As the Premier League is about to get underway I felt I had to give some credit: They were promoted the same time as us. For the first 4 months they were marooned at the bottom watching us get all the plaudits under the sun. With minimum fuss they turned it around and have improved almost by the day ever since. Today, as they are about to kick off they are chasing one of England's best strikers of the last decade who is still is the right side of past it. All in all, I would say there is literally about a 1% chance they will get relegated this season. You have to say it is absolutely brilliant.
You're both right. Stoke are a great example to promoted teams, but it's easy to forget they have one of the richest owners in football and this is why they do so well. We couldn't have afforded Beattie and Etherington so we got Manucho... But as FBTW says they are a set of tossers, they must be the most unfriendly set of fans in English football, they seem to have a massive problem with everybody.
Can't take anything away from them can you! They've played to thier strengths so credit to them for having the strength of character to do that. I wonder how much credit Rory Delap deserves??
Stoke City are not a fashionable club, it's a potteries town with an insular feel to it, their fans don't have a friendly reputation granted, their manager is a dour fella, their style of play is direct.. But, on the other side of the coin, if you look at purely results-based criteria, they are a great success & have achieved what Bolton & Fulham have in half the time because as you say they have rich investors. One of my best friends is a Stoke City fan, she's lovely and it kind of highlights that everyone in Stoke supports their team.. (unless they're Port Vale!) For me they deserve some respect, but they will undoubtedly remain unloved..
if pulis is such a great manager why have wales never wanted him as manager. let's not forget the reaction of the shawcross/ramsey incident to come out of stoke. and let's see how stoke cope when delap retires
Who was the numpty who said Messi would struggle v Stoke, one of those dummy pundits, was it Andy Gray?
As some have said, direct football isn't necessarily a reason to dislike them, but they do play overly hard, a bit like Leeds how they love putting everybody on the deck and it just spoils the game.
We all know we would love to have had the success stoke achieved since 2008 and their position is so much better than ours, say what you like about their play style but it's damn successful.
that just seems weird. sorry but the wales job has no prestige to it at all. one welsh manager even gave up the job to come and manage hull city if i recall when we were struggling in division 3. so why would anyone leav a premier club to manage wales?
Their anti-football which is so boring to watch, has resulted in the maiming of quite a few opponents. Thugs, although they have a sprinkling of stars amongst them now, but thats hardly suprising owned by the 8th richest man in England. Their fans think they are the loudest in the land, but they only sing one song twice a game.
I think Tony Pulis is a great manager. The team has steadily got better. The owner is rich but he's only started investing in the club recently. In the first year in the PL they had a worse team than us. The reason they finished higher was down to the managers.
I was thinking this earlier about Stoke. Their style of play may not suit everyone, they might not be the most fashionable club etc but they've managed to establish themselves. When thinking of contenders for the relegation spots, i came up with the 3 promoted teams, Wigan, Wolves, Blackburn and possibly West Brom. Like Bolton, Fulham and Sunderland (the later begrudgingly) they have established themselves as a mid table premiership side who could push for Europe but also could be flirting with relegation, usually only briefly. A wealthy owner must have helped but like Bolton they aren't a fashionable club so getting players in isn't always easy. On the other side of the coin you have Wigan who although have been in the prem for about 6 years now are fighting a relegation battle every season, which as supporters can't be the most exciting experience.
Some of the **** deals Pullis has made make the Bullard deal look like two for a pound offer but the got away with spending more than most by having a generous chairman. Their fan base is also one of the weakest and most fickle in the leagues. All in all, a poor model.
Pulis is not a great manager though he has had a small fortune spent on transfer fees and wages since they have won promotion, no-one in say the bottom five of the PL can compete. However they are a good side. But they are an anti-football side, Tuncay was by far their most talented player, but because he could not fit him in around his hoof ball tactics he was wasted.
I dislike Stoke with a passion, but I've got to admit I wish Pulis was boss at City...Now a fixture in the prem league and they won't be going down anytime soon.
whos the england striker there after? find it hard to say anything nice about stoke, after a rock missed my head by about 6 inches..when we where pinned in like sitting ducks..
Can't deny Pulis has done a good job, but he's a ****. They've also spent a lot more than we did or would have done. Can't stand the fans though, 99% are Johnny-come-Lately's who are amongst the most arrogant in English football, despite having done ****-all.
