Just Excuses

The best thing about having a blog (or in my case blogs!) is I get to moan about things that annoy me.

And this week we saw a prime example.

We aren’t the only club that does it be any means and we aren’t the worst, however, this blog is about Stoke City, so the focus must be us.

But this idea that when you lose a game of football the first thing you do is get yourself in front of the nearest camera and bleat about referees really vexes me and that’s exactly what TP did this week.

Now I read that yet again he’s moaning to Mike Riley about the decisions that didn’t go our way on Wednesday night.

Having finally seen the highlights last night I will concede that three went against us. The Walters goal (I wrote on Thursday that I didn’t know why it was chalked off from the view I had at the game). The Carragher tackle on Matty Etherington might have been a red card (personally I wouldn’t have sent him off) and the foul on Crouch was a penalty.

Fair enough. But referee Lee Probert didn’t cost us the game. Any more than he cost us the game at Vila two seasons ago when he disallowed Mama Sidibe’s goal or Everton last term when for some reason he decided Tuncay had pushed Leighton Baines.

We lost those games because we missed a host of other chances at Villa and didn’t defend properly for Yakubu’s winner at Goodison. And that is my point.

Football clubs, just like the boxer who blames an injury when he doesn’t turn up in a big title fight, have to take responsibility for what they do in matches.

Manager’s are fond of asking for “consistency” from Ref’s. So lets turn it round. Lets see TP ring Mike Riley after Kenwyne Jones dives at WBA, or Matty dives against West Ham in the Cup Quarter final (you will recall he managed – like we all did – to get upset about their goal which was an obvious handball.) I had brilliant views of both, and said straight away “dive.” I could see it, TP knows it and stil his silence was deafening.

Or where was his admonishment of the ref after Huth’s elbow in the Cup Final? Or this season when Wilko should have gone at Swansea – as soon as that tackle was made I said to the people I was with: “he’s off.”

It’s an obvious cliché, but its true. It evens itself out. Take Sunderland last season. The Cattermole handball was a more or less exact replica of what Danny Pugh did at the other end two season’s before. How we chuckled then. How we fumed last November.

We are fans. We don’t have to see sense or be reasonable. So when we beat Sunderland last season at home with a goal that was miles offside and one that was handball how funny I found it to stand there abusing Steve Bruce.

That’s my job.

The job of the Stoke manager, though, is to be honest in defeat, surely? And I say this not to TP in particular but bosses in general, please, please stop making excuses.

A Thursday Morning (Realistic) Moan

So that’s it for another year. My dream of watching us in a major cup final now rests with FA and Europa Cups and, really, if we are being honest, we were second best last night.

Liverpool were much the better side last night and going in at half-time a goal up was flattering to us in the extreme.

Too many of our players just didn’t (and aren’t) playing very well.

And then I get home to read TP comments that somehow the referee cost us! Personally from my vantage point in Block 22 I didn’t see a lot wrong with the goal Walters had disallowed and I had no chance of seeing whether Crouch was fouled or not just before the end.

But I did see too many of our players getting the basics wrong. Our defending for both goals was shambolic. Our passing was sloppy, and we – as far as I can recall – barely threatened the goal apart from Jones’ header and the Walters “goal.”

And that, I am afraid, has been the way of recent games. We beat a really poor (on the day) Fulham team, were seemingly devoid of ideas at Arsenal and the malaise continued last night.

We continue – despite all the money we have spent – to operate the “square pegs in round holes” philosophy, we have two wingers in the squad, we have barely any cover on the left side and little pace anywhere.

All of which leads me to ask this question: I have already tweeted on this today, but still its worthy of further discussion on the blog.

Is our European form masking what is now an average start to the season?

We have won three games (two, if we are being honest, largely undeserved) drawn three and lost three. All three defeats have seen us give really poor displays and we have only scored seven goals in the league, of which, off the top of my head just two were from open play – one of those even was lucky.

Is that good enough for a strike force that cost over £25m? With the first quarter of the season complete we have mustered just one goal from a player that wasn’t playing up front at the time (Delap’s against Fulham) and that, for a team that relies on goals from defenders as much as we do – is a really worrying trend.

And if final confirmation were needed as to the unsatisfactory nature of things were needed try this: For all the euphoria of the Europa Cup and transfer deadline day “coups” (and having Wilson Palacios back will be like a new signing) we are below Norwich in the table.

And yes, this blog may be bleak today – but I believe it a realistic. Our next four games are winnable. And if we do win at least two then we have at least 18 points, which probably we would settle for.

I do though, honestly believe that things have moved on and that we as a club, as fans, have a right to expect Stoke City to finish somewhere in the top half of the table with the players we have available.

We will need to improve dramatically on the last two weeks domestic showing if we are to do that.

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In Praise Of The League Cup

Got cup fever yet? If not, why not?

I was having this conversation with my dad last night while we watched Man Utd play Aldershot. Just why has the League Cup never quite caught on? Just why do people shrug at its mention?

I am going to the game tonight. Quite looking forward to it actually. Getting ever closer to Wembley for the second time in two seasons. What’s not to look forward to?

And, if we are honest, this is the competition we are most likely to win. As well as we are doing in the Europa League we probably will come unstuck when some of the Champions League Teams are parachuted in. And with our away form a Premier League trophy is unlikely…..

And yet since I was a kid the League Cup is always the one we have said: “oh well, never mind” when we get knocked out of it.

Part of the problem is that Premier League is seen as all-important. The media tells you football is about money and playing in the "best league in the world." And of course it is our bread and butter. But I will say what I have always said - and it might be a controversial view - but:

I would rather win a cup than just “stay in the league.”

If I could see Ryan Shawcross lift a cup up in February it would be the best day of my life. If I made a list of my best 10 moments as a Stoke supporter then about three would be from last seasons FA Cup run. Such memories stay with you far longer than that win over Fulham did the other week.

If we go down I’d be gutted – and questions would need to be asked clearly – but as upset as I would be, do you know what I would do? I’d spend the summer miserable and come August I would go and watch us in the Championship like I have done for many, many other seasons.

But you know what? I’d have seen us win a cup.

Of course this idea that the cup is a distraction is nonsense anyway.  The idea that players are bound to lack motivation for the cup (as Neil Warnock said after QPR lost to Rochdale) is amongst the daftest things I have ever heard. And don’t get me started on the “too many games” argument either. If our players pride themselves on their fitness and are highly paid athletes, then just get on with it, is my view (I will concede that the schedule next week is a disgrace, and that does ask a lot of the squad.)

So tonight is a tough AND an important game. Tony Pulis will select a strong team and good luck to him. Let’s just enjoy it, shall we? We might win the thing in four months time.

And whatever happens, surely, it’ll be better than last year at West Ham or the year before at Portsmouth. We are at home, after all.

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Groundhog Day

Sometimes do you wonder why you bother to watch us away?

Sometimes does it seem worth it?

That was a conversation that we found ourselves having with a couple of mates yesterday both before (when I will admit, I just didn’t fancy us) and after the game (when my fears were proved right).

On the face of it there is nothing too badly wrong with a 3-1 loss at Arsenal, with Van Persie coming on and scoring two goals in the last 15 or so minutes, and the pundits, I notice again, were queuing up to give us the “get out clause” of the European “hangover.” However, loathe as I am to trot the same things out as I have already written on here, that’s 10 out of 62 away games we have won in the Premier League.

Our away problems are much longer term than some perceived hangover on European nights.

And yet, if only we had learnt the lessons of that first half, things could, should, and probably would have been different yesterday.

In the first period we didn’t look in any great trouble until the centre halves ball watched and Gervinho scored and we didn’t look in any massive trouble afterwards and crucially, we had scored, by making three unopposed headers.

This is not a good Arsenal side, it isn’t even as good a team as the one that thumped us 4-1 on the last day a few years ago, and their defence looked really poor. I tweeted on Saturday night that I wanted to see us have a go and for the latter part of the first half we had.

It was all set up for an assault after the break, then, and we could do what Sunderland did, couldn’t we?

Well, yes it was, but no we couldn’t and we couldn’t largely because we stood off and seemingly accepted defeat. We didn’t get the ball forward – and the once we did The Gunners keeper Wojciech Szczęsny and defence got in a mess and Jon Walters could have scored.

It’s easy to point the finger at Asmir Begovic and there can be little doubt he should have done better with both goals but it shouldn’t have got to that point. As a bloke sitting near me said: “Its all very well blaming the fella who doesn’t put the fire out, but don’t start the damn thing in the first place.”

Interestingly we were in our seats quite early yesterday and saw the keepers warm up. Asmir was shaky at best, dropping a couple over the line and letting one under his body. Thomas Sorensen was trying to gee him up and Keeping Coach Andy Quy was clearly worried, putting his arm around the Bosnian and chatting to him, whether this symptomatic of a loss of Begovic’s confidence I am not sure, but it certainly manifested itself during the game.

Moreover, though, I am tired of watching us do the same things away from home. The same old tactics that don’t work, and hearing the same excuses from the management. It isn’t good enough to write the way games off. We have spent on a lot of money, we have a lot of good players. We aren’t “little Stoke City” anymore, we have to shake off this timidity away from The Brit. We have to compete.

Lets be honest I could pretty much write the blog for the next away game at Bolton right now and I wouldn’t be far wrong I’ll bet.

My other passion is music. On the way home yesterday it was my turn to choose the songs on the Ipod. The last one I picked summed it up.

It had the chorus “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

What Did We Learn About Tel Aviv

Is it just me or is this Europe lark easier than we thought?

If you couldn’t believe how easy we beat Split, thought Thun would be a tough proposition, were worried about Kiev, concerned about Beskitas, then to paraphrase the Bachmann Turner Overdrive, baby you hadn’t seen anything yet.

It always appeared that Maccabi Tel Aviv were going to be the weakest team in the group but if we are honest, I wonder if Stoke City themselves expected a tougher test than what we got.

After the incident which saw Cameron Jerome hit the bar, my brother turned to me and said: “I’ll be disappointed if we don’t win this five.”  Of course around 20 seconds later the ball was in the back of the net as Kenwyne Jones waltzed in almost unopposed to head home – although watching the key incidents again when I got home, Robert Huth’s part in the goal was very clever, have a look at what he does as the ball comes over – it did look on the cards.

Of course after that it was all about Cameron Jerome. We at Long Ball Football have a lot of time for our new striker, always have. I was pleased when we signed him and thought he would be perfect for us

And he didn’t disappoint. As one of our correspondents on Twitter said earlier “how fast was Jerome last night?” He took his goal well, he kept calm to make the third for the ever-impressive Ryan Shotton.

And then he did disappoint. It was a soft sending off of course it was, but for my money he can have no complaints. The first booking probably wouldn’t happen in the Premier League, but this ref was clearly not going to stand any dissent and Cameron had no business arguing about such an innocuous decision in a game we were strolling – then just minutes later to elbow a lad, however little contact there was, just gives the ref a decision to make, and he was always going to just that.

It was never really going to negatively affect the result – we probably would have beaten Tel Aviv with a 5 a side team (ok I am biased, that’s how I make my living!) so bad were the opposition – but it did affect the game.

After the break we treated the game as a training session and had to take our fun where we could. That comedy sending off being highly chucklesome) and I thought Wilson Palacios looked good when he came on, but ultimately the whole thing was a little unfulfilling.

So to answer the question that the headline posed: We learnt that we should qualify from this group. We learnt that we should win away in Israel, and with the results going the way they have elsewhere 10 points will probably be enough to see us through and we learnt not to backchat referees.

Stoke City in the last 32 of the Europa League…seriously, it’s going to happen. And, even back in July, who would have thought that?!

What We Know About Maccabi Tel Aviv

Tomorrow sees us fulfil he next engagement in our European adventure (as Tony Pulis has decided to christen it so I thought we’d do the same) and we face Maccabi Tell Aviv at home.

Long Ball Football will, of course, be there and we are looking forward to the match.

It is arguable that these two games might decide our fate. Two wins, or a win and a draw and we are there, surely? Lose a couple and it’ll be an uphill task with Kiev and a trip to Turkey left.

If this preview is a little sketchy and not too thorough then there is a reason. We don’t – and I suspect this goes for most Stoke supporters - know much about the team we are facing.

So far, I have been able to glean that Tel Aviv are second in the Israeli Premier League, they are seen as one of the “Big Four” of Israeli football and last won the league in 2003 (I wonder if they were glued to their TV’s in Tel Aviv on the day that season when Ade Akinbyi scored to keep us up – and I wonder where we’d be now if he hadn’t?)

I also know that they were the first Jewish club in Ottoman Palestine to their Official Website and perhaps more importantly to us in the present they appointed a new manager in the summer, the extremely experienced Motti Ivanir, who had previously been manager of the Israel under 17 and under 21 sides.

They also have a new owner, in the Canadian born Mitchell Goldhar, who has made his money in Shopping Centre’s it seems. And he’s made a lot of it.

Consequently Maccabi have invested heavily in younger players and have made a strong start in the league. They also disposed of two lesser teams in Zeleznica and Xazar Lankaran before meeting Panathanikos in the Play Offs to get to the Europa League Group Stages. Since then they have had a mixed time – being thumped by Beskitas, but drawing with Kiev.

All of which means it’s hard to predict. I am inclined to think we should win, however. We have shown time and time again we are not afraid of anyone at home, and if rumours of Kenwyne Jones’ return to the team are true then we will have a hungry striker – hopefully with a point to prove – back in harness.

Also on the injury front there are thoughts that Wison Palacios will be on the bench along with Danny Higgnbottom, so slowly we are getting back to full strength too.

Wilko! Wilko! Wilko (Repeat to Fade)

It would be remiss of us at Long Ball Football not to mark an anniversary that happened yesterday.
On October 16^th 2001 Andy Wilkinson – who at the time was just 17 years old – made his Stoke debut in the Auto Windscreens against Blackpool, replacing Clive Clarke for the last 15 minutes.

It was two years later that he made his home debut – playing at centre half in a league cup first round game with Rochdale, making a mistake if I recall – but if he did, it must be one of the very last he ever made for us.

It was later that season, against West Brom that he made his full league debut and after that it was far from an easy ride, indeed it was a couple of years before he count himself as a regular member of the squad.

But Wilko never complained when he was shunted out on loan to Telford, to Partick Thistle or Blackpool – at least not to my knowledge, he just worked hard and impressed.

In fact, it was during that loan spell at Bloomfield Road that it became clear that he might have more of a future with us that we thought. The then Pool boss Simon Grayson tried to buy him but not only did Tony Pulis turn the bid down he gave the Stone born defender a new three-year contract. Given that we were moving on as a club that was interesting and signalled that Wilko was perhaps better than we thought.

If I am being totally honest, when we made the step up to the PremierLeague I didn’t think Wilko would be with us much longer. But in many ways, he has embodied the progression of the club as a whole. Whatever challenges he faced – the fact that the Manager signed a succession of right backs for example – he just got his head down, worked hard (or should that be ‘ard?) and got himself back into the side.

In the old days 10 years service would be marked with a testimonial, and although that is a throwback, a tradition that doesn’t happen anymore that in itself sums Wilko up. He IS a throwback, he is traditional. He’s a local lad who plays for his boyhood club, he loves what he’s doing and we love him.

So after 131 appearances in the red and white just one thing is missing. He has of course never scored for The Potters, his only goal coming in his loan spell in Scotland. He is getting closer, there was De Gea’s save against Man Utd the other week for example and he’s hit the bar a couple of times. Indeed the only thing that could have made the FA Cup semi any better is if Wilko hadn’t fluffed the chance in front of goal that ended up with Jon Walters scoring the fifth.

I will predict that he will notch one by the end of his career. Maybe….

He said today that he wants to be at The Brit forever. I feel I speak for everyone who has a little bit of romance in their red and white heart when I say I hope he does too.

Joining Andy Wilkinson on the bench that night at Blackpool was striker Lawrence Hall. I wonder if he feels just a tinge of jealousy? If so, he would be the only one that does. The rest of us – all Stoke supporters who have ever dreamed of pulling on the red and white shirt – feel that Andy Wilkinson represents us on that pitch.

He probably feels like that too.

Hugh Grant Your Boys Took A Hell Of A Beating (ok maybe not) - Fulham Thoughts

So, we got our third win of the season – and our first since early September. And there’s a lot that can be learnt from the match.

Starting with the defence, and I’d argue this with anyone, Matthew Upson is better – at this moment at least – than Jonathan Woodgate.

Woodgate was outstanding against Chelsea, but since then has been up and down at best. Upson by contrast – and I’ll hold my hands up here I didn’t know why we had signed him – has been brilliant every time he’s been called upon.

There are many Stokies who want Robert Huth back in the side, and we at Long Ball Football have a lot of time for him too, but let me pose a question: exactly where do you want him right now? He’s not as good a full back as Andy Wilkinson and, whilst there is no doubt he is a fine centre half, he is not a talker or organiser and that is probably what Ryan Shawcross needs.

Further forward, whisper it quietly, there were signs that Pennant and Etherington were getting back to something like their old selves. The latter’s two assists (ok, one was a little lucky) will do him the world of good and the former was more ready to run at players at last.

There were other positives too: Delap becoming the first non-striker to notch a goal in the league this term and another clean sheet. Elsewhere Jon Walters showed the poachers instinct we sometimes lack to score for his goal and Kenwyne Jones was back in the squad.

However, to strike a note of caution, in Fulham, we faced possibly the only team worse than us over the last few seasons on the road – and however much of an injustice it might have been - if Riise’s free kick goes in we probably don’t win the game. That said, these things happen and if Jon Walters' shoty had gone in at Swansea who knows?

Fulham gave a very Stoke like (if we can coin that phrase) display. They seemed timid and unable to get going. Anyone who has seen us away can say the same. We just cannot ever get the same intensity on someone else’s ground that we can at The Brit.

Next week we face Arsenal and I remain totally convinced that if we have a go we could worry them. If, of course, is a big word and we will probably settle for defeat limply, like normal.

For now though, we sit seventh in the league and have the Europa league to look forward to on Thursday. Lets worry about Arsenal after that. And maybe we can score from open play….ok lets not ask too much!

Ol'Jug Ears Is Back

I only hate Steve Cotterill these days. I must have mellowed.

Time must have diminished my feelings towards him because I used to really hate Steve Cotterill.

In fact, for a spell back in October 2002 I hated Steve Cotterill more than anyone in the world (and that includes Noel Edmonds.)

You see, in October 2002, Jug Ears as he was known – there are other names, Quitterell being one – left Stoke City to become Howard Wilkinson’s bibs and cones man at Sunderland. After just 13 games in charge. And just a few months after promising fans loyalty, hard work and commitment.”

It was his dream, apparently, to work for Wilkinson, who had been something of a mentor to him. Of course, we all thought that Steve just didn’t have the fight for the relegation battle he was going to face at the Brit that year – and my, how we laughed, when The Black Cats went down ignominiously and The Potters completed a miraculous escape from the drop in May – with Steve sacked.

It took him a year to get another job, landing at Burnley, where he spent three and a half years, achieving little before getting the bullet. He did, memorably eyeball 3000 baying Stoke fans in a game at Turf Moor so he has got some balls somewhere at least.

It looked like we’d seen the back of him, but these people always surface and 18 months ago he was taking his rampant egotism to Meadow Lane, where he steered the shambles that was Notts Co FC to the Championship in league two.

Typically, though, it was all about him – to listen to Steve’s interview at the end of the season it was as thought he had left the car at home and walked on the Trent to work.

He did though revert to type and he was off. To Fratton Park, Portsmouth to take what – and I don’t care what anyone says – a really easy job. Pompey had gone down after what can be euphemistically be described as a “turbulent season.” The upside of this to someone like Cotterill is that no one expected anything. And he could bleat.

He also seemed to be able to spend astronomical sums of money –and pay wages that would be the envy of most clubs at that level to bring in players like Liam Lawrence, Dave Kitson, Benjani and Greg Halford.

Of course, he achieved nothing and just as people question whether he might be able to achieve more, he’s off again. This time to Nottingham Forest. Not on the face of it the most straightforward club to manage. Both Billy Davies and Steve McLaren have had enough of the hoops you need to jump through to buy new players at the City Ground and have left.

Our friend Steve might have his work cut out, but as he’s shown before, he’ll be down the Motorway at the first sign of trouble.

I’d wish him well but I’d be lying.

So good luck instead to Forest. As long as you don’t expect loyalty – or hard work and commitment - you will be fine.

On A Winger And A Prayer

Stoke City get their season going for the third time at home to Fulham tomorrow – and despite what on the face of it has been an excellent start to the campaign, nagging doubts remain.

The Potters have lost just two of 15 games in all competitions – are unbeaten at home, having played Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, have spent £22m in the transfer market and have recorded some impressive results in Europe. But still, there is a feeling that it might just be papering over the cracks.

If their away results have been patchy then their performances away from the Britannia have not – they have all been rather poor. Sluggish in the opening period against Norwich, before drawing the game late on, second best for much of the game at WBA before a fluke goal in the last minute won the match and almost non existent in the last two games, at Swansea and Sunderland, it is a familiar tale.

Stoke have won just 10 of their 61 Premier League away games, and as much as people have sought to explain the last two set backs as being a by-product of the European games that preceded them (and will the next four away matches) does that explain the previous 59 too?

As well as the issues away from home, goalscoring has been a concern, with the net being found just four times. Not really good enough for a team with the array of attacking talent that boss Tony Pulis has assembled.

A key – perhaps THE key – reason for this has been the form, or lack of it, of both wingers. Jermaine Pennant and Matt Etherington are, now Peter Crouch is in the side, ever more key to the Stoke method and the fact is both men have looked a shadow of themselves so far.

Both have, in fairness, struggled with injury too – indeed in Etherington’s case he hasn’t looked fit since the hamstring injury he picked up against Wolves last April – but that just serves to make Pulis’ inability to bring in a winger before the deadline passed, look ever more costly – and the decision not to name another winger in the 25 man squad for Premier League matches look like dreadful folly.

Most things in the Stoke garden are rosy. But a win, a couple of goals and perhaps more crucial, a couple of decent performers from their star wingers, wouldn’t half help things along.