Ok here is my take on the whole Pulis thing.
Yes I remember the dark days, (for the look at where we are now boys), and yes I know we were languishing in the league one vicinity.
Pulis did really well to get us to the Prem on a shoestring and limited budget and for that I will be eternally grateful to TP.
BUT and it's a big BUT - We no longer have a limited budget we have a chairman that is probably one of the richest guys in the country and money at his disposal.
Stoke did well last season but it could have been a whole lot better if TP had played Tuncay in midfield as he should have done, fielded the right players in the right positions, grew a pair of balls away from home and not lost to all 3 relegated clubs and the clubs finishing 4th & 5th from bottom! We were 2 wins and a draw away from the dropzone ourselves if you look at it in a cynical way.
Yeah we had a good FA Cup run but again to be fair it was probably one of the easiest we have had in years Cardiiff, Brighton, Wolves, Westham and then Bolton not one of the top 13 clubs until the final where we lost, and has a result got into Europe by default.
Now call me pessimistic but I truly believe with the players we had last season we should of finished higher.
TP cannot line a team up to win away from home and also when winning at home you can bet your mortgage on the 63rd minute off will come an attacker and on will come a defensive midfielder. That makes the last quarter of the game unbearable to watch as we get pounded. How many times have we lost games or let leads slip because of this and yet Pulis makes the same mistake everytime. We should have been in the league Cup Final. Winning away at relegated Westham 0-1 up and off go 2 attackers and on come the defensive. Result we lost and Westham march on to face relegated Birmingham that go on to the final and win against a side we beat 3-1 at home!
All if buts and maybes I know, but the point I make is that TP never seems to learn from his mistakes and will only play to what he knows. The problem with this is that every premier league manager worth his salt has TP's game plan.
The long throw rarely works now, (they know it's coming). 2 games that stick in my mind were Stoke v WBA and Stoke v Wigan. Both managers that day well and truly had Pulis sussed to a T. Both soaked up the pressure until he took off the attackers and then they nailed us. OK WBA took a point off us but Hodgson had already been to Stoke with Liverpool and knew what to expect.
TP will not try anything new and will constantly play his favourites. He openly admits his away tactic is to get to half time 0-0 then have a little pop at them in the second half - how **** is that? and fair on away travelling fans - I don't think so!
As I've said before on here the week of Wembley I spent over £600 on Stoke first instalement of my season tickets £199.50 3 tickets to Wembley 3x £85 3 x £25 coach travel 2 new away tops £84 the Arsenal game £40 and not to mention food drink, programmes etc!
Why am I telling you this? Because after the Wigan game I was more deflated in losing that match than I was at us losing at Wembley. I never expected to beat Man City but hoped we would. I expected us to beat Wigan and I came out of the ground and said to my daughter " I feel like I've just been mugged"
I'm not a Pulis fan as you will all know but I am grateful to him. If he changed his ways and grew a pair of balls I may start to respect him more.
Another incident for me was the night match Stoke v Brum last season. Alex McClesih came out during the warm up and had his picture taken with home fans and his fans. I thought to myself when does Pulis ever really acknowledge his home fans? I know he has his little pre match ritual of running out after the last playing members name is called out, but even after the game he just runs off into the tunnel. He constatly bleats on about the home crowd getting behind the club but what does he give the fans back in return apart from his charity events?
I will be interested to see how next season pans out because I truly believe that unless we bring in a better striker and better midfield players that come Christmas we will be hovering around the relegation zone. 3 really tough home games to start, we can't win away to save our lives, going into Europe with a thread bare squad and players still on the payroll that should be lining up for championship and League one clubs!
I want TP to make me eat my words this window and you can all point the finger at me and laugh. But I somehow don't think it's going to happen!
Yes I remember the dark days, (for the look at where we are now boys), and yes I know we were languishing in the league one vicinity.
Pulis did really well to get us to the Prem on a shoestring and limited budget and for that I will be eternally grateful to TP.
BUT and it's a big BUT - We no longer have a limited budget we have a chairman that is probably one of the richest guys in the country and money at his disposal.
Stoke did well last season but it could have been a whole lot better if TP had played Tuncay in midfield as he should have done, fielded the right players in the right positions, grew a pair of balls away from home and not lost to all 3 relegated clubs and the clubs finishing 4th & 5th from bottom! We were 2 wins and a draw away from the dropzone ourselves if you look at it in a cynical way.
Yeah we had a good FA Cup run but again to be fair it was probably one of the easiest we have had in years Cardiiff, Brighton, Wolves, Westham and then Bolton not one of the top 13 clubs until the final where we lost, and has a result got into Europe by default.
Now call me pessimistic but I truly believe with the players we had last season we should of finished higher.
TP cannot line a team up to win away from home and also when winning at home you can bet your mortgage on the 63rd minute off will come an attacker and on will come a defensive midfielder. That makes the last quarter of the game unbearable to watch as we get pounded. How many times have we lost games or let leads slip because of this and yet Pulis makes the same mistake everytime. We should have been in the league Cup Final. Winning away at relegated Westham 0-1 up and off go 2 attackers and on come the defensive. Result we lost and Westham march on to face relegated Birmingham that go on to the final and win against a side we beat 3-1 at home!
All if buts and maybes I know, but the point I make is that TP never seems to learn from his mistakes and will only play to what he knows. The problem with this is that every premier league manager worth his salt has TP's game plan.
The long throw rarely works now, (they know it's coming). 2 games that stick in my mind were Stoke v WBA and Stoke v Wigan. Both managers that day well and truly had Pulis sussed to a T. Both soaked up the pressure until he took off the attackers and then they nailed us. OK WBA took a point off us but Hodgson had already been to Stoke with Liverpool and knew what to expect.
TP will not try anything new and will constantly play his favourites. He openly admits his away tactic is to get to half time 0-0 then have a little pop at them in the second half - how **** is that? and fair on away travelling fans - I don't think so!
As I've said before on here the week of Wembley I spent over £600 on Stoke first instalement of my season tickets £199.50 3 tickets to Wembley 3x £85 3 x £25 coach travel 2 new away tops £84 the Arsenal game £40 and not to mention food drink, programmes etc!
Why am I telling you this? Because after the Wigan game I was more deflated in losing that match than I was at us losing at Wembley. I never expected to beat Man City but hoped we would. I expected us to beat Wigan and I came out of the ground and said to my daughter " I feel like I've just been mugged"
I'm not a Pulis fan as you will all know but I am grateful to him. If he changed his ways and grew a pair of balls I may start to respect him more.
Another incident for me was the night match Stoke v Brum last season. Alex McClesih came out during the warm up and had his picture taken with home fans and his fans. I thought to myself when does Pulis ever really acknowledge his home fans? I know he has his little pre match ritual of running out after the last playing members name is called out, but even after the game he just runs off into the tunnel. He constatly bleats on about the home crowd getting behind the club but what does he give the fans back in return apart from his charity events?
I will be interested to see how next season pans out because I truly believe that unless we bring in a better striker and better midfield players that come Christmas we will be hovering around the relegation zone. 3 really tough home games to start, we can't win away to save our lives, going into Europe with a thread bare squad and players still on the payroll that should be lining up for championship and League one clubs!
I want TP to make me eat my words this window and you can all point the finger at me and laugh. But I somehow don't think it's going to happen!
