The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

For Stoke City there is no next level. The peak of our capabilities is to be a stable top flight team, every season we play the big clubs and might beat one of them. Combine that with a decent cup run every few seasons and that’s the height of our possibilities. So at this stage we are pretty much at our peak. The discontent of many Stoke supporters isn’t due to unreal expectation.  The current discontent is borne of the mind bogglingly negative approach to everything. Each time we’ve spent good money on a new player who could provide our play with a new dimension they get discarded as they won’t fit into the rigid system the manager employs…. a system that doesn’t work. The system where the only attacking threat involves hitting a long high ball to a forward who may or may not flick it on to nobody in particular because the midfielders are based so deep they have little hope of supporting the forward. Good teams can handle that ‘threat’ with the minimum of fuss. We were sleepwalked to the edge of the relegation dogfight and as our results were deteriorating we were increasingly entrenched in the bankrupt methods that created the malaise. Inexplicably, Tony Pulis claimed it was down to bad luck. The owner knows not to meddle with a manager’s playing philosophy, the same philosophy that could see us fall through the trapdoor and lose our treasured Premier League status. The manager, seemingly unable to change, is damaging his own legacy every time Stoke City play. We need change, amongst other reasons, to save Tony Pulis from himself.  We’ll always be eternally grateful to  Pulis for taking us to the Premier League and keeping us here but decisions have to be made.  In 2013/14 can we have a Stoke City with a precise cohesive attacking plan that approaches games with a fresh philosophy please?  This road has become dark.  A brighter route is required.

The last decade has been awash with media speculation regarding Alex Ferguson’s retirement and successor.  On Wednesday May 8th 2013 the announcement finally arrived confirming Alex Ferguson will retire from management at the end of the current season.  He once stated his finest achievement was “Knocking Liverpool off their f#^#ing perch”.  Under his leadership his club have overtaken Liverpool and have won 20 titles to Liverpool’s 18, this is  by far the most poignant indicator of their absolute dominance.  It’s now entirely appropriate to step down from the perch.  Fools learn by their mistakes, wise people learn from other people’s.  Ferguson will be acutely 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 love 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 has chosen to step down from the perch.  At the age of 71 he’ll  find the bottom of the cage an invigorating place.

Aston Villa’s Stiliyan Petrov also announced his retirement from playing this week.  Petrov was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2012 but is now in remission.  However, the illness and treatment has left him with insurmountable physical problems which have persuaded him to end his playing career.  It has been reported that Villa manager Paul Lambert is considering offering Petrov a backroom role at the club.  It’ll be an honorable move if it comes to fruition.

Jason Collins, a basketball player with the Washington Wizards, recently announced to the world that he is gay.  His ‘coming out’ has been widely reported and Collins has received widespread support from the sporting community.  In the same week PFA chairman Clarke Carlisle has said that at least eight players have told him they are gay, seven of whom told him they are reluctant to go public because of a possible negative reaction of supporters and media.  In 2013 anti gay bigotry is deemed unacceptable throughout society.  Many workplaces have processes in place to ensure employees aren’t victimized on the grounds of their sexuality yet gay footballers feel unable to come out.  This doesn’t reflect well on football.  We’ll only know how coming out effects a footballers life and career when a gay player makes the decision to declare his sexuality, hopefully he would receive the same level of support Jason Collins received.

Whether Stoke City avoid relegation or not, the current malaise leaves Peter Coates with a huge decision to make in the close season regarding the manager’s position.  Coates may recall a similar situation in his first spell as chairman.  The 1988/89 season was Mick Mills’ fourth campaign managing Stoke City.  During the first two he’d done well to stabilise the club.  At the start of his third season in 1987 we were confidently expecting a sustained push for promotion.  Inconsistency hampered any ambition we had and our season never really got going.  The next season saw us stagnate.   By the end of the 1988/89 season it was abundantly clear to everyone in the game Mills had hit a dead end and, for whatever reason, he’d ceased to be an effective Stoke manager.  It was the summer of 1989 when the board at SCFC  made a cowardly decision and inexplicably awarded him a new contract.  Predictably, at the start of November he had to be sacked… and his contract paid out.  The summer of 2013 will leave Peter Coates in a similar situation.  So far this year Stoke have picked up fewer points (5) than any other Premier League team.  Our play is increasingly disjointed and Saturday’s match against Aston villa was a low point in our recent history.  For all that, we still have a reasonable chance of avoiding the drop.  In a rut like this it’d be easy to forget that Tony Pulis has been a very successful Stoke city manager… with that in mind he should be spared the indignity of  dismissal during the season.  Peter Coates will know there is a huge decision to be made.  With a heavy heart  I state my own feeling that Stoke City need a new manager.   The mistake of 1989 mustn’t be repeated.

As depressing as Stoke’s recent form is it’s worth remembering football is a brilliant game.  To reinforce that point here is Antonio Di Natale’s goal for Udinese against Chievo.  Watch it, then watch it again and again.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TEA_tv7dlM

Sadly, Monday April 15th marks the 24th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.   Policing at football grounds has, for many years, been a sore point amongst supporters.   It was  former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police John Stalker who said in the 80s he was aware that many police knew that football matches were one time they were “Let off the leash”.  On the 31st January 1989  Stoke played an FA Cup replay at Barnsley. Thousands of Stoke supporters arrived late due to traffic congestion.   Outside the ground a crush developed and people were getting hurt.  The initial response was to send a police horse running through the crowd which  only added to the chaos.   To ease the congestion the police opened one of the huge exit gates which allowed the crowd  to enter the ground free of charge. This was the response the same force used two months later at Hillsborough.  Had there been more Stoke supporters on the away terrace that night we could have suffered that awful disaster.  Same situation, same police force, same reaction.   We, like all football supporters, were actually riding our luck,  not just on that  night, but for so many years.   There was very little consideration for the issue of crowd safety over crowd control.  It could have been any of us  with the loss of life…..  and the same scandalous tabloid allegations.  With September’s release of documents and the original inquest findings quashed aa new inquest is to take place.  As a result we’ve seen huge steps towards justice which is  testament to the work of the Hillsborough Family Support group.  We can hope this  can bring the bereaved some comfort at what must be a deeply traumatic time of year for them. RIP the 96.

Much has been made of Brazil’s lowly FIFA world ranking of 19th place.  Most people are aware that the positions are determined by a co-efficient devised from competitive results over a four year period.  As Brazil have qualified for the 2014 World Cup as hosts, a lack of competitive fixtures means a fall in the rankings was inevitable.  Brazil’s recent form has been hit and miss.  However, dismissing their chances of success next year would be foolish.  A year out from the 2002 tournament their form was dreadful, there was even the possibility they could miss out on qualification altogether.    It was all forgotten when Cafu lifted the trophy in Yokohama.  Don’t write them off.

Football Federation Australia have announced plans for the FFA Cup, a national competition  to run in addition to the A-League.  With over 600 teams involved the new competition could be an exciting addition to the Australian sporting menu.  The format is yet to be confirmed.  This could provide football clubs in remote areas a rare chance of national recognition and help the game here to become more inclusive.  It’d also be a progressive step to encourage indigenous communities to enter teams.  Overall it could prove to be a vital step in football’s growth in Australia.

The living breathing soap opera that is Mario Balotelli acquired yet another layer of controversy when he was caught smoking on  the train taking the Milan team to face Fiorentina.  In 2011 he famously showed his T-shirt asking “Why Always Me?”  Doing things like getting caught smoking in train toilets is perhaps one reason why always him!