The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

For the first time since 1972 Stoke City are in the semi finals of the FA Cup.  I watched it in the pub and it was a good turnout for a  Sunday night midnight KO.  The cup has retained enough magic to persuade people to go to work with a hangover!  We started the game at a furious pace and it was refreshing to be able to keep the ball in the attacking third.  If the nature of our play was a refreshing change, the source of our first goal was very familiar!  The Delapidator providing Huthwho responded with another powerful header.  As our very own Berlin wall wheeled away in delight that could be the first time we’ve ever seen him smile!  Perhaps the most pleasing thing about our performance was the way we bounced back after experiencing adversity.  Piquionne’s goal shouldn’t have counted but the baffling thing is how none of the officials saw the handball.  We immediately tore into them after the break and were (fortuitously in my opinion) awarded a penalty.  One question that has to be asked is why Etherington took it when Higginbotham was on the pitch?  It was great to hear the crowd’s support for Ethers afterwards…an example of  the unity we need.  That miss could have proved fatal but we continued to grind away and it Higginbotham who regained the lead for us with a sweetly struck free kick.  For one awful moment I feared the ref hadn’t seen the ball cross the line but there was nothing to worry about on that score.   All that remained was to cling on for 27 more agonising  minutes.  A few near misses came and went.  Then some close misses came and went.  When the fourth official held up the board to say four minutes of injury time it might as well have said 40.  The minutes ticked painfully away and eventually we became FA Cup semi finalists.  Shortly after the end of the game a mate came to tell me we’d drawn Bolton in the semi.  This was the thrill of a lifetime.  I’m not one to prematurely evaluate the quantity of poultry.  Any team you face will cause you problems but we all know, without being arrogant, that it could have been much worse.  Will we ever have a better chance to reach an FA Cup Final?  I don’t doubt Bolton fans will be asking themselves the same question.  Hopefully this will bolster our league form too.  We really do have the taste of  Wembley in our nostrils!

TEAMS CAN’T TOP US  FLOODS CAN’T TOP US.  So said the banners from the River City Crew… an exuberant group of Brisbane Roar fans.  The occasion was the Grand final of the Australian league, AKA the A-League.  Since the league started in 2005 many of the headlines have been grabbed by financial issues. It’s frustrating at times to spend time discussing receivership and takeovers when corners and free kicks are a  more favourable conversation topic.  Thankfully, the football grabbed the media attention at the weekend.  Rightly so.  Seeing over 50,000 packed into SuncorpStadium for a football match brought a lump to the throat.  A noisy sea of orange with a pre match performance by Brisbane band Regurgitator.   It was a special occasion even before the teams  walked out onto the pitch.  Fittingly, the game itself was a footballing classic.  Brisbane’s opponents were Central Coast Mariners, a team who lack the style and panache of their opponents but play with purpose and tactical discipline.  Central Coast had  most of the early exchanges but Brisbane played their way into the game with intelligent possession football.   Half time was 0-0 but it was a gripping encounter.  The second half consisted  of  huge rainfall and Brisbane hammering the Central Coast goal.  Attack after attack yet each wave of orange was stifled by increasingly impressive defending.  Full time was 0-0 which led us into extra time.  As extra time started it felt as if we’d been in the stadium for hours and hours, the 4pm kick off time was a distant memory.  But kick off time  came and it really was 4pm again because Central Coast were the better side.  This time however they scored.  The vast majority of the crowd were stunned into silence.   Central Coast smelt the disbelief in the home crowd (and team) and had the audacity to score again.  This wasn’t meant to happen.  As the game was played out to a background of  fluorescent orange silence I reflected on the Liverpool team of 1988.  Despite being a great team they found the FA cup final  just one game too many.  They had the style and the skill but couldn’t  raise themselves one last time to secure the double… remember too they were up against a solid underrated opponent in Wimbledon.  For Liverpool 1988 see Brisbane 2011. As I sat pondering this and wondering if any of the hundreds streaming out of the ground would return next season, Brisbane broke and scored.  the orange came to life again!  There was two minutes to rescue an entire seasons work.  Piling forward a late corner was won, the final chance to save the season.  The corner was deep and a Brisbane head met it to send it into the top corner of the net.  Pandemonium.  The ferocity of the ensuing mental was raucous and heartfelt.  The whole stadium embracing itself with joy!  Impressively, despite the hive of activity, not one drop of my beer was spilt, that’s class!  With three minutes of extra time left Brisbane were 0-2 down but had again bounced back to save the unbeaten record and take us all into a penalty shootout.  There was no doubt Brisbane would win the shootout.  And they did 4-2.  Central Coast were devastated.  All that remained was to see captain Matty Mckay lift the trophy that resembles a toilet seat (honestly) then to the pub for some serious celebrating!  Then on to watch an FA Cup quarter final between Stoke and West Ham.  Two games in one day and they both worked out right!  I love football.  HAPPY DAYS!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watchv=4OWnd4ndAnE

Against Milan  Spurs played with admirable discipline. Discipline they have lacked for so long.  Throughout the tie Milan had far more possession yet created little worthy of mention.  In the second half at White Hart Lane Spurs seemed to accept Milan’s territorial superiority and responded accordingly by sitting deep.  Pato was a livewire, making darting runs across the width of the frontline but Ibrahimovic was subdued.  For a player of his stature to be so uninvolved in a game…. when he’s the kind of player you need to turn the game your way  was baffling.  Not that Arry will be complaining.  For many years Spurs have had talented sides but often fallen short because of careless defensive errors.  Twoseriously big  European games against Milan and two clean sheets.  In the competition’s current format Arry is the first English manager to take a side to the quarter final.  This is Arry’s finest hour.

The last decade has been awash with media speculation regarding Alex Ferguson’s retirement and successor.  There have again been suggestions that this could be his last season.  One report suggested that if Man Utd win the league again he’d be ready to abdicate.  Of all the words devoted to the subject in the last ten years, the idea he’ll bow out in May is by far the most plausible.  He once stated his finest achievement was “Knocking Liverpool off their f#^#ing perch” Should his team  stay on top they will have won 19 titles to Liverpool’s 18, by far the most poignant indicator of their absolute dominance.  It would be entirely appropriate to step down from the perch.  Fools learn by their mistakes, wise people learn from other peoples.  Ferguson will be aware of the pitfalls of retirement.  Bill Shankly died with a broken heart.  A heart broken from seeing his beloved Liverpool go onto greater success without him.  He had to suffer the indignity of Liverpool’s directors asking him to stop turning up at the training ground….  his regular appearances  undermined Bob Paisley  because the players used to call Shankly ‘boss’.  Brian Clough managed two seasons too long.  In his autobiography Clough states clearly that the right time for to leave was after the 1991 FA Cup Final defeat to Spurs.  Of course it’d hurt to go out on a defeat but Wembley was a fitting stage for a manager of his stature to leave the game.  Instead Old Big Ed signed out on relegation and degrading tabloid tales of excessive drinking and a catastrophic Shredded Wheat advert.  Ferguson is different.  His passion for the game is obvious but football isn’t his entire life.  As well as football he has an interest in politics.  One thing which frustrates him is that visiting all the places he does professionally means there are few opportunities to  experience them fully.  There is still a keen interest in learning to play the piano properly.  In addition to these interests he has a family he’d  love to spend relaxing time with.   Alex Ferguson may well choose to step down from the perch.  As he approaches 70 he’d  find the bottom of the cage an invigorating place.

On Wednesday at Anfield we didn’t give ourselves enough of a chance to get something from the game, or to just make a game of it.  In the first half we contained them well but never looked remotely like scoring, or even putting the home side under a period of sustained pressure.   When the pinball free kick led to Liverpool taking the lead just after half time it was game over.  Fuller came on and looked lively but a side like Liverpool enjoying the Dalglish resurgence was never going to relinquish the lead they had patiently intelligently probed for.  Liverpool were far and away the better side but the point has to be made that we didn’t really set out to get at them.  Had we started out 442 instead of 451 we may still have lost but we’d be able to reflect on what could have been a cracking game.  These words from the www.zonalmarking.net site sum up our lack of attacking strategy…. “Stoke were pretty poor, and had a similar problem with a lack of support for Carew. He competed well with the Liverpool back three, winning six from 10 headers, but couldn’t do it all on his own. Stoke’s real area to exploit was in their own full-back position – with Liverpool playing no natural wingers, they had time on the ball and space in front of them – but too often they simply hit the ball long”  Quite.  Begovic made a stunning save in the first half for which he hasn’t received the credit he deserves.  That was amazing. Had a keeper from a more illustrious club made that save I don’t doubt it would have grabbed attention across the globe.

Our match against Sunderland was an emotional rollercoaster.  Amid the twists and turns and the ups and downs we were only ahead for the final 120 seconds of this rugged epic struggle.  Rain and a moody sky provided a suitable backdrop.  The most satisfying aspect of the game from our perspective is simply that we won, which does tend to nullify many of the flaws in our performance.  Nullified though they are now, it’s still worth reflecting on some of them.

Why do we never win a second ball?  When we attack and balls in the box run loose it’s rarely a Stoke player attacking the ball, for a side widely considered to be physical and combative this is a serious problem.  We struggled with  pace and movement on the break, they managed to thread balls past our central defenders far too easily.  Our players lack of movement…. Sunderland’s second goal came from a good run by Etherington which came to nothing, Jones was in front of him but didn’t make an incisive run to be picked out by Matty, whoever was at fault doesn’t matter, suffice to say it proved to be a costly shambles.  This led to an excellent opportunity wasted, at the point we could have been celebrating a 2-1 lead we were back to square one a goal behind.  Muntari received a yellow card yet we never pressurised him knowing he’d be wary of tackling, in fact, for a spell in the second half he was free to run the game in the holding role.  The main flaw is, predictable though it is to mention, we simply don’t keep the ball well enough.  Possession is 9/10 of the law.

The positives were that through dogged bloody minded resilience we grafted  and  toiled and eventually got the win we needed.  Tone deserves credit as his positive substitution changed the game in our favour.  Walters contribution was vital as he provided a crucial link between midfield and attack, thus enabling Pennant and Etherington to deliver crosses in the attacking third, great work by Tony Pulis.  Despite our reputation as filthy violent kickers, we committed fewer fouls than any other premier League team at the weekend.  The quality of set piece deliveries from Pennant overwhelmed and overpowered the Sunderland defence.   The deep bending ball that Huth scored the winner from was an absolute peach.  When we departed the rollercoaster we were 3 points better off.  For large parts of the game it was an unlikely 3 points but our fortitude proved fruitful.  33 down 7 to go!!

Whilst coming down from the high of our crash bang wallop of a game I watched the first half of the Newcastle v Arsenal match.  Arsenal were magnificent in that first half.  On form they play with a stylish majestic swagger combined with ruthless efficiency.  Such was their dominance the 4-0 lead they had at half time actually flattered Newcastle and the only question seemed to be whether they could get the two goals required to equal Man Utd’s goal difference.  The TV cameras picked out some of the Geordies leaving during the first half so depressing was their predicament, reflecting on the sale of Carroll could hardly have helped their mood either.  So Diaby’s 50th minute burst of anger was very very costly indeed.  Why at that stage, in a game that was seemingly won, Diaby couldn’t keep his hands to himself is anyone’s guess. From that point Newcastle staged a stirring comeback becoming the first team since the top flight changed it’s name to the Premier League to blow a four goal lead.  They did actually close the gap on Man Utd by a point following their result at Wolves but the events on Saturday could leave a deep scar in Arsenal’s psyche.  As the title race continues they will know they had their hands on two more precious points and blew it….. completely. 

After months Brisbane Roar finally secured the championship.   Melbourne Heart’s 1-1 draw with Central Coast gave Roar an unassailable lead at the summit.   That is part of the story but by no means the whole story.  As the regular season concludes this coming weekend, a finals series starts involving all clubs in the top five clubs, the winner of the competition being determined by the winner of a grand final on Saturday March 12th.   It’s long winded but during the last five years of stuttering mediocrity I longed for Suncorp Stadium to hose an A-League grand final in front of 52,000 on a summer evening.   Sadly, this city has been the recipient of  recent tragedies and ongoing trauma.  While sporting victory doesn’t stifle the agony many are feeling it would bring some much needed moments of happiness to some local lives.  The time is now. 

In the Cologne v Bayern Munich match Cologne had Novakovic clean through and Bayern’s Badstuber brought him down to blatantly deny a goalscoring opportunity.  Inexplicably, the ref awarded a yellow card.  It was such an amazingly clear red card it isn’t even  a subject for debate.  The conclusion from the tale is that England isn’t the only place where the bigger clubs are the beneficiaries of referee bias.

It wasn’t a classic, but all the same, mission accomplished!  For the second year running we are through to the fifth round of the FA cup.  Our hopelessness in the competition has been genuine and legendary but it seems we are starting to change.  On Sunday it took some grinding and battling but in the end Huth’s header and Sorensen’s spot kick saving expertise saw us deservedly go through.  Not that the Wolverhampton public seem too concerned by their exit.  The lousy crowd of 11,967 was disappointing to say the least.  They may well have relegation avoidance on their mind, but all the same,  it was a poor showing.  I’d like to think that had it been a home tie we’d have had more interest than that. 

Whilst attempting to avoid  prematurely evaluating the quantity of poultry, the fifth round draw could have been much harder.  Brighton is a game we will understandably expect to win.  That was the good fortune we lacked three times last season!  If we can get through to the quarter final and receive another favourable draw we could soon hear the taste of  Wembley in our red and white nostrils.  But we are still Stoke in the FA Cup….. more likely we are a goal down to Brighton after ten minutes and laboriously struggle to an 80th minute equaliser then lose the replay on penalties.  That’ll teach us for allowing a rare streak of optimism to infiltrate our psyche!

The transfer window came and went.  For Stoke City it was a subdued affair.  Tony Pulis and Peter Coates made it clear that a deluge of new signings was unlikely and so it proved.  The main focus of our attention was the possible sale of Ricardo Fuller.  For various reasons players do well at some clubs but can struggle at others and for Stoke Fuller has been very good indeed. We’ve managed to keep hold of him which is a relief.  We could debate and consider the reasons for his near departure but the fact is we may never know the whole story.  There are so many factors (many financial) in why a player chooses to leave or remain at a club it’s too hard to speculate on.  Suffice to say it’s good news to keep him for at least another six months.  How Fuller feels himself at staying with us is another thing we may never know fully!  It’d be harsh if any Stokies wished Tuncay anything but best wishes on his move to Wolfsburg.  While his form was sometimes patchy he gave us some great memories.  As for another departure…..  in years to come we’ll reflect on the Gudjohnsen situation and wonder what that was all about.  An expensive and baffling little episode, and again, we may never know the full story about his time with us.   

The most damaging aspect of Gray and Keys comments about females in football is that, being a human being, Sian Massey will at some stage  make a mistake.  That mistake will receive excessive media scrutiny and put increased  pressure on her.  It could lead to some asserting that females don’t understand the offside law after all…. oblivious to the fact that plenty of male officials make errors.  The Sky boys club could have a lot to answer for.

The story of Stoke and Kris Commons sums up the progress we’ve made. Six years ago he left us and some of us were disappointed. But now, despite him being an international and  the prestige that comes with it, very few of us would want him back. This symbolises how far we’ve come.  A talented player, who is still only 27 now isn’t good enough for us.  His move to Celtic also symbolises how short of financial clout the Scottish League is.  For a club of Celtic’s size and stature to buy a player from the English Championship isn’t necessarily  a compliment to the player, it’s a sign of how Scottish clubs are having to make do and mend with little light at the end of the tunnel.

The final of the Asian Cup between Australia and Japan was how a cup final should be.  Neither side was paralysed by fear and both played attacking football, which might not seem to be the case for a game which ended 0-0 after 90 minutes.  They each created chances but couldn’t quite get the finish right,  Harry  Kewell squandering the best chance of all.  Japan’s late winner came from a technically excellent volley but you have to wonder why at such a crucial stage the Australian defence went walkabout.  So a 0-1 defeat for Australia but there are plenty of positives to be taken.  It’s all part of a learning curve and the experience of playing in an international final has a multitude of benefits.  In the same tournament in 2007 Lucas Neill arrogantly inexplicably made public an expectation of winning the tournament without losing a game.  That was based on nothing and when Japan put a poor Australian campaign out of it’s misery  by winning the quarter final on penalties justice was done.  Four years later Australia underrated nobody and did a professional job throughout.  Not quite having the armory to lift the trophy is frustrating but nothing to be too downcast about.  This campaign proved how much  the national side here has improved.    It’s also worth remembering that losing to a team of Japan’s stature is nothing to be ashamed of.  They have much more international experience and in the final perhaps it was that extra experience that made the difference.  From the local perspective it’s pleasing that some of the A-League players made the step up, Brisbane Roar’s Matty Mckay in particular… but I’m biased of course! 

It’s only February but there is little doubt that Real Madrid’s defeat at Osasuna was exceptionally good news for Barcelona.  There many points still to play for but it’s increasingly clear that  it’ll be the European Cup which determines whether or not Mourinho’s season is a success or failure.   Whether he stays at the Bernebau for a second season remains to be seen.  Mourinho has already been saying how much he misses working in England but who in the Premier League could realistically afford to employ him?  The only real possibility would be if Man City failed to reach 4th spot and the owners wield the oilstained axe.   But it speaks volumes for the stature of the self proclaimed special one that should he feel the blade on his neck in Madrid it’ll hardly dampen his employment prospects. 

One of the weekends bizarre football moments came in Germany where Arjen Robben clouted teammate Thomas Muller.  Here it is in installments!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCcpENytr4

In front of some gloriously raucous travelling Stokie support, we deserved the point we earned on Saturday at Wigan.  Some aspects of the match were fortuitous, it wasn’t a foul on Fuller that led to Huth’s deflected free kick.  Wigan missed some simple chances before equalising through Collins being seemingly wrong footed to slice the ball into his own goal.  We responded immediately with in delicious style.  Jonesy released Fuller who jinked in the box and threaded a ball through for Etherington to drill home.  Again we couldn’t hold onto the lead and a hopeful Wigan punt was again deflected in, this time by Rory.  In the second half either side could have won it but our forward play was usually far too disjointed, but there is little doubt in my mind that the best strike partnership we have is Fuller and Jonesy.  On of the things a Jonesy brings to the team is that he’s so hard to mark.  Sometimes he hangs deep knowing he keeps two markers with him and that stretches defences when Etherington or Pennant break forward…. especially when they cut inside. It means he looks lazy but at times it’s deliberately done to bring colleagues into the game.  So a well earned point and another small yet crucial step en route to the magical 40 mark!  As ever, upwards and onwards and it’s Blackpool next.  In his post match comments Tony Pulis said that Blackpool would be the toughest home game of the season.  Methinks our gaffer was sensibly  managing expectation!  There are few times when we can go into a game (even a home game) confidently expecting a victory.  Trying to keep a lid on the expectancy was a wise move but he must know that Blackpool are preferable opponents to Chelsea or Man Utd!!   Not that Blackpool will be an easy game of course.  There are no easy games in this league… cliche number 112!!

Despite playing the usual inane vacuous superficial lip service, FIFA  decided that the votes to decide 2018 World Cup hosts must not be influenced in any way by the subject of racism. So what was the point of that campaign they have been running? During the Russia v Andorra match the black players were targeted throughout. Wouldn’t the threat of being cast aside in the World Cup bidding process be a just action and a deterrent? So the nation in which racist abuse is commonplace get the punishment of…. hosting the 2018 World Cup.  Preposterous though it may seem, that’s FIFA justice.  The fallout from the humongous scale of the England bid’s humiliation continues to resonate.  There was some bombastic talk of withdrawal from FIFA which would ultimately prove self defeating and  futile.  An underrated aspect of England’s failure is that the ruling bodies need to learn to develop positive relationships with other associations not further isolate themselves.  The talk of betyrayal regarding promised votes that didn’t materialise was naive in the extreme.  Did those running the bid really think upstanding ethical bastions like the hideous Jack Warner could be trusted?  There is a precedent, in 1920 England did withdraw from FIFA and, in some respects, particularly in regards to internal politics, has never fully recovered from self imposed exile from the international football community.  In the immediate future England need to focus on applying long term strategies to win a tournament on the pitch, not just a bid behind the murky walls of Zurich.  

Though it was a long shot Australia’s failure to win the right to host 2022 is a huge blow to the game here.  45 million dollars have been spent with nothing to show.   It has increased  Australia’s football profile  on the world stage slightly but when A-League clubs are struggling to pay the bills, and one could have to fold at the end of the season it doesn’t look like money spent wisely at all.   It’s another watershed point for the game here.  Another stage where Australia has the sheer scale of football imposed on it.   It’s all part of the steep learning curve. 

It’s widely believed that much of the Russian infrastructure for 2018 will be funded by Roman Abramovic.  If that’s the case it’s a huge financial commitment, even for someone with that colossal wealth to their name.  With a project of that scale on his hands, could he soon lose some of his interest in Chelsea?  It’s a while now since blank cheques were handed out and the curiously timed dismissal of Ray Wilkins, ill advised though it was, may well have simply been a cost cutting exercise.   There is nothing to suggest they will be spending big in January and Carlo Ancelotti may have to sell before he can buy.  The players are clearly edgy, the manager said as much in his post match comments.  The habitual six  goal hammerings of August must feel like a lifetime ago.  Even with those backstage wranglings Chelsea is a haven of stability compared to Newcastle United.  After seeking and appointing messiahs, Chris Hughton demonstrated that the answer had been in front of their nose all along.  What more could Hughton have done and what exactly was expected?  Was he sacked solely  because of the admittedly lacklustre showing on Sunday?  There can be little else to explain it?  He took over when they were a club depressed from top to bottom, won the league to get promoted straight away and were well on their way to stabilising in the Premier League, and adding  stability to the club they have required for many years.  His reward is the sack.  Mike Ashley is known for his impulsive nature, after this debacle he’ll soon be known for his stupidity.  The perfect example of someone who doesn’t have an understanding of the game.  Isn’t Hughton a big enough name?  The word supercilious springs to mind.   

Congratulations should be offered to Alloa Athletic, in a fixture programme decimated by freezing weather and postponements and snopw and a litany of unpleasantness they managed to host the only match in Scotland at the weekend.  They might not have the best team in the land but the groundsman is a superstar.    A move to and old firm club is imminent!!

 Milan are looking increasingly comfortable on top of Serie A.  It’s Amusing that there has been talk for a few years about having to offload Gattuso yet he continues as strong as ever.  Robinho’s hunger for football has clearly returned and as well as intrinsic touches of skill, he’s working aard and supporting Ibrahimovic.  It’s hard to mention the Italian game without pondering how long Benitez will last managing Inter.   It was always goint to be tough to follow Jose Mourinho but surely the most pessimistic of the black and blue half of Milan couldn’t have anticipated a fall so rapid and comprehensive.

“The best team always wins and the rest is only gossip”.   Jimmy Sirrel

It is abundantly clear now  that the substitutes are a huge part of our attacking game plan.  Seeing the eleven that started on Sunday was a real shock… I didn’t realise we were playing Barcelona.  At Newcastle the eleven that started was a  concoction of the physical and the holding.  Overall, we stifled them adequately  in the first half but our players seemed to be constantly lunging into challenges and needlessly giving away stupid cheap free kicks to invite pressure.  Some of Sorensen’s kicks were suspect too.  Fortunately for us they wasted their (far) superior possession all and we were let off the hook several times by their poor final balls.  Infuriatingly,  it was Huth’s totally unnecessary barge into Carroll that sent us in behind at the break.  A part of the game is TCUP… Thinking Correctly Under Pressure and Huth made a costly penalty box error of judgment there.  Physicality is a big part of our team but it’s vital to make the right decisions.  After the aforementioned lunges it was entirely appropriate we went 0-1 down to a goal borne of a totally unnecessary reckless challenge from a Stoke player.  Odder is that despite our inability to keep the ball in the attacking third for any longer than 0.2 seconds, Newcastle had created very little and had needed us to hand them a goal… which we had done with much generosity.  The second half was much different.   We got back to what we do well which is getting into teams and overpowering them.  Their defence has struggled all season with high balls into the box so seeing Rory enter the fray we knew what the plan was.  And it worked.  Jonesy was transformed and used his pace and strength to unsettle the opposition and us merely  keeping the ball in their half seemed to really unsettle them.  Fuller’s injury was a blow but we kept attacking them and got level.  After Jonesy equalised  Newcastle came into the game again but, like  the first half, rarely showed the craft to break us down.  Our  aerial bombardment continued and we enjoyed some wonderful Geordie hospitality when their James Perch kindly repaid the generosity we had shown near the end of the first half by scoring the winner for us near the end of the second.  I’d buy him a bottle of Newcastle Brown anytime!   In the time remaining we absorbed pressure well and despite some penalty box pinball looked pretty safe.  So well and truly a game of two halves.  Coming from behind to win, especially away from home, is pretty dam good.  And despite our lackadaisical first half we deserved to win.  Newcastle’s lack of creativity combined with our second half pace and power  meant we won the game on merit.  And it is after all a game of two halves!   For now, three league games unbeaten seven points out of nine and things are looking up.  Blackburn on Saturday and a clean sheet would be a good starting point.  GOOOAAARRN STOKE!!!

There is a lot of debate about the starting line ups that Tone is sending out.  Well,  it has always been a tactic of Brazil to allow the opposition to have the ball and drop off themselves.  The difference is that this is done knowing they have the ability and sstrength to win the ball and trust their own technical expertise to build fluent forward moves when they do.  It also obviously  means that the opposition are outnumbered whilst  trying to break forward.  As yet we haven’t quite managed to equal Brazil’s technical skills, as a result  the opposition have the ball for long spells and we are pegged back.  Also bearing in mind that we are yet to score first  this season and have had to chase every game it is apparent that the current strategy isn’t working properly.  Nothing wrong with wanting attacking options on the bench but the whole philosophy of the team is flawed when you are simply playing out time waiting for Fuller to appear after an hour.  On Saturday we need to start the game with a more attacking mindset, especially against solid underrated opponents like Blackburn. 

Who could have predicted that result at Arsenal?  West Brom played with discipline and purpose and thoroughly deserved to win the game.  WBA seem more equipped to handle the pressures of the top flight this time.  They approached the game with intelligence, closing down spaces and trying to break forward when they could to give the defence some respite.  They must have sensed Arsenal were struggling because they started breaking down the flanks and putting Arsenal on the backfoot.  I watched in the pub standing next to a Baggies fan who noticed they were doing  “All roit”  And that with a manager as good as “Towny Pewliss” they might have stayed up last time.  Those last few minutes of injury time were torture for him but when the final whistle finally blew he was suitably delirious.  He  thought he was going to make them “Ply all sodding noit” .  In his delight he bought a monster round of drinks…. everyone a winner!!  Looking across the pub the Liverpool fans were looking depressed, unable to comprehend the fact that the ongoing trauma at Anfield meant ticking over as they are isas good as they could expect.  One even reckoned Hodgson should be sacked, a notion as foolish as it is knee jerk.  Those who know football know that right now Liverpool are a long way from being a top four club.  Roy Hodgson is the right man for them right now because he’s experienced and stable and able to run the team in what is proving an increasingly traumatic phase.  I still don’t expect them to go into administration though.  The brand name Liverpool FC will dig them out of some holes there.  Man Yoo still haven’t found form.  If anything Bolton will be frustrated not to have won that game.  Alex Ferguson will be furious not to have closed the gap on Chelsea further.  Wayne Rooney’s (lack of) form is a big concern.  I agree with what Kevin Keegan says (I can’t believe I just typed that!) in this piece.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/players/wayne-Rooney/8026451/Manchester-United-striker-Wayne-Rooney-cant-blame-the-media-says-Kevin-Keegan.html   It was Rooney who piled pressure on himself by also declaring that he was about to “Write the Future” in South Africa.   If his extra curricular activities are proving to be a detrimental effect on his game Alex Ferguson needs to instruct him to stop them, it really is that simple.  Energy is so vital and having it sapped by continually exploiting his high profile could prove damaging.  Quite simply, I think he looks knackered, the World Cup and other situations in his life seem to have had an effect.   At Spurs once Gary Lineker was off form and looking  jaded so Terry Venables got the club to pay for crisphead to go away on holiday for ten days to rest.   Knowing it was a huge risk that could prove divisive he called a team meeting and explained to all the players what he was foing and why.  When Lineker returned he re-discovered his form and energy.  It was a gamble by Venables but it worked and was an excellent example of managing and motivating an  individual player.  

Another weekend surprise  was in Germany where Mainze went away to Bayern Munich and won to stay top of the table.  Mainze had to travel on the morning of the game due to all Munich’s hotels being booked out for Oktoberfest!   It may be a bit too much to expect Mainze to stay at the pinnacle but the Bundesliga can be quirky.  Repetition of Wolfsburg’s 2009 title win would be welcome.    Diversifying the gene pool of Europe’s top table would benefit the  game. 

It’s a pleasant surprise to see Paul  Gascoigne back in football, even if it is only managing Garforth Town in the amusingly named Evo Stik League.  Whether it will be the pivot which helps him to leave some of his traumas behind remains to be seen.  It can’t be any more of a calamity than his disastrous time managing Kettering in 2005.  Hopefully he can use this opportunity to start getting his life back together.  Good luck Gazza.

David Beckham makes the right noises.  He’s in the Caribbean promoting England’s World Cup bid.  Head of CONCACAF Jack Warner remains a vehicle of corruption.  To see Beckham having to schmooze up to him is a bit galling but in this case the end can justify the mean.  Hosting a World Cup would be a special time in the lives of the nation.  There has been talk of leaving behind a global legacy which is glib yet politically appealing at this precious late stage.    So much of what occurs at that level is politically motivated.