We are probably up there with the likes of Arsenal and Man U as one of the most hated clubs in the PL. You only have to see the 606 boards to believe that, with the bile towards us even from supporters whose clubs are not in the prem. I've been a die hard Stoke fan for close on 40 years and watched the club in the 70's when we had a team full of proper internationals and ex World Cup winners! I'm eternally grateful for TP in getting us back in the prem and he will go down in Stoke's history annuals. I can't help feeling though that he is tarnishing the clubs reputation with his negative style of play and predictability. We are fast becoming a laughing stock. You only had to listen to the Westbrom fans last night mimicking hoof every time we launched the ball forward! Last on virtually every football programme as we are usually that dire and rarely given any airtime. You pick up the Sentinel and instead of Pulis putting up his hand and saying we were abysmal, he is moaning about a poxy picture getting smashed. If that's what it takes to get him motivated I think we should do the Waddington suite before the Westham game, he might just be motivated enough to rile his players into some form of attack!
I don't care about what other fans think of our club, so long as we're still getting results. This current run is no more than a blip, in my opinion. There have still been a couple of great performances this season, think Liverpool at home, and playing Man City off the park. Does Pulis drive me mental sometimes? Of course! I still think he's built us a formidable team. We're still grinding out the results, even in the deepest trough of crappy form imaginable!
I agree with peadar on this one.I dont really care what other fans think of our club or the media driven drivel we are bombarded with on a daily basis.However,I can see the difficulty Waddos -legends has watching our current style of football after watching Stoke in their absolute pomp.I have also been a Stoke fan for many years starting with the Durban era and so have suffered with the rest of you and this is why I am more than happy with the current manager and style of play.I again agree with peadar we are in a temporary run of bad form,it wont go on for ever and the manager spoke of a three year plan. I think he at least deserves those three years after all that he has done for our football club.
i dont think pulis is doing any favours for you, to be honest. ok he has done great in establishing you in the prem, but the reputation that you have, thanks to him isn't something i would like. he had a fantastic player in tuncay. now obviously i dont watch stoke that much so maybe he wasnt impressing at all when given rare chances, but when you have a player of that quality you have to use him
I think the Tuncay thing has turned many supporters against Pulis. I think he was treated poorly by the club, especially when we were playing Delap on the right wing, pre Pennant. For a player who could play on either wing, or up front, he should have been getting at least a run-out in every game.
agree with the comments above every club seems to jump on the bandwagon about our style so i am not bothered what other clubs think.We have made life very difficult for the top clubs and apart from Chelsea where we conceded 7 last season we have not been turned over by anyone.All narrow defeats and that includes losses at home and away to Man U .Some good performances mentioned above .I feel the problem we have currently is missing out on BA because of the medical and Tuncay leaving and this has left a massive hole to fill.Jones just hasn't come up with the goods yet but Carew can get us to safety and then lets take it forward next season.Even playing poorly as we did on Monday i just could not see WBA scoring untill the offside then we went to pieces. After watching the greats of the past like Waddo it has taken over 30 years to get we are and times have changed.Tony Pulis in my opinion has done a great job so far but i think we will see a diffrent set up next season .But at the moment we need to get behind the lads as we dont need to many points for safety and we have the little matter of a quarter final coming up which could see us all having a trip to wembley.So while there are negatives about our style the postives for me are our Premeir league Position and FA CUP potential. UP THE POTTERS
There is still plenty of admiring non stokies out there. Especially the ones with footballing brains who know the difficulties of surviving such a competition. I do believe TP is spoiling his own rep with the loyal fans who are ardent supporters especially those travelling fans. He does make some nonsensical decisions some, if not most, of the time and the Tuncay, Kitson, Beattie fiascos have not helped in the slightest. Not sure what we have spent during our time in the PL but if the likes of Whelan, Diao, Mama, Pugh are still getting run outs and the very fact that Delap and/or Whitehead are our best Centre Mids I am sorry but we have not moved on much at all, and I won't even mention the FB situation. The club rep can be restored with proper management but I hope the reputation of TP will always be that of never being relegated but after this season I hope TP can make one final decision for not only the clubs sake but also his own.
The sale of Tunny, the general standard of our play and style of play in the past few months has certainly made my opinion of Pulis worsen, and I never had a problem with Pulis before even when he came back in 2006
sarge I have to agree with you on that. Last season I was defending TP to the hilt on the bearpit forum on facebook, but my opinion changed when he sold Tunny and kept Diao and Sidibe and the fact that there is never a plan B. We are too predictable and I've lost count now the amount of games we have thrown by taking off our main threat players to try and shut up shop when he thinks he has the game won!
