...ok, perhaps not.
If there is one thing that myself and Carrabuh will always agree on its Stoke City! Anti-football, hoofball... call it what you want - if its effective and breeds results the manager will be given leeway; at this time the results are not good. I spoke to a number of Potters fans after the game and all agreed that they are growing tired of Pulis' tactics and lame excuses. This was interesting as I bizarrely remember having a chat 12 months ago with one of those fans. He didn't recall this but a year ago he was full of praise for Pulis and exclaimed that Norwich would have to adapt their pretty passing game to get results in the top flight. He was right. We did have to 'mix it up', but Stoke are on another planet altogether with their particular take on 'football'.
Pulis' selective memory is also causing concern and ridicule. His assessment of the Adam dive was correct to a degree. He shouldn't have been booked and he should have received a free kick - but did he not go unpunished early 2nd half for a blatant dive? It was hardly a fleeting glimpse of Stoke's inability to stay on their feet. Walters, Whelan and Crouch all took it in turns to pretend to be Tom Daley. Interestingly, the one Norwich player to 'go down easily', Robert Snodgrass, was also rewarded with a free kick. Was he fouled? It happened right next to me and yes, he was clipped. Was it soft? Absolutely. Would the Adam 'foul' have been a soft free kick? Absolutely. Ref got it wrong by giving him a yellow but overall the referee's poor decision making cost us more than our visitors. Etherington was remarkably fortunate to stay on the field after petulantly lashing out at Bassong, in full view of the linesman who ignored it. Crouch seemed to think he was a basketball player at one point with not one, but two handball's in a matter of seconds.
I don't want to have to talk about all this nonsense but unfortunately the match was a complete waste of time. There was a period in the 2nd half, maybe lasting as long as half an hour, where I gave up - it became unwatchable. If anybody tells me Stoke are adapting their game and trying to play more football, I will ignore them, regardless of how strong the argument. This was as bad as it gets. 'Give the ball to Begovic - hoof the ball to Crouch - head the ball to Walters - dive'. And so 'Plan A' continued until the game entered the latter stages when 'Plan B' was put into action. 'Give the ball to Begovic - hoof the ball to Crouch or Jones - head the ball to Walters - dive'. Still no reward for Stoke's inventive tactics. So to 'Plan C'. 'Give the ball to Begovic - hoof the ball to Crouch, Jones or Shawcross - dive'. Yes, that's right - Walters had gone off by then.
For Norwich, it was a deserved win under a barrage of hoisted and 2nd balls. A triumph for football? Not really, as we ourselves got dragged down to our opponents extremely low level - ironic as their level of football is generally in the stratosphere. It came as no surprise - I've seen Man City get dragged into a game of 'hoof' against Stoke. What we can take out of the game, apart from the three points, was an exceptional defensive performance, despite the loss of two first choice defenders during the match. Tettey once again was outstanding. He has made the crucial difference. He and Hoolahan. I can't commend Hughton enough for what he has achieved in the last three weeks. He has sorted us out. Totally. Players know their roles, the system suits them. They have always been good players but the key thing is the good morale seems to have returned, both on and off the pitch.
Last season we would have drawn this match - indeed, under exactly the same circumstances we did! We need to score more goals and take more of our chances but its so pleasing to know that if we get a goal, we aren't frantically scratching around to get a second. We can win games when we don't play well now. We can win games when we aren't firing in front of goal. We can win games by being a good solid unit. People may want to see 7-5's and 5-4's - I do if I'm being honest - but I also want to see my team become established in this very difficult league. We have the right man in charge to achieve that.
I often say football teams play in the image of their manager. It certainly is true of Stoke. An obnoxious and ugly personality in charge of an obnoxious and ugly football team. Pulis seems to have more effective plans and tactics during his tirades at referees than he does to use for his own team on the field - that says a lot. He "wears the club shop" and "he looks like a chav"... both funny chants. They were just about the only moments that I enjoyed on Saturday, well, except the goal and the final whistle. Thank god we don't have to put up with that nonsense every single week. I'd happily pay £30 a week to never watch it again.
OTBC IHWT
If there is one thing that myself and Carrabuh will always agree on its Stoke City! Anti-football, hoofball... call it what you want - if its effective and breeds results the manager will be given leeway; at this time the results are not good. I spoke to a number of Potters fans after the game and all agreed that they are growing tired of Pulis' tactics and lame excuses. This was interesting as I bizarrely remember having a chat 12 months ago with one of those fans. He didn't recall this but a year ago he was full of praise for Pulis and exclaimed that Norwich would have to adapt their pretty passing game to get results in the top flight. He was right. We did have to 'mix it up', but Stoke are on another planet altogether with their particular take on 'football'.
Pulis' selective memory is also causing concern and ridicule. His assessment of the Adam dive was correct to a degree. He shouldn't have been booked and he should have received a free kick - but did he not go unpunished early 2nd half for a blatant dive? It was hardly a fleeting glimpse of Stoke's inability to stay on their feet. Walters, Whelan and Crouch all took it in turns to pretend to be Tom Daley. Interestingly, the one Norwich player to 'go down easily', Robert Snodgrass, was also rewarded with a free kick. Was he fouled? It happened right next to me and yes, he was clipped. Was it soft? Absolutely. Would the Adam 'foul' have been a soft free kick? Absolutely. Ref got it wrong by giving him a yellow but overall the referee's poor decision making cost us more than our visitors. Etherington was remarkably fortunate to stay on the field after petulantly lashing out at Bassong, in full view of the linesman who ignored it. Crouch seemed to think he was a basketball player at one point with not one, but two handball's in a matter of seconds.
I don't want to have to talk about all this nonsense but unfortunately the match was a complete waste of time. There was a period in the 2nd half, maybe lasting as long as half an hour, where I gave up - it became unwatchable. If anybody tells me Stoke are adapting their game and trying to play more football, I will ignore them, regardless of how strong the argument. This was as bad as it gets. 'Give the ball to Begovic - hoof the ball to Crouch - head the ball to Walters - dive'. And so 'Plan A' continued until the game entered the latter stages when 'Plan B' was put into action. 'Give the ball to Begovic - hoof the ball to Crouch or Jones - head the ball to Walters - dive'. Still no reward for Stoke's inventive tactics. So to 'Plan C'. 'Give the ball to Begovic - hoof the ball to Crouch, Jones or Shawcross - dive'. Yes, that's right - Walters had gone off by then.
For Norwich, it was a deserved win under a barrage of hoisted and 2nd balls. A triumph for football? Not really, as we ourselves got dragged down to our opponents extremely low level - ironic as their level of football is generally in the stratosphere. It came as no surprise - I've seen Man City get dragged into a game of 'hoof' against Stoke. What we can take out of the game, apart from the three points, was an exceptional defensive performance, despite the loss of two first choice defenders during the match. Tettey once again was outstanding. He has made the crucial difference. He and Hoolahan. I can't commend Hughton enough for what he has achieved in the last three weeks. He has sorted us out. Totally. Players know their roles, the system suits them. They have always been good players but the key thing is the good morale seems to have returned, both on and off the pitch.
Last season we would have drawn this match - indeed, under exactly the same circumstances we did! We need to score more goals and take more of our chances but its so pleasing to know that if we get a goal, we aren't frantically scratching around to get a second. We can win games when we don't play well now. We can win games when we aren't firing in front of goal. We can win games by being a good solid unit. People may want to see 7-5's and 5-4's - I do if I'm being honest - but I also want to see my team become established in this very difficult league. We have the right man in charge to achieve that.
I often say football teams play in the image of their manager. It certainly is true of Stoke. An obnoxious and ugly personality in charge of an obnoxious and ugly football team. Pulis seems to have more effective plans and tactics during his tirades at referees than he does to use for his own team on the field - that says a lot. He "wears the club shop" and "he looks like a chav"... both funny chants. They were just about the only moments that I enjoyed on Saturday, well, except the goal and the final whistle. Thank god we don't have to put up with that nonsense every single week. I'd happily pay £30 a week to never watch it again.
OTBC IHWT
