The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

A few words sum up this brilliant video which has been completed less than 24 hours after Luis Suarez tried to cheat his way to a penalty versus Stoke City.

Brilliant, Well Executed, Love it

There’s been lot’s of banter/ abuse since the game and we have even got a new t shirt
CAUTION SUAREZ

Cheating Scouse Forward

http://i.minus.com/iyzrJDtyWPpyY.gif

When we started www.stoketshirts.co.uk I never thought I’d see one of the biggest rock stars in the world wearing one of the shirts that I made. I’m very pleased to say I was wrong.
Here’s Slash – aka Saul Hudson – not only wearing a shirt that I made put actually proudly taking a picture of himself wearing it.

Slash – shirts so good I take pics of myself in them

Now for those of you that don’t know, Slash was bought up in Blurton, Stoke – on – Trent.

His most recent dvd was called Made In Stoke.
It just goes to show, you can take the lad out of Stoke, but you can never take Stoke out of the lad.

Just in case you were wondering where you can look like this ex Guns N Roses sweet child of mine – then pop over to our website where we stock all the official Oatcake Day Merchandise
http://www.stoketshirts.co.uk/webshop/catalog/index.php?cPath=75

We’ll shortly be adding the book “An Oatcake is For Life, Not Just for Breakfast” to the site.

Another episode of “Reasons To Be Cheerful, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” this time the opponents to visit Fortress Britannia were Premier League Champions Manchester City.

Reasons to be Cheerful

Oatcake Front Cover Stoke City vs Man City 15/09/12

25 years on from it’s birth the boys at the Oatcake still make me smile – A cracking front cover 🙂

 


N’Zonzi – I guessed he would start after Dave Kemp singled him out for praise in midweek. An early shout for player of the season!

The sun shines on the righteous

Great performances from the whole team. Marc Wilson was solid, Wilko as gritty as ever and Ryan’s last second clearance was top notch.

The pre match optimism

Crouch getting a decision that I’ve seen so many referees disallow goals for before now. Handball – Was it, wasn’t it? TP said post match  “If Crouchies got away with one,I’m delighted. It makes a change if a small club has got a decision over a big one”                 Crouch said ” yes…. I did handball for the goal… I have to admit… but you have to take the breaks when u get them”

Stoke’s domination of the game, I pinched myself as we kept possession, progression 🙂

Stoke fans raising our game for Man City again – remember the 70th minute roar in our first season at the Brit against them? This wasn’t far away from that.

Man City fans – loved the No Limits Toure song

It’s all gone quiet over there

Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now

Man City fans – sung ’til they went behind, not a patch on their neighbours.

Ballotelli – for a guy built like a brick outhouse he spends too much time lying on the turf.

Teams

Loving this video which shows a young Michael Owen punishing a young goalkeeper (no it’s not Dave Kitson!) who was being coached by Neville Southall for an early coaching video.

If only he was coming to Stoke at that age 🙂

Check it out below

So it’s decision time for TP. Who will make the final squad of 25 for Stoke City in the English Premier League?
His last signing of the season has been made with the arrival of Michael Owen (some of us sort of forecast this back in June – see video)

So who makes your 25?
Will Mama make it alongside Michael?

Please leave us your predictions below as a comment

It took a while to actually get around to this one as I hate losing especially against lower league opposition and it is a massive de motivator. Anyway here we go!

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Team selection – initially I thought TP had picked a strong side, a lot stronger than I initially thought it would be. Surely it would be a formality with the line up selected! How wrong could I have been

“Who Ya Gonna Call?” – Sun on the way to the Brit vs Swindon Town

The Weather – Watching footie at the Brit in my shirtsleeves at nearly 10pm, there won’t be many more days like that this season.

Talking of 10 – We only need 10 men – Well that was I note I made when Crouch equalised in extra time!

A decent away following – Swindon Town

A decent away following from Swindon.

Di Canio – great passion and desire, good moves, be great on Strictly Come Dancing!

Before they scored there was some nice one touch exchanges between Whitehead and Jones which resulted in a sweet volley but it was straight at the keeper.
Another couple of examples of easy on the eye football was when Jones should have done better with a Pennant cross a minute later. Also later in the game when Geoff Cameron decided to take the game to Swindon and carried the ball forward.

The Official Team Sheet Stoke City vs Swindon Town

Half Time seemed a bit surreal and it inspired me to tweet, “Dare I suggest that this is what u get when we rest super Johnnie Walters 🙂 woeful performance NO Desire.” At least he spiced it up a little when he came on with his endless chasing down.

Cameron was decent in patches.

A few players were found wanting and should become surplus to requirements – Sorensen, Shotton & Upson can be counted in that number. Get ’em moved on Tone!

Strange observation was that six of the seven goals were at the Boothen End!

Good physio work on the left back in extra time

Now I should be able to fill a page. Heavens Knows I’m Miserable Now

Sorensen looks off the boil, a poor kick and droppping the ball to gift the goal. He’s a good shot stopper as he proved to save Shotton’s blushes and again later in the game but I’d prefer a keeper that is a steady eddie and is consistent everywhere.

Misplaced passes
Again – where do I start? Shotton, Huth, Whitehead were just a few of the players that were guilty. We were made to look the league one side when Swindon showed how it should be done. Someone said he didn’t think Di Canio would pick some of our players in his side as they haven’t got the basic skill set he demands, I reckon he’s not far wrong.

Not wanting it
No desire in the side, It looked like Swindon had been in our dressing room and stolen all the bottles labelled “PASSION, DESIRE, COMMITMENT”  They played with our passion and got a deserved result.

Sorro’s handling – The back four don’t seem as confident around him as they do Begovic.

Shotton defending the diagonal long ball. Sorensen redeemed it, then we concede a real cheap goal from the resulting corner.

Empty Seddon Stand

The atmosphere – AWFUL! Leave the Seddon open even if the crowd is a sparce one or price the tickets to fill the place!

A fiver a seat wouldn’t have gone amiss!

The Result

Jamie Ness debut – injury stricken midfielder gets an injury shock!

Team Line Ups

Stoke City
29 Sorensen
02 Cameron
04 Huth
12 Wilson
20 Upson
30 Shotton (Ness – 77′ )
07 Pennant
18 Whitehead
21 Kightly
09 Jones (Crouch – 77′ )
33 Jerome (Walters – 77′ )

Substitutes
27 Nash
17 Shawcross
28 Wilkinson
14 Ness
24 Delap
19 Walters
25 Crouch

Swindon Town
01 Foderingham
03 McEveley (Thompson – 98′ )
04 Flint
05 Devera
06 Navarro
10 Ritchie
12 McCormack Booked
18 Miller
09 Collins
16 Williams
23 De Vita (Ferry – 73′ )
Substitutes
30 Bedwell
15 Thompson
32 Smith
07 Rooney
08 Ferry
13 Risser
20 Storey

It was a game of two halves and a bit more!
First half we were woeful, second half we improved, the bit more was more of the same with Swindon deservedly getting through to the next round.

Stoke City v Arsenal 26 August 2012 New Badge Hoarding

Intentons are that just a few of my thoughts from every game I attend this season will be published as a blog.
These will take the form of positive and negative thoughts and observations, Reasons to be cheerful, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.

Not sure how long I’ll keep it up for but as The Ramones once said Hey Ho, Let’s Go!

Reasons To Be Cheerful

KIGHTLY very comfortable on the ball, could be the start of a fresh Pulis approach for potters football. It was great to see the ball bought down and possession retained during the midfield melees.

CAMERON again comfortable with the ball, seemed unusual for Pulis to trust a newbie in such an important game but his presence paid off. Some nice touches, not 100% certain that he was the best player on the pitch but can’t think of many more players that could have took the man of the match award.

LAME SUBSTITUTIONS
To be honest, most premier league teams would love the ability to have Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott being impact substitutions. Wenger launched all three and they were about effective as an ashtray on a motorbike.

PROGRESSION

Was Begovic playing the ball short to the back four real progression or just a tactic to draw Arsenal out from their own half while we lumped it forward? It seemed awkward at times and we nearly got caught short when there was an awkward short back pass. The jury is out on this currently!

THE WEATHER

The heat of the sun on the walk on home will be all but a distant memory in a couple of months. It’s a rare occasion when the sun shines on Ice Station Britannia so let’s hold the memory of that warmth for now.

Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
I would have involved Delap and the monster longthrow at some point. Okay I accept that he’s seen better days and is a squad player now but that the Longthrow has always been Arsenal’s weakness at the Brit and we never really had a quality low trajectory throw that tested their dodgy defence out.

Arsene wearing an invisible straight jacket. We love his histrionics as he bounces up the touchline trying to take off, flapping his duvet, but today he held back and seemed to have his hands tied back as if he’d been Christian Grey’s latest conquest (a reference for the ladies! 50 shades of grey)

Progression

I know it was a reason to be cheerful or is it? We had a year known as the binary season – Most games ended 1-0, 0-0, 0r 0-1. Is this season a return to that style? Not the most entertaining but at least the consistency meant you could make a few quid at the bookies!

Rumour Mill
Asmir off to Chelsea with Daniel Sturridge being loaned to Stoke.

Song of the Day
“Robin Van Persie – He Would Have Scored That”

Most Mentioned non Stoke City Player

Michael Owen who sat on the Goals on Sunday Settee

Michael Owen Joins Goals On Sunday

Line ups
Stoke City:

Begovic, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Pennant, Cameron, Whelan, Kightly, Walters, Crouch.

Subs: Sorensen, Palacios, Jones, Upson, Delap, Shotton, Jerome.

Arsenal:

Mannone, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Podolski, Diaby, Arteta, Cazorla, Gervinho, Giroud.

Subs: Martinez, Santos, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Djourou, Coquelin

Enjoy a few snaps from the day below

Stoke City v Arsenal 26 August 2012 The Stewards have delivered Arsene’s Flak Jacket

Car Park, Bike and Arsene Wenger Mask

Stoke City v Arsenal 26 August 2012 Programme Back

Stoke City v Arsenal 26 August 2012 Pitch view pre match

I’ve been busy looking at statistics of all things to do with Stoke City Football Club and thought it good to share this list of hat tricks scored by Stoke players since 1946.

Can you remember any of them and which was your favourite?

As Tony Pulis carried the olympic torch through the City Centre Hanley, Stoke – on – Trent on it’s way towards Cobridge, Burslem and Middleport a photographer captures an apt picture. I wonder if it’s a reflection on Port Vale’s last few seasons?

To Our Valiant Dead

Stoke offered an apology this afternoon about having nothing to apologise about.

An official spokesman said “We have no Racists, Arrogant ex England Captains, Handshake refusals, Managers that say players are a disgrace to the club, diving cheats or antagonistic French Internationals. In Fact we are really sorry that we have nothing to apologise about.”

“We have been asked on a number of occasions, (usually by the French manager of a once famous North London Club) to apologise about the way we play football, but we refuse to and remind the media that

WE’RE STOKE CITY, WE PLAY HOW WE WANT!”

(ENDS)