The Pulis Out/In Debate:

@StokeLoudProud: Tony Scholes admits they have a plan B for life in the Championship, but still expects to be in the Premier Legue next season. #SCFC

 

Well there's a surprise!!
And Scholes cut of the £60 million is...

 

We shouldn't have needed a plan b, just a football manager because the squad is good enough.

Letter to the management,

Dear Miss!!!!

 

I was just thinking guys - we were all wrong! There has always been a plan B, we just didnt realise in TP's eyes it was relegation!

 

Smithers,

The problem is that was probably plan A aswell!!

 

To the tune of I will Survive:

“At first we were afraid we were petrified,
Kept thinking we could never win without Delap in the side.
Then we spent so many millions, still thinking TP was wrong,
But we stayed strong and learned how to get along.

But now we are gash, we’ve lost the thread
We turn up to find you standing there, that stupid cap upon your head.
Coates should have changed that bloody lock, he should have thrown away the key
If he'd considered just for one moment why you'd bought Arismendi.

Go on now go, walk out the door.
Just turn around now, your football's become a total bore.
Weren't you the one who tried to bull us with this lie.
"That if it’s a bit too windy, then Palacios might fly"

Oh no not us, were all nonplussed
And as long as Stoke play bonus games, we know he will park the bus.
He's got nothing left to give, nor his sidekick Kemp "the div"
But we'll survive.....we MUST survive ...hey hey”


I for one hope you stay up. Good bunch of fans, good squad - will be bettr to watch and far more likeable once TP has gone.

 

Brilliant mate!

 

A great read and well worth a look - it also has us relegated!

Without dwelling too much on Saturday’s result, it’s safe to say that Queen’s Park Rangers’ Premier League adventure all but ended thanks to the defeat at Goodison Park – and then subsequent Sunderland victory on Sunday. Ten points adrift of safety, five games to go and even my D in Maths can work out that Rangers need a miracle to save the top flight skins. Especially when you consider the level of performance from Harry Redknapp’s team at the weekend, when, after some flashes of bright spots in the first half, looked as though they all but gave in once Daron Gibson fired the Toffees in front. It meant the second half was more like a training game for the home side, and they never needed to venture out of second gear once Anichebe had settled the game before the hour mark. Not exactly the fight you’d expect from a team scrapping for their lives, in this golden goose of a Premier League season.

Yet they say it’s the hope that kills you, and despite not feeling like I had an ounce of hope left in me after the R’s trip to Merseyside I decided to take to BBC’s predictor app and see how far off Rangers would be come the final day. However to my surprise, after second-guessing every result for the remainder of the campaign, I looked at the final table to see QPR pull off modern-day miracle and avoid inevitable relegation. How in Wegerle’s name had that happened? Well, without aiming to do so, I had gone and predicted five wins out of five for Harry’s men that would leave them on 39 points and see Reading, Wigan and Stoke fall through the Premier League trap door. Could this be? After another Saturday night ruined by a QPR result, how have I managed to predict such a ridiculous outcome to such a horrendous season? So I went back and did it again, and really thought about the games Rangers had left, along with the teams around them and their fixtures. And yet again I came up with the same conclusion, and that five wins could well mean there’s still some small light at the end of this Mark Hughes laden tunnel.

So I went one step further, just to make sure I’m not going mad and wrote down the reasons why I think QPR can win their last five remaining games and pull of what Sky would no doubt call ‘The Greatest Escape of All’! Forget the lethargic performance on Saturday, ignore the ‘dedication’ shown by Granero and Park, and focus what could yet save Rangers top-flight status.

Standings before Saturday, and assuming Manchester City beat Wigan on Wednesday.

16 Stoke 33 34

17 Aston Villa 33 34

18 Wigan 32 31

19 QPR 33 24

20 Reading 33 24

Stoke (H)

This whole last thread of optimism hinges on this Saturday’s game with a Stoke side, who are frankly in free-fall right now. Only one win in 2013, and on a run of six defeats that was only separated by a goalless draw with West Brom – no wonder Michael Owen is quitting. The fans are turning on Tony Pulis and they look like team who’ve forgotten how to win football games. Loftus Road will be nervy, much like the Wigan game but you feel an early goal would see the Potters heads drop and give Rangers win one on this unlikely last chance.

On the same weekend; Reading lose at Norwich, Wigan draw at West Ham, Manchester United batter Villa.

16 Stoke 34 34

17 Aston Villa 34 34

18 Wigan 33 32

19 QPR 34 27

20 Reading 34 24

Reading (A)

A six pointer like no other before it and win or bust for Reading. I think it will be the home side who will come out all guns blazing, and Rangers will have to withstand some heavy pressure. However, the key is the long game here, and if QPR can keep it goalless and then nick a goal on the break – it could be the end of the Royals and the continuation of a run for Harry’s side.

On the same weekend; Stoke draw with Norwich, Spurs beat Wigan in their fight for fourth. Villa pull clear with a win over Sunderland.

16 Sunderland 35 35

17 Stoke 35 35

18 Wigan 34 32

19 QPR 35 30

20 Reading 35 24



Arsenal (H)

The biggest question mark for me. This could be the day QPR fans believe in the dream ending or it all comes crashing down with a bang. Last season Rangers recorded a memorable win at Loftus Road over the Gunners, with Adel Taarabt the key. I think he could have a big say here too, the kind of game Adel’s relishes with a team fresh off the back of back-to-back wins. We’ve seen that Arsenal are vulnerable this season and with new momentum and a noisy Loftus Road QPR pull off the victory.

On the same weekend; Wigan only draw at West Brom, Sunderland beat Stoke at the Stadium of Light.

16 Aston Villa 36 38

17 Stoke 36 35

18 QPR 36 33

19 Wigan 35 33

20 Reading 36 25

Newcastle (H)

After Wigan gain a much needed win over Swansea in the midweek, Rangers play their final home game, as a packed out Loftus Road welcomes Newcastle. The Magpies will still have their own slight relegation concerns, but having beaten Liverpool the week before would only need a point to be sure. Rangers, however, could move out the bottom three with a win, and buoyed by the last home crowd of the season Remy nets the winner against his former suitors.

On the same weekend; Stoke lose to Spurs

16 Newcastle 37 38

17 QPR 37 36

18 Wigan 36 36

19 Stoke 37 35

20 Reading 25

Liverpool (A)

We all know how the last day often throws up random results, and with Liverpool ready for their summer holidays QPR have the chance to pull off the great escape at Anfield. Of course The Reds will want to sign off in style, and will remain favourites for the game, but I can see this being the R’s ‘David Weatherall’ moment as they finally get that slice of luck they’ve been deprived off this season and nick the game 1-0.

On the same day; With Wigan having lost to Arsenal in midweek, they slip up at Villa Park by only gaining a draw, Stoke fail to beat Southampton.

Final standings

16 Sunderland 38 39

17 QPR 38 39

18 Wigan 38 37

19 Stoke 28 36

20 Reading 38 25

It’s blind hope yes, and those aren’t tactical analysis of the games or even valid reasons for QPR to pull it off. While I seem to have forgotten some of players ‘fight’ from Saturday amongst those games. But what it does show that it can still be done, and there is one final roll of the dice if these Rangers players are up for it.

Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? Probably. Hopeful? Unfortunately so.

 

Seems cut and dried doesn't it?
If only life was so simple.

Jesus Christ Superstar!!

Look how far we have come

 

Can't see it myself, once Pulis unleashes the squadron of flying porkers we'll be saved, and home in time for tea!!

 

With lashings of ginger beer - how jolly spiffing.

 

Sunderland fan Michael Graham believes Stoke have lost their identity this season and must dismiss Tony Pulis this summer to find a new one.


Around the turn of the century, Peter Reid took me on a tremendous footballing journey.


Somewhere, lodged in the back of my throat I still had the bitter taste of seeing Sunderland play third-tier football. I could still see the hapless managerial reigns of Terry Butcher and Mick Buxton, which were so bleak my mind’s eye recorded them in black and white.


These days, Sunderland are engulfed in a fight to retain their Premier League status for a seventh successive season. Back then, the idea of just being at this level and competitive was total fantasy.


Reid changed all that. He gave Sunderland genuine top-of-the-table scraps with Manchester United. He gave Sunderland a European Golden Boot winner. They were golden times but memories are all that remain. It counted for very little.


Sadly, that team was built upon unsustainable grounds. It fed off a Stadium of Light crowd who were only going to stay fervent as long as the novelty value stayed intact or was topped-up with something else to stimulate the passion.


In addition, it relied upon a talismanic ageing striker (Niall Quinn) who was never adequately replaced and probably taken for granted by the management to too great an extent.


Ultimately, the laurels to which Reid owed his Sunderland legacy were gradually rested upon, and the club dropped like a stone as a result.


The reason I am mentioning this is that, if you change one or two of the names and peripheral details, you could easily be describing the Premier League times of Stoke City.


They arrived in the top flight on something of a wing and a prayer, but as a united club fiercely committed to making the very most of it. The cauldron of noise that the Britannia Stadium generated was the envy of just about every other club, and the players provided the response it deserved.


It wasn’t always pretty, but no one ever said it had to be. It was effective, rousing, and it worked for them. Whether you loved it or hated it, it was a great underdog story and the manager, Tony Pulis, was its author.


The other thing it was, of course, was unsustainable.


Football writers and pundits have been saying for years that the club must evolve to continue prospering. Stoke fans have, too. It isn’t as if this cliff they are currently staring over the edge of has crept up on them.


It has been on the horizon for a long time and sign-posted so incandescently that you could have easily been forgiven for mistaking it for Las Vegas.


Just like Fortress Stadium of Light before it, Fortress Britannia is no more. Since the turn of the year both West Ham and Aston Villa have come away from the Potteries with reasonably comfortable wins whilst Wigan and West Brom have left with a point a piece.


No disrespect to the teams mentioned, but such fixtures in front of their own fans (though Wigan have a surprisingly good record at the Brit of late) have been Stoke’s bread and butter for the last few years.


Stoke are 1/8 to stay up this season with Paddy Power but have been cut to 4/1 to be relegated. New customers are entitled to a £20 free bet.


For Niall Quinn, you can also read Ricardo Fuller, who was a huge protagonist in the Stoke City story.


He provided the spark of magic and belief that ignited the home crowd. He was something of a maverick who could produce something out of nothing, and the crowd connected with him because they knew he could tip the scales in even the tightest of contests.


There is obviously a lot more to Stoke’s decline than releasing Fuller, but neither is it fully coincidental that they have apparently lost the ability to arrest a slide the season after releasing him.


Ultimately it has all boiled down to two words that have, for me, encapsulated the root of Stoke’s troubles this year – identity crisis.


They have been caught in a footballing no-man’s land between what they used to be and what they believe they need to be in order to progress and have wound up being neither. The things they needed to retain and take forward to be part of Stoke v2.0 – things such as the attitude, incisive wing play, and defensive accountability – have been left behind.


If they are going to survive, then they need to re-discover them and they need to do it quickly. And, if they do survive, there needs to be a messy inquest to ensure the mistakes of this season are not repeated. If that means callously casting aside the manager to whom they are indebted for the journey, then so be it.


That may sound harsh. Some may assert that he deserves a chance to put things right. Personally, I say that he has already had that chance and failed. There isn’t enough loyalty in football these days, but Pulis is not the right recipient of whatever remains.


Whatever happens, the story that Stoke are currently telling – even if they don’t realise it – is drawing to a conclusion in one form or another, and I have seen this story before. In fact I have lived it first hand. I can assure you it’s not a nice ending.


If Stoke are going to avoid the same fate then they need to find themselves a new author. It really is the only way.


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D'ye know, that is without doubt the very best and most perceptive and objective post I have had the pleasure of reading

It is a post that I am incapable of writing.

 

Brilliant post by that Sunderland fan.. just brilliant.

Thanks Smithers.

 

Smithers,

Really good post mate and as he said, we have all seen this coming for a long time.

 

I already said before on here we have not been the same side since Peter Reid left. he actually had a footballing brain unlike the deluded fool we have at the helm now with his muppet side kick Dave Kemp!

 

I agree 100% and with inside knowledge can confirm that the better approach brought to the table was simply pushed to one side.

 

Pulis out

 

Its about time you started contributing to your own thread!

 

ha ha yeah