There was a meet the players night tonight. Someone on my Twitter has been posting what the players said: TC on the road to recovery. Great news Pennant is the joker of the pack. Shawcross' most memorable game for Stoke was on the opening day of this season when he was given the captain's armband. Nigel "Can you defend for 90 mins if needs be?" Whitehead "We do most weeks Whitehead- Charlie Adam toughest opponent of this season. Deano on Bolton- "It's the perfect draw for us" Deano- "If I wasn't a footballer I'd be a postman. Or a golfer." He admires Tiger, Westwood and Donald. The players don't care what the media say about them. Usually rubbish anyway. Ryan played for North Wales under 14s at cricket. All rounder apparently. Asmir's goalkeeping hero was Oliver Khan. Not surprised that Arsenal signed Lehmann- 'still incredibly fit'. Ryan- looking for 43 points to be safe but trying to beat last year's tally. Shawcross- "We shouldn't be criticised for using set pieces." Survival is priority but we can stay up and win the cup. Shawcross- "If we get relegated three quarters of the team will move on." Whitehead- "The backing at Stoke is better than 40,000 fans at Sunderland." Shawcross- "In a strange way I was looking forward to playing at Arsenal. Probably best I've played at a top four club" Shawcross- "Top teams influence referees decisions" Asmir- "English referees better than on the continent. They let the game flow more. It's a tough job. Consistency is frustrating. Deano against introduction of technology to the game. Asmir- Howard Webb & Martin Atkinson best refs. Ryan- "So long as we don't go down, I don't care who it is" Asmir thinks Arsenal will win the title. That didn't go down well... Whitehead predicts Wigan, Blackburn, Wolves for the drop and wants Man City in the final.
I think what happened in the the 71 and 72 semi final still rankles with fans plus what's happened over the past couple of years hasn't helped matters.
No we have no time for ArseNIL. Yes 1970's was the main reason for me until we came up in 2008. Then your manager st arted Whinging and has lived upto that name since. His comments about the style of Stoke enraged many Stoke supporters. Furthermore your supporters do nothing to help matters given the reception Ryan got in February. I will assure you that the 2900 supporters that travel will get a right reception. We will also perhaps manage a rendition of 'Chariots of Fire.' This may confuse Arsene Wenger! As you will gather ArseNil are not one of most liked teams.
