Going Down The Match :Stoke City FC

WINDY CITY

2012-01-22T08:45:00.000Z

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!!

2012-01-15T10:27:00.001Z

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

2012-01-08T18:21:00.003Z

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 !!

2012-01-03T11:46:00.002Z

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!!

SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS......BROKEN?

2012-01-01T21:28:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 WIGAN ATHLETIC 2

I suppose its another point gained,although 2 points from two home games is a mite disappointing.And all this stuff about things evening themselves out,your swings and roundabouts,well I'm not convinced by it.From where I was amongst the 'sheep shearers' in Cardiff for the New Year,it looked to me that things were somewhat awry in the playground.

We didn't play as well as we might have to begin with,and we fell behind on the stroke of halftime.Had Moses been a Stoke player he would have been a disappointed man because the ball,instead of finding the net,would have cannoned back out off the bar ,and away to safety,or of course it would have rebounded into a grateful keeper's arms.But he scored,unlike Huth later,and as we all know from his fine header the ball did indeed rebound off a post into keeper Al Habsi's arms.

Fair do's though in the second half the referee did see Jerome's goal bound header deflected away/saved by a defenders arm.Walter's netted the subsequent penalty to bring us level,and Caldwell was dispatched by Mr.Oliver for an early bath.Then it got better still,a Crouch flick was headed further forward by Walters into the path of the fast moving Jerome.He scored with aplomb,steering the ball to Al Habsi's left into the bottom right corner of the net.Job done with six minutes to go!

But no,three minutes later,the ref provided the ten men with a leg up.A 50/50 mutual push/ shove/grab in our penalty area,featuring Shotton and Rodallega,saw the latter fall to the ground after the fashion of a swooning pantomime dame.The tug on the heartstrings was too much for our warmhearted official to resist,and he duly awarded a penalty,which sub Watson converted.

Now being a fairminded man you can imagine my confusion,when in the closing moments,Shawcross was hauled down much more obviously in the Wigan area,but we got nothing.Clearly the ref's well of Christmas spirit had run dry.

A very happy New Year to you,but don't talk to me about swings and roundabouts,at least for the time being!

NOT MUCH TO SEE HERE

2011-12-27T10:26:00.002Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 ASTON VILLA 0

This match was pretty much a stalemate,both sides proceeding with caution rather than adventure.Each side had their moments,moments which could have decided the match.Sharing the points was right though.

Stokes's standout moments : Robert Huth heading over the Villa bar twice,opportunities that he might have expected to score from; Wilson heading the ball against the underside of the bar,a splendid effort which,two inches lower would have gone in,but as it was (maybe already 75% over the line)it came down onto Agbonlahor's chest,and out to safety.

For Villa Heskey headed against the outside of the Stoke goalpost,various crosses eluded defenders and strikers alike in the Stoke area, Delfouneso was put in on Sorensen by Agbonlahor's cross from the left,but our keeper managed to get a foot on the ball,moving it away to safety,and Villa's best chance was gone.The other piece of excitement came when ,uncharacteristically given his superb form since returning to the side,Sorensen fumbled N'Zogbia's freekick from the right of goal.Fortunately the ball fell to Shotton was on hand to effect a clearance upfield.

A workmanlike,but uninspired performance,from Stoke.

SORENSEN MINDS THE COCONUT SHY

2011-12-21T22:06:00.000Z

MANCHESTER CITY 3 STOKE CITY FC 0

Stoke were set up to hold onto the point they started with....if they could.Virtually the entire first half was played out in Stoke territory.the home side created plenty of chances,numerous shots, the closest of which,up to the half hour mark,hit the angle of post and bar.

Aguero scored the inevitable opener,but as chance would have it from an offside position.Done we may have been for that goal,but there was no doubt about the second goal a few minutes later.Whitehead won the ball on the byline to left of goal.Inexplicably he tried to pass out to a teammate who was in a central positon just outside the penalty area.The ball went astray,falling to Johnson,who cracked an unstoppable shot low into the left hand corner of the net beyond Sorensen's despairing dive.No shots,no forward momentum from Stoke through the entire 45 minutes.

We pushed out a little in the second half,without achieving any serious penetration.Manchester City added to their lead with a second goal for Aguero.He simply had to turn the ball into the net from Nasri's cross from the right.

Both sides made substitutions without any noticeable change in the shape of the match.Stoke completed the match without having registered a single shot on goal.Tommy Sorensen was busy,performing heroically throughout,saving his best effort to deny Aguero his hattrick in the 93rd minute.

WOLVES TAMED

2011-12-19T18:16:00.000Z

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1 STOKE CITY FC 2

Stoke rode their luck in the first half - no-one more so than Woodgate - then turned on the style in the second half to come away with all three points.

Wolves bossed the first half with most of the threat originating with Jarvis down the left side.Woodgate had a torrid time of it,first of all earning a booking for chopping the Wolves wide man down,then conceding a penalty with a second indiscreet challenge.He was lucky to stay on the pitch.Hunt converted the chance to put Wolves in the lead.Immediately afterwards Woodgate looked exceedingly relieved to be withdrawn in favour of Pennant,with Shotton going to fullback.

From that moment on Stoke began to look more settled. Following a livener from the Manager at halftime our heroes took control of the match.Whelan prompted from the midfield, Pennant and Etherington probed down the flanks.Crouch and Walters buzzed about upfront.

We were back on equal terms seven minutes into the half. Dynamo Walters won a somewhat fortuitous freekick outside the Wolves box, falling to Johnson's perfectly fair tackle.Huth smacked the ball powerfully goalwards, it took a deflection off Doyle in the Wolves defensive wall,sufficient to beat Henessey,giving us a deserved equaliser.

Peter Crouch led our forward line skilfully.His link up and hold up play is splendid,knitting things together,so that we are able to mount a real threat from open play.It was no surprise that he netted his 99th Premiership goal,with a close range far post header,from Etherington's pinpoint cross from the left.

Wolves huffed and puffed but could make no real impression.We are now 8th in the table with 24 points,having won four league matches in a row, another first!

UNHAPPY HARRY

2011-12-13T09:24:00.004Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS 1

Cast your mind back to the QPR match.We didn't play well, maybe deserved to fall behind,but even when we roused ourselves from our torpor,the referee gave us nothing,obvious penalties denied,so we took nothing from the game.What goes around comes around,we said.

Well,sure enough, it did on Sunday,and that left Spurs manager,Harry Redknapp fuming,a distinctly unhappy Harry.Spurs arrived at The Britannia Stadium on a fine winning run.For the first half they were unable to cope with us,as we chased,harried,bullied them out of their stride.Our contingent of ex-Spurs players were well to the fore.Matthew Etherington netted twice and could have had another.Peter Crouch won everything in the air,held the ball up when it was needed,prompted his teammates,and set up Etherington's first.Woodgate coped quite well with Bale and Lennon.

Tottenham simply never got to grips with us,from the off ,totally thrown by our all action approach.

Redknapp changed things around at halftime.His substitutions and change of formation,brought about a complete change in the visitors.They played some splendid football,got a goal back,an Adebayor penalty,after Whelan was adjudged to have fouled Modric.The ball pinged around our box,Sorensen made several classy saves,last ditch blocks and deflections,all contributed to the excitment.Ryan Shawcross led a charmed life,indeed could have conceded two penalties (certainly as Redknapp saw it),first wrestling with Kaboul in the area,then clearing off the line with his elbow.Adebayor had a legitimate goal chalked off by the assistant referee.

Stoke were hanging on by their fingertips,a number of the players looking completely drained 20 minutes from the end,indeed looking as though they were running through treacle!Can't say that I've ever seen Jon Walters so tired that he was unable to chase a ball down.Ten minutes from time he still managed to chase down the left,fell over when challenged by Kaboul,the defender getting his second yellow,and a sending off.

A figure 5 was plucked from the air by the officials,by way of added on time,just to heighten the tension.

Stoke,to their credit,held on to record a magnificent result.It was a pleasure to be there to see it,though in the closing stages not easy on the nerves or the heart!

HUTHINATOR STRIKES

2011-12-05T08:09:00.001Z

EVERTON 0 STOKE CITY FC 1

I have to admit that this result was unexpected, but all the more enjoyable for that.The last seven days have been most productive for us Potters.Six points out of six in the Premiership taking us to the much happier place that is 8th in the table,with almost half the points that we need to stay up.Plus qualifying for the next stage in the Europa Cup,with a game to spare,the future looks rosy again.Oh,and a clean sheet too.With 7 central defenders on duty,you could perhaps have predicted that.

Robert Huth provided the one highlight of this match.Picking up where he left off last season,he showed our strikers how it should be done.Not trusting that Dean Whitehead's shot would beat keeper Howard, in the style of the world's greatest strikers he applied a deadly efficient toe poke,deflecting the ball past helpless defenders into the Everton net.Gary Lineker would have been impressed, and no doubt about it,Crouchy definitely was!

MUCH BETTER AT THE BRIT

2011-11-27T10:54:00.004Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 BLACKBURN ROVERS 1

Being at The Britannia Stadium was much better than last week in so many ways. First, we had a referee in Mark Halsey, who clearly has a well developed sense of both fairness and humour. He’s not afraid to laugh at his perfectly normal human frailties, or indeed those of his assistants. He doesn’t take himself so seriously that it affects the quality of his refereeing. He’s clearly held in high regard by the players. He let the game flow. All this on the same afternoon that last week’s dismal ref Mr.Jones produced another dismal performance at The Theatre of Dreams, reducing the Man U faithful to near tears, as he reversed last week’s approach to penalties. Shame really he must have watched the video of our QPR match, recognised that he failed to award us two obvious penalties, so yesterday he awarded Newcastle United a penalty that wasn’t, although – fair play to him, as they say in Wales – changing his decision on the say so of an equally inept linesman, after initially, correctly, awarding a corner.

Second, the atmosphere in the ground improved as we went along. There was tension and uncertainty amongst the crowd until we were 2 – 0 up, and even then people did not really relax until Crouch netted our third. Blackburn were not good but posed sufficient threat to keep us all on the edge of our seats at times. They are still clearly playing for manager Keane. With us 1-0 up they bossed possession at the start of the second half, making one chance in particular a minute or so after the restart, which, had it been converted could well have changed the course of the game. Rochina dribbled into our area, beating three Stoke players on the way. His clever backheel into the heart of our six yard box was completely missed by Formica, three yards out, when it looked easier to score than miss, and we feared the worst.

Third, we won, breaking the miserable run of Premiership defeats, and crucially successive home defeats. Plus we scored three goals. Rory Delap’s headed opener (27 min) came from a fine Pennant freekick from the right, following Nzonzi’s foul on Crouch. The second goal was initiated by Etherington. He scampered down the left, cutting the ball back from the byline to Walters. Super John teed up the ball for Whelan. The Irishman’s shot took two deflections on its way into Robinson’s net (57 min).Crouch had contributed some class touches to our game, but he crowned that by netting the third goal, latching onto an excellent Wilson ball from deep, sliding his shoot skilfully under Robinson’s dive ,and into the far corner of the net.

Plenty of pluses in this performance. The defence looked to be getting itself back into some sort of shape, although there was clear disappointment amongst them that we conceded a late consolation goal (85 min) to the visitors Rochina. Etherington and Pennant are getting closer to last season’s form.Rory Delap had his best game for a long while, deservedly taking Man of the Match.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING REF??

2011-11-20T11:12:00.008Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 3

As has been said before you have to wonder if some referees sometimes have agendas when they go into games. Mike Jones had a bad one yesterday and no mistake.

Stoke opened brightly, took a deserved lead, and could even have netted another couple early doors. Enter Mr.Jones! He was woefully inconsistent, but seemed to set about penalising Stoke for real and imagined misdemeanours, whilst letting similar offences by QPR players pass. He clearly has Jermaine Pennant down as a diver. Our player was given absolutely nothing, no protection even though he took a buffeting from the visitors, and was even felled in the box, but was told to get to his feet as the game was waved on.

The crowd ,deservedly, gave Jones severe stick, which interestingly in the second half was so intense that, clearly flustered, he produced a short run of very strange decisions in our favour.

The cherry (raspberry?)on top of his cake, though, came toward the end of the match, when, with the score at 2-3 and Stoke pressing incessantly for an equaliser, he failed to award a penalty when Huth was blatantly floored by Barton in the QPR box.

As several commentators have said, he clearly felt the need today to be seen to be strong, in the intimidating atmosphere of The Britannia Stadium........shame that balanced refereeing went out the window as he set about correcting some imagined imbalance......

The game itself was exciting enough. Stoke had plenty of chances to put the match beyond QPR’s reach before they netted their equaliser. Crouch had two stabs at the same chance.His first effort came back off keeper Kenny.In a heap on the ground the lanky striker managed to untangle his ungainly legs sufficiently to help the ball toward the open net, but with little momentum. Clint Hill was able to clear the danger. Stoke had plenty of chances later on, but finished poorly.QPR had three chances and notched them all. The most worrying feature of the game for me was that our defence continues to leak soft goals, and the way our heroes visibly deflated when QPR equalised.

Any pluses? Jon Walters took his goal well, but looked pretty fed up with what was going on around him later on. Etherington looked the liveliest he has been since the FA Cup semi-final against Bolton. Higginbotham was back ,though he looked rusty, going missing in the build up/scoring of two QPR goals. Ricardo Fuller put in an appearance as sub after his long injury layoff. He looked sharp, getting behind the visitors defence once, but failing with his cut back across goal. Ryan Shawcross got himself on the scoresheet,hopefully the first of many....we need his goals.

Last but not least, Robert Huth gave his all, appearing in the QPR box with increasing frequency as Stoke pressed.He shot powerfully just over the bar as he came in from the left, just before being felled for the penalty that wasn’t.....well,at least according to MR.JONES !!

PS Perhaps some people should not be refereeing,but this (click link) is dreadful,and you can feel nothing but sympathy for the man.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15806602.stm

BEGOVIC ON THE RACK....LETHARGIC POTTERS FIRING BLANKS...... CHARITY AT BOLTON TURNS INTO SLAUGHTER

2011-11-06T17:36:00.001Z

BOLTON WANDERERS 5 STOKE CITY FC 0

Stoke were a goal down within 2 minutes, following a blunder by keeper Begovic. The ball was played back to him by Whelan, and he caught it. Ref Howard Webb awarded a freekick. Instead of holding onto the ball while the Stoke defence reformed, it was released early by the keeper for Klasnic to feed Davies who took the opportunity to slip the ball into the net for the opener.

Things went from bad to worse when Begovic rushed a clearance. The ball went out to Eagles on the Bolton left. He took a touch and drove the ball straight back into the Stoke net for Bolton’s second.Talk about giving the opposition confidence when its down....previous to this Bolton had lost 13 of the 16 matches they had played since we beat them in the FA Cup semi-final. Throughout the half Stoke once again seemed strangely lethargic.

At the beginning of the second half we livened up for a while. But inevitably, chasing the game, we left ourselves open. On 60 mins a ball down the Bolton left was played into Klasnic in the centre. He drove the ball home to Begovic’s left..Eagles was next in line on 72 minutes.A long ball down the centre set him free one on one with our keeper.He comfortably finished, flicking the ball over our keeper’s despairing dive. But that was not the end of it. Klasnic made it 5-0 nodding the ball from close range past Begovic into our net.

What is really worrying the ease with which Bolton turned our defence inside out today. The Woodgate and Upson pairing is not a patch on that of Shawcross Huth last season. For several matches now the solidity we’ve been used to in defence has been missing, and the general performance has been disjointed. Teams have been getting behind us, and through us far to frequently. And to those Stokies who were beginning to think Ryan Shawcross was NOT INdispensable, I would say think again.We definitely miss him, whether he appears to be playing well or not.

Bolton’s first home victory of the season.It had to be us didn’t it!!Wembley revenge? ...well maybe not.That was a special day!

WE’VE PLAYED A LOT OF GAMES ALREADY.....IS IT CATCHING UP WITH US?

2011-11-03T09:51:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 NEWCASTLE UNITED 3

We’re Stokies....we know about these things.....Demba Ba was likely to catch up with us sooner or later. Unfortunately, he did it big style, notching a winning hat-trick for The Magpies! Hoffenheim were trying it on,pricing him,to us, at £9m,especially with his injury record. We were right to walk away, but it did make it possible for others to get him at a more realistic price, and the rest, as they say, is history. He certainly worked hard in attack and defence, took his chances from open play well, plus effortlessly converting a late penalty ,which killed off any chance of us salvaging something from the match. At the £4m price that Newcastle reputedly paid, he’s a steal!

With 19 matches played already this season, I’m of the mind that our busy schedule seems to be catching up with us too. Despite careful use of the players at our disposal and our larger squad, we are still vulnerable facing so many fixtures (in a short time frame)when key men are injured, and look decidedly disjointed when square pegs are forced to cover in round holes.

So we faced a very determined hardworking Newcastle side (enjoying, it must be said, more than an even share of the luck on the night) with an in form striker,whilst losing our captain and our left back to injury, forcing further disruptive reorganisation. Our passing generally was not good. Crucially, as with Liverpool last week, the fans were virtually silent for quite lengthy periods, as they contemplated what was happening.

Wilson went off injured after Newcastle had scored their first two goals. You had to wonder whether he was fully fit to start with, and indeed whether his mind was elsewhere on the night. On 12 minutes he was slow to react to Obertan, going down the right. The winger had all the time in the world to clip in a beautiful cross which Ba was on hand to head home. On 40 minutes, again to the right of goal Best was not picked up. He had time to juggle the ball, and scuff a shot. The ball ran across goal to the incoming Ba,who poked the ball home past Begovic’s despairing dive.

To their credit Stoke maintained pressure on the Newcastle throughout the second half, creating half chances that on another day might have gone in. Hopes were raised 15 minutes from time when Ba felled Crouch in the penalty area. Walters converted the chance, but within 6 minutes Huth was (harshly some would say) adjudged to have pushed Best in our area, with Ba registering his hat-trick from the spotkick. Effectively game over at that point.

Who played well for us? Walters ran his heart out; Wilkinson was as combative as ever; Begovic made some fine saves, and timely interventions outside his area when goals looked likely; Crouch’s hold up play and distribution was first class (although there were those in the crowd who could not see it!);Woodgate looked assured on the ball for the most part; Whelan got about the pitch well.

A worry was seeing ever present Shawcross leave the pitch, nursing what seemed to be a groin injury. Hopefully it will not prove to be serious. The threat from our wide midfielders, Pennant and Etherington, was intermittent. Both were closely marked when they had the ball, by two and sometimes three players.

STRANGE RESULTS TODAY .....BUT NOT AT ARSENAL

2011-10-23T08:00:00.000Z

ARSENAL 3 STOKE CITY FC 1

It seemed this afternoon that the old order had begun to change. From Manchester a result that made me, well, I’m not sure whether it should be happy or sad. Man U hammered 1 – 6 at home by neighbours Man City.QPR just about able to hold out for a 1 – 0 win against 9 man Chelsea, who for once faced a ref with the cojones to do the right thing.

Meanwhile life went on as always for our gallant Potters at the Arsenal. Now I had not been particularly impressed, up to now, with their new striker, Gervinho, who presents a puzzle every time I see him. He has this, to my eye, strange hair style where there seems to be no hair in a ‘v’ shape down the centre of his head. Is he prematurely balding? Is it an exaggerated parting? Is it a particularly poor quality ‘syrup’? These thoughts usually distract me from the actual quality of his play.

Today that changed. He seemed to be everywhere and making a difference. In the 27th minute he was onto a Ramsey dink over the Stoke defence in a flash to slip the ball past Begovic for the opening goal. Then in the 73^rd and 82^nd minutes he outpaced turning Stoke defenders on the left and on the right to send dangerous balls into the Stoke area, for sub Van Persie to apply the goal finish. Perhaps Begovic could have done better with the last one.

Stoke for their part defended stoutly, until they seemed to tire and fade in the last 20 minutes. An excellently worked set piece goal in the 34^th minute provided a deserved equaliser. Crouch won a free kick thirty yards out. Shawcross headed Whelan’s effort back across goal from the right. The ball reached Walters ,who headed back across goal to present Peter Crouch with a tap in.

So another points blank at the Emirates. Perhaps next year eh...?

DANNY MURPHY GETS THE BRIT GOING

2011-10-16T08:28:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 FULHAM 0

Murphy really isn't a number one favourite in Stoke.He was his usual annoying,niggling self in this game.Pushing,pulling,fouling,in the refs ear, but not in his book until late on,despite his various misdemeanors throughout.Others,on both sides,were booked for far less far sooner.

The first half was largely a stalemate,punctuated with a few bursts of of class football.Probably the best chance came just before halftime,when Pennant ran at the Fulham rearguard,played an exquisite one two with Crouch,shimmied past Hangeland,but unfortunately dinked the ball wide of Schwarzer's left post.

The second half saw Stoke increase the pace and pressure,and Fulham show less and less ambition.Crucially Murphy's antics wound the home crowd up,and Stoke really went for it,riding the wave of noise.Fulham visibly wilted.

The last ten minutes saw Stoke secure the pointswith two fine goals.First a Pennant cross from the right was headed back by Crouch to Etherington.His shot was going wide until well placed Jon Walters stabbed the ball home.Three minutes from the end Etherington was fouled by Baird out on the left.His freekick was headed home majestically by Delap,coming in from the right.This put the result beyond doubt,the points lifting us to 7th in the Premiership table.

Our defence looked solid with Upson and Shawcross at the centre.Begovic had virtually nothing to do,his biggest worry,watching Riise's freekick smack against the crossbar,before we scored our first goal.Pennant and Etherington looked much better than of late,though Crouch seemed a little quieter.

SWANSEA 2 STOKE CITY FC 0

2011-10-02T17:18:00.000Z

Stoke gave Swansea the edge in this game.An ill-considered Ryan Shawcross challenge conceded a penalty which was converted in the 9th minute by Sinclair.This gave the Welshmen the encouragement and confidence that they needed,as they fought for the ball,seeking to preserve their record of not having a goal scored against theme at home.

A rebound from a sloppy challenge by Woodgate six minutes from the end put Graham in on goal for his first goal for the club

In between Stoke hit the bar and a post,but crucially not the net!

PLAYING MANCHESTER UNITED......NO LONGER POINTLESS FOR THE POTTERS

2011-09-25T10:55:00.006Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 1

After four years of trying we finally managed a point. United started off in a fashion that suggested that we might have had plenty to fear. Early doors Woodgate, from behind, leaned into and felled Hernandez, who was one on one with Begovic in the box, and odds on to score.Ref Walton saw nothing wrong and we breathed a huge sigh of relief. Short lived relief though, because Nani, coming in from the right, played a one two with Fletcher, shimmied past two flat footed Stoke defenders, before shooting firmly into the corner of the net to Begovic’s left.

From that point on Stoke rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in, playing some excellent football into the bargain. The second half was a revelation, with Stoke pressing toward the United goal. The spectacle of 4000 United fans stood in apprehensive silence for long periods was something we have not seen before at The Brit.

It would be fair to say that the visitors oft maligned goalie, De Gea, had more vital saves to make than Begovic. Apart from two high ball flaps, he looked a class shot stopping act, as he turned away Wilkinson’s piledriver shot and just managed to finger tip away Walters powerful cross shot in the first half. In the second half got himself in the way of a Crouch effort from point blank range, as he did ,too with Wilson’s thunderous freekick from the edge of the United penalty box.

The Stoke equaliser came from a corner won by the ever industrious Walters. Throughout the afternoon, as on Tuesday night against Tottenham, Pennant and Etherington were consistently under or over hitting their kicks from set pieces. On this occasion Ethers got one just right. Crouch stole a yard on Ferdinand rising to head the ball down to the keepers right into the net. Cue rapturous celebrations, not least by Crouch himself. His first goal for us, and apparently his first against United.

Of old we have seen the visitors sneak in for a winner. They had their chance in added on time, a ball in from the left finding Giggs coming in from the right unmarked and with the goal at his mercy. From four yards out he was hit by the Siddibe Stoke End curse, screwing his shot off to the left of goal and safety.

A proud day to be a Potter. A deserved result, from a game in which, crucially, we did not look overawed, in which we were prepared to take the game to our illustrious visitors, something we have not previously seen from a Tony Pulis side in this fixture.

Brilliant.

NOT A LOT TO SEE HERE.

2011-09-18T16:16:00.005Z

SUNDERLAND 4 STOKE CITY FC 0

A sluggish start by our heroes led to us falling behind on 5 minutes.Poor defending of a set play saw Bramble scuff the ball into the net underneath Begovic's body.Further poor defending of a home corner,leading to a Larsson cross,which resulted in Woodgate putting through his own goal on 11 minutes,as he attempted to stop the ball reaching Bendtner..We went 3-0 down on 30 mins .Ryan Shawcross got a leg to a Gardner shot,but it ballooned up and over Begovic into the net.Two chances of note : Crouch should have done better with a header from six yards out,and Jerome, generally off the pace today,failed with a good chance,as a Sunderland defender got a block in on his goal bound snapshot.Our best moment?A fine Wilson freekick heading for the top corner of the net was pawed away by Mignolet at full stretch.

Stoke made a very positive start to the second half but were knocked back by a fine Larsson freekick,after Whitehead dithered on ball,and conceded on the edge of the box. The midfielder curved the ball around our wall,low into the net to Begovic's left.No chance of saving that one.4-0 down on 58 minutes.Jones came on for Jerome,who had been disappointing.

Huth blocked Bendtner and was lucky to remain on the pitch given he'd already been booked.Pennant came on for Etherington,and Palacios for Delap.Generally powderpuff shooting from the Stoke forwards.Crouch lacked the sharpness to convert the chances that came his way.....Late on Jones was in on goal, took on and failed to convert the chance himself, ignoring Walters who was better placed.

Quiet afternoon for the home keeper.Performance lacking spark throughout,as we limped to our first defeat of the season.On our undefeated 10 game run we have enjoyed generous slices of luck.....today it was Sunderland's turn!

Still 5th in the table,otherwise a day to forget.

PINBALL AT THE BRITANNIA STADIUM

2011-09-11T11:41:00.002Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 LIVERPOOL 0

Thrilled to bits with this result,although to secure it our fabled resilience,prodigious effort,and never say die/they shall not pass attitude,required the vital supplement of a generous helping of old fashioned good luck.

Liverpool were an entirely different propostion than when the came to The Brit last year.They were confident,spirited,pacey,and moved the ball around well at times.They had the chances to win this game many times over,but despite the evident class of many of their players they went away with nothing.

Suarez,Henderson and Adam were unable to take the chances that came their way,particularly in the second half. Pinball Time. In one 20 second burst the visitors could have scored five times.It seemed inevitable they would notch an equaliser.Henderson was played through one on one with Asmir Begovich.His first shot was saved point blank,his second effort from the rebound was pushed away by the keeper.His immediate third effort was blocked by Upson.From that Adam struck the ball goalward,Shawcross dumped on the floor by the force as he blocked the ball.Again the rebound saw Adam running in on goal,his second powerful effort being saved by our keeper this time with his feet.At the death,Suarez had a good chance but put his effort wide.

Stoke's winner came as early as the 25th minute.Jon Walters moved in on goal in the Liverpool penalty area.He was held back by Carragher,ref Clattenburg awarding the penalty immediately.As he had done at Norwich Walters grabbed the ball,unlike the Norwich penalty he made no mistake hammering the ball into the centre of the net,as Reina dived off to his right.

And the new boys?Crouch played the whole game,and made a tidy contribution to the proceedings.Matthew Upson looked assured throughout.Palacios added late reinforcement to the midfield,as we struggled against Liverpool's late effort to gain a point.

So we are still unbeaten so far this season,and find ourselves at the dizzying height of 4 th in the Premiership table.Thirty more points needed to stay up for a fifth season in the Prem!

PS1Were Liverpool unlucky with their penalty shouts? Late on Upson was involved in a close range ball to arm incident.Mr Clattenburg,notice the respect here,rightly called this one no penalty.I doubt that he even saw Rory Delap move the ball away with his hand earlier.Had he done so,there would have been no question..a certain penalty.I must remember that when what goes round comes around...to us!

PS2.The crowd chants just get better.....remember Capello advised Andy Carroll to cut down on the booze..."He's back from the pub, He's back from the pub,......Andy Carroll, He's back from the pub !!!!" Pure magic.

PULIS’ SUBSTITUTION SHEER GENIUS

2011-08-28T19:37:00.000Z

WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 STOKE CITY FC 1

WBA really are footballing rabbits.....Stoke were second best for a good part of this game, and yet won.As the game moved inexorably toward a 0-0 stalemate wizard Pulis played his ace card substituting on resolute defender Ryan Shotton for incisive attacker Etherington.

Young Shotton marauded up front, caused doubt (if not struck fear)in the minds of the WBA rearguard.Keeper ex-Stokie Ben Foster contrived to present Shotton with an opportunity he could not refuse, allowing the ball to be taken from him, to be pushed into the net in the 90^th minute for a winner that had looked most unlikely.

Super sub Shotton has now won two games for us in short order, this one for 3 precious Premiership points and a first win of the season,the other through pressure causing a winning og out in Croatia in the Europa Cup.

DE LAET TAKES A POINT FOR THE CANARIES

2011-08-21T14:48:00.005Z

NORWICH CITY 1 STOKE CITY FC 1

Stoke came away from Carrow Road with a well deserved point,and should probably have taken all three.Stoke conceded a sloppy goal before halftime.A ball in from the right was headed home by Stoke old boy,Richie de Laet.

A managerial flea in the ear produced a much more direct approach from Stoke.On 60 minutes Walters was felled on the edge of the area by Barnett.The Ipswich defender was sent off,but Walters taking the penalty kick himself,failed to convert.Stoke maintained pressure on a Norwich side that visibly wilted.

Ryan Shotton on for Woodgate injected life into the right side,linking well with Etherington,who had switched sides when Pennant left the field with a calf problem.Shotton almost produced a goal with a cross cum shot,which was pawed away by Ruddy in goal.He contributed two Delapesque throwins,one of which produced a real threat.

Three minutes into added on time Whelan produced a quality cross from the right,which Kenwyne Jones headed down wonderfully into the bottom right corner of the home goal for a well deserved equaliser.

STOKE LIVING WITH THE BIG BOYS

2011-08-14T19:30:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 CHELSEA 0

There was a time when Stoke would probably have lost this match.For a 20 minute period in the second half today they could well have done.Etherington and Delap had left the field injured,Chelsea brought on important subs,Anelka,Drogba,and Benayoun,and increased the pace and intensity of their game.Stoke wobbled but did not capitulate,anchored as they were by Captain Ryan Shawcross,and the immaculate and experienced positional play of Jonathan Woodgate.Able assistance was rendered by Huth,Wilson,but above all Begovic in goal who had a storming game.

The first half was Stoke's.No longer do we sit back,rather we take the game to the visitors,illustrious or not.We did not score ,but not for lack of attacking intent.Walters, Jones,Etherington,and Pennant conducted a stiff examination of the visiting back four.Alex in particular looked uncomfortable when faced with the considerable physical challenge of Kenwynne Jones.Goalie Cech had to be on his toes a number of times,faced with a series of corners, freekicks, and Rory Delap throw ins as Stoke exerted concerted pressure.

The second half belonged to Chelsea as Stoke's effort flagged.The visitors had chances,but could not convert them into goals.Stoke attacked occasionally,but for the most part had to focus on containment.

A hard earned and well deserved point,from the first of three difficult home matches.

WIGAN ESCAPE......WITH ALL THREE POINTS INTO THE BARGAIN

2011-05-22T20:16:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 WIGAN ATHLETIC 1

By rights Stoke should have been three goals up at halftime.That they were not was more or less exclusively down to a series of stops by keeper Al Habsi, a clearance or two off the line,plus a chalked off effort. Kenwyne Jones header was destined for the net,but Jon Walters applied a further touch from an offside position

Wigan looked extremely nervous as you would expect given their precarious position in the table.They played with a little more confidence in the second half,but were still pushed back by a determined Stoke outfit.Failing to find the net ourselves,we were not altogether surprised when Wigan nosed in front late on with a Rodalega header from N'Zogbia's cross.

Ref Mariner did not have the best of games and denied Stoke one if not two clear penalty shouts.

This disappointing result did not dampen the home crowd's enthusiasm,most people staying behind for the lap of honour,which brought down the curtain on an excellent season.

HUNGOVER

2011-05-18T06:49:00.000Z

MANCHESTER CITY 3 STOKE CITY 0

Stoke never looked likely to get anything from this game,nor,I suspect,did most of us expect them to.Five changes to the Cup Final lineup from Saturday confirmed the view that the objective was containment rather than ambition.

Two shots all night tells the same story,of a team and its supporters physically and emotionally exhausted.Manchester City by contrast had a spring in their step and played with smiles on their faces.

Tevez produced two goals of the highest quality.In the first half following a one two with Milner he drove the ball unstoppably high into Sorensen's net.A dubious freekick awarded just outside the penalty area, twenty minutes into the second half,appeared to be heading two yards wide of the righthand goal post,but in the last few yards of flight it curved into the top corner of the net.Sandwiched between those efforts Lescott headed home as Sorensen came out but failed to reach the ball.

A puzzler point of interest was that Begovic did not play,nor was he substitute keeper.

Hopefully Stoke will be able to raise their game on Sunday against Wigan.Time will tell.

"ARSENE WENGER : I DIDN'T SEE THAT "...........WELL I DID!!

2011-05-09T08:16:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 ARSENAL 1

Pretty but ineffective,Arsenal passed the ball around,most of the time going nowhere.Plenty of possession but no real penetration.Then they got frustrated with their own inability to mount a real threat,which led to a remarkable statistic.Arsenal's foul count well exceeded that of our heroes.

The chants from the home crowd said it all,ramming Wenger's ill considered comments, made at earlier times, well down his throat.Now I have a feeling that deep down the Frenchman has a good sense of humour,so that when he has time to reflect he will have a chuckle to himself.Remember the comment about Stoke's game resembling rugby, well "2-0 to the rugby team"seemed a fair comment from the crowd,particularly when it was followed by a rendition of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot".

My favourite though, oft repeated each time Arsenal fouled, "Arsene Wenger....I didn't see that."

Stoke were in fine form,absorbed limited early pressure from the visitors and deservedly found the net twice before halftime: a chest in by Jones from Pennant's free kick,and a Pennant drive deflected up and over the keeper into the net.

Wenger altered the shape of his team after halftime,increasing his attacking options.Still very little impression was made on the Stoke team,despite Huth going off injured,and Kenwynne hobbling a little with an ankle problem.The only real scare was that Pennant, reacting to a bad tackle by Wilshere,got himself booked.Ref Halsey showed great commonsense,others would have dispatched the winger on a red.Pennant was subbed in his own best interest (and ours given the role people hope he will play next week at Wembley).

Late in the game a Van Persie goal dragged Arsenal back into contention......for a whole minute! Stoke went back up the pitch,Wilkinson contrived one of his trademark scuffed (but defence splitting) power shots.Jon Walters found himself with the ball,and just the keeper to beat.He made no mistake.

GAME OVER. 46 points in the bag. 8TH IN THE TABLE.

WEMBLEY HERE WE COME......

THINK THAT'S IT NOW.....SAFE FOR ANOTHER SEASON,

2011-05-02T13:03:00.001Z

BLACKPOOL 0 STOKE CITY FC 0

What with the Royal Wedding and being completely out of touch in London over the extended Bank Holiday weekend,I'm afraid this match passed me by.Another point gained, (tongue slightly in cheek)a win to come against Arsenal next weekend,then its the big one....

LIFE'S SWEET INSIDE THE STOKIE BUBBLE....

2011-04-27T07:00:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0

If you believe what you are told then this result gives us another year in the Premier League and possibly European football too .Romping up to 9th in the table with 42 points there would have to be a bizarre sequence of results to see us relegated (West Ham were the last to go down with that points total.).

There was absolutely no doubt Stoke wanted this one.No one epitomised that more than Man of the Match Jermaine Pennant.Kenwynne Jones set him free down the right.Pennant's superb mid height cross under pressure from two defenders was headed home by Jones from close range for the opener.

Forever probing a poor Wolves defence Pennant bagged the final goal himself early in the second half.Walters crossed from the right,the ball found Pennant on the left side of the penalty area.He hammered a shot on goal,which Craddock attempted to block,but the ball looped up into the air, over the stranded keeper Henessey and into the net.

Sandwiched between those goals, towards the end of the first half, Ryan Shawcross netted for the first time this season.From a central position just outside the Wolves box Glen Whelan attempted one of his trademark thunderbolt low shots.He may have miscued but the ball shot left, reaching our captain six yards out.He had little trouble diverting the ball firmly into the net.

It has to be said that by the end Wolves were looking a pretty poor outfit,but still with enough points to play for to beat the drop.

Happy as we were with the outcome,there has to be real concern about Matty Etherington.He went down with what appeared to be a hamstring problem,to be stretchered off in what looked like considerable pain.His body language suggested he knew that this was a serious injury.On last night's evidence there must be real doubts that he will make the Cup Final, which would be a real pity.

So in a sense pressure off for our visit to the seaside on Saturday.Somehow,though,I think Stoke will be going for it against Blackpool....six points needed to better last season's total!

AFTER THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW........A WELCOME BREAK TO THE AWAY LOSING RUN.

2011-04-24T09:21:00.000Z

ASTON VILLA 1 STOKE CITY FC 1

Another point closer to safety,the safety cushion to the bottom three is still five points,another fine headed goal for Kenwynne Jones,no 8th consecutive away loss, and a first half performance that was of a high standard until we tired noticeably,against a Villa side that has been doing rather better of late.Another netbuster of a shot from Robert Huth,which Brad Friedel had all on to parry away as he did with an earlier Jones effort.Our German star has clearly developed a taste for goal scoring,I wonder if he's aiming to be the club's leading scorer come the end of the season.

Bring on the Wolves.Hopefully a good result will put our worries to bed for another season!

I DIDN'T USED TO LIKE ROBBIE SAVAGE......BUT I DO NOW !

2011-04-18T08:16:00.000Z

FA CUP SEMI-FINAL

BOLTON WANDERERS 0 STOKE CITY 5

Pinched myself again this morning to make sure I was awake,and not just having one of those footy dreams,where Stoke win everything and Arsenal get relegated.(Been having them off and on since 1971,1972.)This result took most of the pundits by surprise.Even at halftime with The Mighty Potters 3-0 up Kevin Keegan was talking about Bolton recovering to win 4 - 3!

Now I've always had Robbie Savage down as one of the awkward squad.True to form yesterday he was predicting a Stoke win in the face of the unanimous view of the other experts that it would be close but it would be Bolton's day.

He ignored the attempted put downs,and didn't he have fun in the end reminding his colleagues of their predictions.Loved every minute of it,he did,and so did I.

The experts found it impossible to take the edge off this superb Stoke victory.They tried.Still talking about route one unattractive football......didn't see much of that myself yesterday.Still looking for imagined penalties,with Stoke players roughing up their cultured counterparts.....well ref Howard Webb ( what a class performance from him too) was having none of that.Then it was the line 'Bolton were poor'........Sorry but they were played out of it.....

Anyway I stopped listening and disappeared into my Stokie bubble.On the day Bolton were outclassed,by a determined team which clearly took real pleasure in proving people wrong.Etherington's sublime opening strike,Huth's scuff (looked a pretty good scuff to me),Kenwyne Jones's Caribbean cool finish,the immaculate Jon Walters first ( 'the keeper should have done better'they said....no he couldn't....a brilliant shot from distance which curled around the keeper's full length dive to pass just inside the post.....they would have been in raptures on another day if the scorer was Torres or Drogba....but today it was a misjudgement by the keeper!),Walters second a scruffy affair past demoralised Bolton defenders,but they all count the same.

5 - 0....a rout.....highest semi final score for nearly a century....Gollihocks to the pundits.....more strength to Robbie's elbow.....and he's Welsh too!

TANTALISING......WE DESERVED A POINT !!

2011-04-11T09:26:00.000Z

TOTTENHAM 3 STOKE CITY FC 2

Stoke were set up for this match as many people expect them to play against Bolton in the FA Cup semi-final next week..Pennant and Etherington down the flanks providing a service to Kenwyne Jones and Walters,a midfield featuring Delap and Whelan,with Huth and Shawcross paired centrally at the back.Higginbotham's absence was covered by switching Marc Wilson to the left,to allow Andy Wilkinson to play in his customary right back position..

Following an almost habitual slow start we could have been out of it within 20 minutes,2-0 down,through Crouch and Moderic, and the home team having failed to cash in on other chances.

Then a flash of genius from ex-Spurs man Etherington,clearly determined to show what they had lost.He picked up the ball in our half on the left,motored down the wing pursued by Huddlestone,cut around the outside of him as they entered the penalty area,drew and nutmegged the keeper, before sliding the ball into the far side of the net.

Yes we then lost another softish goal to Crouch before the next helping of good news.KENWYNE SCORES....AGAIN....AT LAST!!! So pleased for him,he's clearly been trying so hard, but things have just not been happening for him.Well on this occasion Bale was dallying on the ball,not a good idea with a very determined looking Wilkinson approaching at speed.No contest.....Welshman loses ball,which breaks conveniently to Jones.Kenwyne headed directly toward goal before smacking an unstoppable shot into the top right corner of the net from twenty yards out.

So you could say, summarising the half,Stoke outplayed but very much in it.

As with Chelsea last week Stoke gathered momentum as they pushed further up the field.Jon Walters had one golden opportunity but was unable to make anything of what seemed like an open goal equalizer chance.Not sure that the ball did not go off his thigh and onto the post,with Gomez nowhere in sight.Kenwyne hit another twenty yarder,which the keeper got a hand to,plus he placed a header wide,a chance he would definitely have netted earlier in the season.

So no points,still 6 points off the drop,and a performance, in the end,which would have seen off lesser sides than Spurs.

WHO'S SHA**ING THE REF?ASK THE BOOTHEN! OR JOHN TERRY...

2011-04-03T09:40:00.002Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 CHELSEA 1

Chelsea are not the team they were,but they are still very very good.Loaded with skilful,clever players,they came to us on the back of a good run of form.

Stoke took the lead after 8 minutes or so....a solo effort by the ever improving and hugely influential Jon Walters.He picked up the ball on the left,headed down the touchline leaving Ruiz trailing.It looked as though Essien would get to him just inside the penalty area,but Walters wrong footed him by cutting inside.His thumping finish beat Cech at his near post,to signal an outbreak of delirium in the Stokie crowd.

Thereafter for much of the remainder of the half Stoke were penned back by the visitors.Chelsea probed but could find no way through the determined Stoke rearguard,until Anelka,in centre midfield,clipped a ball into our box.Drogba stole a yard on Danny Higginbotham,sufficient space to allow him to place an imperious header past the helpless Begovic.

What was already an entertaining match,became a thriller in the second half.Stoke made a shed load of chances but simply could not finish them off.Wilson's freekick was a goal all the way until Cech tipped it onto the bar.From the corner the keeper performed miracles scooping Huth's powerful point blank header onto the bar,and away to safety.At the death,seconds from the end of the 6 minutes of added time with the full goal at his mercy Ricardo Fuller contrived to head Etherington's astute cross beyond the far post.Had he netted that,just imagine the 'mentals' !

Chelsea had their chances too.Drogba in particular was dangerous striking the base of the Stoke post with a cross shot, and crashing a left foot shot against the bar.

Chelsea fielded a very strong first pick team as they searched for the 3 points to keep them in the title race.What struck me was that,particularly in the second half,was that they were unable to play within themselves (with a view to their upcoming European match),but simply had all on to keep out a very determined Stoke outfit.

A draw was on balance a fair result,but if either team deserved to take all the spoils then it would have to be Stoke.

So we edge a point closer to safety,a point many would concede - before the match - would be a bonus.What we have proved is that ,certainly at home we can live with the big spenders.Stoke team yesterday,say £50m,Chelsea striker Torres on the bench £50m.......and not very effective when he came on either! Get the distinct impression he does not like The Potteries!

A full house at The Brit,a magnificent atmosphere and support from beginning to end,and,well,some of the chants were superbly timed , priceless, and certainly contributed to ruffling the visitors feathers.

CORNER TURNED.....PERHAPS.....

2011-03-19T12:33:00.002Z

STOKE CITY 4 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0

This was Stoke getting back to some of their best football of the season.For the most part we looked really solid at the back, but most pleasingly with the quality of Pennant AND Etherington down the right and left flanks we rediscovered a real cutting edge.

Walters continues to be a revelation. There have been those who, right from the outset, have pronounced him not up to Premiership standard. Those who can’t understand why he gets picked every match. Well I think they need to take a closer more objective view of what he brings to the team. Yesterday, as in last week’s Cup match, he was everywhere about the pitch, unsettling Newcastle players and closing them down when they had the ball, linking play as we went forward. Now it might be my imagination but he seems to have got quicker, and that plus the knack of being in the right place at the right time, brought our crucial opener in this vital match.

Jermaine Pennant was set free down the right side, immediately delivered a delightful cross, which the incoming Walters met at the near post to head powerfully into the net past Harper.

Kenwynne Jones did not find the net himself but worked hard for the team. Just after the break he won the ball from keeper Harper on the edge of the penalty box, and rolled the ball left to Etherington. He took off toward the byline .His cross from the left reached Pennant coming in from the right. From the edge of the six yard box he placed his shot to Harpers left into the net.

Next KJ won a freekick on the edge of the box, from which Higginbotham repeated his West Ham trick,thumping the ball through the wall into the net.

So within four minutes of the restart a three goal cushion, which we fought hard to protect. Asmir Begovic has had one or two uncertain moments in recent games, but today his performance was immaculate with, particularly memorable, one superb diving save from Barton’s goalbound freekick from the edge of the box.

The icing on the cake, for me, was the fourth goal just before the final whistle in added on time. Ricardo Fuller has looked out of sorts for a good while now, the instinctive approach to striking somehow mysteriously disappeared. Well our super sub rediscovered his mojo. Set free on goal by Walters ,running in from the right, he hammered the ball across the keeper into the far corner of the net....just like he used to!!!

A brilliant result, which put a little more daylight between us and the bottom three places. But maybe still just a little too close for comfort.

Just wondering like, but could next week see us getting something from Chelsea?

SHOULD WE BE WORRYING YET?

2011-03-06T17:06:00.003Z

WEST HAM UNITED 3 STOKE CITY FC 0

Stoke got off to a promising start today, for some twenty minutes playing the ball about confidently, although without much threat on the West Ham goal. A decision by keeper Asmir Begovic undermined all the good work. The beneficiary - you might have guessed even before the game started - was Demba Ba (21mins)! A hopeful ball over the top from Noble was pursued by Ba and Wilson.The Stoke man was favourite to get the ball away to safety until Begovic came rushing out to clear. He missed the ball completely. Ba, still under challenge from Wilson, poked the ball into the empty net from two yards out.

Having been gifted a goal West Ham generally bossed the game for the rest of the half, adding to their tally (35mins) when Da Costa headed home from a freekick with Stoke guilty of slack marking at the set piece. Da Costa does not score many goals, and only scores against Stoke.

Stoke recovered their composure in the second half , Etherington joined later by Fuller and Jones, offering a greater attacking threat. Kenwyne missed a golden opportunity which he would have gobbled up earlier in the season heading Etherington’s superb cross from the right wide of goal. This was at a time when Stoke were pressing and the home crowd were clearly becoming anxious.Had Stoke got back to 2-1 we might have been looking at a different final outcome.

With seven minutes to go it was however the Hammers who completed the scoring, Hitzlsperger finding the roof of the net with a powerful shot from left of goal after Piquionne failed to capitalize on Parker’s cutback from the rightside byline.

This is the first time we have conceded three goals in a league match this season. We are 12^th in the table,but in terms of points now uncomfortably close to the bottom three.

TALE OF THE CARPET FOOTBALL FREE BAGGIES AND THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED LINO

2011-03-01T10:21:00.000Z

.STOKE CITY FC 1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1

Very much a game of two halves, but a first half which provided pointers as to what would happen later.Stoke subjected the supposedly frail Albion defence to the usual welcoming barrage,although with not the sustained ferocity of recent home matches.Albion seemed altogether more resilient in defence than in days gone by,and showed themselves no longer averse to the physical challenge,with more than a little cynical edge,which the ref did not appear to see nor penalise often enough.Both linesmen looked decidly dodgy.Albion’s formation confirmed they had come for a point,anything better would be a bonus.

Stoke seemed somewhat out of sorts and disjointed at times.Jermaine Pennant shone against an otherwise drab backdrop.His splendid corner from the left was headed in at the near post by Rory Delap,as Albion watched the big men in the centre of goal.Having taken the lead Stoke did not follow up for a second.If anything the pressure began to build from the visitors,especially after they made substitutions around 70 minutes.Stoke were forced back (sat back....difficult to tell),and almost half an hour after scoring and with four minutes to go they conceded.

Now you have to wonder whether this particular linesman should feature in the next Specsavers ad.He was stood in the right place,looking straight along the Stoke defensive line (even had the groundsman’s carefully mown lines in the grass as a reference)yet he failed to register two definite and seriously obvious WBA offsides, before Vela,from an offside position, scuffed the equaliser.

Insult could have been added to injury in added on time,as Begovic made a series of superlative saves,culminating in a wonderful block on Vela’s goal bound effort with just seconds to go,to ensure WE at least got one point.

A curiously below par effort by Stoke.

PLENTY TO BE PROUD OF

2011-02-23T21:53:00.010Z

ARSENAL 1 STOKE CITY FC 0

Stoke have not won at Arsenal for 30 years.Could our lads break that dismal record?Maybe a quick answer as first Walcott hit the post,then Stoke went a goal down in 7 minutes from a poorly defended corner.The ball was played long from the right, over the Stoke defence.Bendtner played the ball back in for Squillaci to head his first Premier League goal in past a helpless Begovic from 3 yards.

Wilson featuring at right back had his hands full with Arshavin,on early for Fabregas,and Nasri pushing down the Arsenal left.The home side monopolised possession without really getting through the City rearguard.Pugh at left back largely succeeded in blunting the threat from the speedy Walcott.

As the half wore on Stoke were pushed further back into their own half,with just the occasional breakout.On 35 minutes Carew brought a full length save from the Arsenal keeper with a powerful shot from distance.

On 39 mins Shawcross clumsily tripped Arshavin on edge of box.Nasri hit the freekick to the left of the Stoke goal and safety.Shortly after we had a freekick of our own which Jermaine Pennant dropped dangerously into the home box.The keeper fisted away.

Stoke came out of their shells a little more.Barely 2minutes into the second half Pennant down the left,ball into Shawcross whose goal bound header was knocked away for a corner,which came to nothing.Huth lept mightly but unfortunately headed over from a Delap long throw,as Stoke continued to press.

With 13 minutes to go Fuller came on for Walters. For Arsenal Chamakh replaced Bendtner.Arsenal felt the mounting tension,their fans increasingly nervous.A Pennant freekick beat the defensive wall,but flew into the side netting.Five minutes of added on time,but no Stoke equaliser this time round despite the Arsenal panic.

A dogged hardworking display from Stoke,which had Arsenal hanging on at the end.

Mr.Wenger did not look one happy puppy!

Stoke: Begovic,Wilson,Shawcross,Huth,Pugh,Delap,Whitehead,Whelan,Pennant,Walters,Carew.

FA CUP QUARTER FINALS ...HERE WE COME

2011-02-19T17:18:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 BRIGHTON HA 0

Stoke got off to a super start in the match with big John Carew heading in from a Delap long throw in (14 mins).Jon Walters doubled the lead. A Pennant run down the right was taken on by the overlapping right back Wilson, whose ball in was redirected into the net by the striker (22 mins). Etherington, starting the match following a hamstring injury went off at this point, looking decidedly uncomfortable, to be replaced by Ricardo Fuller.

Stoke’s third goal, before halftime, fell to Captain Ryan Shawcross. Jermaine Pennant’s corner from the right was headed across goal, to the unmarked skipper, who headed home his first goal since our cup exit against Chelsea last year.

No further goals in the second half, with The Potters playing their way into the final eight. Kenwyne Jones came on for Carew, but again did not look likely to score. With the fans on his back life continues to be difficult for him. Fuller seemed below what we know to be his best, until the last few minutes when he suddenly managed a couple of his mesmerising dribbles. The second culminated in a shot to the near post which the keeper parried away for a corner. Even more than at Birmingham last week the selection of Wilson and Pugh at fullback seemed to increase our creative options.

A thoroughly professional performance against the high scoring Division One leaders, in a fixture that might have posed problems for us in the past.

BEGO BLUES

2011-02-12T08:39:00.000Z

BIRMINGHAM CITY 1 STOKE CITY FC 0

What goes around comes around. A week ago we were elated as we snatched the points from Sunderland with Robert Huth's late late goal.Today we suffered a similar fate as Birmingham did the same to us.

Changes to our line up saw Pugh at left back and Wilson in for Wilkinson.Probably most significantly Etherington did not feature at all thus halving the wing service to Carew and Jones.Etherington finished last week's game strongly,but for a little while now he has looked as though he is carrying some sort of injury.The received wisdom today was that he was actually injured,but looking at Birmingham's pudding of a pitch it is at least as likely that the manager was worried that he might aggravate the existing condition.Walters was the replacement.

Stoke had some of the better moments of the first half with Pennant lively against another of his old clubs,whilst Birmingham looked more likely in the second half.Robert Huth was lucky to escape a ball to hand penalty as Brum exerted some pressure.

The game itself was heading for a stalemate conclusion,and a deserved point,when,with 30 seconds to go,the home side grabbed a winner.Asmir Begovic has been in fine form in goal for us since he took over in goal from Sorensen.At the death he spilled the ball down by his right post.Birmingham were quick to stand the ball up to Zigic,who, with his height advantage had no problem heading into the net from point blank range.

“PROPER GOALS”

2011-02-06T09:57:00.002Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 SUNDERLAND 2

I certainly warmed to Gary Lineker on Match of the Day last night having watched the game at the Britannia Stadium earlier. Stoke produced a scintillating lateshow Houdini act to take all three points from a more than useful Sunderland outfit.

“Proper goals” (all three Stoke scores)netted from “a combined yardage of six yards”, he said! Appreciation from one who knows just a little bit about scoring goals, scruffy or otherwise, but a comment sure to cause a grinding of teeth in soccer purist Baggie fan Adrian Chiles.Welcome appreciation from Shearer and Lawrenson too.

The game was a cracker, Stoke twice giving the visitors a helping hand. Given the awful weather conditions, heavy rain and swirling wind, they played some excellent football going forward, crisp passing, keeping the ball on the ground and to feet. Richardson put them a goal up on 2 minutes, with Gyan restoring their lead only 3 minutes into the second half.

You had the feeling though that their weakness lay in defence. Having fallen behind so early in the first half Stoke steadily built up pressure, and deservedly equalised in the 32^nd minute. Delap threw long into the heart of the Sunderland penalty area.From the ensuing melee the ball rose into the air, and as it fell Huth challenged. With the ball heading goalwards Carew managed a balletic toe poke to secure the equaliser.

It looked as though he had bagged our second equaliser heading in a Pennant freekick on 82 minutes. The goal was eventually credited to Huth. Stoke pressed hard for a winner.Two minutes into added on time Whitehead was fouled out on the left. Jermaine Pennant’s superb free kick cleared the cluster of players in the Sunderland box ,dropping invitingly to Huth running in behind them from the right. The German found the net with aplomb.Cue serious celebration amongst the players and the home faithful.

With other teams below us winning games recently this win was vital to us. Three points lifts us into 9^th spot in the table.

A splendid never say die team effort. Carew looks as though he could be very good for us. Etherington twinkled occasionally, but yesterday it was Jermaine Pennant who caught the eye. His corners and freekicks were a constant threat, he seemed to pop up everywhere on the pitch, and was involved in much intelligent link play.

AMBITION? NOT A LOT....

2011-02-03T00:15:00.001Z

LIVERPOOL 2 STOKE CITY FC 0

Stoke were set up for this match to keep the point they started with.Liverpool have been improving of late,but you have to wonder what Stoke might have achieved if they had shown more ambition.John Carew on his own up front,five in midfield,protecting the back four.Pennant and Diao were given a start against their former club.

From a Stoke viewpoint the highlight of the first half was defensive,Begovic making a brilliant relex save to keep out Johnson's header. Liverpool broke the stalemate just after halftime.Diao upended Agger centrally just outside the 18 yard box.Gerrard's freekick deflected to Kyrgiakos, and off him to Meireles ten yards out from goal.He drove the ball home giving Begovic no chance..The second goal saw sub, recent signing multi-million pound Uruguayan striker Suarez open his account on 79 minutes.He was set free to run on goal by Kuyt's pass.Rounding the advancing Stoke keeper,his shot was almost cleared by Wilkinson,who,after racing back had the misfortune to see his last ditch clearance effort go in off the post.

Stoke had earlier brought on Fuller as a second striker (at 67 minutes) in attempt to turn things around.The Jamaican looked lively,but the change was probably to little and too late.

Stoke Team : Begovic;
Wilkinson,Huth,Faye,Higginbotham;
Pennant,Wilson,Whitehead,Diao,Walters:
Carew

ROLE REVERSAL

2011-01-24T09:01:00.002Z

FULHAM 2 STOKE CITY FC 0

We took six points from The Cottagers last season,none this.The Stokie wrist slashers have been out in force this weekend on the messageboards.All manner of advice for the manager.....if he's listening (or reading!).Fulham got off to a flier in the last match.Stoke could have in this one,had Ryan Shawcross netted Etherington's fine cross early doors.Similarly things could have been different had Kenwyne Jones' piledriver gone in off the post instead of rebounding away to safety.

It could be argued that the injury Higginbotham suffered at Cardiff cost us today,because replacement Danny Collins was led a merry dance by winger Duff.Fulham's first goal was worked down the left side with Johnson getting in behind our defence and cutting the ball back for Dempsey to net from close range on 33 minutes.To me,to shift all the blame onto Collins would be unfair.There were plenty of defenders about,but Johnson was given too much space.

After a bright start our performance as a TEAM was, in the manager's word, FLAT.Any rejigging at halftime, with a view to getting back into the game, was undermined on 53 minutes when Ryan Shawcross was dismissed for a tangle with Dempsey in front of goal as the striker prepared to shoot.Dempsey netted the penalty sending Begovic the wrong way.

The rest of the game was an exercise in damage limitation as far as Stoke were concerned.

STOKE DO IT AT SECOND TIME OF ASKING......WALTERS STARIO !!!

2011-01-19T09:48:00.005Z

CARDIFF CITY 0 STOKE CITY FC 2

A whole new experience sitting watching this match on "Reading Brian's" 42" inch TV screen. S4C offered us live coverage of the whole match.Nice bottle of Chianti followed by Hungarian Merlot ensured that the occasionally excited commentary in Welsh (was that squeaky voice Jonathan Davies moonlighting from the Beeb?) receded into the background.No English subtitles.....was someone at The Sentinel pulling our legs? John Hartson fluently (we presume) summarising the highlights in Welsh.Chocolate labrador licking my left hand....very friendly or something there of real interest (residue from poppadom flavoured Pringles perhaps).Great company,great conversation.....and the match?

Well ,Stoke Reserves pitched up in the Principality played Cardiff Reserves and duly delivered a place in the Cwpan FA 4th Round.A stalemate through virtually the entirety of the 90 minutes,from a Stoke point of view the game burst into life at the start of extra time.

Two minutes in Walters at the near post got his head to Tonge's fine cornerkick from the left.The ball flew into the net past keeper Heaton who perhaps should have done better.Jon Walters netted his second on 115 minutes.Having forced his way to the byeline his first shot was beaten away by the Cardiff keeper.The ball found its way to our striker again.From a very tight angle he drove the ball along the ground into the net.Game over.

Wolves hammered Doncaster 5-0 so its off to Molineux next.

TURKISH DELIGHT......TUNCAY ON THE RAMPAGE....

2011-01-16T00:54:00.002Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 BOLTON WANDERERS 0

Stoke took this game by the scruff of the neck,at no stage letting go,despite some occasionally penetrative moves from the visitors.The whole game was played in very strong winds which appeared to be blowing the length of the pitch toward the Boothen Stand.This accompanied by a few rain squalls made playing football extremely difficult,but particularly so for defenders who had to improvise or adjust for clearances as the ball held up in the wind.This made for hairy moments.

Ricardo Fuller was unavailable for family reasons,his place being taken by Tuncay,who in turn was featuring from the off for the third game in a row.Quite a run for him.He took the chance with both hands,linking well with strike partner Kenwyne Jones,popping up all over the pitch tormenting the Bolton team with his energy,pace, and impish skills.He was even seen at one point in the second half filling in at fullback for Wilkinson ,who had ventured upfield.TP must have been proud of him at that moment.

We had to wait until the 37th minute for the opener.Tuncay took a corner from the left in front of the South Stand.It caught a little in the wind before dropping to Higginbotham who gleefully bundled the ball just over the line (to the satisfaction of Ref Oliver to our great relief - Oliver had earlier busied himself affording excessive protection to the visiting keeper).

The second goal on 63 minutes owed much to Tuncay's well timed pass.Picking up a defensive clearance from Huth, he carried the ball forward from centre field to the right,heading at the heart of the Bolton defence. The Turk was overtaken by Etherington..He pushed the ball through ,Ethers received and headed into the penalty box at full speed.Much too pacey for Zat Knight,the centreback was inevitably drawn into a poor challenge.The winger took the resultant penalty himself,placing his effort to the right,just managing to find the net,despite Jaaskelainen finger tipping the ball onto the post.

Stoke move up to 8th in the table again, with a very respectable 30 points.No signs of complacency from our manager in his post match interviews though.Quite right too.

A cynic would suggest that the way Stoke were set up today,with Wilson joining Delap and Whitehead in midfield, afforded Tuncay the freedom to do his own thing, with a view to putting him firmly in the shop window.On today's evidence it would be a considerable loss to us if he did indeed move on.

CLOSER....

2011-01-05T16:15:00.002Z

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 STOKE CITY FC 1

Stoke’s previous two visits to the ‘Theatre of Dreams’had seen a total of 9 goals conceded without reply.It was no great surprise, therefore, that The Potters proceeded with caution,though this time less in the way of trepidation. Manager Tony Pulis opted for a 5 man midfield, with Kenwyne Jones ploughing a loan furrow upfront.

United made several changes for this match, notably leaving Rooney and Ferdinand out. Any suggestion that this was a weaker side than that which faced West Bromwich at the weekend should be refuted. United have a squad with strength in depth, and certainly the Mexican striker Hernandez, Rooney’s replacement,is having a better season than the scouser, if their respective goal tallies are anything to go by.

Sitting at the back of the North Stand offers a view not dissimilar to that of a Subutteo table, the players tiny and far below. That said, Old Trafford is a magnificent arena.

Stoke managed to contain and largely negate and frustrate the home team until the 27^th minute, when Nani’s ball across the Stoke goal reached Hernandez adjacent to Begovic’s left goal post. As Ryan Shawcross put in a challenge the striker cleverly and cheekily backheeled the ball between the defenders legs, through the small gap between keeper and post into the net.

We started the second half in much more positive mood, and it came as a pleasant surprise, when a cross from Tuncay on the left was headed home by Whitehead for an equaliser (50 mins).Immediately United upped the ante, whilst Stoke seemed unable to build on this success.Twelve minutes later a ball from Henandez on the left found Nani to the right of goal just outside the box.Danny Collins had the chance to challenge but did not dive in, the winger taking the opportunity to curl a finely executed left foot shot well beyond Begovic’s dive, and into the net for the winner.

Stoke increased their attacking efforts, particularly in the closing minutes, but could not find a way through.

This time then it was a much more respectable score, but still no points taken from United since we returned to the top division.

DIFFERENT AS CHALK AND CHEESE....

2011-01-03T09:45:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 EVERTON 0

Some change around in just a couple of days.Against Fulham Stoke treated us to a lethargic start,and a fitful performance.Facing a good Everton side we were strong from the off,the old Stoke,never allowing our visitors to settle on the ball,organised under pressure,and this time taking the chances that came our way.

Kenwyne Jones looked back to his lively best again,especially teamed from the start with Ricardo Fuller.Our Jamaican ace was a constant thorn in Everton's side,unsettling and upsetting them time and again.The mystery was how he failed to notch a hattrick.On several occasions he manoeuvred himself into dangerous positions only for his final touch to let him down,or to drag his shot wide of goal.

Danny Higginbotham deputised ably for the suspended Huth,getting in goal saving blocks,the most notable being right on halftime when he deflected Pienaar's goal bound shot up and over the crossbar.The back four as a whole,well marshalled by captain Ryan Shawcross, hardly put a foot wrong.Delap and Whitehead worked tirelessly back and to in the midfield.

Neither Pennant nor Etherington were as electric as we know they can be.But Ethers did manage one really telling contribution.He wriggled between two defenders out on the left before putting in a delightful cross which Jones headed home for our opener (23 mins).

We had to wait until the 69th minute for our second goal.Jones headed a long ball on hopefully.Fuller challenged for the ball,sufficiently pressuring defender Jagielka that he played the ball into the roof of his own net from just a few yards out.

Stoke then set about protecting the lead,securing an excellent result,which saw us move up to 8th in the table.

OH DEAR......

2010-12-31T11:47:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 FULHAM 2

So some records were broken against Blackburn,and we turned up at The Brit full of festive cheer and optimism.Last home match defeat against Blackpool a distant memory,a match we could have won 6 - 1 on chances.That would not ,could not happen again.

With Stoke though,as we have learned the hard way from the distant past,you can take nothing for granted.We should dismiss at our peril any team which looks to be a pushover,having a dismal run of form,whatever.Fulham duly arrived,this foggy damp afternoon,unable to buy a win, manager Hughes' job under threat, and not having won away from home since the first game of LAST season.

Within 3 minutes the visitors were a goal up,two up in 10 minutes.For the remainder of the game they offered no attacking threat,and despite Stoke's somewhat disjointed forward threat against a poor defence, held together by the magnificent Hangerland,we could have played for the rest of the day and never scored.

The first goal,Baird's first for the club, initially looked as though there might have been an element of keeper error.In fact it was such a cracking shot that Begovic had no chance,the ball striking the inside of the post on its way into the net.The second goal by Baird again, from a freekick on the edge of the box, found the bottom corner of the Stoke net going just beyond Begovic's dive.The shot was straight and true,passing the point in the defensive wall where Walters had been standing,until he ran out to challenge the kick!

For me there was a similarity between the Blackpool and Fulham games.Both teams had midfields offering more creativity than ours.Tony Pulis is a canny operator.I wonder if one of his transfer window priorities will be to strengthen in that department?

STOKE BANISH BOXING DAY BLUES

2010-12-27T10:12:00.001Z

BLACKBURN ROVERS 0 STOKE CITY FC 2

"In 39 years Venky's has gone from a small family business to Asia's largest poultry group." (Lancashire Telegraph). Can they do for football what they have done for poultry?

New owners Venky's Revolution at Rovers seems to have left the locals for the most part unimpressed.Admittedly its early days but you have to wonder whether the turmoil they have created will result in a slide toward the Championship.Not only do the fans seem disenchanted,but also some leading players.You have to wonder whether a caretaker manager for the rest of the season is a good idea,especially following Sam Allardyce,who would have been expected to guide the club to mid table respectability again.

Two years ago our away fixture was Allardyce's first game as manager,and we never really got a look in losing 3-0.Yesterday was very different indeed,no positive reaction to the new manager,no stiff examination of our resolve,and Stoke eventually emerging comfortable winners.

A largely forgettable first half quickly receded from memory as Stoke took charge of the game,taking the lead in the 51st minute.Matty Etherington -who had missed for him an easy chance from close in in the first half -whipped in a corner,which Huth ,advancing unmarked, met with a powerful header into the net,giving keeper Robinson no chance.

We had to wait until the second minute of added on time for the second goal and clincher.Subs Ricardo Fuller and Marc Wilson combined well.A Fuller ball in from the right picked out Wilson close to goal inside the penalty area.He brought the ball under control,and fired in a low shot just inside the post and to Robinson's right.

The down side....Matty Etherington limping off,and with only two days recovery time,you have to wonder whether we will see him play against Fulham.

A list of records were broken ....

Stoke
- had previously never won a match in December in the Prem
- not won on Boxing day for 10 years
- Wilson scored his first goal in the Prem....

We rise to 8th in the table with a respectable 24 points before the turn of the year.Be really nice if we could bag another 3 against Fulham on Tuesday!Here's hoping.

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE DAYS......

2010-12-12T08:28:00.005Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 BLACKPOOL 1

You cannot say, as some have been ,that we did not deserve anything from this game. They claim that we failed to see off a clearly – to their eyes – inferior Blackpool team. But Blackpool are no mugs. As we did when we were first promoted, they played to their strengths. Lots of energy, getting about the field quickly, in your faces when they lost the ball, uncompromising in defence. These qualities, allied to the intelligent prompting and passing of Adam in midfield and the darting threat of Campbell upfront make them difficult to handle.

Whether some of our stars were below par or simply knocked out of their stride it would be difficult to say. What is certain though is that our team did not lack determination, commitment, or effort, but our performance was disjointed.

Crucially we created plenty of chances but were unable to take any of them. On another day we could and would have won handsomely. At both ends of the game Blackpool players blocked goal bound efforts. The first, as Stoke opened brightly, a fierce Fuller shot blocked by Taylor – Fletcher, the second, at the death as Stoke piled on the pressure to rescue a point,a Delap header hitting defender Eardley in the face as he stood on the goal line .Neither player knew much about it.

We hit the woodwork at least three times to Blackpool’s one. Kenwyne had headed opportunities from close in that he would have buried just a few weeks ago. Matty Etherington saw his beautifully taken free kick strike the bar with keeper Kingson beaten all ends up.

The Blackpool winner was well constructed and followed more or less immediately from our failure to take a scoring chance. A typical Ricardo Fuller dribble produced a clear sight of goal. You would have bet your house on him shooting .Inexplicably he turned back into three defenders. We’ve seen him beat three men before with a mazy dribble, but this time he lost the ball. Blackpool lost no time moving the ball upfield, with Adam involved twice. The move culminated in Campbell flicking the ball past Begovic into the net for the winner, despite the attentions of Danny Collins.

STOKE SNOOKERED BY IN OFFS.

2010-12-05T07:32:00.001Z

WIGAN 2 STOKE CITY FC 2

A funny game this,featuring some excellent play from both sides,both managers feeling that on another day they could have won it.I can't remember any single Stoke game having so many in offs.Both goalies must have wondered at times why they bothered.

On loan home keeper Ali Al Habsi was the first to suffer.He had covered Robert Huth's freekick from just outside the box,until a wicked deflection off the defensive wall took the ball in the opposite direction to which he was moving. Stoke's opener on 18 minutes.

Asmir Begović was similarly stranded 12 minutes later.A brisk Wigan attack down the left,a ball into the middle,which he would have had little difficulty dealing with,until Danny Collins attempted block,wrong footed the keeper,the deflection taking the ball into the empty Stoke net for the equaliser.

Within a minute Stoke took the lead for the second time with the only goal that owed nothing to chance.Kenwyne Jones did really well to keep the ball in play on the right touchline.He advanced a few yards before playing the ball through to Ricardo Fuller.The Jamaican played the ball across the Wigan six yard box,Whitehead got a foot to it,ensuring that the ball reached Etherington coming in from the left.He made no mistake notching his second goal in a week..

Almost unbelieveably Stoke were pegged back again in the 40th minute by another strange one.This time a Cleverly shot from just outside the penalty box saw Begovic moving to his left anticipating the save,only be completely beaten when the ball deflected in the opposite direction off Rory Delap into the net.

So another point toward that vital 40 and survival,and 7th in the table for a few hours at least.

TALE OF TWO CITIES

2010-11-28T12:20:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 MANCHESTER CITY 1

Yet another good game of football,with The Potters every bit a match for their expensively assembled visitors.Man City were outplayed by Stoke for a large part of the first half,in which frankly a few of their players gave the impression that they wished they were somewhere else doing something else!Certainly Stoke were in their faces and they did not fancy it.Our pressure was not just physical,but involved some tidy footballing moves,featuring particularly the attacking duo,Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones,aided and abetted by the superb Pennant and Etherington.

Stoke should have been a goal or two up by halftime,Ricardo Fuller missing the best chance as a fine backheel by Jones set him free one on one with keeper Joe Hart.Unfortunately the Jamaican screwed the ball ouside the righthand post.

Manchester started the second half more strongly,the Potters having to hang on doggedly at times.The game seemed to be drifting to a goalless conclusion,when ten minutes from the end Micah Richards sold Collins an outrageous dummy on the edge of the box,took a step forward,before driving the ball powerfully past Begovic into the net.

The visitors then set about retaining the ball,and to be honest successfully for the most part.An undeserved defeat looked the most likely result as we moved into added on time.Then a touch of Turkish magic unlocked the door.A long Begovic punt upfield was headed down by Kenwyne Jones to his new central partner Tuncay standing on the edge of the penalty box.The Turk's clever diagonal backheel to the left found Etherington.Hart got a hand to Ethers cross-shot,but couldn't stop it entering the net.A brilliantly worked goal and richly deserved equaliser.

20 points from 15 games ,8th in the table.Not bad for the end of November.Plus,if you knew neither team,on yesterday's evidence you would have to say that the Mighty Potters expenditure on players looked to be better value for money than their rich list visitors.

"WE ALWAYS BEAT WEST BROM"

2010-11-21T11:27:00.008Z

WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 STOKE CITY FC 3

You have to wonder what it is about Stoke City versus West Bromwich Albion....it’s so long since they beat us that no-one can remember. Many people expressed the fear over the last week that this was a different Baggies setup, that we would not be gifted the points as in days gone by. Yet Stoke pitched up at The Hawthorns, didn’t play at all well, and duly came away with all three points, and to boot three goals, which improved our goal difference to 0!Add to that rising to a dizzying 8^th in the Prem, all in all this was a good day. The only concern was Jermaine Pennant leaving the fray early on with a hamstring problem.

The first half was largely forgettable with WBA the better team. Stoke took the lead through a debatable penalty. Keeper Carson came out to meet Kenwyne Jones as the striker tracked across the front edge of the penalty box. There was minimal – if any – contact. Kenwyne went down, Ref Foy made the award in our favour. Matty Etherington cooly slotted the penalty into the bottom right corner of the net. Carson guessed right but the accuracy of the kick beat his despairing dive.

West Bromwich tried to get back into the game, but without any luck at all. They found keeper Begovich in fine form, dealing well with the little he had to do. One point blank save was particularly fine,and brave too, diving as he did, in amongst flying boots as Ibanez looked odds on to score.

Sub Tuncay contributed to the second goal. Working down the left he played a clever ball into Whitehead who was charging down the left side of the penalty box, only to be bundled over by Cech as he attempted to collect the ball. Sub Walters made no mistake with the penalty placing it in the bottom right corner of the net again with Carson this time guessing wrong.

But the fun was not over. Walters won a throw in on the left. Delap’s throw reached Jones on the bye line to left of goal inside the penalty area. He drew in three defenders, outwitted them with a deft backheel to Walters. Carson saved the striker’s first effort brilliantly, but the ball ricocheted back to Walters off a defenders leg. He drove his second effort firmly into the roof of the net.

PS What's with the sudden appearance amongst the players of beards and moustaches?

JOB'S A GOOD 'UN

2010-11-14T10:32:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 LIVERPOOL 0

Absolutely marvellous….what a difference a week makes! After Tuesday’s fingernail chewing experience as the Potters struggled in the last 20 minutes to finish off Birmingham to claim the three points ,this match was a breeze!

Liverpool are not the team they were, so you could argue that if we were going to beat them for the first time in 27 years there would not be a better time.True enough but what we witnessed in this match was a Stoke team outplaying their once illustrious visitors throughout.

How things have changed in a few short years. How far we have moved from our first tentative inevitably defensive steps in the Prem.Tony Pulis fielded an attack minded side here to take the game to Liverpool. Etherington,Pennant,Fuller, and Jones are all happiest going forward, neither is our central defensive pairing of Huth and Shawcross averse to roaming forward.Add to this emergence of Whitehead from the defensive cage, and the relative youth and energy of Wilkinson.

Stoke had Liverpool on the backfoot from the start,and kept them there with an all action performance for the entire 90 minutes.It say something that Begovic had less saves to make than against Birmingham.I can only remember two. The first a full length dive to push away a low Gerrard drive from outside the box,the second from very close range from Maxi as he connected with Kuyt’s cut back from the byline.

Liverpool were never allowed to settle or the time and space to build from the back.Delap and Whitehead between them effectively shackled Gerrard. Service to Torres was snuffed out. As we pressed forward the Liverpool defence looked decidedly rocky.We had to wait until the second half or our goals.The first came from a Ricardo Fuller toe poke to conclude a goalmouth melee.The second,to wrap the match,saw Kenwyne Jones get back on the goal trail.An errant Gerrard pass forward was intercepted by Wilkinson,who chested the ball forward to Jermaine Pennant.He ran a few yards forward before slipping a short pass to Jones, which took him between the Liverpool central defenders in on keeper Reina.Kenwyne cooly finished with style, his right foot shot past the advancing keeper, nestling in the corner of the net.Cue acrobatic celebrations on the pitch,and serious mentals in the crowd.No way back for the visitors.

Rory Delap has come in for some criticism recently some of it unfair.Over the last two matches ,playing in his favoured central midfield position, he has been super, getting about the pitch, breaking up moves, making timely interceptions. Whitehead has been a revelation.He was absolutely everywhere,the oil in our machine,even shooting on sight! Etherington and Pennant were a constant intelligent attacking threat,and judging by the amount of scampering about they have 100% bought into the Pulis way of doing things,also taking their defensive responsibilities seriously.

So six points out of six, where most of us would happily have settled for four (maybe even two to break our losing streak!) just a week ago .A brief visit to the bottom three at five o’ clock, 10^th in the table by seven thirty.Oh and a very welcome clean sheet too.

An impressive show indeed……wheel on the Baggies!

WELL THAT WAS LUCKY IN THE END

2010-11-10T09:40:00.000Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 BIRMINGHAM 2

Stoke bossed this game for a good 60 minutes or more,then got an attack of the jitters,allowed the Brummies back in,and at the death were fortunate to take all three points, to finally break that disheartening losing run.

Ref Clattenburg's performance was impeccable.

Stoke's opener was thumped into the net by captain Robert Huth,who throughout looked every inch the part.A 1-0 lead at halftime was doubled by Ricardo Fuller's superlative effort,beating a man out on the right wing,haring off toward the penalty box,before unleashing a tremendous left foot shot which curled wonderfully into the net giving ex-Stokie keeper Foster absolutely no chance.

The crowd's delirious celebration was a mixture of relief and elation....that goal would would bring us the much needed points.It also reflected the fact that seconds before Ricardo's stunner our goal mouth had resembled the Alamo,plentiful shots,blocks,posts,as the ball pinged around fortunately without actually finding our net.

As we inexplicably dropped back Birmingham began to look more threatening,driven on by sub Fahey.Within two minutes we moved from elation to despair as Fahey and Jerome brought the score back to 2-2.The Brit was stunned into graveyard silence.Hundreds got up and left....muttering to themselves.Only one side looked likely to win,and it wasn't us.Our resident undertaker,however had other ideas.Dean Whitehead had had his customary all action game.He ran through on the visitors goal,the ball reached him via Etherington and Fuller,he tangled, on the floor, with Foster and a defender,and unbelievably the ball squirted up and out of the melee,and bobbled into the net.

The winner!!!Birmingham visibly deflated and did not really show again in the remaining minutes.

The winner!!! On the evidence of the Everton match Lee Probert would definitely have disallowed it,there was even less contact between the unlucky Tuncay and Baines for the disallowed goal that day.On another day Mark Clattenburg might have done.You can't help but think that the insistent, continuous, universal media view since the weekend (MOTD,SKY, the papers,et alia)that Stoke really were not getting a fair crack,might have impacted/resonated.

We have a manager who has the courage of his own convictions,and is not afraid to say what he thinks.Certainly he was not afraid to shine the spotlight where it was most needed.....when it was most needed.

More strength to his elbow!

OH BY THE WAY.....WE PLAYED AT SUNDERLAND YESTERDAY

2010-11-07T22:55:00.001Z

SUNDERLAND 2 STOKE CITY FC 0

Another massive dollop dropped on us in this game.....a first half in which we were not really at the races,and were lucky to still be in touch,a second half which promised more but ended in disappointing defeat.

Unmarked £13m striker Gyan was in the right place to tap home on 9 minutes after Begovic saved but could not hold the ball.We were kept in the game by our keeper ,who saved Malbranque's penalty effort after Walters was adjudged to have fouled Gyan.

Stoke looked much more likely after the break.Eventually mounting Stoke pressure saw Jones head Etherington's corner goalwards.The ball was probably over the line as Catermole handled TWICE.Ref Atkinson and his assistant saw none of this.No goal...no penalty.....no sending off..no equaliser.From the resultant corner Kenwyne Jones was unlucky again as his header was cleared off the line.

Much frustration amongst the Stoke players, a rash of bookings,including two for captain Ryan Shawcross,inevitably sent off,and to add insult to injury the 10 ten men conceded another goal to the excellent Gyan,this time from a fine drive following a poor clearance by Huth.

So we're outside the bottom three on goal difference only.Two home matches to come from which we need some return...to break the losing sequence,and the abysmal run of bad luck.

OFFICIAL'S KIT FOR TUESDAY NIGHT

2010-11-07T22:46:00.006Z

PS SORRY SHOULD HAVE BEEN 3 PAIRS OF SPECS!

LUCKY CLOVER SOUGHT URGENTLY

2010-11-07T21:09:00.008Z

MUD STICKS

2010-10-31T10:50:00.000Z

EVERTON 1 STOKE CITY FC 0

Wenger and Co knew what they were doing with their constant criticism of The Potters style.Some of the mud they were throwing would stick,and so it has, as I have said before.Referees have bought into this stereotypical view,and are officiating in the light of it.Certainly they are giving us absolutely nothing at the moment,or so it seems.

Yesterday Ref Probert ruled out a perfectly good goal by Tuncay,before Everton had scored.He judged that fullback Baines had been pushed,virtually on the line by the Turk prior to the ball trickling into the net.

To these tired eyes of mine it was clear that Baines was already on his way down in an attempt to clear the ball.Tuncay brushed past him to score.

Clearly Probert and others see these as 'after you Claude....no after you Cecil! ' situations.No physical contact (if Stoke are involved) .....its not football,players politely avoiding even minimal contact by running around each other,and to hell with scoring rough and tumble goals (which this most definitely was not).

So having been denied a legitimate goal you sort of knew that something would happen at the other end of the pitch.A ball into our box by Pienaar was shinned by Abdy Faye as he attempted to exert some form of control, fell to Yakubu,who hit the post with his shot,fortunately got a direct rebound back,and drove the ball over Begovic into the Stoke net for the winner.

So three league defeats in a row again.We deserved more than we got against Bolton and Man Utd,and you could argue that the same could be said about this match.

Not the time to panic yet......with a rub of the green.....things will turn around again.

TROUBLE AT 'T MILL? OR JUST JADED?

2010-10-28T09:06:00.002Z

WEST HAM UTD 3 STOKE CITY FC 1 Carling Cup 5th Round After extra time.

Stoke bossed the first 40 minutes,taking a deserved lead in the 6th minute,when Kenwyne Jones nodded in from a Pennant corner,but they did not build on their advantage.The last few minutes of the half West Ham came on stronger,which set the pattern for the second half.

Nevertheless it took West Ham until the 84th minute to get back on terms,a Parker header ,as Stoke visibly wilted.A day less for Stoke to recover from the weekend games?Several players included who were not full match fit?Who knows?What we do know is that defeat became something of an inevitablity as the momentum switched to,and remained with The Hammers.Extra time saw goals from Da Costa (96mins) and Obinna (118mins) which sealed Stoke's fate,and exit from the competition.

Tuncay started the match but did not finish it,maybe because he will be in the lineup at Everton.Eidur Gudjonsen came on as sub,but unlike the West ham subs made little impression,except perhaps Berbertov like that he could not be bothered unless the ball was played to his feet.

Some speculation that the approach of winter has led him to reconsider his position:nice boats in Monaco harbour, better weather, warming the Monaco bench,now a rather more attractive proposition than the incinerator,rain,and the cold of the Brit.He has not figured in as many games for Stoke as I thought he might,but each time we have seen him so far he has seemed a little sluggish,maybe even still carrying a little extra weight despite the fitness regime at Stoke.

So a night that started so promisingly,ended in disappointment,and with more than a few messages in the ether which will need to be interpreted,and maybe acted upon.

STOKE CITY 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 2

2010-10-25T10:05:00.005Z

Plenty to keep you interested at The Brit on so many different levels. The Rooney riddle....he’d sorted his contract heist. Would Sir Alex play him? If he did then a hattrick was inevitable! Well he didn’t ....so what does that tell us....more for another day there! What I suspect is that Mr.Rooney’s life at Man U is about to become a whole lot more interesting behind the scenes.

What about the Stokie chants? Memorable yes definitely (well more or less in the case of the second one,the words of which I think I remember).” Robbed by a scouser,you’ve just been robbed by a Scouser”. Mint, I think is the word. The second...”You’re shite, Rooney says you are” (repeated).You all know the tunes....

Respect from the Man U manager for Stoke, fielding what most considered to be the strongest side at his disposal, and through his after match comments genuinely,IMHO, expressing the view that this had been a tough game for them.

A novelty - if my memory serves me well – our goal was the first that we have scored against them in the five games since we returned to the Prem. Bigger novelty....Tuncay even got onto the pitch to massive acclaim by the fans, who had been calling for him earlier. Massive bigger novelty....he scored our equaliser....a cracking shot across Van Der Sar, after a mistake by Scholes (who didn’t have one of his better days).What struck me most was that the fans unreserved adulation and celebration was not altogether matched by his team mates,who seemed reluctant to join him as he milked the applause.Did wonder whether this shows what they really feel about him.

Still there we were drawing with one of the greats with just a few minutes to go and a seriously pumped up full house daring to hope that we would get a deserved hard earned point from a game in which we had had to do a lot of running to win the ball,but to which we had contributed some fine football too.

United’s opener toward the end of the first half came from a corner,a brilliant improvised header from Hernandez which left our defence flat footed.The late winner was notched from close in by the same player after a series of one two’s between Berbertov and others around the edge of our penalty box.Two years ago we would have knocked him over,before the final ball was played in,and taken our chances with the free kick. The man who would might well have intervened as he does so often breaking moves up, Dean Whitehead, was missing yesterday,and it showed at times.

Talking of breaking things up......Gary Neville.....he knew Ethers had the beating of him...his nasty first foul earned him a yellow card, when a red might have been more appropriate. His second foul, which was not a great deal prettier but brought no sanction.As everyone around commented.....if he’d been a Stoke player he would have been sent off. But there you are....

All told an absorbing end to end game, but a point each would have been fairer.

C’est la vie!!

BLIND REF 2

2010-10-16T18:07:00.001Z

BOLTON WANDERERS 2 STOKE CITY FC 1

After last week’s lay off Tony Pulis placed his trust in the same team that triumphed over Blackburn a fortnight ago.As so often this season Stoke weathered Bolton’s early storm, set about bossing the game,only to fall behind in the 23^rd minute, thanks to our old friend ill luck. Abdy Faye’s good defensive work was undone by TWO unkind rebounds, the ball eventually falling to Lee who netted from 12 yards out.

Just six minutes later a Pennant freekick was defeated by the Bolton crossbar.Before the half was over Ref Walton left his indelible mark on the result, ruling- from his viewpoint a mere 10 yards away- that Knight’s blatant handball in the area involved no illegal contact with the ball. No penalty. Quite remarkable! But not the for the first time.....and I’m convinced not the last.

Within minutes of the restart we were back on terms as Rory Delap blasted home. The remainder of the half saw much determined activity in both directions, without further addition to the score......until.....in added on time a Bolton freekick for a foul out on the right was fumbled by Sorensen. Collins cleared but from the resultant long throw in, the ball dropped to Klasnic who swivelled to shoot the winner home to Sorensen’s left. Stoke had little or no time to stage a second comeback.

So the disappointing run against Bolton continues. Our play merits a win,or in this case at least a draw, but they take the points. We drop a place to 8^th in the Premiership, leapfrogged would you believe by Bolton themselves.

As for Mr.Walton you have to wonder,once again,whether he is up to the job.

STOKE EDGE IT

2010-10-03T21:01:00.003Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 BLACKBURN ROVERS 0

A very pleasant afternoon weatherwise in the Potteries,with not quite a full house at The Brit.Still over 25,000, but with a very small Blackburn contingent numbering around 500 against their allocation of 2000.

One or two changes in personnel for the Potters from last week's successful outing.Abdy Faye in for Wilko,accomplished by Huth moving to left back;Delap into midfield for Whelan;and the biggest/best surprise the return of Jermaine Pennant for Salif Diao on the right side of midfield.

Two big sides,evenly matched in most respects.The media anticipated heavy duty slugging fest did not materialise.Sure there were the aerial bombardments in both boxes with the usual thrills and spills,but both teams played some very tidy football at times.

Stoke continued their current practice of hitting the woodwork several times rather than the net,and drew excellent saves from ex-England keeper Robinson.Halftime saw the game nicely balanced at 0-0. First time this season for us!

The Potters got off to a flyer in the second half.A defensive clearance was nodded on and down by Kenwyne Jones (who gave big centreback Samba a busy afternoon,with honours just about even) to Etherington,who played the ball through Samba's legs to Walters speeding up on his right.The striker faced by the advancing Robinson finished as cool as you like slotting the ball into the right hand corner of the Blackburn net,his first goal for Stoke in the Prem.

Stoke continued to press with Etherington and Pennant prominent with there respective brands of magic to unsettle the Blackburn rearguard.Ethers had three chances,one he should have buried,the last coming from a beautiful Pennant cross.He struck the ball well,a goal looked a certainty until Robinson stuck up an arm to deflect the ball away to safety.A brilliant save in the end.

In the dying minutes Blackburn pushed Samba upfront and were able to cause one or two alarms for us,but at the final whistle the three points were ours....and a move up to a heady 7th place in the table.

It was good to see Ricardo Fuller back on the field so soon after his shoulder dislocation.Rory Delap had a better game.Dean Whitehead was just about everywhere on the pitch and had a storming game.

One word about Robinson.....no doubt about it yesterday he looked to be a keeper of the highest quality,producing some superb saves to keep his team in contention.

PULIS'S GRITTY POTTERS TAKE THE SPOILS.....

2010-09-26T19:57:00.005Z

NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 STOKE CITY FC 2

The reception from Les Geordies suggested that they felt this match was against rival neighbours Sunderland's reserves,particularly they laid into Kenwyne Jones,and Rory Delap when he came on in the second half.Sorensen's kicking in the first half was consistently wayward,and you had to wonder if he had history and former connections weighing on his mind.

Tony Pulis set out his team to ensure that we gave nothing away,in consequence it was not particularly adventurous,there being no real surprise that we were pinned back in our own half for the first 45 minutes,with Newcastle having the bulk of the possession.His back four saw a repeat of the lineup from Tuesday, the exception being Collins in for Higginbotham .No room for Abdy Faye returning to his old club. Salif Diao was retained in midfield to partner Whelan with Etherington and Whitehead on the flanks.Walters supported Jones up front.

The first half saw plenty of huffing and puffing,with neat moves, but no end product until Huth was adjudged to have brought down Carrol just before the break,with the ball about to make its way harmlessly to Sorensen.The resultant penalty was converted by Nolan,to put the home side in front,deservedly on the balance of play.

The second half, in its very early stage seemed to be going the same way as the first,which prompted the manager to make changes.Ricardo Fuller,on for Diao (50 mins),certainly livened things up,and Delap for Whelan (57 mins),increased Stoke's attacking options.Pressure was brought to bear on the home defence,with Jones,Etherington, and Fuller all looking dangerous.Jones headed against a post,and Fuller's follow up shot went wide of the post.Then Jones headed against the bar,causing him to wonder whether it was going to be his day,if the rueful smile was anything to go by.

Around the 67th minute Fuller fell awkwardly onto his shoulder, fouled as he cut between two defenders.He was replaced by Eidur Gudjohnsen.Etherington took the freekick, flighting the ball to the far post where Huth headed back across goal for Kenwyne Jones to head firmly into the net,the equaliser,and his fourth goal in four games.

Stoke edged in front on 85 minutes.This time Etherington's corner from the left looked likely to reach the inrushing Huth. It didn't because Perch, in trying to clear, headed firmly into his own net.

Newcastle had chances in the last 5 minutes plus the 6 minutes of added on time,but were unable to convert any,as Stoke stuck gamely to their task,enjoying just a little luck in the process.

Three points then,and 14th in the table....a good days work! Looks as though Ricardo Fuller may be missing for a few weeks with what might well be a dislocated shoulder.To compensate his replacement Gudjohnsen showed one or two nice touches as he moves toward full fitness.

Now Tony Pulis has been saying that Kenwyne Jones can get better.....he's not the finished article....can't wait !!

CARLING CUP ROUND 4 HERE WE COME....

2010-09-21T11:23:00.001Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 FULHAM 0

Stoke comfortably eased past fellow Premiership travellers Fulham at The Brit in front of a very respectable 12,778 fans.It is surely a sign of the times and the strength of the squad that Tony Pulis was able to make SEVEN changes to Mark Hughes ONE to the teams fielded for last Saturday's league matches.

Among the pleasant surprises was the situation with regard to two of the three players apparently seriously injured against West Ham.Kenwyne Jones was fit to play with Jon Walters on the bench. Tuncay came into the team on the left side with Matty Etherington switching to the right.Ricardo Fuller partnered Jones. It was interesting to see Salif Diao reappear in midfield.

A goal in each half saw off the Fulham challenge.On 23 minutes Etherington's pacey corner from the right seemed to clear everyone bar Higginbotham whose powerful header from 6 yards out found the net to set us on our way.On 67 minutes Delap came on for Diao who had had an excellent game,outshining midfield partner Whelan,who,it has to be said,was again looking somewhat out of sorts and off the pace in the first half (though much improved in the second).With 12 minutes to go,and with Fulham just having mounted a late challenge,Kenwyne Jones met a Delap long throw to head in,his third goal in three consecutive matches,to put Stoke through.

With 7 minutes to go Tuncay was replaced by Pugh.The Turk had certainly made his mark with a busy performance. It remains to be seen whether this will bring him into contention for Sunday's match at Newcastle United,if Pennant is not over his hamstring strain.

Our first clean sheet of the season,a remodelled back four of Wilkinson,Shawcross,Huth, and Higginbotham that looked solid (not putting a foot wrong until Wilko's rash heavy challenge on Dembele in added on time.Yellow card but he was lucky not to get sent off.) Some pleasing attractive football from The Potters at times,and much the best side on the night.

STOKE TEAM:

Begovic, Huth, Wilkinson, Higginbotham, Shawcross, Whelan, Tuncay (Pugh, 83 ) , Etherington, Diao (Delap, 68 ) , Fuller (Walters, 75 ) , Jones

Subs not used: Tonge,Gudjohnsen,Soares,Sorensen,

NEVER TAKE A RESULT FOR GRANTED

2010-09-20T06:49:00.010Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 WEST HAM UNITED 1

It may have been a reaction to Monday night's heroics, or it may be that subconsciously some were feeling that we just had to turn up to collect the points.Whatever, several players were distinctly below par in the first half on Saturday. We contrived to make a poor West ham side look better than they actually are.

Once again we fell behind, again to a goal which had an element of farce about it.A West Ham freekick just in from the corner flag caused mayhem in our goalmouth.Rory Delap,on the goal line ,put in a clearing kick,only to see the ball, for the second time this season strike the unfortunate Ryan Shawcross in the face in a crucial area,deflect across goal to Scott Parker,who hooked the ball into the net.The Hammers and their fans could scarcely believe their luck.For our part we had none....well not much anyway.Sure Piquionne hit our bar with keeper Sorensen well beaten,but so too a less than confident Green in the West Ham goal fumbled early and could only watch as Huth's resultant effort struck his post to rebound away.

The second half saw Stoke in charge. Just after the restart Walters played a ball down the right to Pennant.Although he was at full pace to catch the ball,he produced a wonderful cross which Kenwyne Jones had no trouble heading in for a splendid equaliser.Stoke then turned up the gas further.Jones it was again, leaving Upson in his wake as he cut in from the left.His brilliant shot across goal was heading for the net until the flying Green managed to get finger tips to it,the ball deflecting onto the post and away.Another effort by sub Ricardo Fuller came back off the bar with the West Ham players beaten.

Stoke had enough chances to win the game......a good sign with our forward players looking really dangerous at times.....and on another day might have scored four!

The downside? Three key new forward players picked up injuries.Kenwynne Jones has a groin strain,Jon Walters an ankle problem,and the influential Jermaine Pennant has a hamstring problem.

The upside? For me, a much better showing in the second half,four points on the board for the week, which we would probably have taken last Sunday night!The other two would have made quite a difference in terms of position in the league table,but then its early days.

Eidur Gudjohnsen did come on to a tremendous reception from the crowd,though he clearly has some way to go on the fitness (and weight?)front,before he's up to speed.

THEN.....

2010-09-15T22:00:00.008Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 ASTON VILLA 1

Have to confess that I approached the Brit with some trepidation on Monday night,for some reason feeling that the best we would do would be a draw.No points,second from bottom.The side that was selected had something of the safety first about it.

We started brightly enough with Kenwyne Jones looking a real handful on his home debut.A superb volley from distance had Friedel hurriedly palming the ball away...he should have done better when put clear by new boy Marc Wilso's sublime sliderule pass.Other chances from set pieces were headed over or around the woodwork.

Gradually Villa took hold of the match,although it was still something of a surprise when Downing headed them into the lead.

It did not look good as Villa missed out on two further golden opportunities to put the match beyond our reach.Ashley Young missed with an easy header, and a grubber cross again from Ashley Young fizzed along our goaline and away to safety....that would have been the missing Carew's tap in chance for his customary goal against us!!

THEN ........the man we thought would be missing the game because of close family bereavement appeared along the touchline....dressed for action.

I have been following Stoke for a long time,and I cannot think of a more spontaneously emotional moment than this one.A virtually full ground rising as one to clap and cheer the inestimable Tony Pulis!!

Uplifting,indeed.The whole atmosphere in the ground changed...a remarkable experience for those who were lucky enough to be there.

Substitutions followed ,the flow of the game changed,as The Mighty Potters ratcheted up the pressure on Villa.Stoke began to weave patterns of their own.Ten minutes from time Dean Whitehead did well to retain the ball on the Villa byline.His ball to Pennant was intelligently played across to Etherington. Interplay between Fuller and Etherington saw the latter put in a low trajectory cross which Kenwyne Jones netted with aplomb.

Fans around were settling for a draw,although the players clearly were not.In the last of the 3 minutes of added on time Jermaine Pennant won a free kick on the right.His cross arrowed to the heart of the Villa penalty area....eventually found its way to Matty Etherington....his left foot effort was diverted by Robert Huth beyond Friedel into the corner of the net.Cue serious celebration on and off the pitch......

The latest of late winners....season up and running....on what I can only describe as a very special night at the Brit!!

NEW SEASON BUT THE USUAL BUZZ WENT AWOL.....THEN....

2010-09-15T21:18:00.005Z

Returning from holiday on the opening day of the season.......2½ hours of stop, start,crawl on one section of the M25 meant that we were still on the M40 as the Wolves match was played out.

Impressive indeed that we had paid £8m for Kenwyne Jones, that he had looked dangerous hitting the bar with one effort in this opening fixture,only to be clogged off injured by Jody Craddock's follow through tackle.

Beaten eventually by David Jones incredibly skillful freekick....the like of which he will probably never repeat. 2-1!

Get the season ticket out,the following week,trek off to The Brit,to witness the Gareth Bale Show with supporting cast.He scores one goal without knowing much about it,Ryan's attempted clearance,striking him in the face and rebounding into our net.For the second week running we concede a wonder goal,Bale's spectacular volley leaving Sorro with no chance.The supporting cast.....Chris Foy (I think it was......but I couldn't see clearly myself) as the blind referee.....ball definitely over the line for an equaliser but only 27,500 people saw it.One,the decision maker,missed it!! 1-2!

Off to Chelsea less confident than we would like to have been....a solid showing though,much better than our previous visit....still in it as a contest, Whelan hits a belter from distance,beats Cech all ends up,but the ball goes clear after striking the bar.... 2-0!

Three matches three defeats in the Prem (although we did manage to see off Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup)......the international break was probably fortuitously timed for us.Closing transfer window provided something of a lift.......quality added to the squad,with a list of names going in the opposite direction,some permanently some on loan.

THEN.....

HERE ENDETH SEASON 2009 - 2010

2010-05-09T17:07:00.004Z

MANCHESTER UTD 4 STOKE CITY FC 0

Edwin van der Sar had three saves to make.The first from Ricardo Fuller's sharp strike just before the break.The other two bringing out the best in him during the second half.First he clawed away diving Rory Delap's looping header from the near post,as it headed toward the top right corner of the net.Then he just managed to paw away Danny Pugh's curling shot from the right,when it seemed destined for the top left corner of his net.

United managed two goals in each half in their ultimately forlorn chase to retain the title.Begovic could have done better with Giggs side foot effort for the second.Otherwise he had a sound game.Stoke were undone for the first goal as the ball richocheted from player to player as if on a pinball table.Unfortunately it ended with Fletcher,almost on the goal line,an unmissable opportunity.Ten minutes into the second half another close in scramble saw Danny Higginbotham slice the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear.The fourth goal came from a cross from the left which found Park,unmarked on the right.He made no mistake with the finish.

We were not expecting to get much from this game,and we didn't.Unlike at Chelsea though we did not fold entirely.

The end of an excellent season then.With Blackburn sneaking a one goal win at Villa we drop to 11th in the table,respectable indeed.Roll on August 14th.......

OFFICIAL....STOKE CITY PASS LAST SEASON'S POINTS TALLY

2010-05-05T21:28:00.013Z

(SKY Sports)
This was an altogether happier visit to the capital for The Potters.Ten days after the Chelsea nightmare,we emerged from Craven Cottage with all three points.

Tony Pulis fielded the same side as on Saturday.We were never really at the races in attacking terms,but defended in determined fashion with two fine saves from Begovic helping keep the first half scoreless.

Stoke showed more going forward in the second half with Etherington looking dangerous.One fine cross from the left evaded both Sidibe and Fuller,with only a touch being required to convert.

In the 83rd minute Fuller broke loose down the right.Konchelsky went with him but lost his footing as the Jamaican turned sharp left.Fuller lobbed the ball further into the box,Tuncay made some sort of contact - Roy Hodgson was of the mind that he handled - attempting to shoot,the all squirted left to Matty Etherington who volleyed home majestically off the inside of the left goalpost.

Stoke saw off the mounting Fulham pressure to record the fourth away win of an excellent season,surpassing last season's points tally,and moving into the top half of the Premiership table.

Now for the Premiership decider on Sunday at Man U.....will it be in our hands?

MATCH BALL DISAPPEARS INTO CROWD - WATCH EBAY - CHECK THE SELLER LOCATION

2010-05-02T09:25:00.009Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 EVERTON 0

This was not a bore draw, far from it.Both sides played some good football.Stoke had to clear their heads after last week's hammering - they did that! Everton continued their excellent run,undefeated in 10 games I think it is - they did that.

Chances were few and far between. Everton had the ball in the net , a header from Jagielka,but this was rightly chalked off, for Anichebe's offside/in some way obstructing keeper Begovic. This was balanced up by Rory Delap's glaring miss when faced with an open goal at the other end.

Stoke had three real chances to my mind,all coming in the second half.For the first Sidibe,who had a brilliant game yesterday, took the ball down the left,played a super ball to Etherington,moving fast down the centre.His measured ball to his right put Rory Delap free on goal.With just Howard to beat - the keeper was already into a full length dive to his left - our midfielder inexplicable turned his shot outside the righthand post.

The second saw Ricardo Fuller blast the ball over the bar from the edge of the penalty area.The third featured two of the three subs, all of whom joined the fray with three minutes to go. Again the move started down the left. A perceptive pass by Tuncay set Pugh clear of the Everton defence.He reached the byline and had only to cut the ball back to Lawrence,unmarked in front of goal.Looked easy to do, and a goal for certain given Liam's accomplished finish against Hull.Sadly Pugh fluffed his pass,and it was not to be.

Stoke were up for this one.The backline,changed from last week, looked solid with Shawcross and Huth paired in the centre, Higginbotham reverting to left back ( a big improvement on Collins), and Wilkinson adding bite on the left side.

Mama earned his Man of the Match award.Ricardo gave everything,and eventually was afforded some protection from constant over physical buffeting by Ref Howard Webb.Begovic,for the most part looked assured.

So ends a very enjoyable - well most of the time anyway - home season. Oh, that match ball....it disappeared into the Everton fans.........

POTTERS POLEAXED AT THE BRIDGE

2010-04-25T18:06:00.009Z

CHELSEA 7 STOKE CITY FC 0

S. Kalou 24

S. Kalou 31

F. Lampard 44

S. Kalou 68

F. Lampard 81

D. Sturridge 87

F. Malouda 90

Not a lot that I feel like writing after witnessing this game.We were in it for the first 20 minutes or so, with Ric Fuller posing a little bit of a threat.Chelsea had a fair amount of luck,but for the most part they made it for themselves.

The Stoke team that featured in the FA Cup quarter final, putting up a half decent show,went missing today in the face of the Chelsea onslaught.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis:
"Chelsea were very good but we turned up and one or two were complacent, we've got to be 100% to compete in this company and we weren't.
"They were far the better team, we were lucky to get nil. We had our pants pulled down and our backsides slapped.
"The team means 11 players having a go not five or six, we were poor we didn't make it very difficult for them."

Nuff said....where's the red wine?

"SOMETIMES YOU NEED A BIT OF LUCK...."

2010-04-18T08:28:00.004Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 BOLTON WANDERERS 2

......."most probably Owen (Coyle) hasn't had much going for him lately.....certainly got some today!" So said Tony Pulis in his after match comments, I agree with his view totally.Be in no doubt apart from a ten minute spell Stoke completely bossed this game,yet in the end lost it.

Its all about goals.The visitors had not won for three or four matches,and for most of this one they never looked like scoring.Indeed they were woeful in the first half, heads dropping when Dave Kitson put us in front in the 13th minute.By halftime we ought to have been out of sight,yet were only the one goal to the good.

Headers narrowly over the bar, posts struck,clear and sometimes easy chances missed as we went for the second goal in the second half.To be fair Bolton improved ,clearly an unhappy Mr Coyle had had plenty to say to them during the break. Jussi Jaaskelainen denied Whitehead,just getting his fingertips to the midfielders lobbed effort as it headed for the open net,sufficient in fact to slow its progress for a defender to clear.Tuncay unmarked put a lovely ball from Etherington against the post from close range when the open goal seemed an easier target.

Bolton's purple patch was initiated by Ref Attwell.He judged, seriously belatedly (so much so that Stoke broke a good third the length of the pitch before he blew....think the Bolton players made the decision for him !) that Whitehead had felled Weiss centrally on the edge of the box.More than a little dubious.Taylor scored from the free kick( 85 min),the low strike taking a deflection of Ricardo Fuller,to see it on its way into the Stoke net.

The Bolton players celebrated, as you would scoring your first goal for 7 hours, but not a quarter as much as when Taylor grabbed a second,directing the ball into the Stoke net from close in from Weiss's excellent cross.

Stoke still had chances to salvage a point from a game they should never have lost,the best chance falling to Abdy Faye who skied the ball over an empty net from 4 yards out.

When its not your day its not your day.......Bolton, like Stoke, look to be safe.......Dick Turpin would have been proud of them today!

HONOURS EVEN IN DERBY MATCH

2010-04-11T11:50:00.009Z

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0 STOKE CITY FC 0

Beautiful sunny day with a bit of a breeze for this early start at Molineux. Stokies in shirtsleeves...must be summer. First half pretty much even with neither side seriously threatening to score.Plenty of Rory Delap throws ,with a good proportion being fielded by Hahneman without too much trouble.

The second half carried on pretty much as the first had done,probing both ways but nothing really incisive.Wolves played route one,particularly after Uwelumo came on.Wolves matching Rory's throws with long throws of their own.Two chances of note.Two minutes from time Foley sent a sharp shot narrowly to the right of the Stoke goal.On target and Sorensen was beaten.Similarly at the other end Whelan's shot from the edge of the box whistled inches over Hahnemann's crossbar,with the keeper only able to watch it go.

Another point in the bag then,and another clean sheet for The Mighty Potters .Wolves themselves look to be OK if they can maintain this form.

Stoke Sorensen,Higginbotham,Huth,Collins,Faye,Whelan,Whitehead,Delap,Etherington,Sidibe,Kitson.

RED HOT RICARDO

2010-04-04T06:57:00.010Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 HULL CITY 0

Stoke passed the magical 40 point mark yesterday,and were excellent value for the win that all but guarantees a third season in the top division.To be honest Hull offered very little real threat throughout the game,and considering their position in the league seemed to lack ambition.A point seemed to be their aim,and apart from one brief attacking flurry in the home penalty area midway through the second half they seldom looked like getting it after Fuller's early strike.

We had to wait just six minutes for the Jamaican flier to open the scoring.A fine flick on from Dave Kitson- who incidentally won all the early aerial exchanges - was allowed to drop by defender McShane.In a flash Fuller was away and past him,finishing with a beautiful shot with the outside of his right boot over advancing keeper Myhill into the net.In a vain attempt to get to the ball McShane clipped Fuller's heel,the resultant injury taking the striker out of the game at halftime,and reducing his effectiveness for the remainder of the first half.

With Tuncay on for Fuller Stoke continued to press for a second goal.It duly arrived after the visitors went down to ten men,when Boateng was stretchered off with a facial injury received totally accidentally as Tuncay attempted an overhead kick.Ian Dowie had already made his three substitutions.

On 90 minutes Sidibe, on for Kitson,got his head to a long ball,directing it to Tuncay on the edge of the Hull penalty box.He squared the ball to Etherington.Having brought the ball under control he rolled a beautifully weighted diagonal ball to Lawrence,free to his right.Lawrence did not panic,his shot - more of a pass really - went along the ground,straight as a die into the corner of the Hull net.Funnily enough this was his first goal since the Hull away win last season,which itself guaranteed our safety!Superb football from The Potters,another quality goal.

Eight minutes of added on time were played out uneventfully.Three points then from a workmanlike performance,which had more than a few moments of high quality football from The Potters.Kitson again had a fine game,getting about the pitch,winning balls in the air and on the ground,making telling passes to set coleagues free on a number of occasions.His partnership with Fuller,certainly on today's evidence,looks to have real potential.Will he be leaving us at the end of the season...maybe not...Etherington continues to impress...another fine game from him!

RICARDO FULLER STEALS THE SHOW

2010-03-27T17:48:00.006Z

WEST HAM UNITED 0 STOKE CITY FC 1

Stoke are now within one point of their safety target thanks to Ricardo Fuller.The match looked odds on for a noscore draw until he popped up with an individual piece of magic.

The team Tony Pulis put out was a patched up affair, but still well able to cope with a star studded Hammers outfit.Suspended Dean Whitehead was replaced by Liam Lawrence.Three squad players had been affected by a stomach bug.Defender Davies did not travel with the team to east London.Although affected Etherington lasted 67 minutes against his former teammates.The other player was Fuller himself,who was considered fit for the bench.Mama Sidibe took his place in the starting lineup.

Further enforced changes saw Abdy Faye replaced by Wilkinson part way through the first half, and Dave Kitson by Tuncay within a minute or so of the restart.

The first half did not produce many chances,Faye heading wide for Stoke, Mido making a complete mess of an opportunity from a rebound,when he only had Sorensen to beat from six yards out.

The second half meandered along in pretty much the same fashion,neither side looking likely to land a knockout punch, until Fuller came on for Etherington in the 67th minute.

Within two minutes he had transformed the game.We can all remember his mazey (?) run against Villa,beating several defenders,looking likely to score the winner,but at the last moment scuffing his shot.

Today he delivered.A poor West Ham throw in was intercepted by Danny Collins,who lobbed a hopeful ball forward in Fuller's direction.The Jamaican was first to the ball, brought it under control,back to goal,turned,skinned defender da Costa,turned England man Upson inside out,then,imperiously,placed the ball past exposed England keeper Green into the net.

Loved his understated celebration,and as MOTD pundits concurred,a fine goal,good enough to win any match.....and so it did this one! Bar one or two minor scares Stoke comfortably saw out the remaining time.

ICELAND (AND MIKE DEAN) REVISITS......

2010-03-21T07:25:00.007Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2

This drama had two stars the first,the 'Guddy' Icelandic international striker Eidur Gudjohnsen,the second ,the baddy, referee Mike Dean, who clearly sees himself as a man with as important a part to play as the footballers in the cast! His theatrical posturings would confirm this view for anyone watching yesterday's inept performance.

The first act saw Stoke's artisans holding their more expensive - if not illustrious - visitors. A booking for Ricardo Fuller provided early concern,but he settled down to give a solid performance,which even included a spot of peacemaking in a spat between two visiting players.A booking for Dean Whitehead for a challenge on Modric was deserved ,and was to have more serious consequences.

The second act started sluggishly for our team,but the 'stars' were quickly into their stride.On 46 minutes Gudjohnsen,an early replacement for Pavlyuchenko, made his first mark.A shortish ball over the top from Crouch dropped to him.He was able to hold off Abdy Faye's challenge to rifle the ball into the net above Sorensen,whom it might be said went to ground a tad early.

Enter stage left Mike Dean.This opener was followed almost immediately by the ref's show stopper.He judged a clumsy coming together between Whitehead and Modric to be a yellow card thus sending off offence.A mighty over reaction,an exceedingly poor decision,which arguably ensured Stoke would get nothing from the match.He could not get his cards out fast enough, to wave them with a Shakespearean flourish, reminiscent of his performances at Hull sending off Abdy Faye,and Andy Wilkinson at Portsmouth.

After a short period of Spurs pressure Stoke forced their way back into contention.The excellent Etherington floated in a ball from the left, Bassong decked Man of the Match Kitson. Etherington netted the resultant penalty with aplomb (64 mins),Gomes diving left the shot going to the right.

The 10 men could even have gone ahead.Ricardo provided a tragi-comic moment, as,from a mishit shot, the ball reached him to the left of and close to goal.Sadly with every chance to score he skied his effort.Maybe its the haircut!

On 77 minutes an incisive move by Spurs provided the clincher.Assou Ekotto moved swiftly down the left,outpacing Huth.He cut the ball across the penalty area, Gudjohnsen dummied,the ball running on to the incoming Kranjcar who struck a powerful unstopable shot into the Stoke net.

To their credit Stoke never gave up.We even had a final golden opportunity to equalise,but with the net at his mercy sub Mama Sidibe lost his footing and embarassingly fell over instead of scoring.Such is life!

From their onfield celebrations you could see how much this result meant to Spurs, how relieved they were was obvious.Stoke's pressure at the end of the game had revealed a serious nervousness which with the extra man on the pitch I am sure we could have exploited.

So we are still in search of those few points to guarantee safety for another season.....

WINDY VILLA ....WINDY CITY....

2010-03-14T11:54:00.005Z

Well he's said it in the media, and he underlined his thoughts with his team selection yesterday.Martin O'Neill is a genuine guy,a very astute manager,and for my money a man to be listened to.In recent times,and again this week, he has been fulsome in his praise of the progress Stoke City have made in a very short space of time in the Prem, and the sterling qualities that our management team and squad display.

His team selection reflected this yesterday.Both Carew and Heskey on for virtually the whole of the match.

The conditions,strong winds -Villa had the advantage in the first half,Stoke in the second - were not conducive to good football,but a good football match is what we got between two extremely competitive teams.Take no notice of Gary Lineker's comment at the end of MOTD,that reducing the highlights to just five minutes didn't make the game seem any better.Rubbish!!No goals yes,as the two sides cancelled each other out,but a fine game of football nonetheless.

Plenty of half chances,with Stoke's best falling to Huth.In the 92nd minute he headed narrowly over from a cross from the left......something MOTD editors chose not to show presumably because it would not fit in with their 'forgetable game' narrative.

Starting with Sidibe and Tuncay up front,Stoke did not really come alive ,until the second half when they were replaced with Fuller and Kitson.On this occasion Tuncay took the change with bad grace,seemingly heading off to the tunnel directly,then WISELY coming back to wish Fuller well ,before shunning the manager as he headed for the dressing room UNWISELY.Shame really because he's been looking good lately,but today Pulis was right,the Turk was looking ineffective against Villa's uncompromising defending, well marshalled by Dunne and Collins.

Rory Delap had an excellent game,don't think I've ever seen so many long throws in one game,but Villa coped as well as any team has with the threat that they presented.Glen Whelan just continues to get better.Yesterday,in addition to his normal attributes,he picked out some lovely passes,one beauty dropping in over Fuller's head to give the striker a chance on goal.Fuller has reputedly been ill..you would not have known it as he repeatedly tied Villa defenders (and himself twice) in knots.He was ably assisted by Dave Kitson,mentioned by name by the manager in his post match interview.You wouldn't be surprised to see Kitson get on from the start in the near future.

Whatever defensive combination Tony Pulis puts out we seem to be pretty solid.Good to see that Danny Collins has found a bit more form.Ryan Shawcross will no doubt be back against Spurs but that can be no reflection on the performances our players put in yesterday.

Matty Etherington again played the full 93 minutes,doing very well as he strives to get back to his pre-injury form.

So still 11th, edging closer to safety,and with a full week to get ready for Spurs,and another chance to test ourselves against a team chasing the fourth European Cup place.

Gary L ...... for those of us in the sell out crowd the match proved to be excellent ENTERTAINMENT!!

SHARE OF THE SPOILS

2010-03-10T22:10:00.000Z

BURNLEY 1 STOKE CITY FC

It was good to see Etherington back for his first start since the injury at Man City in the FA Cup.Together with Lawrence he added attacking threat for the Potters.Stoke had the best of a poor first half going in one goal up thanks to Tuncay and Rory Delap. The inevitable long throw from the left was headed on by Sidibe ,for Tuncay to head past Jensen from 5 yards. Tuncay’s fifth goal of the season….he must be close to being our leading scorer.

The second half started with Burnley looking much livelier. On 52 minutes ex -stokie Patterson lost his marker swivelled ,crossing the ball in from the right side of the box for Nugent under challenge from Huth to head past Sorensen for the equaliser.At this stage the momentum was clearly with the home side, but Stoke defended stoutly, as they have done on many occasions this season, and their efforts were assisted by some poor decision making by the home forwards when chances fell to them.Eagles, who looked a classy player in much of what he did, was particularly wasteful. At 62 minutes Danny Pugh came on for Lawrence, and Kitson for Sidibe.

Tuncay bustled about to great effect, on one occasion showing great skill getting to the edge of the Burnley box cutting the ball across, but none of his team mates were following up for the inviting tap in.Moult on for Tuncay 82mins.So an industrious, energetic, and productive performance from the Turkish captain, and a full 90 mins from Matty Etherington. Right at the death he brilliantly managed to curl a shot toward goal, but unfortunately it passed just outside the left hand post.

I am pretty sure that had this game been played on the allotted date with Burnley managerless and in turmoil at the time, we would have come away with all three points. Given the games we have had to get through recently I think most of us would have settled for a point tonight.

So still 11^th in the table and on 35 points. We can be certain that Mr.Pulis will keep things on the boil as he seeks certain safety.

Bring on the Villa.

NO SEMI-FINAL FOR STOKE CITY

2010-03-08T08:17:00.005Z

CHELSEA 2 STOKE CITY 0

Stoke failed to reach the semi-final of the FA Cup for the first time since 1972.The first half was very much a cat and mouse affair,with Stoke largely cancelling out the home threat for the first half hour. The opening minutes saw some pressure from Stoke with a series of Delap throws,which Chelsea defended with three centre backs, Mikel joining Terry and Alex in the role.From one throw, partially cleared in the 12th minute, the ball reached Whitehead.His firmly hit shot brought a last ditch clearance from Mikel on the goal line.

Stoke's other chance of note fell to Tuncay.A Delap interception reached the Turk on the left.Unfortunately his first touch was not the best,allowing Alex to block,when a shot had looked on from a dangerous position.

Chelsea scored the all important opening goal taking the lead in the 34th minute.With Stoke defending the ball reached Terry to the right of goal.He layed the ball back to Lampard,whose drive from the edge of the penalty box took sufficient deflection off Mama Sidibe to defeat Sorensen's effort to save.

The second half saw more control from the home side,with the game being put beyond Stoke's reach in the 67th minute.A succession of Chelsea corners eventually saw Terry netting with a near post header.On the previous two Wilkinson had cleared the ball from immediate danger,but on this occasion the ball went into the net off him as he attempted to chest it away.Stoke's substitutions,unlike against Man City,made little impact, Kitson replacing Mama and Lawrence on for Tuncay.

Ricardo Fuller played a full part, managing his most threatening shot in the 91st minute,which Hilario saved with his feet from close range at his left post.To be fair Stoke never gave up trying,and at two goals down, AbdyFaye had two set piece headers go over the bar.You had to wonder what Ryan Shawcross might have made of the opportunities.

So on the day, The Mighty Potters second best maybe,but always competitive.We now have to concentrate on gaining the points we need to ensure a third season in the Premiership, starting with the rearranged Burnley game on Wednesday night.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON RETAINS HIS INTEREST IN RYAN SHAWCROSS

2010-03-02T08:31:00.006Z

The happy news is that,according to his consultant in London, Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey will make a complete recovery within six months.

Pretty much the same scenario as our own Rory Delap faced,with his own double fracture on his debut against Sunderland back in 2006, although with a fraction of the media interest.

According to the Daily Mirror Sport,Sir Alex Ferguson was in touch with Ryan Shawcross over the weekend (click link below).

Here's another man who knows the player well, having him at United for 6 years.......able to bring his experience and perspective to the situation.

Daily Mirror Link

FABIO CAPELLO AND THE SHAWCROSS THING

2010-02-28T00:23:00.009Z

We have all grown to like Fabio Capello for the no nonsense COMMOMSENSE approach which he has brought to the management of our national football team. He clearly knows what is right and what is wrong, and he doesn't suffer highly paid fools gladly.

His uncomplicated approach has brought with it success.

I warmed to the man further yesterday, for what seems to me to be a display of common humanity and understanding. His contribution to preserving Ryan Shawcross' peace of mind and continuing future in the game cannot be underestimated in my opinion.

Within an hour of the game finishing he announced - later than expected,having taken time to consider the position carefully with his aides - his England squad, including Ryan Shawcross.

There is no doubt in my mind that he recognised genuine remorse,and, unlike the excitable idiots, Wenger included,he accepts that football is a full blooded mans (or for that matter women's) game where sometimes major injuries will occur.

I have watched Ryan Shortcross's attempt to win the ball from Aaron Ramsey several times. I believe it to be genuine and honest, as I did at the ground.

I have heard the description of the tangle from Arsenal's manager,and to be honest I did not,and still do not accept the implied/inferred malicious intent.Early LAZY journalistic comment simply mirrored his comments.

We should be so relieved for young Ryan, because I believe that Fabio's simple announcement, timed as it was, influenced and brought forward more considered, balanced comment from, for example, the 'MOTD' heavyweights, and some if not all the online MSM.

Messrs Shearer Hansen and Lineker, to their great credit, were in general agreement that the challenge was fair,coming as it did from the side, and with replays showing that Ramsey moved the ball too quickly for our centreback, resulting in a clumsy rather than nasty challenge from the Stoke man.They were satisfied there was no malicious intent.

Shawcross did not argue with anyone,he was simply too upset.Standing tall but tearful Shawcross trudged off.

Like the rest of us he clearly will wish Ramsey well, as will Capello, in my view a man of courage, principle and stature.

Fabio Capello has my full respect.

SUPERB GAME OF CONTRASTING STYLES OVERSHADOWED

2010-02-27T21:41:00.008Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 ARSENAL 3

Arsenal paid Stoke the compliment of fielding the strongest team that they had available,missing key players Arshavin and Gallas. Stoke included Abdy Faye and Danny Pugh,with Lawrence and Diao giving way.

Stoke imposed themselves on the proceedings from the start,taking a deserved lead in the 8th minute.Delap's throw from the right was headed on by Ryan Shawcross for Danny Pugh to head in at the far post.Stoke bossed a good proportion of the half,but could not add to their score.Arsenal moved the ball around sweetly but did not really penetrate stoke's determined defence,until the 32nd minute when Fabregas,given a little to much space and time out on the right,crossed a fine ball for Bendtner to head back across Sorensen for the equaliser.

Despite much cut and thrust we reached half time all square.

Arsenal were swiftly into their stride after the break,playing their slick brand of flowing fluid passing football at pace.One or two Stoke players were beginning to look decidedly leggy as they had to work hard to cope.

Cope they did.The match turned on a most unfortunate event in the 65th minute just inside the Arsenal half in front of the Seddon stand.Ryan Shawcross challenged with Aaron Ramsey.The midfielder suffered a serious injury and after lengthy treatment he was stretchered away directly to an ambulance.To me it did not seem like an overly physical challenge,nor did it seem in any way malicious.Shawcross was sent off,it would seem,more for the severity of the injury than for the tackle itself.Shawcross was distraught,even before the red card was shown.His previous record speaks for itself....he is not a dirty player.

Stoke's brave 10 men held out, somewhat fortuitously at times,until the first minute of added on time. From a Bendtner flick there was contact between the ball and Danny Pugh's hand adjudged by Ref Walton to be deliberate.Thomas Sorensen guessed correctly,dived to his left,but failed to keep Fabregas' well placed effort out of his net.

Arsenal wrapped things up 2 minutes later when Sorensen saved a sharp low shot but could not hold the ball,Fabregas , in quickest, squared for a Vermaelan tap in.

But the game will probably be remembered for the serious injury to Ramsey,and Shawcross's disconsolate trudge from the field of play.

CHELSKI HERE WE COME……STOKE BLAST MANCHESTER CITY IN FA CUP 5TH ROUND REPLAY.

2010-02-25T08:25:00.006Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 MANCHESTER CITY 1

Understandably there were some empty spaces at The Britannia stadium tonight, but the vocal backing was as loud as ever from the 21,000. Tony Pulis had to make changes to his first choice lineup again, in particular Whitehead appearing at right back and Huth centre back for the suspended Wilkinson and Faye respectively.

Man City set off at a brisk pace, as if to banish from their minds the way they had been overpowered by 10 man Stoke at the end of last week’s Premiership game. Certainly they looked pretty threatening as Stoke’s enforced changed formation took a while to gel.

During this early period Thomas Sorensen earned his keep with fine saves.He was faced with Bellamy, one on one as the striker was played in by Adebayor.He spread himself to deny the less than sharp Welshman.

Stoke gradually gained control of the game pushing the visitors back, mounting a period of sustained pressure, but without delivering on the chances created.

Both Fuller and Sidibe found themselves walking a tightrope as they were booked early by referee Bennett.

Kicking toward the Boothen End in the second half Stoke began as they had finished the first,denying Man city the time and space to settle, pushing them back into their own half. Just ten minutes in Tony Pulis began to make changes with a view to winning the match without extra time. Tuncay came on for Salif Diao.Similarly Mancini replaced Ireland with Wright-Philips.

Shortly after Bellamy had a shot deflected away to safety, and Barry, stealing in behind the Stoke defence unmarked as he had done the previous week, from close range headed a searching Wright-Philips cross from the right over the bar when it seemed it was easier to score.

Danny Pugh came on for the largely ineffectual Liam Lawrence, and immediately had a shot headed away by Lescott. With less than 20 minutes to go Pulis substituted Kitson for Sidibe. A masterstroke this as the ginger one showed all the quality and composure that was the norm in his Reading days. Tuncay received the ball from Kitson on right edge of the visitors penalty box .Tuncay’s clever little return ball to the striker, saw him finish with consummate ease shooting left footed low along the ground into the right corner of Given’s net.

Some time on the pitch against Portsmouth, and now a more significant contribution tonight,dare we hope that Kitson’s rehabilitation as a Potter is complete? It was good to see how pleased his teammates were for him. A class finish from a very good player.

Wild celebration quickly turned to relative quiet as within a minute or so Manchester were back on terms. Adebayor cushioned the ball to Bellamy.His low drive arrowed into the Stoke net evading Sorensen’s dive.

The real turning point followed when Adebayor lashed out, flooring Shawcross in the process, and was shown the red card. Against the 10 men Stoke had two chances ,one each from Shawcross and Fuller going narrowly wide.

So extra time it was to be. Five minutes into the first period Stoke won a throw in on the right. Rory Delap took the inevitable long throw, Given decided to come for the ball with no chance of getting it (or successfully repeating last week’s amateur theatrics),Captain Shawcross headed into the unguarded net.

Whelan, having a fine game, won the ball near the half way line, and made off for the Manchester goal. He squared the ball to Tuncay on the right. The Turk beat one then two men in the box, before netting off Lescott on the goal line. All over…the visitors looked dispirited….their fans began to drift off home.

A fine and well deserved victory in the end. Bring on Chelsea …Potters in the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup for the first time in how many years?

Oops, forgot we just have Arsenal on Saturday. Amazingly, but a sign of how far we have come, the Daily Mail was forecasting a Stoke win for this one…… hopefully the players will have enough left in the tank to deliver….

10 MAN POTTERS DO IT THIS TIME!

2010-02-21T09:59:00.006Z

PORTSMOUTH 1 STOKE CITY FC 2

Went out last night fearing the worst.Stoke a goal down,and not looking particularly likely to stage any sort of comeback.

After two glasses of bubbles travelled to Chester for a friend's birthday celebration not knowing the result.Quick conversation with the young wine waiter,turned out to be particularly attentive,and voila between pourings he came up with the marvellous final result.Icing on the cake of a brilliant night out!!!

Somewhat lagged this morning so not much to say.What a resilient team our magical Welsh manager has put together.One none down at halftime,they strike back early after the break through Huth's superb header,then wait until,once again, the odds are stacked against them - Wilko back in the hutch,unjustly as far as I can make out - to nick the points in added on time with a goal from that prolific scorer Salif Diao.

What a team ! A record 10 match unbeaten run....three more points toward survival...and I'm sure I heard Alan Hansen say Arsenal might not get anything at Stoke next week....

Died and gone to Heaven three times at least last night...and the Jameson's rounded things off nicely.

Dare I say it...its fun being a Stokie at the moment.Long may it last.

ROBBED !!!

2010-02-17T00:02:00.012Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 MANCHESTER CITY 1

Dick Turpin took the field tonight in the form of Alan Wiley (the bustard in blue).Incredulous Stokies marvelled at how bad he was,some wondered if he'd signed for Man City in the transfer window and they'd missed it.

He was dire.He sent Abdy Faye off ten minutes into the second half,having initially waved appeals away.Visiting players prodded him into consulting his linesman...he reversed his decision,gave the foul on Adebayor,and despatched our captain.On balance probably the right decision in the end....there had been some shirt tugging,and the linesman judged him to be the last man.

Vieira,like the ref,had a total mare of a game.He is,as they say,but a pale shadow of the former imperious player we used to see at Arsenal.He too should have had his marching orders,having kicked Whelan directly in his crown jewels on one occasion,and elbowed him in the face on another.Take your pick....but the ref chose to see neither transgression.

From the start Man City never looked like they were up for the game,making absolutely no impression on Stoke's eleven men.Faced with ten they showed more interest,and yet it was Stoke who went ahead.Whelan had several off target shots in the first half.Good practice because when the ball reached him in a central position just outside the Man City penalty box he drove it firm and low into the net to Given's right(72 mins).

Stoke's brave rearguard action repelled much severe Man City pressure,as the visitors brought on potential matchwinners Wright-Philips and Petrov,but eventually unluckily conceded a Barry goal on 85 minutes.Two yards out from the goaline the midfielder's first effort from a flick on,came back to him off the post.Despite being on the ground he managed to lift the ball over Sorensen on to the post again, but this time into the net.

Far from going into ultra defensive mode Stoke came back at their visitors,but were still seriously under the cosh.Magically five minutes of added on time were found from a half which had no stoppages of note.Amazingly it was Stoke who found the energy to get up into the opposing half,winning a throw in on the left,with very few seconds to go.

But The Highwayman in Blue had saved his best 'til last.It was at this point that he made his most telling contribution of the evening.Rory Delap's throw arrowed into the box,Shawcross rose like a salmon to head home cleanly,Given in desparation dived at our centreback (after he'd headed the ball!)and fell to the floor.

Mr Wiley decided in his infinite wisdom that some crime had committed,and had no hesitation in chalking off a perfectly good goal.Manifestly unjust,and as one or two remarked if the action had been at the other end of the ground, or at Man U or Chelsea, the goal would have stood.

Oh and I haven't even mentioned the occasion in the second half when Ricardo Fuller was felled by the combined efforts of two defenders in the Man City area.A penalty if ever I saw one....waved away once again by this less than competent official.

Three points should have been ours in all fairness.....but who said life was fair.And one last thought for Mr.Wiley......this, from the BBC,sums things up beautifully

"Mystery surrounded the decision, a fact angrily articulated by the home contingent.

But if - as seems most likely - Wiley felt there had been a foul on Given, replays are likely to persuade him otherwise."

BRILLIANT NEWS....

2010-02-16T08:35:00.002Z

Etherington in the clear....scan reveals less damage than was feared....out for two weeks rather than the rest of the season !!!

Link:

IF STOKE CITY ARE GOING TO WIN THE FA CUP....IT WILL HAVE TO BE THE HARD WAY !!

2010-02-14T21:55:00.002Z

So we did pretty well against Man City yesterday.....but if we get past them at The Brit the treat in store....an away tie at Chelsea!

Might as well beat them in the 6th Round as in the final.

BRAVE POTTERS LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY

2010-02-14T10:23:00.005Z

MANCHESTER CITY 1 STOKE CITY FC 1

Stoke went into this 5TH Round Cup match with a much more offensive setup.The expressed wish was that the last thing we wanted was a draw,to avoid further fixture congestion.What we got was Sod's Law predictable!

What we also got from this drawn match was collateral damage which might have an important bearing on the way our season and survival in the Premiership finally pans out.

It was particularly sad to see Matty Etherington leave the field on a stretcher.If the interim prognosis,possible medial ligament damage,is accurate,then to all intents and purposes his season is over.He has been in such a rich vein of form recently,contirbuting much to our improving home goal tally,both directly and with assists.He has been one of our major threats,and you have to wonder if this injury might not undermine our survival effort.

Still we have a ready made replacement in Liam Lawrence.Well we did have!He came on for Etherington made some useful incursions into the Manchester half,before himself departing injured.

Wilkinson was given a torrid time by winger Wright-Philips.He was booked,switched to the right side to avoid the prospect of a red card,then during the second half he too left the field, apparently injured,to be replaced by Collins.

Mama Sidibe was given a serious buffeting,and on two occasions was a cause for concern.

Oh,the match.....well Man City got off to a flyer.A bizarre goal to end all bizarre goals.A through ball on the Stoke goal bypassed Sorensen's rush out to clear.This left Ryan Shawcross to clear,challenged by Wright-Philips.Ninetynine times out of a hundred he would have had no trouble clearing.He attempted to clear,fell over as he made no contact with the ball,then prostrate he nodde the ball back to the England winger,who netted from a yard.

Mysteriously Manchester went off the boil,losing all momentum.Fate played its part.Delap subbed for Lawrence,bringing the long throw back into the equation.So it was that a Delap throwin from the right arrowed into Manchester's penalty box,to be met by Ricardo Fuller.His header into the bottom right corner of the net left keeper Given flat footed.

On the balance of play a well deserved equaliser,and in the circumstances an excellent result for the Potters.So we are in the draw again for the next round and who's to say we can't finish this job at The Brit.

POTTERS HAVE TO SETTLE FOR A POINT

2010-02-09T05:20:00.000Z

WIGAN 1 STOKE CITY FC 1

Stoke made a slow start to the game.N'Zogbia's pace was a serious threat to the Potters.Scharner's headed opener came from a freekick after Etherington fouled the winger.

A defensive reshuffle by manager Tony Pulis began to turn things round,as Wilkinson was switched to man mark N'Zogbia.

If the first half belonged to the home side,the second increasingly belonged to Stoke.Keeper Thomas Sorensen kept his team in the match with a brilliant tip over from Rodalega's goal bound cross shot.From then on it was all Stoke as Wigan wilted under the increasing pressure.

Manager Pulis surprised everyone by bringing on Ricardo Fuller for Delap,to increase Stoke's attacking options. Etherington was once again central to all Stoke's best attacking work.Tuncay had had two easier chances to score,before he netted with a fine header from Etherington's cross in the 74th minute.

With Stoke looking the only side likely to win,Mama Sidibe unluckily saw a header strike the bar as he wheeled away thinking that he had scored.At the death sub James Beattie rifled a powerful on target shot,which brought a fine full length save from Kirkland.

Another point closer to safety for our team - it could well have been three.They are looking a compact confident outfit at the moment.

Seven games undefeated.....can they make it eight in the FA Cup against Manchester City at Eastlands on Saturday?

THE RICARDO FULLER BLUES...

2010-02-08T15:37:00.008Z

We were only saying at the match on Saturday that Ricardo seemed much more settled and more difficult to wind up on the pitch.Another sterling performance against Blackburn........

Then he goes out on Saturday night,and seems to have become the news.....

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/BREAKING-NEWS-Police-arrest-Ricardo-Fuller-Hanley/article-1813425-detail/article.html

Just opened my official club newsletter email to be greeted by

(Courtesy SCFC)

which we're sure he is!

Given some of the garbage we see from wind up merchants on the messageboards,you have to wonder if he was putting someone straight, Kingston fashion?

SPLENDID FOOTBALL FROM THE POTTERS

2010-02-06T19:43:00.006Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 BLACKBURN ROVERS 0

There can be little doubt that in footballing terms Stoke have progressed,no longer a one (two?) trick pony.Long balls and long throws have been overtaken by, but not replaced,rather complemented by a slick brand of carpet football.

Today after a solid start Blackburn were totally eclipsed.Stoke opened the scoring through Higginbotham on 8 minutes.Lawrence's corner from the left was headed out,but directly to Higginbotham twelve yards or so out.He connected powerfully with the dropping ball,his shot arrowing into the bottom left corner of Robinson's net.

We had to endure some serious pressure as the visitors pressed to get on terms.One period saw Stoke besieged by what seemed like a never ending continuous succession of corners from the visitors,each corner leading to another.You had the feeling that a goal must come....but we're made of sterner stuff nowadays...and the treat blew itself out.

Just on halftime a Rory Delap long throw from the right was cleared to find Etherington just outside the penalty box on the left.He played a beautiful ball to the right over the Blackburn defence,which dropped to Mama Sidibe.He managed to get goalside of Givet to tap the ball home.

Stoke opened the second half looking to add to their lead.Just after the hour Sidibe once again unsettled the Blackburn defenders,this time on the left.The ball broke to Matty Etherington,who headed infield,pursued by four defenders.Centrally placed on the edge of the box he played a one two with Lawrence,wrongfooted a defender by turning back onto his left,sidefooting an exquisite curling shot along the ground,beyond Robinson's dive, into the bottom left corner of the Blackburn net.

It is many a long year since us faithful Stokies have seen such quality from our team.

Long may it continue.So 29 points,games in hand,our Manager - 300 games in charge for Stoke - typically refuses to get carried away with what might be in the future.His focus is squarely on Tuesday's visit to Wigan and no further!

DOUR DOGGED PERFORMANCE........YIELDS VALUABLE POINT FOR THE POTTERS

2010-02-01T19:07:00.002Z

SUNDERLAND 0 V STOKE CITY FC 0

The first half was high on effort and comittment from both sides,but low on quality.Stoke probably had the best of the chances.,as the two sides more or less cancelled each other out

On three minutes an intelligent back heel by Tuncay on the right completely wrongfooted and opened up the Sunderland defence,putting Whitehead clear in on goal.Unfortunately the midfielder put in a nondescript shot,when a squared ball would have given Etherington every chance of scoring.

On 25 minutes,this time on the left,a beautiful ball by Higginbotham over the top of the Sunderland back line set Etherington free.Nothing came of his excellent squared ball.

The second half was football to be endured rather than enjoyed.From a Stoke point of view there was just a little more edge once Fuller joined the fray,but still not a great threat.Otherwise not a lot to be said.Still a dogged performance, a welcome away point.

ASMIR BEGOVIC....A POTTER!

2010-02-01T18:56:00.003Z

As ever Tony Pulis goes on his methodical way......progessively increasing the quality and depth of the Stoke squad.

Deadline day saw fringe players leaving on loan,but no panic buys coming in....but a big development at 4.55pm!

The quality acquisition undoubtedly Bosnian goalie Asmir Begovic from cash strapped Portsmouth.He has been on the club's radar for a while.In the event he has signed for four and a half years,at a fee of around £3.25m.

Only 22 years of age,and highly thought of as a rising star,this is a clear statement of intent,and investment in the future by the club.

Well done to all concerned......brilliant !

FA CUP ROUND 4 WIN.....POTTERS DO IT IN STYLE

2010-01-24T09:04:00.012Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 V ARSENAL 1

I have to confess to feeling less than confident before the match.We have so much cup history with Arsenal,most of it bad in my lifetime,especially the two semi-final swindles in the early '70's.O ye of little faith!!

Total elation then, within 70 seconds of the start,when Fuller headed home a Delap long throw,to give us the lead.Ominously the visitors began to get their game together,as the half progressed.It was no real surprise,although somewhat fortuitous,when they got an equaliser just before halftime.

Whitehead somewhat harshly was judged to have handled just outside the box.Arsenal played the ball square.Denison's low drive was deflected by Collins beyond Sorensen into the Stoke net

In the second half Stoke took a measure of control.Tony Pulis was just about to sub his strikers when they combined to craft a fine goal to restore our lead.

Now Mama Sidibe sometimes doesn't look particularly quick,but on this occasion he took off down the right wing his long strides leaving the Arsenal fullback trailing in his wake.Cutting in slightly he clipped the ball delicately towards goal where the incoming Fuller headed home for his second of the day.

Arsenal had introduced additional big guns Arshavin,Edwardo,and Ramsey but they made no impression on a combative Stoke outfit.

Etherington had been busy and successful down the left.He played a number of tremendous balls across the Arsenal six yard box without a Stoke player getting a finishing touch.On 80 minutes he crossed again,but this time Whitehead was on hand to tap home,and put the game beyond The Gunners.Unbelieveably shortly afterwards Tuncay had the ball in the net again,a classy finish, but he was adjudged to have handled.

Stoke played out the remaining time reasonably comfortably,securing a well deserved victory,and earn a tie against...Manchester City !!!!

Anyone at home would have been a fitting reward...but what the hell.Enjoy the evening!

MEDIA FOCUS ON THE SPANISH WAITER......

2010-01-16T19:39:00.030Z

STOKE CITY FC 1 LIVERPOOL 1

You'd have thought Rafa Benitez' job was on the line,from all the media froth over the last few days.Chants from the Stoke fans were less than charitable...."You're getting sacked in the morning"....."You're just a fat spanish waiter"......This outcome of this game could decide his future at Liverpool ......

Fair enough Liverpool were without three of their stars,Torres,Gerrard,and Benayoun....but Benitez paid Stoke the compliment of setting out his (still not inexpensive) team and tactics,not to lose.Tony Pulis was similarly conservative in his approach,replacing Lawrence with Salif Diao.

Both teams worked hard,huffed and puffed,but largely cancelled each other out.Neither goalkeeper was seriously overworked throughout.

Stoke had a strong opening ten minutes,with Etherington looking threatening,and Tuncay marauding about the pitch.Once Liverpool had them shackled Stoke did not offer much by way of a threat.For the most part the first half was even with virtually no shots on goal.

Stoke pressed at the beginning of the second period,but it was Liverpool who took the lead on 57 minutes.A Higginbotham tackle out on the Stoke left was judged to be a foul.There is little doubt that he played the ball first before bringing the man down.The resultant free kick was driven in low and hard.It reached Sorensen,as five players bore down on him (one of the approaching Liverpool players having his leg extended in a somewhat threatening way, which would certainly have bothered me if I was in his place).

Sorro clearly didn't fancy the contact much.First to the ball, he was,but with an ineffectual,half hearted push away (rather than gathering the ball which he could have managed with a little more resolution).The loose ball was bundled into the Stoke net by Kyrgiakos.

A scruffy goal very similar to Jerome's recent winner for Birmingham.The Stoke team had a right to expect rather better from their keeper.

As always Stoke came back strongly,pushing Liverpool into their own half,forcing a series of throw-ins and corners,all producing little until the 90th minute.Etherington's corner from the right seemed to be clearing everyone in the area until Danny Higginbotham rose,despite being under challenge,to head back across goal.The ball found Huth unmarked.His prod into the net for the equaliser was met with unbridled delight around The Brit.

There was still time for Liverpool to break out.Unbelieveably Kuyt headed against the post,when it seemed easier to score.In more confident mood he would have buried it.

Benitez left out Agger.A very shrewd move as it turned out for his replacement, Kyrgiakos, had an outstanding game,an absolute rock in defence popping up everywhere,usually when it mattered.Not to mention his goal of course.Mama Sidibe was unable make much of an impression on him.It is significant that he was less at ease with Fuller,tricky as ever, coming on as sub,who made much more happen,winning freekicks,building the pressure and corner count from which we eventually profited.

A fair result in the end though.Another point toward safety for The Mighty Potters.

STORMING AND SWEATING WITH THE POTTERS

2010-01-05T22:59:00.008Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 FULHAM 2

The country crippled by snowstorms,freezing temperatures,gridlocked roads,schools and factories closed,grit and salt running out....and still SPORTING OASIS STOKE SHRUGGED IT ALL OFF!!

Lunchtime saw the postponement of the Blackburn v Aston Villa League Cup Semi-Final,so Sky switched its live coverage to Brit.What a bonus for stranded Stokies everyhere.

The only question then - as heavy snow fell outside the window in deepest Cheshire - would the match survive the worst the elements could throw at it?

There was no doubting the club's determination to get this match played.Messageboard reports from fans working near the ground testified to the mammoth effort the club was making.Not to do a Wigan,approach roads and pavements were kept clear, gritted and salted.Inside the ground stewards were attending to safety issues,clearing the snow,salting.The ground staff busy keeping the pitch in condition.

Brilliant effort from everyone.Both managers wanted to play,the ref's initial doubts were overcome.7.30pm and Sky's Jeff Stelling said it for all of us...amazing performance to get the game on at all,couldn't quite believe our luck.Beautiful green playing surface,with snow still swirling about as the match kicked off.

Stoke had the ball in the Fulham net in less than two minutes.....Etherington's effort disallowed for offside.After a brief spell of Fulham pressure,Stoke took over,got the press on the visitors,and almost unbelieveably powered to a 3-0 lead.The impressive Etherington had a hand in all three goals scored by Tuncay,Abdy Faye,and Mama Sidibe.

Tuncay went off injured,and his replacement Ricardo Fuller was unlucky not to net another two goals.

Halftime 3-0 up, Fulham blown away,still SNOWING and FREEZING.....those of us with long 'STOKE' memories REMEMBERED.... Oldham,I think it was,in the Cup at The Victoria ground...Stoke 2-0 up at halftime.....match ABANDONED.It couldn't happen again could it?

Things seemed different from the start of the second half.Our heroes seemed to have gone into a state of semi-hibernation...Fulham began to threaten.You feared the worst,Wolves style.A major deflection off Ryan Shawcross gave them their first goal and hope.The second from Dempsey was a beautifully struck long range shot which dipped over Simonsen into the net giving The Cottagers (?)belief.

Heart in mouth time,serious increase in blood pressure,sweating (although probably not amongst those at the ground itself I would suspect)....could we hold out with all the momentum going Fulham's way?

That we did was down to that magical ingredient...LUCK.Ref Clattenburg missed a penalty area handball,of the sort that we've seen given before now.Fulham shot wide...

But we got there.A vital win,up to 10th in the table,opening a 6 point gap from the drop zone.

STOKE CITY INTO 4th ROUND FA CUP DRAW

2010-01-02T16:08:00.008Z

STOKE CITY FC 3 YORK CITY 1 FA Cup 3rd Round

Conference side York arrived at The Brit just on kick off time 3.00pm,having been delayed on the M62 by adverse weather.The match started half an hour late,the visitors with a 4,500 following,all looking for a cup shock

Stoke were indeed shocked by the non-league visitors who took the lead from a Lawless freekick,Barnett netting(22mins).Stunned silence amongst the home faithful was soon replaced by cheers as within a minute or so the Potters,first equalised then took the lead.Both goals resulted from Delap long throw ins.The first was an own goal by Parslow (24mins),the second a Court header finished off by Ricardo Fuller (26mins).

From a foul on Fuller -easily Stoke's liveliest player in the first half- Matty Etherington's freekick curled beautifully around the defensive wall into the top corner of the net (58mins).

With 20 minutes to go Tuncay replaced Beattie,and Sidibe came on for Fuller 10 minutes later,as Stoke played the game out with little threat from the visitors.

Stoke : Sorensen (Simonsen 45min),Huth,Cort,Higginbotham(Capt),Collins,Etherington,Whitehead,Delap,Lawrence,Beattie,Fuller

Attendance :15,580

ENJOY IT WHILE YOU'VE GOT IT......IT MIGHT NOT LAST !!

2009-12-29T09:11:00.013Z

STOKE CITY FC 0 BIRMINGHAM CITY 1

When we've been around long enough we've seen it before,and now we're seeing it again!

Walking back from the ground to the car yesterday listening to 'Praise and Grumble' on Radio Stoke we had the usual collection of hysterical worriers,and the 'texting stirrers'(who its pretty evident in most cases don't go to the matches) with their sad 'Pulis Out' meme.For me all these contribute to is to undermining the club.

THEN at last a voice of SANITY !!! A caller who had been going down to Stoke matches for 60 years.He'd stood in crowds down as low as 3,000,he'd seen us lose matches at home to Chester City and the like.He'd watched as we got soundly beaten 7-0 at home by yesterday's opposition,Birmingham City.He'd enjoyed the Waddington years.

His basic message was this. One,he'd been entertained yesterday.No-one could deny the match was an exciting eventful offering.Two,we've been privileged to see first hand some class teams at the The Brit.Three,it might not last so get Real and ENJOY IT while you can and stay behind the team.

There was only one real difference between the two teams on show yesterday....LUCK!!
Much was made in the media of Birmingham's successful run.Good luck to them,but I'm pretty sure they were happy and relieved to get off the pitch with a result.

Stoke huffed and puffed,played some good football in parts,again created a bagful of chances - sufficient to have won three matches never mind just this one - but could not convert one.Ryan Shawcross had three excellent chances,the first from virtually on the goal line.Stoke found Joe Harte in formidable form.Whilst Sorensen had nothing of note to save all afternoon,Harte made three immaculate,indeed inspirational saves as Pulis later described them.

Birmingham reminded me yesterday of us last season.A real do or die attitude from their players,several times instanced by diving in to successfully block otherwise goal bound shots.

Birmingham won his match,as they have a number of others in their run,with a scruffy goal.A deflection in front of goal off Shawcross,put the ball in front of Jerome.His scuffed effort from close in just beat Sorensen seemingly trickling in at his near post.

Stoke responded magnificently to this setback,mounted serious pressure,threw the proverbial kitchen sink,but simply couldn't get the ball past Harte.Two of the saves stand out for me,a reflex effort from Etherington's powerful volley,and a full length save from Abdy Faye's superb header.

Stoke never gave up,should have had a penalty when Carr pulled Huth down,increasingly found their determined efforts pulled up by the ref,and would,if the Gods were smiling on them have recorded a much needed win.

The fans created a wonderful atmosphere yesterday....so supportive.If Stoke had performed abysmally I could perhaps understand the 'boos' at the end of the match.But they hadn't....the team had given EVERYTHING.There appears to be simple equation in some peoples'minds......WIN=CHEERS.....LOSE=BOOS.

Can't understand it myself,never will....they need to find CONSTRUCTIVE ways of dealing with their own disappointment.

This is MY team,this is OUR team....win,lose or draw we get behind them....to ensure that the DREAM continues.

A TALE OF WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN??

2009-12-26T09:17:00.004Z

MANCHESTER CITY 2 v STOKE CITY FC 0

Manager Tony Pulis opted for an unchanged side,recognising the excellent performance at Villa last week,and probably too the upcoming fixture at home to Birmingham on Monday.Ryan Shawcross was given more time to get over his injury,and Robert Huth, back from suspension,was on the bench.

Stoke had the first real chance of the match,a golden opportunity in the twentieth minute.Tuncay found himself one on one with goalkeeper Given.Tuncay got a powerful shot away from point blank range,which the keeper somehow managed to divert away with his knee,at the cost of an injury.

Man City took the lead seven minutes later.Livewire Tevez teased the Stoke defence before cutting the ball across the Stoke goalmouth.Robinho missed the ball altogether but Petrov,coming in from the right,finished despite Sorensen's despairing scrambling dive.

On several more occasions Tuncay and Etherington ran at the home defence without any real end product.Stoke set pieces were uniformly poor,with Whelan being the main culprit,hitting his efforts short,or low,sometimes both.Given |Stoke's size advantage,there was a strange reluctance to putting the ball high into the box.

Right on halftime Stoke conceded again.Poor marking saw Barry in the Stoke penalty area comfortably head an incoming cross toward Tevez.As he raced in he managed to get his leg high enough to get a toe to the ball,taking it just clear of Sorensen and into the net.A bad time indeed to concede again.

Things could have got worse for a despondent Stoke team immediately after the break.Robinho got through on goal,but Sorensen pulled off a save.Wilkinson injured his ankle as his last ditch tackle helped break up the move.To that point his energetic and enthusiastic performance had marked him out as Stoke's man of the match.By contrast Diao and Whelan looked well below par.

Huth came on for Wilko, Fuller for Tuncay,and Beattie for Sidibe,with both the starting strikers having become largely anonymous as the game progressed. James Beattie nearly got on the scoresheet on 71 minutes.The ball reached him to the left of Given's goal.He hit a tremendous goal bound volley,but the keeper responded with his second miraculous save of the match.Shortly after Huth headed Etherington's corner wide of the Man City goal.

Stoke had one other chance of note.With a couple of minutes to go Danny Collins'free kick into the area from the left was headed on by Fuller to Higginbotham but he put the ball wide of the goal.

WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?Amazingly still in 11th place in the table,but crucially now only 4 points off the drop zone.Teams below us are finding some form.More to the point they are scoring goals,which at the moment we are not.

Given Manchester City's defensive frailty this season,it begs the question as to why we did not go for a more attack minded line up.From the evidence certainly from the Villa match the goals will return,but the situation is such that this needs to be sooner rather than later.

Three points against Birmingham is now an imperative!!

ROBBED BY THE REF?

2009-12-19T17:06:00.023Z

ASTON VILLA 1 STOKE CITY FC 0

Stoke performed heroically today,playing some first class attacking football, but failed to get the point they deserved.Minus Ryan Shawcross injured,and Huth suspended,Stoke gave as good as they got,taking the game to Villa.

The strike partnership of Tuncay and Sidibe,well served by Etherington,posed plenty of problems for a Villa defence,which at the death was reduced to kicking the ball anywhere to clear its lines,as Stoke pressed hard for an equaliser.

It looked as though we had taken the lead on 32mins,when Mama Sidibe rose to head home Etherington's measured cross from the left.For reasons best known to himself ref Lee Probert decided that there had been some infringement.No goal.

It would appear that he saw a push by Mama on the Villa defender.Convenient but wrong.No less an authority than Alan Hanson indicated that Probert had been kind to Villa - a perfectly good goal in his opinion!!

(Take a look at Carew's goal - no different to Mama's effort....but Probert let it stand ,OR better still Peter Crouch's first goal ALLOWED yesterday for Spurs against Blackburn.

Crouch went through a period when refs automatically ,it seemed,disallowed his headed goals.He must have come through that phase because yesterday he was ALL OVER the Blackburn defender and the goal stood.

There is little doubt in my mind now that, for whatever reason, some sort of positive discrimination,maybe even SUBLIMINALLY, is being exercised against Stoke. BIG = ROUGH = FOUL !!

Maybe the penny will soon drop with these officials - but don't bank on it - that this season we are playing some lovely football,that maybe yesterdays disallowed goal was the result of exquisite skill rather than brute force.)

The injured Heskey had been replaced by Carew,and it was he who got the deciding goal on 62 minutes.Certainly he nudged Abdy Faye aside as he headed Young's cross home.

So we deserved something but got nothing. Our football looked good with our whirling Turkish dervish,Tuncay, posing a real threat.On another day he could have had another couple of goals.Matty Etherington is star quality,an excellent team player.Danny Higginbotham had a fine game at the heart of our defence.The highest accolade yesterday came from Martin O' Neill,who was fulsome in his praise."A good team."

So what happens next? Manchester City looked like a banker draw for us. So what do they do? Sack manager Mark Hughes and bring in a successful italian replacement with immediate effect.

Hopefully there is a Stokie god somewhere who will ensure that Pulis's magic prevails over Mancini's at Eastlands !!

Would you bet on it? Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad El Kenno.

DRAW ABOUT RIGHT......CROWD MORE REALISTIC.

2009-12-13T09:45:00.011Z

STOKE CITY FC 2 WIGAN ATHLETIC 2

A sunny day at The Brit,and,its fair to say some good football on offer at times.Like Stoke Wigan are physically imposing,pretty speedy about the pitch,and skillful to boot.

Danny Collins gave way to the returning Ryan Shawcross,flu victim Lawrence was replaced by Whitehead,and Tuncay retained a place in the starting lineup.

Wigan took the lead on 15 minutes,following a needless foul conceded by Abdy Faye on the left.A powerful header from the freekick into the six yard box brought a point blank reaction save from Sorensen,but he was powerless to keep out Boyce's follow up header.

We had to wait 20 minutes for an equaliser.Stoke were playing the ball around in the Wigan half looking for an opening,when,to universal groans,Whitehead made a long pass back to keeper Sorensen.

Within seconds the moans turned to delirious cheers.Tommy Sorensen's resultant long punt upfield was headed out toward the left wing where Tuncay was unmarked.He made rapid progess toward goal before driving the ball powerfully inside the near post to the far corner of the net.

His first goal for Stoke in the Prem,and literally within seconds he could have notched another.He performed a magical overhead kick in the Wigan goalmouth.Nine times out of ten it would have brought us a goal,keeper Kirkland was nowhere,but the very tip of a defenders boot produced a deflection just over the bar.

Figueroa gave Wigan the lead once again(72mins).Stoke conceded another freekick,wide out on the left just inside the Wigan half. No-one - certainly not the Stoke players - expected what happened next.The ball was stationary,Figueroa -spotting Sorensen off his line- ran up and hit the ball hard toward the Stoke net where it duly arrived having cleared the stranded Stoke keeper.

Within two minutes Stoke were back on terms.Dean Whitehead won a corner on the right.Etherington's excellent delivery left Shawcross with, for him,a straightforward header into kirkland's net.

Excitement over? Certainly not.89 minutes gone,Melchiot drives forward,the ball reaches a clearly offside player (one of two not spotted by the linesman....despite having an unobstructed view) in the Stoke area,but as he shapes to shoot he is fouled by Huth.Yellow card and a penalty.Looked all over.

But we reckoned without Tommy Sorensen.Rodallega's effort looked tentative,and lacked power.Soro made it five penalty saves out of the last six (two for Denmark)clearing with his leg.Justice done!

Mike Dean managed to conjure 5 minutes of added time,during which the visitors went all out for a winner,with Stoke just hanging on.

One or two thoughts.Mike Dean did not have he best of games....Tuncay had a storming game throughout....Beattie got onto the pitch for the last few minutes= Pulis as good as his word !Wigan in charge in the first half Stoke in the second.Both sides had sufficient chances to have won the game.

My own view is that the crowd were much more patient again yesterday thank goodness.Maybe this reflects more realistic levels of expectation again.The fans got behind the team when it really mattered,and the destructive idiot booing was largely absent - long may it remain so,because we simply cannot afford the team to become apprehensive about playing at home.

Tuncay and Huth could tell us what that did to Middlesborough last season.

Stoke:

Sorensen , Huth , AbdoulayeFaye , Wilkinson , Shawcross , Delap , Etherington , Whitehead , Diao (Whelan ,62 ) , Fuller (Beattie ,83 ) , Sanli