The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

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)

Back in 1993, our legendary striker Mark Stein assaulted Stockport defender Jim Gannon.  There is no doubt that Stein did strike Gannon (albeit lightly) but what was overlooked by the media, is that Stein had reacted to what Judge Peter Northcote described as ‘extreme provocation’.  The aforementioned provocation manifested itself by the way of racial abuse.  The judge then seemed to dismiss this by telling Stein that this was ‘A burden you must bear’. In the modern age such language would rightly be deemed unacceptable, but it was hardly smiled upon then.  The fact is that Gannon’s bigotry was largely ignored by the press but his vile tirade is a matter of public record.  In court, Gannon’s lawyer said that, yes, his client had abused Stein verbally, calling him “a short, ugly, black, bean-headed tvvat”, but argued that that was the language of the football park…. the same lame justification Jimmy Hill used when defending Ron Atkinson’s racist comments about Marcel Desailly.  Despite this, he stands in a strong position to be appointed manager of Port Vale.  Are the board at Port Vale aware of the incident?  Are they aware of how inflammatory it would be to employ someone who has a record of racially abusing a player based in the same city?               

The festive period was generally healthy for Stoke City.  Following the efficient victory at Blackburn with a defeat at home to Fulham was infuriating of course, but much of that was nullified by the win over Everton.  Despite phases of the Everton game being played in our half, we stifled them and they created very little, especially in the second half.  The ref, for some reason, didn’t award Everton the penalty they should have had in the first minute, and we capitalised on our good fortune.  It’s particularly pleasing that Jonesy opened the scoring.  Against Fulham he was off the pace so to respond in such style was a much needed boost for us all.  Our second goal ended the match as a  contest and all that was left was to play the game out in uneventful safety.  It was also encouraging that against Man United we made them sweat for the result a little bit more.   Admittedly only a little bit, but after the previous visits it’s a huge improvement!  It was fantastic to spend a few minutes in dreamland after super goal machine Whitehead’s equaliser.  It didn’t last longer than a few minutes admittedly, but seeing their anxiety increase in the final minutes showed that we hadn’t rolled over and had put in a strong showing.   On reflection, the best thing about the fixture away to Man United  being over is that we know we don’t have to go there again this season! 
It was a return to the pre Premier league days to be listening to the Cardiff game on the internet instead of watching on television……  hearing the familiar tones of Nigel Johnson were like visiting a dear old friend.  It sounded as if it would have been a decent game for the neutral, but we aren’t neutral!  Our inability to get a winner means we face a replay next week.  If anything symbolises the FA Cup’s waning magic it’s that both Tony Pulis and Dave Jones admitted the extra game will be a hindrance we could both do without.  But nevertheless, it’s a hindrance worth winning, if we were to totally disregard the FA Cup it would be an arrogant mistake.

Despite going behind early Liverpool were the better side in the first half of their tie with Man Utd, until Steve Gerrard undid all his teams good work with that stupid violent attack.  Despite Dalglish’s protestations that vicious assault got the red card it deserved… and with it went Liverpool’s FA cup hopes for 2011.  Whatever is wrong with Torres?  He has the demeanour of a man who would prefer to be elsewhere, maybe Liverpool should grant him his wish and re-invest the proceeds from his sale into rebuilding the team.  There is a precedent.  Groundhog Day could occur, in 1987  Dalglish used the money from the sale of Ian Rush to Juventus to buy Beardsley and Barnes and revamp the team and their playing style, he could do worse than repeat that policy.  Nobody can deny Torres’ immense talent but if his recent performances reflect his attitude, they would be better cashing in and acquiring the services of a striker whose interest level rises above indifferent. 

The Arsenal v Leeds tie was a crash bang wallop of a tie.  8,500 Leeds fans travelled to London to watch a game being shown on TV.  That’s impressive.  Despite the amusement felt at the  2004 and 2007  relegations, their return to the Premier league seems to be a matter of when not if, but with support like that it may not be too far away.

In Qatar the start of the Asian cup has generated unparalleled levels of indifference.  Seeing an international tournament played out to empty stadiums hardly gives FIFA’s choice for 2022 any more credibility.  Australia started with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over India.  The most enthralling point of the tournament so far is that India have a player with the second best ever name for a footballer…. Climax Lawrence!!

Excuse the title of this post…. I fancy a job working for The Sun!  Like before, the international break comes at the right time for Stoke City, except this time it’s very different reasons.  What a difference a month makes!  Four unbeaten games and we are a quarter of the way to the magical 40 points mark.  On Saturday against Blackburn we played well, and unlike at Newcastle, we attacked them from the start.  It’s great that Walters got off the mark.  In the first half he really looked like a man who had recently joined a Premier league club but had been hit and miss….. and the pressure of the situation seemed to be showing.  Snatching at passes and being over eager to make an impression.  That goal will lift a huge weight from his shoulders and now the monkey is off his back he can relax and go onto better things with us.  I, like many other Stokies, would be perfectly happy with him if he scores the winner in every game he plays!   A pleasing aspect of the Blackburn game is that it was physical and combative but there was nothingmalicious involved and the players didn’t act and roll around.  Pennant clearly isn’t match fit but in bursts his pace and, most pleasingly, the quality of his crosses were great and could prove to be a very productive asset.  All in all a good day for Stoke City.  We finally got the clean sheet we’ve needed and we rarely looked like conceding at all.   We are up to seventh now which is thrilling.   We may not stay this high for long so let’s enjoy it while we can!!   Great work Stoke!   More of the same please.  

At Anfield on Sunday something strange happened.  Amid the talk of financial incompetence and lawyers accountants and consortiums a football match broke out!   And in the game itself something stranger happened.  Roy  Hodgson’s players look totally demoralised.  I can’t believe Torres isn’t preparing to leave in January.  The brand name Liverpool FC should be enough to stave off the threat of administration and in that instance their history must be a relief….. unlike the burden it appears to be on the current players.  In administration Liverpool FC would cease to be an FC and would become merely a company in administration.  The sale of Torres and Gerrard would surely be ordered and a huge slice of their football dream would leave with them.  There is much melodrama on viewing their current plight.  The biggest cliche being that the current owners have ‘ripped the soul’ of of Liverpool.  That might be an appropriate expression of withering self pity but in reality the soul of Liverpool departed on February 22nd 1991.   Having wrestled with his sanity for the previous two years and in the wake of one of the greatest FA Cup ties ever played, Kenny Dalglish rersigned.  Their greatest player, having gone on to be a successful manager, leading the club and it’s fans with dignity through the tramatic aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, decided he was no longer able to deal with the stresses the job brought.  Liverpool ceased to be the dominant force in English football on that day.  It can’t help that Man Utd gleefully took over their reign.  When Alex Ferguson said his greatest achivement was “Knocking Liverpool off their fu^*ing perch” it was a reflection on 26 years of frustration.  Now it’s Liverpool’s turn to feel envy, and if the Blackpool game is any pointer  it may get much worse before it gets better.

FIFA have suspended Nigeria because of government interference in the game there.  Now, they are following their own rules in taking this action but some questions have to be asked. Has this action been taken now that Africa’s World Cup is over and any response will be less of a hot issue with the potential to backfire?  Is it right to deprive the people of Nigeria the chance to support their national team because of administrative meddling?  If the Brazilian German or English FA had a similar problem would Sepp and the old boys club be prepared to take on the might of a football nation with that power and, more importantly, capacity to generate income?  If FIFA are capable of taking such strong action will they take it to address the issue of racism which is still depressingly prominent in some areas of the world…. or will they continue to pay empty lip service to the subject?  

Kevin Davies finally got picked for an England squad!  For several years his name has been mentioned regarding an England call up and it’s finally come to fruition.  It’s pleasing to see a solid professional who has quietly gone about his job and played the game with the minimum of fuss down the years get some recognition.  Unlikely though it is that he’ll get his first cap it’s still a memory he can treasure from a long  career.   Montenegro will be no pushovers.   They are yet to concede and have won both of their games so far.   As is often the case the main problem with England will be defending as a unit.    Too often one clever ball leaves the defence flat footed and this causes problems.  Against solid underrated opposition like Montenegro our back four need to stay awake. 

I haven’t seen Gary Lineker’s documentary about whether England can win the next World Cup but he could have saved the effort of making the programme by asking me and I’ll tell him now…. no we can’t.  Brazil will be favourites obviously but will they handle the pressure?   Many South American football rivalries are borne of historical moments and Brazil are still haunted by 1950.  Imagine if Argentina met  Brazil in the knockout stages and knocked them out. The rest of  the tournament wouldn’t matter.  As far as they would be concerned they will have won their own World Cup. The European team with the mentality to go to Brazil and win it will be Germany. They will also have their exciting youngsters all matured by then too. The whole mindset of the English game needs to change to win a World Cup. And there is little chance of that happening.  Unlike many, I wouldn’t object to a winter break in principle.  But the players wouldn’t be restingon a beach….they would be whisked across the globe for money spinning friendlies so it wouldn’t actually be a break at all.    While the clubs stubbornly refuse to take action for the greater good of the game this is how it shall be.