Monday 2nd February

Stoke City 1 - Manchester City 0

At long last a day of dogged-determination by the team and undoubted-delight for supporters as the Potters beat all the odds, the officials and the opposition to earn their first victory of 2009!

Certainly Stoke were on top against 'moneybags' Manchester City before Rory Delap was dismissed towards the end of the first-half.  Once again both referee and linesman only saw the Stoke-mans faults and not the two-footed, studs-first tackle by Shaun Wright-Philips nor, remarkably, his whack at Delaps calf whilst lying on the ground!  Everyone else in the stadium and the TV cameras saw it quite easily enough.  Was this the same officials that missed Rooneys clear elbow or Ronaldos equaly clear kick-out at Wilko when the red half of Manchester visited the Brit on Boxing Day?  No, different officials but equally as useless and/or biased towards the 'big-boys' or against Stoke!  Either way, it was all going to be uphill from then on!

Then a break, as right on the stroke of half-time new signings Etherington and Beattie combined to result in the latter getting his head to an inch perfect cross and direct it straight into the keepers bottom-left corner.  One-nil Stoke!  It was set to be a long second-half!

As expected the second period was a siege and Stoke hung on by throwing bodies in the way and assisted by some wayward finishing by Man City, who will surely have been disappointed at the performance of many of their meggabucks misfits.  Still, hang on Stoke did and at the end the sense of relief (it has been a long while since a win) and achievement of the ten men on the field (and the usual 'twelfth man' of the crowd, in this instance the 'eleventh-man'!) was in abundance.

Man City won't go down; they've too much money and too much talent for that - even though their make-up didn't match the passion shown by the Potters.  Stoke could go down but if they continue in the same vein as they did on Saturday then surely they deserve a further bite at the biggest cherry in world football.  Three of the next four see Stoke face Sunderland, Portsmouth and Bolton; true six-pointers if ever there were any.

Then with ten games left the future may be a little clearer, although most are thinking this season will go until the very final whistle!

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Wednesday 28th January

Tottenham Hotspur 3 - Stoke City 1

Once again disappointment for Stokies travelling to the capital but this time it was more disappointment with the team rather than for them!

It really was as though the lessons learned at the very start of the campaign had counted for nothing as the Potters allowed Spurs to run them ragged and sweep to a three-nil lead in a whirlwind half-hour period.  Admittedly Tottenham have a multi-million pound squad and there league position is a rather false one in relation to their overall status but the Potters were simply poor. 

The second half saw an improvement and the first goal for new signing James Beattie - one chance, one goal - which promises well for the new City striker. 

So lessons learned for the Premiership new boys is that mid-season breaks to far off places (they went off to Dubai last week!) are a waste of time if the team come back as tired as they looked at White Hart Lane last night.  Better to stay at home, brave the cold and take some points rather that top-up the suntan and turn out such dross!

A dozen games since a win and Stoke need to do something quick if we are not to find ourselves beyond saving at the foot of the table!  Man City on Saturday and the first of a series if 'six-pointers'.

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Sunday 18th January 2009

Chelsea 2 - Stoke City 1

Disappointment is a word often used by Stoke City supporters but it hardly goes to cover the emotions of travelling Stokies at Stamford Bridge yesterday.  Not so much a disappointment with the team but rather for them as they had taken the lead at the posh-lots place and then weathered the storm unitl the very last minute.  If an equaliser wasn't bad enough for the Blues to get a winner in the fourth minute of 'added' time it was beyond cruel.  Where did that 'added' time come from when the trainer hadn't been on the pitch throughout the entire second half?  All seems designed to suit the big boys!

Extended break now and then back to the smoke for a trip to Spurs a week on Tuesday.

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Sunday 11th January 2009

Stoke City 0 - Liverpool 0

Sometimes it's not easy being a Stoke Supporter.  Let down on numerous occasions, most recently at Hartlepool last week, it has been a true test of loyalty for the last quarter of a century.

Saturdays game with Liverpool, however, was one of those times to enjoy being a Stokie!  Okay, we only drew with the current Premier League leaders but we matched them blow for blow.  Liverpool (Gerrard) clipped the bar and post; City had one Shawcross effort disallowed, saw a Delap rocket crash the underside off the crossbar, Kitson put a narrow-angled shot into the side netting and Whelan come oh so close with a free kick.  It ended nil-nil but City fans may well have thought the Potters were worth all three points on the day.

Whatever happens at the end of the season we can hold our heads up in the knowledge that over three hours of football (the Potters also drew nil-nil at Anfield back in September) one of the best teams in Europe were unable to beat us or even score against us and we gained two valuable points in our battle for top-flight survival.

Next week we face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge; not an easy task in anyones book.  The games coming up following our trip to the Blues include Spurs and Sunderland away, with Man City, Bolton and Portsmouth at home.  Whilst it's great to take a point off the mighty Liverpool it's games against these Clubs in the dog-fight with us that will determine the outcome of our bid for survival.

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS! 

Sunday 4th January 2009

Hartlepool

United 2 – Stoke City 0

The F. A. Cup third round is renowned for throwing up the kind of giant-killings that put fear and dread into football clubs and their supporters at many levels and this years 3^rd round has so far been one of the most memorable in this respect for many seasons. 

Man

City

thrashed at home by

Nottingham

Forest

, non-league Torquay beat former winners Blackpool,

Chelsea

taken to a replay after Southend grabbed a draw at

Stamford

Bridge

and

Derby

only just pipped Forest Green by the odd goal in seven and a late penalty at that!  However

Stoke

City

wouldn’t be

Stoke

City

if they didn’t start things off in style!

Almost a thousand Stokies packed into the tiny Victoria Park ground to witness a Hartlepool United giant-killing which will go down in Potters folklore as one of the worst Stoke F. A. Cup performances in memory.  Okay we had a side out which, apart from Shawcross and Delap, was not our first-choice Premier League line-up but even so the team was largely that which performed well in the Championship last season and progressed to the quarter finals of this seasons League Cup. Even the inclusion of long-term injury absentees Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson as second-half substitutes had no impact on the proceedings.  Quite simply, they Potters should have been good enough to progress past

Hartlepool

but they weren’t!

With the transfer window currently open it is clear that

Stoke

City

need to invest wisely to ensure their Premier League survival.  In fact of the ten outfield players who started the game you would say that only Delap and Shawcross would be included in the first team line-up on this showing and they’re already there!  If the others were ‘playing for a place’ then it appears that they are simply not good enough!

Let us take nothing away from our hosts.  They were keen, battled throughout, rolled their sleeves up and gave their all, in fact they displayed all the characteristics that have become associated with Stoke City in their return to and continuing competitiveness in the top flight.  On this day, however, the tables were turned and it was

Hartlepool

that grabbed the headlines and progress through to the 4^th round.  Good luck to them and we hope they get the type of money-spinning tie that no doubt they are looking for.  I’m sure all Stokies will be watching for who they draw and then how they go on!

So a very poor start to 2009 for the Potters and their supporters but we must try to be positive.  Twenty points at the half-way stage is OK; a half-decent League Cup run but a disappointing F. A. Cup show are what they are.  We must look at this as ‘the end of the beginning’, regroup and come out fighting and make sure it does not develop into ‘the beginning of the end’!  As the saying goes, ‘at least we’ll be able to concentrate on the league!’  Onwards and upwards!

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Monday 29th December 2008

West Ham United 2 – Stoke City 1

A seasonal trip to the capital saw City take on the Hammers at something called the ‘Boleyn’ stadium (didn’t it used to be ‘Upton Park’?) with the Potters still looking for their first Premier League away win.  A Stoke goal inside the first five minutes gave their supporters hope that a victory could just be on the cards against a West Ham side whose form has been much improved recently.  First half over, City still a goal up and looking good.

United come out fired up for the second half and a Griffin clearance gets blocked and falls fortunately for the Hammers forward who neatly curls a shot around Sorenson in the Stoke goal.  Whilst most City fans watch the replay on the giant video screens a bit of ‘argie-bargie’ takes place in the centre circle and top goal scorer Fuller is shown the red card for apparently striking his Stoke captain Griffin.

Its backs against the wall as the Potters hang on against the Hammers onslaught, restricted to the odd breakaway opportunity, until a late, late goal gives the home side all three points.  Insult added to injury as the winning goal is clearly seen to be offside, as confirmed by those giant video screens but nevertheless the Potters are forced to come home once again empty handed. 

Disappointing that an ‘in house’ squabble cost us the game and also that those refereeing decisions are, once again, questionable.  It’s not right to strike anyone on the pitch but how come a Stoke player gets sent off for slapping a team mate when a Chelsea ‘superstar’ (Ballack) only got booked during a recent game for a more severe slap on a West Brom opponent?   At West Ham a Stoke player gets booked for flicking the ball five yards away when it’s a City throw-in, whilst a Hammers player goes in two-footed against Danny Pugh just before the break (he had to go off just after the break!) and yet gets no punishment at all!

Once again it appears that not only do the Premier Leagues new-boys have to contend with trying to compete on a squad-size and bank-balance front but also are faced with biased and inconsistent match officials and not just against the so-called ‘big-boys’.  With Liverpool (h) and Chelsea (a) as our next two Premier fixtures it’s difficult to see us getting a decent refereeing decision in the forthcoming weeks, let alone where our next points may be coming from!  Not to worry we’ll keep on smiling and with a repeat of the first half of the season in 2009 we may just prove many wrong by maintaining out top-flight status.

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Saturday 27th December 2008

Stoke City 0 – Manchester United 1

Stokies in their mid-thirties and above, at least those with a romanticising tendency, looked to the Boxing Day fixture with Manchester United as a chance to rekindle the past.  More than two decades ago, when the Potters were last in the top-flight, Man Utd were the Boxing Day visitors and the City victory that day was one of only three in a season which saw the Club achieve a record low points tally (seventeen) and sent them down to their lowest ever period in their long history.  It has been a long, long climb back but realists must surely accept that we still have a long way to go to be able to topple top Clubs on a regular basis; the fact that United had about £100,000,000 worth of players on the bench only went to support this view!

All that said, however and it must be agreed that on the day the Potters gave it their best shot! 

As the game drew towards the closing stages it was still 0-0; City had fought the Champions blow-for-blow and whilst you couldn’t exactly guarantee that the home side would snatch the victory they certainly looked the most likely at that stage.  That was until Andy Wilkinson got drew into Ronaldos trap and a rather rash challenge saw him get a second booking (the first booking had been at best borderline!) and an early bath.  United went on to win it with a late goal from the hard-working Tevez.

The facts are that Wilkinson should not have been sent off because Ronaldo himself should not have been on the pitch at that stage after petulantly kicking out at Wilko who had dared to take the ball off him via an old-fashioned tackle!  Had the officials not been wearing their Mancunian-tinted spectacles Wayne Rooney would also have seen red for a clear elbow on Faye which was seen by everyone in the stadium and on TV but not by the linesman and referee standing only yards away.  Incredible! 

How these cheating players and, at best, incompetent officials can sleep at nights I’ll never know.  Fair or at least even-handed refereeing, would have seen the game take a different course and those romantic-minded Stokies may indeed have had their Christmas wish!

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Sunday 21st December 2008

Blackburn 3 – Stoke City 0

For the past few weeks I had quietly fancied our pre-Christmas trip to Ewood Park as the best opportunity for Stoke to pick up their first ever away win in the Premier League.  The Lancashire outfit were on a poor run, down in confidence and with manager Paul Ince under the cosh from supporters and the media the chance was there for the Potters to pinch the points.

Unfortunately Blackburn officials hadn’t read my script!  Not only did they dispose of Mr. Ince early last week but they appointed ‘big’ Sam Allardyce in time for the weekend!  Big Sam will never be so lucky again!  His new side were three-nil up on the half-hour and I’m sure they had only ventured into our half four times by then.  City were left to chase the game and were always going to struggle to claw back from a three-goal defecit against a Rovers side that were no better than them but brimmed confidence.

A massive Stoke following (almost 5000) were left to consider what might have been and look towards a Boxing Day clash with Man Utd for the next Premier points.

I have said before that personally I was looking to get twenty-one points by Christmas, although it is understood that the Football Club had targeted the twenty points now accrued.  With Man Utd (home on Boxing Day) and Liverpool (home January 10^th) and a tricky trip to West Ham sandwiched in between, all followed by a jaunt to Stamford Bridge realistically it is difficult to see where we may be able to add to that points tally during the next month.  Still, isn’t this the time of year when miracles can happen?  At the very least is the season of ‘giving’ and ‘goodwill to all men’!

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

And finally, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all ‘real’ football supporters, whatever your colours may be!

Sunday 14th December 2008

Stoke City 0 – Fulham 0

Not the best game you will ever see, that’s for certain but a point for a Potters side reduced to virtually last seasons Championship side due to a long list of absentees.  Of the ten outfield players only the two centre backs were Premier League arrivals (okay you could add Danny Higginbotham but he did play for us in the Championship two seasons ago!).  The situation was made even worse when Mama Sidibe was stretchered off after a few minutes and the depleted City side struggled to get to grips with a slick passing Fulham side for the first half-hour.

The only ‘highlights’ of the first period, however, was a close effort by City striker Richard Cresswell and a good shout for a penalty for the Londoners which the officials missed.  Other than that the only other point of note was a feigned head-butt injury by a Fulham defender which would have earned him an Oscar had it been part of a Hollywood movie and not the great game of English football, revered the whole world over and played by (supposedly!) true professionals.  The Fulham man was a disgrace and had the useless referee read the incident properly he would have surely have booked him, although a sending off would not have been too harsh for this cheat!

So, as Stoke came back into the game towards the break it could have been 1-0 to Fulham but with the visitors down to ten men.  This would surely have lead to goals in a second period during which City came out on top but only to be disappointed that they couldn’t break the deadlock.

Whilst City could only grind out a 0-0 draw with the Cottagers a milestone was reached as the Potters arrived at the twenty point target which they had (apparently) got in mind at the start of the season.  The current points-per-game rate would see Stoke amassing 44 points by the end of their first campaign in the Premier League; surely survival?  Of course ‘football’s a funny old game’ and nothing is quite as straightforward as that and Tony Pulis and his boys have got to dig deep and pull out a magnificent second-half to the season to ensure things go to plan.

Personally I was looking to get twenty-one points by Christmas as I am thinking that Man Utd (home on Boxing Day) and Liverpool (home January 10^th) may not offer much return and a tricky trip to West Ham sandwiched in between may similarly be a difficult option in terms of adding to the points tally.  That leaves Saturday’s trip to Blackburn rovers as possibly the Potters best chance in the next four games to add to our twenty point total! 

The Lancashire side are struggling at the moment and manager Paul Ince is under pressure; at least from the vulture-like media!  Stoke will be bolstered by almost 5,000 supporters and the atmosphere is set to be like a Britannia Stadium home match but the game could easily go either way and Stokes visit could be the one which saves the former England stars job at the helm or, indeed, the final straw which ends it!  As a Stokie I don’t really care what happens at other Clubs but I would like an early Christmas present if Tony Pulis and the lads can oblige with our first Premier away win!

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!

Sunday 7th December 2008

Newcastle United 2 - Stoke City 2

The League Cup quarter-final defeat against local rivals Derby County earlier in the week apparently left Stoke with a hangover which saw them go two goals down to Michael Owen and Newcastle United and looking dead-and-buried by the break.

Talk about a ‘game of two halves’!  The Potters came out for the second half like a totally different side.  The insertion of substitute Ricardo Fuller ten minutes into the second period completed the rejuvenation and goals by Mama Sidibe and Abdoulaye Faye secured a point for City and their jubilant and vociferous following.  The facts are that Newcastle rarely ventured into the Stoke half during the final forty-five minutes and if there had been a further 5-10 minutes the Staffordshire boys may well have won!

City then still look for their first Premier League away win but will be pleased that a battling show earned just rewards at St. James’s Park.

Whilst I usually try not to comment too much on our opposition you have to fear for Newcastle if the ever-clinical Owen moves on, either in January or next summer, as the case may be.  Fifty games has taken a while to be reached but an average strike rate of better than one-in-two would be missed by any side, let alone one without the strength in depth of the top-top Clubs.  Newcastle is a football-mad place and their supporters deserve better than they are getting.

On a separate note, the visit to St. James’s was a bit like the recent trip to Old Trafford in terms of the stadium itself, other than the Geordie Club being only fully redeveloped on two sides.  The whole atmosphere at Newcastle, however, was 100% better!  Whilst at Manchester the supporters, stewards and police were arrogant, ignorant and confrontational there were few such problems on Saturday.  And as for the so-called ‘supporters’ at Old Trafford, well they could really learn something from Newcastle supporters starved of success for decades and yet still supporting their local Club through ‘thin and thinner’. 

How many Manchester United fans would there be if they hadn’t won anything for forty years?  I think we all know the answer!

Fulham at home at the weekend and the chance to break the target ‘twenty point’ mark before Christmas.  Onwards and upwards!

COME ON YOU RIP-ROARING POTTERS!