The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

The draw at Blackpool was another well earned away point.  For all their spirit and energy it isn’t hard to see why Blackpool’s situation is so bleak.   Pressing and pegging us back during the first half was positive for them but precious  little was created .  In fact, at half time Jonesy’s miss led to Stoke rueing a missed opportunity.  That miss hasn’t received the media coverage you might expect.  It’s a good job for Jonesy’s own sake we (probably) have enough points to see us safe.  The second half saw us on the front foot a bit more.  We generally had the better of the game and Whelan had two excellent long distance efforts.  Despite the more enterprising second half the draw was still the fair result.  It’d be good for football if Blackpool can stay up…. but I still wish we’d beaten them!  Such are the passions of football. 

There can be little doubt that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world right now.  The shimmy and run to seal Barcelona’s win against Real Madrid was incredible.  Of course, the style of the goal led to comparisons with Diego Maradona.  One factor which prevents Messi from being considered an all time great is his disappointing showing in last years World Cup.  Despite what some of UEFA’s  sponsors and marketing executives would like us to believe, the World Cup remains the pinnacle of world football.  Back in the 1960’s Australia had a runner named Ron Clarke.  Clarke was a masterful runner who broke many world records.  The blemish on his record is that his best Olympic performance was a mere bronze in 1964.  In short he was an expert in racing against the clock but struggled to beat other runners.  Clarke can’t really be considered an all time great because he didn’t perform at his best at the highest level.  Similarly, if Messiis to be  placed in the same bracket as Zidane,  Pele and Maradona he needs to confirm his status by displaying his genius in Brazil in 2014.  Some fireworks in this years Copa America would also be welcome!

The ongoing media spat between Jose Mourinho and Barcelona continues to weave it’s undignified trail into the worlds media.  What should have been one of the seasons real showpieces last week was undermined by childish bickering.  It’s increasingly difficult to imagine the special one working at the Bernebau next season. When, by a stroke of luck, the Catalan Globetrotters finally lost a league game Real Madrid lost too, rendering Real Sociedad’s historic victory   a tiny blot on the magnificence of Barcelona’s season.  Jose will however leave reputation intact.  Real Madrid are known for being difficult employers.  Mourinho’s failings will be overlooked as soon as he starts to seek a new employer.  Overlooked as they may be, we’ll just have to imagine a feasible explanation for the overly negative approach in that first leg.

As dominant as Barcelona have been Porto are the most dominant domestic side in Europe.  Wrapping up the title with five league games remaining they stay on course to end the season unbeaten.  A brilliant achievement that can’t be matched elsewhere in Europe…. even by the Catalan megagiants. 

My ultimate football mercy dash commences on Thursday May 5th.   May 14th is the occasion many of the most optimistic Stokies never actually believed would happen.   As a kid FA Cup Final day was one of the most eagerly awaited dates of the Joe year.  The night before the game I was usually too excited to sleep.  The lush green turf underneath those regal twin towers looked like paradise.  When my red and white mind seized control of my red and white heart I was rudely woken by the realisation that even when we have had great teams we failed to reach English football’s grandest showpiece.  This in itself brings into sharper focus what is happening.  No previous  player has ever played in an FA Cup final while representing Stoke City.  Gordon Banks, Stan,  Alan Hudson, Freddie Steele,  none of them adorned our sacred stripes in this game.  When I board the plane for the UK, it won’t isn’t just to see a football match, nor is it self indulgent laddish wackiness.  This is a piece of history we can be proud to be associated with…. a pilgrimage. We doff our collective cap to shared heritage.  Thousands of football fans never get the chance to see their team in an a cup final.  Others  experience it so regularly they have been de-sensitised and a day at Wembley Stadium is like getting on a bus or buying a bottle of milk .  On May 14th we’ll know how special it is to be involved.  And, despite being novices to this level of grandeur, we have every right to be there.  Let’s make history together.

Arsenal away wasn’t the catastrophe some of us feared.  After going behind so early it seemed we could easily be on the wrong end of a thrashing.  Admittedly, we were fortunate to only be one down after the first fifteen minutes but we grew into the game and stifled their constant stream of creativity and went in 0-1 down at half time.  Then in the second half something strange happened… Stoke City attacked and put Arsenal on the backfoot.  Instead of bleakly clinging on to nothing and seemingly defending a 0-1 deficit we got forward and gave our illustrious opponents something to worry about. It was such a refreshing change to give one of the big boys a headache.  That final defence unlocking ball was lacking but periods of sustained pressure in the the half of an opponent so famous was a thrill in itself.  The real lesson to be learned from that second half is that we now know it is possible to play away to top quality sides and have a plan to attack.  With a bit of luck and some opportunism we can get something.  When we face Chelsea there is no excuse not to have a gameplan with attacking potential.  The other good thing now we reflect on Arsenal away is that we know we don’t have to go there again this season!  So plenty of reasons for optimism as we faced WBA at home…. yeah right.

WBA’s late equaliser was slightly offside but to focus solely on that is to dismiss some crucial factors.  Throughout the game our attacking play was so shapeless we were unable to craft any worthwhile opportunities.  OK, we did put them under pressure for much of the first half but balls lumped forward time after time were dealt with in relative comfort by the WBA defence.  WBA were much more physical than we could have expected and were up to the challengeof the Britannia battering ram.  When the battering ram lacks subtle accompaniments it de-generates to an artless lottery.  After huffing and puffing we took the lead through a well worked corner (what was Carson actually diving after?) and that goal should have been a signal to shake off the inhibitions, attack and finish them off.  As Woy made changes to salvage something and leave space at the back we should have been able to exploit those areas and snatch a points assuring second.  Instead, we got pegged back and eventually got what we deserved by conceding a late equaliser.  It’s only the brilliance of Begovic that secured us a draw.  Had we emerged from this game empty handed we’d have nobody to blame but ourselves.  Before the game we were 7   points from 40.  Now are 6 points away from that magical mark so it wasn’t a complete tragedy but, as far as forward play is concerned, it is infuriating to look so creatively hopeless.  Carew and Jonesy are too similar and chasing flck ons can be easily dealt with by any competent defenders, especially after the 328th time it’s been tried.  It makes no sense to start the one player we have who can carry the ball into the box and turn defenders inside out on the bench.   If we play like we did against WBA and West Ham played like they did against Liverpool we’ll get hammered (excuse the pun) and talk cup semi finals will be forgotten.. perhaps for another 39 years.  

Our attention on Wests now shifts from the Bromwich Albion to the Ham United variety.  In fact, West Ham will dominate our thoughts for a fortnight, the league game followed the week after by an FA Cup quarter final.  Any cup tie with West Ham will evoke memories of our titanic League Cup semi final en route to winning the trophy way back in 1972.  The first leg at home was a deflating 1-2 defeat. We’d confidently expected to take a lead to Upton Park but after taking an early lead found ourselves pegged back at 1-1 by a Geoff Hurst penalty.  The point has to be made though that their winner from Clyde Best was an absolute beauty.  These were the days before away goals proved decisive so all was not lost.  The second leg saw us 1-0 ahead and as the game was heading for a replay, a communication error between Pejic and Banks led to West Ham being awarded a heartbreaker penalty.  It was Geoff Hurst again to take the penalty, he  smashed it to the top corner and Gordon Banks, the greatest keeper ever, whose reflexes miraculously managed to tip Hurst’s piledriver over the top and our Wembley dreams were rescued.  Banks himself has described that penalty save as the best he ever made…. even better than this one…  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVrQxIMRjVM  Banksy’s miracle set up a replay (League Cup replays… remember them?) at  Hillsborough.  A tense affair which we had the better of but couldn’t conquer the hammers keeper Bobby Ferguson… goalkeepers making great saves was a characteristic of the tie!  The 0-0 stalemate led to another replay, this time at Old Trafford.  I know several West Ham fans here and some of them still detest Terry Conroy for injuring Bobby Ferguson after half an hour!  England World Cup legend Bobby Moore replaced Ferguson in goal and just to add to the thrills and madness of this rollercoaster of a cup tie, his first job was to face a penalty from Mick Bernard… and he saved it… only for Bernard to score the rebound! By half time the score had twisted and turned it’s way to 2-2 and anything could have happened at that point.  Shortly after the interval Terry Conroy restored our lead and the crowd must have been wondering what would happen next. What did happen next was that no more goals came next and we held on.  Finally, after 109 years of trying, Stoke City had reached a major final.  If the events of winter 1972 are anything to go by we know one thing for certain about the forthcoming encounter….  if we succeed we won’t be doing it the easy way!  The only question is about whether our nerves will be able to stand it all! 

After spending some of last weeks blog typing excitedly about the first set of European Cup knockout matches it was obvious the second lot would be as turgid as they were.  If a pack of clubs allegedly amongst Europe’s elite can churn out a pile of dross as rubbish as that they should all pack in football to go and dig roads.  

Arsenal’s long journey to a trophy continues.  The League Cup wasn’t their priority but losing after being such overwhelming favourites has got to hurt.  It might not make Arsenal feel any better but it’s healthy to diversify the trophy winning gene pool.  Man of the match was Ben Foster, making several impressive saves to keep Birmingham level.  This is a special achievement for Alex McCleish.  Could he be a contender to replace Alex Ferguson when he eventually decides to spend his time playing golf and cleaning his garage out?  The real calamity of the match was the linesman who made the inexplicable error of calling Bowyer offside early in the game.  Had the lino not made such and indefensible mistake Szczesny would have to have seen red for taking Bowyer down and the game would have been very different indeed.  The scale of the error is all the more glaring when you realise the deep defender playing Bowyer on was next to the lino.  While Richard Keys and Andy Gray are on Talksport promoting tiles or haemorrhoid cream they should take note that the official in question was male.

After winning the first leg of the finals 2-0 Brisbane Roar reached the A-League Grand Final with a thrilling 2-2 draw against Central Coast.   It was a fantastic game which contained some great stylish football, a gutsy fightback, some drama and the right result!    0-2 down at half time was a real shock as the game was meant be a little more than chance to meet friends for a beer and a chat.  Brisbane displayed the character and the stylish silky football that has led to them beiong the greatest team in the history of Australian football by bouncing back to draw 2-2.   Grand Final, 4pm Sunday March 13th Suncorp Stadium.   Whatever happens, it’ll be a great occasion for Brisbane football …. but a sell out and lifting the trophy would be most welcome!!