The Stoketshirts.co.uk blog

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

Three top flight wins in a row for the first time since 1984’s  Huddy inspired great escape.  The final game was by far the least enthralling installment of the trilogy, but who is really complaining about that?    After a first half when both sides were as poor as each other, few could have predicted what became an emphatic victory for us.  Not that we didn’t deserve the victory overall I hasten to add.  The plethora of bad refereeing decisions that have gone against us this season are embedded in our collective psyche, leaving a dark bitter stain.  The point has to be made however that we were the recipients of good fortune at The Hawthorns when Jonesy, shall we say, tumbled a bit too easily and Foy kindly gave us the penalty.   I think he dived but there is one glaring factor which has to be brought into the debate…. why did WBA keeper Frank Carson feel the need to dash from his goal?  Jonesy still had a lot to do.  But dash he did to lead us to Matty’s ruthlessly executed penalty to give us a lead we rarely looked likely to lose.   Our opponents looked demoralised and we continued to grind and graft and got a second, with a more valid penalty, which Jon Walters hammered home with much aplomb.  Right at the death Jonesy did some great jinky work on the left which put Walters in again.  The hapless Frank Carson saved the first effort with rare competence but the rebound deflected to Walters who ruthlessly swept the ball home for his second and our third.  Admittedly, the third gave the scoreline a flattering complexion, but that’s football it happens, it feels good to be on the right side of some (minor) injustice!  So our strangely, phenomenally, bizarrely, amazingly brilliant record against WBA continues.  On Saturday the Baggies heads went down from the moment we scored as if being behind to Stoke City was such a depressingly familiar feeling.  That’s hardly surprising.  It’s probably as depressing for them as it is awe inspiring for us!  So, three wins in a row and two clean sheets.  It’s fair to say things are looking up.   Life is good!   The elephants have made a sharp exit!!  Hopefully that’s the last we’ve seen of the unwelcome big grey floppy eared tusky sods!!!  They are beautiful animals but not what I want in the loungeroom on Saturday night whilst watching Stoke play!! 

After their hopeless display against Sunderland Chelsea were much improved against Birmingham.  Birmingham mustered one shot at goal while Chelsea had twenty five, yet, amusingly, Chelsea still lost!   It’d be fanciful to suggest the behind the scenes wrangling was responsible for their Saturday’s defeat but the aforemtioned  wrangling is clearly having a detrimental effect on the club as a whole.  The dismissal of Wilkins and the subsequent internal squabbling is as undignified as it is funny!  Abramavic bought Chelsea seven years ago and while the money has bought success the ongoing meddling from administrators at the club is obstructive to whoever the manager may be.  The Independent reported on Monday that Ancelotti might be on the verge of resignation because he doesn’t have the power his contemporaries have at their respective clubs.  It seems resignation rumours were somewhat melodratic, but it does demonstrate how difficult Chelsea can be to manage.  A bottomless pit of transfer funds doesn’t compensate for the impracticalities of big club decisions being made behind your back.  On buying the club in 2003 Abramovic’s mission statement was to win two European Cups (Champions league my arse!) in the first ten years.  That they are yet to win one proves that a winning culture to match the cream of world football can’t just be bought, it has to be built over a period of years… even with that bottomless pit.

Another London club that went through the wringer at the weekend are those lovable purists at The Emirates.  How did that happen?  Well, Arry played a blinder.   The astonishing second half comeback came with Defoe replacing Lennon and playing as a striker while Van De Vaart moved to the right.  This gave them options all over the attacking third and eventually they outnumbered poor old Arsenal into submission.  I’m sure all Stokies shed a tear for Arsene Wenger as he wandered the touchline in exasperated frustration.  It was a truly fantastic game and an example of all that is good about football.  However, one disappointing aspect is that Arsenal got three yellow cards.  The whole world was watching and their blunt violence again brings shame and disgust onto the reputation of English football.  When you reduce yourself to that kind of thuggery it ceases to be football.  

Hey get this for any oxymoron… FIFA Ethics committee!!   Honestly, it really exists.   Look at this if you don’t believe me.  http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/committee=1882034.html  They must have the easiest job in football!  Like driving the snow plough in Dubai. 

England were well beaten by France.  Technically and tactically outclassed. To slag off Capello for this performance and result is to miss some salient points.  The clamour was for different younger players to gain some international experience… which they did.  That we were comprehensively beaten just emphasises AGAIN that the technical ability of English players in inferior to that of many other countries.  France were one of few teams to have an even worse World Cup than England yet they already look to be rebuilding and preparing for the future.  If England host 2018 the role of the national football traning centre at Burton will get sharper focus as it will be a legitimate target to aim for.  By then we may have started to see the fruits of that labour (heaven knows we’ve waited long enough) and finally get English players who can trap a ball and pass it accurately and keep the ball and patiently unlock an opposing defence, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

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?