http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...outshone-robots-of-the-potteries-6276190.html I've come to a form of closure on what happened on Sunday, it's now in my 'massive hurt' file along with Benfica in 62, Barca in 82, England v Argentina 86 &98, and various other injustices over the years. The pain is gradually subsiding to the dull aching remembrance of another 'what might have been'. However, I must post this excellent article by James Lawton, as I'm glad he has had the courage to say in a national newspaper, what I and others have been saying on here and other forums about what happened on Sunday. I don't want to do any more 'Stoke slagging', I've had my say, and enough's enough for me now. This one is more for football in general.
Agreed HIAG. Some/many of us have said similar to Lawton, but as Spurs fans we are seen to be biased, naturally. So it's great when a national newspaper journalist has the courage to stick his head above the parapet and write such a piece.
I'm saying no more about Stoke LDL, you know my feelings on them. To me football is about the way we play it at Spurs, I'm just so proud I follow a club that has always encouraged good football. We're not particularly rich, but have assembled a beautiful team, and to see it mugged like it was on Sunday is a cause for great sadness on my part, and I hope many football lovers will echo Lawton's comments. My user name is a tribute to our greatest-ever home grown player. A footballing artist who stood out against the thuggery and disgrace that wrecked much of our game in the 1980s. He is a beacon for English football, played the right way despite adversity.
The general Stoke play is all part of the game - no-one should complain about long throws, crosses, power in the air etc. But there is a huge difference between strong physical play and downright thuggery/cheating - Stoke crossed this line on several occasions on Sunday and Foy only really punished them once - the Woodgate booking. If even one of the other three major transgressions had been properly dealt with the Spurs would have won quite easily. I'd love to see what his reason was for the second yellow for Kaboul.......
I have no problem with Stoke and how they play. The main thing for me is that we worked them out and were able to beat them. That we didn't is down to an incompetent/cheating ref. Good piece in the Indy, agree with every word.
That's exactly how I feel about the matter, too If the officials had done their job properly, Stoke would have lost, and they'd be that nearer to relegation out of the top flight.
If I may just add something here. The last time Stoke City were in the top flight was in the mid-seventies, meaning anyone who is ~50 years old or younger either cannot remember, or simply weren't alive, the last time they saw Stoke competing against the top teams in the land. As Spurs fans, you're used to seeing great sides play superb passing football that actually wins trophies now and again as well. Up until 5 years ago, my typical Stoke City matchday experience was freezing my knackers off at Gigg Lane on a cold Tuesday night, or having a 5 hour journey to look forward to after being thumped by Grimsby at Blundell Park. Many of you are right, the football we play is agricultural and we aren't partiicularly easy on the eye. However, as hard as it may be to believe for fan of a big club like Spurs, this is the best Stoke City side I've ever seen. This statement may make you spit out your foie gras in a mxture of contempt and pity but it's true, which is why I make no apologiies for the way we play or the way in which we stop you from playing. The results we're getting at the moment are beyond our wildest dreams, and for clubs like ours this kind of reliative success will only last so long before we're back in the Championship. You're right in saying that football is more than just the end result, it's also about how you achive that. But for the moment, we're just happy to be back dining at the top table and actually living and breathing some of our childhood dreams. I don't expect many of you to sympathise with or accept my point of view, but all I ask is that you at least make the effort to understand.
But, the point is, you didn't stop us from playing. The ref did. We were all over you in that 2nd half and you didn't have a clue how to stop us, so you used brute force, unfairly so, and the ref let you get away with it. That is a game you should have lost, and it should have pushed you closer to relegation.
You keep mentioning your wish for us to be relegated - quite sad really that you're letting a little Northern club take such an influence on your life. Also, no Stoke fan will argue that the ref was poor and that we got away with it. I just think some of your fans' whinging about Chris Foy (and Chris Hoy ) and some of the comments in general, come off as very Arsenal-esque. Maybe you're more similar than you like to admit?
If your a fan of football as well as Stoke there can surely be little joy in getting a result in such a manner (Atrocious Refereeing) of course you will be happy with the three points but there has to be a curb on your celebration when you look at the very very poor decisions made by the ref. This is not a criticism of Stoke's tactics, for me they bring a variety to English football that you do not find in other leagues. I have felt for a long time that it would be interesting to see Stoke in Europe just to see how the Europeans cope with some good old fashioned English style football. Having said that the game with Spurs was not about the football of either side it was about the wrong decisions of the officials which does no favours to either side or to football.
Agricultural I can live with, Physical I can live with; Even your one tactic for staying in the Prem, the long throw, I can live with. What sticks in the throat is the outright cheating of the likes of Shawcross. If your turgid brand of football makes you happy (does the end REALLY justify the means, all you are reminded after a debacle like this is that you have to resort to a Frankensteinian version of football to compete in any way) then you are very easily satisfied. I can honestly say, I would rather watch Spurs play glorious football in the Championship (and we would,) than resort to the kind of tactics employed by Stoke. Another thing to consider, is that after Sundays little shindig (in more ways than one) the referees who officiate your home games will be, shall we say, a little keener to get their decisions right.Your amnesty's over boys. And don't think that as football fans we are any different to you fella, the "fois gras" remark was way wide of the mark. And probably as wrong as labelling you as a bunch of grey flat cap wearing pigeon-fanciers. The past few years have been good for us, but for years before that, mid table mediocrity or worse was all we could hope for. Yet still we hoped for and mostly got a brand of football that we and most neutrals enjoyed , win or lose. It is called belief, belief that if you play the game the right way, in the end you will prevail. If not there is still glory in the way you play the game. Stokes tactics, when they were in the old Div 1 in the 80s were ultimately unsuccessful but I still remember them as an attractive side, far far better than the one you have at present. So do you if you are honest with yourself. Your present tactics are expediency, nothing more. Stanley Matthews must be turning in his grave.
My view too, I actually do see him as some kind of footballing Messiah, sent down to be punished for our sins, the way he was so cruelly treated in many ways. Unfortunately for Glenn, he got the 'God bug' in a way that wasn't good for him as a manager. He should have stuck to football, and left others to do the metaphysics for him, But hey, aside from his football skills, he was actually very much a frail human like the rest of us. Whoops there goes me and the linking with him as part human, part deity again Glenn wasn't the best Spurs player I ever saw, that has to be Mackay, and probably then Greaves, but Glenn will always be my favourite, because of his particular crusade for the beautiful game.
Hi WM, brilliantly expressed The main reason I have sought closure on this game, and have now stopped 'having a go' at Stoke is because of you. I really took kindly to your forgiveness and understanding for the way I did have a right rant at your club. I accept we each follow our club, and will generally defend it way beyond the realms of rationality, indeed for people who really love their club, like I do and I think you do too, supporting a team, is an act of faith and love, where the irrational often resides. Anyway best wishes to you and peace, if not understanding, unto Stoke. Until we play at the Lane of course, when doubtless my eyeballs will be popping and blood boiling, all over again
