http://www.football365.com/mailbox/8469679/Is-Tony-Pulis-Holding-Back-Stoke-City- Things are bad when you find yourself agreeing with an Arsenal fan :-( Can't question what's said here. Ah, the aftermath of Arsenal v Stoke. Always a joy with the p***y comments from either side and I'm sure that the mailbox ed's inbox will be filled wit 'nyahh nyahh' stuff from both camps this morning. But, something else got me this weekend regarding Pulis' post-match comments, and this is something I'm genuinely interested in people's opinions of. Afterwards Tony (can I call you Tony? No? Ok) claimed that, and this is approximate, "there are massive differences in resources between the two clubs". Now, a quick look at the rather dull 'net spend' statistics show that Stoke have outspent Arsenal in terms of transfer fees by £80m since 2006/07. I fully appreciate that this is only part of the picture - Arsenal's wage bill is massively bigger than Stoke's, and the club's turnover far greater. But it did get me thinking. Is Pulis holding Stoke back? The comments suggest he still sees Stoke as a small club. Which, I have to say, I don't. They are an established Premier League side, with a good core fan base and decent infrastructure They are well run and solvent. Why the small time attitude? Compare this to the stance of Swansea. I would suggest the two clubs are of a similar size but Swansea seem to fear no one. They go out, play their football and look to win. An obvious reward being the COC final at the end of this month and I would expect their first major silverware. Laudrup is not lacking confidence and seems to embody the spirit at the club. They know they aren't as big as some others but they want to try to get there. I get the feeling with Pulis that he doesn't think he can move Stoke on, hence the above comments and hence the continued *ahem* pragmatic playing style. His insistence after the game on Saturday that they had deserved something sounds like a lower division manager post a battling FA Cup tie, not a game between sixth and tenth in the same division. So, is Pulis holding Stoke back? Or are Stoke achieving as much as they possibly can? I won't say 'what do other mailbox readers think?' 'cos I hate that. But, what do other mailbox readers think?
What an excellent article! An amazing stat that - outspending Arsenal by a Net spend of 80 million in the last 5 seasons - what a small petty club we are!
If we are a small petty club then we have the right manager because i don't think anyone can beat Pulis at being small and petty!!! Is he holding us back dammed fecking right he is!!!
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not only is he holding the club back but he is tarnishing a historic clubs good name. Older generations like me Potts and Nick, remember Stoke has a big club with a good reputation. The younger genrations now coming through, (opposition fans), look on Pulis and Stoke as a bit of a joke. All this moaning and whinging after matches just makes him look a bigger t*t than he already is!
As I skimmed through the post I mistook football365 to say bet365 and thought that Coates had some part to play in this article being published. . .if only
