Im reading so much negatitivity towards Pulis and dont get me wrong ive had me goes ! But Ive had a sit back and Think !!!! ...... But i went a Champ game last night at Derby !! come back to this . Now the reality part is this ................ Stoke are gaining momentum on the field with better players etc... and we have played all the top teams and Sunderland who lets be fair didnt come for nothing but a point at best they were woeful and we all know how hard it is to break teams down if they dont want to be ! Norwich away ? they didnt get in our half.. 2nd half and won it throo a phantom free kick !! Lets go to the roots fast growing at Stoke .. Announced today ANOTHER 7 MILL to be pumped into the training centre .. its already amazing !! This fellas is another marked improvement as at the same time we keep our Prem place and will grow in stature .. There is no way we will become in any relegation battle and really we all know this .. We aint a bad team to watch nowadays another big improvement . Massive work in progress just the 5 yrs in the prem not 10 or 15 ? So why so much negativity when i went and sat at a Champ game last nite to watch Derby v Barnsley.. Jesus wept .. Derby r a point outside the play offs at this stage .. And let me just say ... the football on offer is DROSS absolutely bloody rubbish and a mile off the prem for pace and class !!!!!! I think the Reality is .... As much at times we dunna like it .. we are now a country mile away from being a Champ Club and that is after only 5yrs in the prem .. Not a yo yo team because Pulis has sacrificed that to keep us up regardless of style ... PROBABLY for the future of the club Its worth a thought fellas it does all ring true ! Just a a thought IMO by the way
Cannot argue with that PP. But (and there is always a but), there is a little matter of £100 (approx) million to take into consideration. Pragmatic -v- Passion Programmed -v- Imaginative Mundane -v- Magic Survival -v- Glory Choose your poison pal
Valid and constructive points when looking at the glass half full, I will comment in full later when I have a little more time, but in short the next few games will establish how bad our concerns actually are!
Potter P I suppose? being another avid Stokie it's nice to see at least one fan who see's the good that Pulis has done for Stoke City.. And he certainly has done well. My problem is the topic which Smither's has mentioned. How much has he spent.. looking at that in particular Potter P. I have to say that it's about 50/50 right now. Meaning we're not exactly sure as to " How the team will perform week in, week out. There is no consistency IMHO. Either with team selection or performace wise. I do know we have on paper a pretty good squad. And my oppinion will not change on TPs negativity towards away games. I appreciate that Sunderland did indeed come for a pt and that's all they got. What puzzles me is that Pulis did the exact same thing vs Norwich yet, we did'nt get anything. I also look at stats/results/goals scored/not scored etc. This is where my gripe is with Mr Pulis Potter P. If I had to put money on us staying up, not that I would. I think we can easily. IF Mr P thinks before each and every game about who plays where and when. Do that, we would be fine this season I will (try) and watch MOTD whilst on holiday, take a looksee at our results. If I can't do me a favour... PLEASE ALL sing your heads off the next 3 home games. See you all in 3 weeks fella's
I think fellas the point im tryin to make is that .......... after looking at a few comments are as follows .... I attended a champ game at Derby and i think most would consider them to be a bigger club than us in general .. I remember Paul Jewell telin us so ! lol We really would not like to be where they are rite now .. like i said a point off the play offs and there fans were buzzin after the game BUT ! It was poor at best as u could see and im bein honest a very poor team playin with out a name to there sheet of any known reputation !!! I sat in silence tryin to get positives from it but u cant !!!! Its the Championship i might be doin some a disservice but it was crap slow paced rubbish ! lets not wish for something we really dont want ! The roller coaster of the prem ticks us all over very nicely and im sure im not alone this yr we can achieve a top ten finish !! Im sure of it !!!! PP
PP, Names are made with success and marred by failure, specially the type of failure when it looks like you haven't tried because you are set up so defensively. Any one of those players you saw could be a hero of the terraces, a save, a tackle, a goal, any thing that lifts the team or the crowd at the right time. Pride and passion are what it's all about, winning, a hard fought draw or even defeat as long as you've made the B*stards work for it, as long as it's been a proper contest, not that you've surrendered most of the pitch. Make them earn victory don't surrender before a ball is kicked.
Right then, I have taken time to consider the appropriate and instructive comments by the author. The first thing I would like to say is that whilst we all want the best for the club, that will come in different forms to different people. I would aire on the side of caution and suggest that the majority would view this as being in the premiership, regardless of the implications - be that money, style, status etc.... The second thing, is that the barometer of success is very easy to judge as success when comparing to something of non equal standard and when doing so it is very easy to suggest that we are therefore better off and accept/tolerate what we have as something better than what we could end up with or have had in the past. My conclusion (in my own little world) is that whilst we wouldn't wish to be in th lower leagues, we have a duty of care as a club to perform to the best of our ability within the spirit of sportsmanship - be that success or failure! If we are a team of no hopers, no money and only tryers - but we slug it out with pride a passion I think very few fans would object to us playing at a level suitable to our ability. I feel that our 1st year in the prem would fall into this category, the only difference being that we exceeded our natural level and every fan and pundits expectations and there is the irony! Ever since that point we have argued to ourselves that as long as we don't compare ourselves to our league of opposition, don't aspire to dream that we can challenge, we can justify that everything is better than it actually is. Some may view that as a negative or failure in itself and some may say that it is reality - regardless of which it is you have to understand that it would be hypocritical to ignore that the investment into getting the club to where it is today would in theory negate comparing our club with another which operates under a different financial structure in a different league.
Nay lads. Football supporting is not a prosaic occupation, everytime you go through those turnstiles you suspend reality.- Theatre of Dreams et al. You dream of 30 yarders into the top corner - remember how you felt when Crouchy scored his blinder? That's what its all about, it's the passion, the unbelievable piece of brilliance, the 10 man passing goal. In short, the glory. Otherwise, why bother, life for most of us us mundane, full of uncertainties and worried. Ah, but for those 90 minutes, we can perchance but dream
