Personally i think we have a great chance this season, yes the squad is very thin at the moment but im holding out faith that pulis will land us some half decent players before the deadline. The squad is full of confidence and i reckon come sunday night we will have 4 points on the league table. Do you think that with the 2 great results away from home in europe that our away form in the league will pick up?
Our defence is inspiring confidence for the rest of the team. If we can add a few more players with more ability, Palacios and Rodallega would be 2 that I would absolutely love, and with Diarra close to joining Spurs, i'd hope Palacios is close to joining us.
I think that the test of our "improved" away form will come when we fall behind. It is hard to see us scoring more than one, because the old problems of a non -supportive central midfield still exist. We look quite capable of holding onto a 1-0 result, but equally one goal is more than likely enough to beat us.
Swervy Although I agree that two good away results in the Europa Cup were very good and, it is all we can ask for. I think that Norwich will be a tougher test for us. Sgt is quite right, if we get our midfield sorted, don't give the ball away to easily and give the forwards a chance to keep the ball in the opponents half. We could/should be ok and I'm confiedent enough we can handle anything that Norwich can throw at us. i hope though, that we don't just go there and soak up the pressure. Let's give it our best shot Tony!
Potts, that `midfield sorted `is a huge IF.There seems no alternative, with the present midfield,than to just hoof it up front and wait for it to come back!Jonny Walters does his best but how much longer will his body last out.Kenwynne Jones (in my opinion) is pretty useless at holding the ball,which leaves JW chasing all over the place. I think the run of good results will come to an end on Sunday,hope to God I`m wrong but then again I`m definately a glass half empty person!
Yep spot on whcih is why our defence comes under so much pressure. However (you all know I am not a big TP fan), credit where credit is due, 3 away clean sheets - fantastic! I agree woth Potts that we are going to come aginast much sterner tests in the next few weeks. Especially the new style of football that alot of the newbies seem to be playing, with their tales up they will keep going and going with pace and thats just not our type of game!
To be honest mate the Kenwyn Jones transfer has been a disatser. He looks so unintersted its unreal, hes such a big fairy who spends most of the match on the floor. Im really disappointed with him and personally would love to see him go and get another GOOD striker in. DJ campbell would have been a good replacement at half the price. I feel sorry for Walters as all of the pressure is on him because frankly I think that everyones has given up on Kenwyn the lazy bastard!!. We need to sign another 2 forwards so that people can battle for their place because at the moment Kenwyn has to start because of the **** we have on the bench.
I am obviously in a minority when it comes to Kenwynne. We ask for him to hold up the ball which is usually played at him from 50 yards away, around his head, with the likes of Terry and Alex stuck up his bum. Meanwhile the people for whom he is holding up the ball, stick rigidly to 5 yards either side of the half way line, leaving him with the following options: 1) Try and take on the whole defence single handedly 2) Pick out our only supporting player (Super John) with an inch perfect pass, and hope that JW returns the favour as Kenwynne makes his way into the box. 3) Lay the ball out to the wing where Matty and Jermaine have just dashed 60yards in their wing back roles, and hope that they still have the puff to beat the opposition full back and get the cross into the box. 4) Trap the ball and kick it back 40 yards to our forward thinking central mid fielders. In terms of lazy b*ggers, Ric Fuller has always had that mantle as far as I am concerned.Bear in mind our leading Premiership scorer of all time ia the aforementioned Fuller with 18 - Jones will pass that mark by about halfway through the year with a bit of luck. To be honest, I can't think of any centre forward who would look good given the way we set up - you are there to just try and occupy the Centre Halves, as we play for a set piece around the danger area.That is the way we play, and could be a reason why we find it difficult to attract any creative midfield talent.
I think you have rasied a very good point here Swervy! Whilst I do think KJ is lazy and does not bring a whole lot to our game (except defending set pieces - lol), I think the formation and the way we play hinders him further! I made comments last year that KJ was just an expensive Mamba and whilst I will defend him in the sence that he his doing a lost cause, he is not the type of player to do that role - he doesnt have the heart for it! So for me (and I'm not just using this as an excuse for having a go - I've been very positive of late) he was a bad purchase and is not STOKE FIT and TP further rubs salt into the wounds by defending him to the hilt!
I think you have rasied a very good point here Swervy! Whilst I do think KJ is lazy and does not bring a whole lot to our game (except defending set pieces - lol), I think the formation and the way we play hinders him further! I made comments last year that KJ was just an expensive Mamba and whilst I will defend him in the sence that he his doing a lost cause, he is not the type of player to do that role - he doesnt have the heart for it! So for me (and I'm not just using this as an excuse for having a go - I've been very positive of late) he was a bad purchase and is not STOKE FIT and TP further rubs salt into the wounds by defending him to the hilt!
Yeah definitely agree with Swervy above. Quite often there isn't a lot of options for Jones especially with the treatment he gets from opposition defenders. I reckon the popular perception of Stoke City leads to referees allowing opposition players to rough us up more. We must all agree though that KJ is a much better player than Mama and at 26-27 he can still improve. Hopefully this season he will come good and get 15+ goals for us.
John walters does it and looks good. He runs his bag off gets the ball and runs at the defense so why cant Jones?. Ricardo fuller is a lazy bugger but one thing that Fuller has that Kenwyn Jones doesnt is the ability to make something happen out of nothing. Kenwyn has a lot to prove to the scfc fans and after a season of watching him I dont see anything changing.........if anything I can only see him getting worse. He just doesnt look happy here at all!!!!.
The treatment he gets from opposition defenders?. If they sneeze on him he falls over, ive never seen such a weak player for his size. I thought he was going to be a good signing but up to yet hes been terrible and very disappointing!!.
Youre comparing Drogba to Kenwyn?. Drogba is far more powerful than Kenwyn IMO. All I ask is that people watch the FA cup final againg against Man city and see how many times he was on the floor. This happens nearly every week.
Couldn't agree more. Jones's only saving grace is that he defends well for us but as a striker he is totally useless and I wish we had another Jonny walters instead of him!
I think we can all agree he spends too much time on his arse. If he had Walters' stamina he would be much better. However, when he get shoulder-to-shoulder with defenders he is very strong, it is usually only when they come in from behind that he goes down.
