the once in the 6 yard box.He rifled a fine shot,which most days would bring him a goal.On this occasion he was frustrated as the keeper pulled off a brilliant reflex save.

The second half saw mounting Potter pressure,but again mounting frustration.Something of a stalemate,until Manager Pulis rang the changes upfront,replacing Walters and Crouch with Jerome and Jones.From a disputed Stoke throw in on the left,Jerome nodded the ball into Etherington's path.He powered into the Norwich box,eluding two defenders,before lashing the ball left footed into the net past Ruddy at his near post.

Still Stoke were not finished.Receiving the ball on the right Kenwyne Jones fed a superb ball to Jerome,in centrefield.Had the striker hit the ball with his left foot he may have converted the chance,but as he tried desperately to get the ball onto his right foot for a shot he was closed down.

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT

STOKE CITY FC 2 SWANSEA CITY 0


Stoke got down to business today,business as used to be usual.We registered our first win at home since mid December.scored two good goals in the first half,could have had more in the second,but importantly pressured our visitors ,most of the time disrupting their free flowing passing game.Perhaps this match represents the beginnings of a return to Fortress Britannia.

Manager Pulis is a canny fellow.The team that he put out,featured 11 changes from Thursday night in Valencia.Well rested they certainly were,with much energetic scampering about,far removed from some of the jaded lethargic looking efforts that we have witnessed of late.Its true to say that again we didn't really get any breaks,but what was different was that we didn't have any go against us.

Begovic,back in goal,had very little to do,apart from two telling interventions,one in each half.In the first half he came out fearlessly into a congested penalty box to punch a dangerous cross away imperiously, flooring a visiting striker into the bargain.Right at the end of the second a marvellous reflex save saw the ball deflect onto our bar and away to safety.

Wilkinson kept star flanker Sinclair very quiet,while Wilson had more of a struggle with the tricky Dyer on the right.Upson and Shawcross were solid at the centre of defence.Etherington is not the force that he was last season,for whatever reason,but his contributions from set plays are still vital.Today his cornerkick was headed home by Upson for our opener.

Crouch looked more comfortable than he has done recently,maybe something to do with the onset of clement weather.He notched the second,heading in from Shotton's long throw in.

Three vital points gained,and an end to a depressing run of results.We rise to 12th in the table,the lowest of four teams on 33 points,on goal difference.

BECALMED......

FULHAM  2  STOKE CITY FC  1

Now you would be forgiven for thinking that at the moment our great ship,our galleon, is not moving forward at speed.But you would be right.Flat seas,and little wind in our sails,just about sums things up....we are becalmed on 30 points!! Our Captain has not seemed as buoyant, of late, in his after match comments, seeming to be at something of a loss to explain our current situation.

But the Titanic we are not.

By the way Stoke played Fulham.Their new Russian signing Pogrebnyak netted superbly on his debut to give the Cottagers the lead on 16 minutes,but if there was any justice ( or ref consistency) in the world,he should have walked for a dreadful tackle putting his studs into Palacios knee.Certainly not deliberate,but will the FA look at that one?Not at all likely in my book..

Then we had a stroke of bad luck.On 27 minutes Dempsey had a speculative shot,which struck our bar with Tommy Sorensen rooted to the spot.No problem until the ricocheting ball hit our keeper,redirecting into our net for an own goal.

The latter part of the second half saw us get back into the match,as Ryan Shawcross at the near post got his head to sub Pennant's excellent corner,the ball finding its way to the far corner of the Fulham net (78 mins).Despite exerting considerable pressure we failed to find the net again.

So we move onto Thursday.Is HMS SCFC, capable of sinking a Spanish galleon? Time will tell, but unlike the pessimists, I'm looking forward to seeing the crew try.

CARTWHEELING

STOKE CITY FC   0  SUNDERLAND  1  

You have to wonder whether or not this game should have been played.The appalling sub zero temperatures and continuous snowfall did not make for an edifying spectacle.Same for both sides you might say,but not with deeply unimpressive officials like Ref Atkinson about.Commonsense...he uses none,thinking time he gives himself ....none.Both factors would go a long way to explaining why he is by far,over the last two years,the red card leader with 24 sendings off.

Just on halftime he dispatched Robert Huth for an early bath.He couldn't get his red card out fast fast enough,in fact so eager was he to respond to the Sunderland players card waving antics (Bardsley giving the lead on this one),that his hand and the card got stuck half way out of his pocket.

Now I'm not sure who is priming these idiots, but not much thought went into this decision.For a start Atkinson's view was partially blocked by a Sunderland player.Huth looked as though he was heading into a challenge for the ball with Meyler, single footed,and when he realised he was not going to get to the ball,slid through,foot and studs down.No contact was made with the opposing player.Meyler,though, seeing the possible challenge,went into an award winning elaborate cartwheel,followed on landing, with a prolonged period of writhing on the ground as if pollaxed.As shameful a piece of cynical conning as I have seen in a long while,and our ref fell for it hook,line,and sinker.

We only had to wait 15 minutes into the second period for the gap in our defences (plus the dreadful underfoot conditions,which made changing direction at short notice,all but impossible)to yield Sunderland the opportunity to score.McClean left Wilko behind, coming in from the left, dodged the onrushing Shawcross,slipping the ball under Sorensen's dive into the corner of our net.Another case of game over thereafter,I'm afraid.

Not the end for suffering Stokies though,as they faced a nightmarish journey home through the frozen wastes,and seized up traffic.




Update: Quite rightly Pulis is upset....he even went as far sending MOTD a still photo of the alleged Huth offence.The pundits unanimously agreed,the red card was wrong, yellow at worst in their opinion.


Link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16890312

JADED

MANCHESTER UNITED  2  STOKE CITY FC  0

The last time we came away from Old Trafford with a point was way back in 1980.To be honest we never really looked likely to get anything from this match,for a variety of reasons.

Overall our performance lacked drive,we frankly looked jaded.This was typified by the usually excellent Jon Walters,the sparkle was missing,he looked laboured,and left the fray early,perhaps being saved for the Sunderland game.Crouch,Jones,and Jerome moved back and to across the pitch,but to little effect in an attacking sense. Pennant was the only player who seemed to pose United a problem or two.

United themselves were nothing special on the night.They did not have much joy picking their way through our defence,until,on 37 minutes, assistance arrived in the form of Ref Jones.Park was played into our area,where he fell under challenge from Pennant.It looked as though our man got something on the ball,but the ref judged it to be a foul.Hernandez made no mistake from the spotkick,sending Sorensen the wrong way.Given our minimal attacking threat,this was effectively game over.Talking among themselves,the Man U fans around me had doubts that it was in fact a penalty at all.

Valencia for me was by far the best player on the pitch,giving whichever Stoke players he faced down the right a torrid time.On 53 minutes he was simply too quick and too clever for Walters,who was judged,maybe harshly,to have impeded him in the area.Minimal contact,but more than enough for Mr.Jones!Berbatov was lucky to convert the penalty,Sorro this time guessing the right way,and only narrowly failing to make the save.

We never looked  as though we could come back.Their keeper had only one save to make in the entire match.To be fair to Tony Pulis, we did not seek to park the bus across the goalmouth this time round.

It needs to be said,too, that we were not penalised on two more obvious occasions when penalty awards would have been entirely justified.On the second of those Mr. Jones' body language suggested that he felt that he had done enough for one night. 

WINDY CITY

STOKE CITY FC 1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2


Now I,ve seen no TV highlights,and I've not listened to any radio punditry,commentary or 'Praise and Grumble',so what I'm about to write is what I think I saw at The Britannia Stadium.

The winds were fierce,and their effects seriously unpredictable,a reminder of an earlier time when this fixture was postponed,because the conditions were deemed unplayable.As they left the stadium at the end of the match Stokie voices were heard to remark that it was a pity that referee Mr.Taylor had not come to the same decision as his predecessor.

To say that Stoke were a disappointment in the first half would be something of an understatment.It wasn't that the wind negated a part of our game,rather that,first,some of our team didn't seem to fancy it much,second West Brom adapted better to the conditions.They kept the ball on the ground for the most part,with Dorrans and Morrison,in particular shooting on sight.

Crouchy seemed more than a little out of sorts.It could have been increased wind resistance due to his higher altitude.More likely it was the close attentions of defender Olsson,who,it will be remembered,roughed Kenwyne Jones out of the corresponding match last year.

The Baggies seemed sharper on and to the ball,moving it around quickly on the ground.They presented a real threat down our right side where Woodgate and Shotton had trouble coping.Their shoot on sight policy paid dividends.After some wayward efforts they found their range.We had a warning as Sorensen brought off a fine diving one handed save,tipping a goalbound effort up onto the woodwork,but he was found wanting later,making a hash of saving a firm Morisson drive to concede the opener in rather untidy fashion.

From a Stoke point of view the second half was altogether brighter.We did not have long to wait for Tony Pulis to change things around.Pennant came on to give us much more threat and balance.Things could have been so different had the usually reliable Walters netted from the penalty that he won.But he didn't,Ben Foster getting down well to his right to push the ball away to safety.The visitors hit our post again,and Sorensen made two superb saves before we finally found the net.Lively sub,Jerome headed home with out too much trouble from Pennant's ball in from the right.Relief all round the ground,but not for long.

At the death Walters conceded a needless freekick on the edge of our penalty box.Our normal defensive response would have been organised,but for some reason it seemed uncertain and sloppy .Dorrans took full advantage,driving the ball directly along the ground across the keeper,past stationary defenders into our net for the winner.

SICK TO DEATH OF PLAYERS MOBBING REFS!!

LIVERPOOL FC  0  STOKE CITY FC  0

Doesn't matter what match you watch or at what level, player discipline more and more leaves a lot to be desired.Increasingly much player activity seems to be angled at undermining the referee and assistants,to secure some advantage.We have progressed rapidly through from the odd few words of complaint, when a decision is plain wrong,to remonstrations when a decision does not suit; to the knowing smile accompanied by a shaking of the head; to the idiot finger wagging at some unfortunate official,again accompanied by vigorous head shaking;to individual players heading directly for the nearest official, exhibiting a lack of self control reminiscent of a full blown toddler tantrum;to the waving of imaginery cards - sometimes yellow,more often red  - in the ref's face;to mobbing the referee with intent to bully and intimidate. Is it me or has this latter phenomenon got seriously out of hand in recent months.

We have managers jumping up and down like something demented when something does not go their way.We have tv commentators,and so called pundits going hysterical,claiming to be non-judgemental about refereeing decisions,but doing exactly the opposite.Very few of them cut the ref any slack,as they sit back comfortably in the studio,holding forth and collecting a fat fee.

The game is the poorer for all this.From top to bottom, FA to players, plus various media hangers on,it is time to call time,enough is enough.The message needs to be sent out loud and clear that the act needs to be cleaned up.Stick your head in the ref's face,sufficient to cause him to take backward step (as we have seen a few times in recent televised games) should attract a red card. Take a leaf or two out of Rugby Union's book.....dispute a decision,move the point of freekick ten yards upfield;professional foul,send the offender for 10 minutes in a sin bin!!Surely it is not beyond the wit of the FA to do more,but do they have the resolve?

Rant over......

By the way Stoke managed a magnificent point at Liverpool,with some heroic defending.Brilliant lads....still 8th,ten points from safety!!!!!

LOCAL DERBY

FA CUP 4TH ROUND DRAW



Brighton or Wrexham v Newcastle

Sunderland v Middlesbrough

Dagenham & Redbridge or Millwall v Southampton

Hull City v Crawley

MK Dons or QPR v Chelsea

West Brom v Norwich

Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday

Arsenal or Leeds v Aston Villa

Stevenage v Notts County

Watford v Tottenham

Liverpool v Manchester United

Derby v Stoke City

Everton v Fulham

Macclesfield or Bolton v Swansea

Sheffield United v Birmingham or Wolves

Nottingham Forest or Leicester v Swindon

SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS....FIXED !!

BLACKBURN ROVERS  1  STOKE CITY FC  2


Serves me right for banging on about things not evening themselves out.......they certainly did in this match.Stoke undoubtedly enjoyed the rub of the green,early doors.Before we had really got going Samba had headed against our bar from a corner.Shortly afterwards the same player escaped Shawcross's clutches in the six yard box,and found the net,only to have what looked like a good goal chalked off because Yakubu was adjudged to have fouled keeper Sorensen.

Stoke took charge as the half progressed,building a two goal lead,thanks to superb striking from Crouch.Both goals involved a sublime controlling initial touch.For the first the ball reached him,courtesy of a Whitehead chip into the box.As Samba slipped and fell Crouch rifled the ball into the net to keeper Bunn's right.With halftime approaching Etherington picked up the ball in his own half,and scampered down the left wing.Looking up he managed to produce a precision cross to Crouch in the penalty box.He pulled away from his marker,brought the ball down on his right thigh,and hammered home with his left foot.

The second half was shaded by the home side.They got back into the game with Goodwillie's first Premiership goal,and mounted increasing pressure for a while.They were denied an equaliser when Woodgate blocked Yakubu's point blank effort on the line,within minutes of Goodwillie's goal.

Lots of positives to be taken from this game.We seem to be travelling away with increasing confidence,style,and more attacking intent.Jonathan Woodgate had a superb game,and although a yard slower than in his pomp,he looked every inch the class player that he is.He combines well with the ever improving Shotton down the right.Matty Etherington looks to be back to his best.

8th place consolidated,29 points in the bag from 20 games........11 points needed to stay up....Happy days to be a Potter!!