The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

Losing at The Emirates Stadium wasn’t a shock, but to go through an entire match without a period of sustained pressure on the Arsenal goal was as infuriating as it was predictable.  At Old Trafford in October we lost, but at least we made a game of it.  Similarly, at Stamford Bridge Chelsea were mightily relieved to dig out a late winner agaainst us.   Two defeats but we’d taken the game to the opposition and given them something to worry about.  At Arsenal we seemed to set out just to snuff out Arsenal’s threat at the expense of everything else.  The nature of Arsenal’s winner may lead some to suggest we’d been unfortunate.  It’d be a flawed perspective.  Andy Wilkinson made a bad challenge that presented the opportunity.  When you spend so much time camped in your own third of the pitch you are susceptible to the receiving end of the games quirks.  When you give free kicks away, as Stoke do far too often, you are vulnerable.  Overall Arsenal were worthy of their victory but on that showing Bayern Munich have little to fear.  Next up Stoke face Reading.  It isn’t melodramatic to suggest it’s a must win game for us. There is a lot at stake.   We haven’t won since Boxing day.  At Christmas time Reading looked doomed, we looked as if we could make a run at a Europa League spot.  If Reading were to win at Britannia on Saturday they would be only four points behind us and deliver a big blow to our morale and it’d do nothing to quell the mutterings of discontent in the Stoke support.  As with many difficult spells for football teams our current situation is nothing a win won’t put right, and on Saturday we really need to.

Anyone connected with Manchester City casting envious glances at Mario Balotell’s impressive debut for Milan should think again.  Nobody ever doubted Balotelli’s ability.  Few can deny that ‘on his day’ Balotelli would be an asset to any of the top clubs in Europe.  The question is, how often did Mario have ‘his day’?  He’d clearly hit a dead end with Manchester City and when the big money offer arrived it was wise to take it.  Balotelli’s time at Manchester City was far from a failure.  He was part of the team that won the FA Cup and followed it with a Premier League title winners medal.  For all that, the cold hard truth is  when it’s over it’s over. Observe and replace.

Elsewhere in Italy, Napoli briefly got that Maradona feeling on Saturday when they went joint top of the league with Juventus. Edinson Cavani may not quite be a Maradona but he is priceless to Neapolitans right now.  The Uruguayan sits proudly on top the Serie A leading scorers chart.  However, one of several differences between now and the Maradona era is the simple issue of finance.  The Italian League isn’t as prosperous as it was in the 80s.  If some of the European powerhouses come knocking there could be an irresistible offer.  Napoli should treasure days like these, they might not be as sustainable as they’d like.

On transfer deadline day Peter Odemwingie became a subject of ridicule.  Awaiting his transfer to QPR to be finalised he sat in the Loftus Road car park and waited.  And waited.  And waited and waited.  No such deal was made and hapless Peter was left to lick his wounds and endure international humiliation. Some may not accept this but Odemwingie is actually deserving of sympathy.  Going to the effort of driving to London suggests he’d been told to do so, maybe by an agent or a club official, we may never know the full story as clubs take great pride in treating information like this with utmost confidentiality.  Whatever the motivating factor, Odemwingie looked foolish by the end of the day.  Transfer deadline day has become a huge hyperbole drenched media event.  Television cameras are placed outside stadiums across the nation hoping for a slice of information, rumour  or  hint that helps them deliver news  to a grateful populace.  In the days before 24 hour sports channels, and a drooling social media, we may not have learnt of a transfer until reading the following days newspapers, and we didn’t know, or care how the move had come about.  Perhaps Peter Odemingie’s biggest problem was that there is nowhere to hide in 2013.

It was upsetting to see Paul Gascoigne’s latest public meltdown.  At a public meeting he was shaking and incoherent.  Following the incident Gazza travelled to the USA to attend a rehabilitation  centre. Since retiring from playing his numerous problems have been well documented.  He’s rarely far from the headlines and I, like many others, fear the worst when I see his name in a newspaper headline.  We can only hope  he can address his issues and the latest attempt at rehabilitation proves to be successful. As Terry Venables has said, “Only Gazza can save Gazza.”

The Champions league restarts next week with the tie between Real Madrid and Manchester United the fascination of the first week of fixtures.  The Jose Mourinho/Real Madrid situation is almost farcical.  it’s abundantly clear that  Mourinho isn’t wanted at, neither does he want to be at, The Bernabeu.  In recent weeks he’s talked longingly of a return to the Premier League.  Real Madrid’s players seem as if they would be happy to see the back of Mourinho, Iker Casillas in particular.  Amid the bitterness, Mourinho won’t leave and the club won’t sack him!   On taking the reins at The Bernabeu Mourinho’s brief was clear… he needs to win the European Cup.  While they remain in that competition he still has hope of fulfilling the terms of the mission statement.  The players could hasten his departure by having an off day.  The internal politics involved are so overwhelming anyone can be excused for forgetting there will be two football matches taking place!

In his wisdom, ex British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said that seven days was a long time in politics…. he should have tried being a Stoke City supporter!  Seven days on it all feels so much brighter. Three wins in a row and we are now over halfway to the magical 40 point mark.  In each game we showed characteristic tenacity to cling to the lead and secure priceless victories.  In the matches against Newcastle and WBA it was particularly encouraging to see substitutions proving the decisive factor.  Cameron Jerome’s injection of pace provided a variation to our play against Newcastle.  It was pleasing to see Dean Whitehead score the winner at The Hawthorns.  Whitehead is no longer an automatic starter for The Potters but to his credit he’s continued to apply himself with decency and professionalism.  Despite the current high it’d be foolish to pretend our performances have been flawless.  We still aren’t creative enough largely due to a lack of movement from the front players.  Also, when we are under pressure our defending too often resembles a series of lunges which give away free kicks and unnecessarily acquire a plethora of yellow cards.  Charlie Adam has to serve a suspension, we can ill afford to lose any selection options.  We are a physical team but that doesn’t have to equate to being a reckless one.  Overall though a fine weeks work for Stoke City.  If we apply the same level of endeavour and discipline we have every chance of securing a fourth straight victory at Villa Park.

Roberto Di Matteo isn’t the only manager entitled to feel aggrieved by a dismissal.  Valencia’s club president Manuel Llorente sacked Mauricio Pellegrini following a 2-5 home defeat to Real Sociedad.   It’s hard to see Llorente’s action as anything other than knee jerk.  While they are currently positioned 12th  in the league, Valencia are still handily placed for a run to grab a Champions League spot and reached this seasons last 16 with a game to spare.  How is any manager able to operate effectively when their superiors are trigger happy?  Infuriating though it can be, disappointing results are  part of football.  Presidents and owners should  consider that before becoming involved in the game.

Elsewhere in Spain, rumours persist that Jose Mourinho will leave The Bernabeu at the end of the season.   In appointing Mourinho Real Madrid chose a philosophical u turn.  They regard style and panache as important to the culture of their club as their illustrious historical trophy haul.  Mourinho’s brilliance is motivation and  his tactical manoeuvring.  His teams, as successful as they are, haven’t always played exhilarating thrilling football.  The pragmatism and attention to detail being the cornerstones of his glittering career.  On a personal level his move to Madrid was a professional masterstroke.  It’s known Real Madrid is a notorious  managerial graveyard.  When he does leave he’ll be able to do so with reputation intact and will still be able to pick up a job at a European powerhouse.  That special one isn’t stupid.

It is now 20 years since Eric Cantona joined Manchester United.  Few could deny that Cantona’s move to Old Trafford  was the pivotal point in Man Utd’s rise to dominance.  Carrying rare insight, he could see, and execute,  passes few others could.  For all that, the main factor wasn’t actually what happened on the pitch.  At the end of his first training session Cantona asked for two youth players to stay and help him practice.  He instructed the youth players to cross balls to him to help him practice volleys, which they did… each volley an improvement on the previous one.  The rest of the Manchester United staff were impressed by this.  The young players, who would have included players like Beckham Giggs Neville and Scholes, were so awestruck they copied the Frenchman and developed the habit of practice.  The example Cantona set was the hallmark of  transformation from potential to European Champions. That level of application and perseverance is a mark of truly great footballers. In his autobiography Roy Keane pointed out, with validity, that Cantona never actually turned a balanced European tie in Man Utd’s favour. It’s also true that they never won the European Cup with him.  His greatest legacy is the players saw with their own eyes what transforms possibility  to achievement…. practice, practice, and more practice.

Luiz Felipe Scolari will lead Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.  His re-appointment is understandable.  Having led the Selecao to victory at the 2002 World Cup the experience he carries will be essential.  It’s hard to imagine managing Brazil in 2014 being an enjoyable task.  The sheer scale of expectation and demand for style will reach an intensity comparable to any moment in football history.  In 18 months time Scolari’s predecessor Mano Menezes may feel releived he’s no longer in at the deep end.

It’s always a disappointment to have a match postponed.  However rational and understandable, the decision not to  play a game is always met with an initial air of contempt and references to modern players being over indulged and pampered.   On Saturday, despite knowing that much of Europe was at a snow enforced standstill, I got that compulsory  feeling of disgruntled bitterness.  The rare chance to get to bed before sunrise on Sunday morning faded into insignificance when compared to the chance to watch us probably get beaten by the Wenger conspiracy!   I used to get nerve induced stomach cramps in the build up to big games.  The night before we we played Coventry in the FA Cup 5th round in 1987,  the anxiety manifested itself by way of a nightmare that was frighteningly realistic and I still remember it clearly to this day.  The aforementioned nightmare involved walking to the ground to watch the game but as the ground came into view nearly being run over by a fleet of  fire engines speeding down Leek Road and under Glebe St Bridge.   In the distance, I saw plumes of smoke rising, obscuring the glare of the floodlights and merging into the leaden sky.  Getting closer to the stadium there were swarms of people  watching in fascinated terror as  flames were  being thrown up the  streets adjoining the ground.  Stoke armageddon.  Climbing into the stadium over a wall, the pitch was on fire and as thousands of supporters were screaming to escape, the flames rose with ever increasing ferocity.  After a while, the pitch suddenly opened up forming a vast canyon, from that gaping wound emerged some giant mechanical bears chasing away the fire brigade, whose engines fell into the canyon, exploded and fell out of view.  Nightmare it may have been, but to any football supporter preparing to watch a game, that pitch was an adequate playable surface!  

One game that did take place was Manchester City’s doomed attempt to secure the Christmas number one spot by beating  Everton.   For all the millions  spent they still lack the resilience required to  lead everyone to believe they can reach the summit and stay there.  It seems Mancini will have funds to invest in January.  A disciplined holding midfielder would be a useful acquisition.   Someone who can organise lead and make sure everyone is where they should be.   With the milli0ns at their disposal it shouldn’t be too hard to find one. 

Another one bites the dust.  What  was actually expected from Sam Allardyce?  Since taking over at Blackburn two years ago he staved off the threat of relegation, helped them to finish in  healthy 10th position last season and had made a steady start to the current campaign.  Much of the mindset was understandably based on strong home form.  All in all, two years of stability and quiet progress.  So what are the new owners expecting?  Who do they think has the experience to sustain the recent progress?  One rumour was that the owners lined up Kris Boyd and Geovanni to sign,  Sam said he didn’t rate them and didn’t want them so he was sacked. Good way to run a club eh?  One factor could be that despite being a progressive manager who always embraced the games new developments, he doesn’t look as if he does.  Being 56 years old and achieving success based largely on pragmatic methods doesn’t have the panache some seem to crave, but it’s a football team not a beauty contest.  Foolish owners inflict yet more unnecessary pressure on managers. 

Could Rafael Benitez have been angling for a dignified exit from the San Siro?  Rafa made a little outburst on what he perceived as Inter’s lack of ambition.  Having won the white elephant that is the World Club Championship he left with a hint of dignity, not to mention a hefty pay off.  Jose Mourinho was always going to be a big act to follow… with or without the support of the board.   One significant question remains unanswered …. why did Moratti choose Benitez in the first place? 

Brisbane Roar won again, this time away to North QLD Fury in a display of steady efficiency.   17 games unbeaten which is seriously impressive form.  Pre- season, Everton played a friendly here.  During that game I was irked by that legendary figure all football fans have encountered….. ‘The Bloke Behind Me’.  In this instance the bloke behind me was bullishly boasting about not renewing his membership for the season.  Apparently, he’d been contacted by the club regarding his lapsed membership and he’d given a volley of abuse about the manager, the unfortunately named… Ange Postecoglou.  So vitriolic (and unjustified) was his attack I felt compelled to stick my nose in.  I told him that considering the state of the team when Ange took over in November 2009, he’d done a decent job.  Some stale old rubbish had to be thrown out of the club and some of the playing staff were, simply, too comfortable.   Ange had shown the required strength in dealing with some of the clubs over indulged stalwarts and making unpopular decisions for the greater good of the club.  The current form vindicates my impassioned defence of Ange.  Another salient point is that, particularly taking over a struggling team, managers can’t be fully judged until they have spent an entire pre season with the players so it becomes their squad.   That is the time when a manager can impose on a squad of players what is expected,  as individuals and collectively.  That principle applies to football everywhere. So hopefully Ange can continue the great work, and if the bloke behind me can’t get a ticket for the grand final, a 52,000 sell out crowd on a  beautiful late summer evening, I hope he doesn’t come crying to me! 

Italy’s 1982 World Cup winning manager Enzo Bearzot has died.  Despite an awful group stage Italy came through the pack by defeating Diego Maradona’s Argentina and the Harlem Globetrotter like Brazilians to prove themselves the best team in the competition.  Their 3-2 victory over Brazil is one of the most gripping games ever played, jack in the box Paolo Rossi justifying the decision to lift the ban on him by scoring a hat trick.     Marco Tardelli’s contorted face after scoring in the  final  celebration remains one of the most iconic moments in football history. 
RIP Enzo Bearzot

So, the BIG question,  who should start up front with Jonesy?  And the key word is start. It is increasingly clear that the manager sees the substitute bench an important part of the overall game strategy.  You can’t have too many striking options.  It’s reminiscent of Italy in 2006 who, as opposed to the usual four,  took six strikers to Germany in their World Cup squad.  In the semi against Germany alone they used five of them….. excellent use of the squad.  Different attacking possibilities are an important luxury to enjoy.  As long as we aren’t three down and game over before we get the chance to mix and match!   Although against West Ham our biggest problem was defensive.  It was a dreadful free kick for Collins to give away  that led to their goal.  Like  against Villa, we fell behind and got overran for a while.  We equalised with a well worked goal and had the better of the second half but didn’t really do enough for us to be able to say we really deserved to win the game.  Four points from the two home games isn’t a bad return though.  Newcastle on Sunday and a long overdue clean sheet will be a fine starting point.   Reaching the next round of the League Cup would be most welcome too.   Come on stoke.

Despite playing the usual vacuous superficial lip service, FIFA have decided that the votes to decide  2018 World Cup hosts  must not be influenced in any way by the subject of racism.  So what is the point of that campaign they have been running?  During the recent Russia v Andorra match the black players were targeted throughout.  Wouldn’t the threat of being cast aside in the World Cup bid be a just action and a deterrent?   In 2006 Ukranian coach Oleg Blokhin made a grand statement that black players shouldn’t play in Ukranian football at all… yet there he was participating in that inane irrelevant ceremony before his teams quarter final against Italy. If the administrative bodies are serious about eliminating racism from the game they can do it by properly punishing those who display bigotry and making an example of them.    The last time England played in Spain the black players were abused throughout the game.  An appropriate punishment would have been to make them play their next competitive game behind closed doors.  This means everyone would suffer and the knuckle draggers would be forced to consider the consequences of their actions on their fellow supporters.  The players would have to play a competitive game in near silence and, most importantly for them, their FA would miss out on a load of money. 

Brisbane Roar have existed for five years and for five years they have screamed out for a ruthless finisher. Watching them stumble to a 1-1 draw home to Adelaide on Saturday night (before heading to the pub for our game against the Hammers) was five years in one game.  Encouraging play but some dopey defending allows Adelaide in to take the lead.  Then Brisbane equalise but despite being on top rarely look like snatching a winner.  Five years of nearly but not quite.  But most importantly we do have   football matches to attend and meet mates before and after etc…  the social aspect is crucial, and the bars around the stadium are great!!   If the game to survive here it has to be supported.  However frustrating it can be!!  

Amusingly, Mourinho has already started to fall out with his board at Real Madrid!   He wants to manage Portugal temporarily for their forthcoming Euro qualifiers against Denmark and Iceland.   Initially he was saying that he’d be alone in Madrid with nothing to do for a week (yeah right!) so what harm could it possibly do?  He’s taken a step back now but that little disagreement could be the germ that metamorphosizes into a large damaging virus that infects his reign at the Bernebau.  Valencia sit at the top in Spain and after watching them masterfully hold off the energetic Hercules they are deserved league leaders.  Barcelona will be relieved to have got their defeat at Hercules out of the system with the  win at Atletico Madrid. The only problem is that Messi’s injury has taken attention away from the wonderful goal he scored which in itself took attention away from Pedro’s brilliant diagonal pass to unlock the defence.   It was just  a pity about the horrible black goal nets….. they weren’t a worthy receptacle for a goal of such skill.    Messi’s injury means he’ll have to miss a few games including one against mighty Rubin Kazan in Europe….which takes me onto another subject……..

……The European Cup started last week.  OR to give it a more fitting name… The overblown overhyped carnival of too much pointlessness started last week.  That competition doesn’t get going until March, and often in March the drama and quality of the knockout football on show serves to demonstrate how futile and irrelevant too many of the matches in the early stages are.  There were a few suggestions of romance when Chelsea travelled to MSK Zillna but by the thirty minute mark romance had given way to grim predictable reality.  Arsenal were indeed brilliant against Braga but, with all respect, it was Braga.  Obviously they some good qualities to be in the competition at all but is that victory a genuine benchmark for anything?  Quite simply, that tournament needs a revamp to freshen it up.  At the moment it’s lots of clubs playing lots of games with little to spark the imagination.   Don’t start me on that Europa league.

Liverpool were well beaten by Man Yoo.  The 3-2 scoreline is deceptive.   The strange thing is however did Liverpool get back to 2-2?  It’s lame at this point to say Berbatov’s second was marvellous but of course it was.  To control the ball on the thigh and overhead kick takes rare agility.  It’s always aesthetically pleasing to see goals bounce in off the underside off the crossbar too.   Elsewhere, it was disgraceful to see Arsene Wenger violently attack the fourth official.  It isn’t football when you reduce yourself  to vicious intimidation like that.  That kind of bare thuggery has no place in the game.  He needs to wake up to himself.

The National Football Centre in Burton is delayed again.  This saga has dragged on for years now.  In 2001 the idea was announced and it was all conceived to follow the lead and success of the French centre at Clairefontaine.  Nine years and 25m quid later it is no nearer to completion.  This whole ongoing yarn symbolises the FA’s inability to make change.  Change that is required to help English players develop into the kind of players capable of sustaining a place amongst the world’s elite.  Instead of seeing the importance of such a project it has been allowed to fizzle out and the administrators have dithered and fussed around.  But who is seriously surprised by that?

There’s no question that Bale’s second was an impressive strike but, the point has to be made that Lennon being allowed to carry the ball unchecked was shoddy on our behalf.  And for the first Collins was caught square and ballwatching as Bale ghosted in past him.  Its going to be tough if we give sides that kind of help.  Especially sides with the quality of Spurs.  The second half we played well.  Tuncay’s introduction added some much needed skill and our forward play got a new dimension but that header was a bad miss.  When Jonesy returns and is fully fit hopefully he’ll put chances like that away with the minimum of fuss.  After half time we took the game to Spurs and we were worth a point.  The point we’d have got if the ref had given the goal we scored.  It’s depressingly similar to Shawcross’ disallowed goal at home to Manchester Citeh last season.  The ref was right next to the incident yet got it horribly wrong.  That Huth fouled the keeper is irrelevant.  If the ref had thought it was a foul he’d have immediately blown for a free kick.   Chelsea next week.  One good thing about going to Stamford Bridge in August is that we’ll get it over with.  it’ll be an exercise in damage limitation so we have to hope we limitate it better than we did last time there!   Barring a miracle next week it seems we’ll head into the international break with zero points.  Obviously there’s a long long way to go and no need to panic.  If Jonesy returns fit and we can show the same appetite we did in the second half against Spurs we should be OK.  But we mustn’t forget to win games of football.

One of the fascinations of this season is to see how Jose Mourinho fares at Real Madrid.  The club who regard style and panache as important to the culture of their club as their illustrious historical trophy haul.   In choosing Mourinho they have effectively chosen a U turn.  Mourinho’s brilliance is as a motivator and   his tactical manoeuvring.  His teams, as successful as they are, haven’t always played exhilarating thrilling football.  The pragmatism and attention to detail being the cornerstones of his glittering career.  Moving to Madrid is actually a masterstroke. His previous connections with Barcelona are now forgotten and there is animosoty between the self proclaimed special one and the club that was his football classroom.  This will only help to endear him to the Bernebau.  It’s known Real Madrid is a notorious  managerial graveyard.  If the internal politics are too much and he walks away he’ll probably be able to do so with reputation intact and will still be able to pick up a job at a European powerhouse.  That Jose isn’t stupid!

**The debate about goal line technology rumbles on.  Surely if it’s available it’s  foolish not to use it.  It’s unlike many topics of debate that arise that surround refereeing decisions in a game of football.  For example, last week Joe Cole was sent off for Liverpool.  It was my opinion that the red card was harsh and a yellow would suffice.  However, mates I spoke with and looking at assorted internet message boards many felt it was a good decision by the ref and the sending off was fully justified.  There are varying opinions and that is part of the soul of football.  The difference between a situation like that and whether a ball crosses the line or not is that whether the ball crosses the line isn’t a subject of debate, it’s a matter of fact, and also the key factor in a match…. scoring a goal, or not as the case may be.  In these days where lost points can lose a club millions, and to implement the change would be relatively straight forward, isn’t it prehistoric to refuse to accept it?   Mr Blatter would be OK, he should think of the favours it could generate from the companies who want to get the contracts to put the equipment in place! 

Talking of Blatter, how kind of him to visit England!  We can hope he enjoyed beer and crisps at Downing Street.  And Nick Clegg was appropriately ambassadorial is meeting him and his delegates.  This visit is an important part of the bid, especially at this late stage.  But where was the Prime Minister?  It’s understandable that he wants time with his family but Prime Ministers don’t have holidays.  Hosting the 2018 World Cup could be one of the biggest things in the history of England.  It reaches parts of the nation the Olympics can’t.  The big cheeses of FIFA have egos the size of  Heathrow  airport.  Hopefully the decisive factor won’t be that Vladimir Putin went to meet them last week.

It’s pleasing that Brisbane Roar have made a healthy start to the A league season.  A win and a draw is a vast improvement on last seasons lame capitulation.  Some stylish football has been played too which is an important factor in Australia.  The league here is a huge marketing exercise to generate interest in the game of football.  It’ll be more pleasing if Brisbane’s enterprising start can be maintained.  The politics of football here can be overwhelming.  Hopefully we, the people of Brisbane, can focus on the pitch instead of the meeting rooms.   Home to Wellington Friday night!

**  The bit about  goal line technology was written before our incident against Spurs on Saturday.  Honestly.