Jump to content
IGNORED

Stoke City at home match-day thread

Jerseybean

By Jerseybean
in 2021/22 Season

 Share

Recommended Posts

cityexile

cityexile

Posted
Posted

7 points last three home games. AG a fortress!

Aged several years in the IT there, but fought right to the end. Maybe on balance a draw would have been fair enough, but looked so much better last two matches.

In the context of our season, and my nerves, a huge result. Get in!! Absolutely delighted with that.

And a clean sheet!

  • Like 1
  • Robin 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mozo

mozo

Posted
Posted

It's weird because Stoke had loads of chances but I feel like this City team were so committed and intelligent on and off the ball that we thoroughly deserved the win.

7/9 points at home. Forget that hoodoo. Clean sheet. A team filled with youth. Ty and COD both being applauded off.

So much to be pleased with.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FNQ

FNQ

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

Good day fellow-Reds. Stoke City under the Bristol sky tonight at 745 pm and it’s the main match on Sky so is not on Robins TV. If you want to get to the Gate and cheer on the boys: https://tickets.bristol-sport.co.uk/categories/bristolcityfchome?

The first visit to Ashton Gate for Dean Holden since his departure, I’m sure he will be given a decent reception. As Michael O’Neil pointed out in his presser ‘We know their squad quite well. Obviously Dean Holden was there last season so we have good knowledge on the players.’

Who remembers Stoke City 2 Bristol City 1, April 19th, 2008? For those who don’t take a look here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7344104.stm

Stoke subsequently secured promotion by finishing in second place (behind WBA) and Gary Johnson said after the game that  ‘Some people are naturally disappointed because it looks as though automatic promotion is unlikely. What we must do now is make sure we are in the play-offs and then give it our best shot if that is the case.’

The Britannia was rocking that day and the City faithful never once dropped their voices below an audibly magnificent level. As they say, the rest is history, for any young uns who don’t know what I’m talking about read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7416502.stm

Here are the final league places at the end of the 2007/08 season:

1 West Bromwich Albion 

2 Stoke City (P)

3 Hull City 

4 Bristol City

5 Crystal Palace

6 Watford

My Australian mate Bill is a big Stoke fan, his pre-match comments follow:

‘Be afraid, be very afraid. Your home record is the worst in the four English leagues, possibly every league and our last two alway games were wins and against teams with good home records, Luton and Blackpool. Plus we have our star striker Tyrese Campbell back from long-term injury and in Jacob Brown we have a young, in-form striker who has just won his first Scottish cap.

I also have the delightful memory of a few seasons back (2018) when we thrashed you 1-0 at Ashton Gate thanks to the last ever league goal from Darren Fletcher! You could of course garner some hope from two critical injuries to Harry Souttar our highly rated centre half and a broken leg for Powell our truly inspirational number 10. But don’t hope too much we have excellent replacements and you can’t even beat average sides with 10 men.  So I think it’s going to be another 1-0 thrashing!! Oh and it’s been 10 years since Stoke won four games in a row.’

Mention of Bill provides an opportunity to promote his excellent new book, which I highly recommend to anybody interested in mental health. His compelling book is provocative, humorous, touching and based on his extensive experience  of clinical psychology. It’s called  ‘What Happened?: What mental health is really about’  By Dr Bill Saunders and is available now from Amazon.

Our record against them isn’t great we’ve lost 26, won 17 and drawn 15.

Last season they finished in 14th place and against them we lost 0-2 (at home) and won 0-2 (away.)

They faced Peterborough in their last a game and won 2-0 (with the second goal coming in the 96th minute) Surridge's late red card means he won’t feature tonight, they currently occupy fifth place in the table. Tonight’s encounter will be a tough one particularly given our home form.

Form over last six matches, Bristol City: LLWLLD Stoke Cityk: LLDWWW and Stoke haven’t conceded in their last three games.

Stoke are one of the oldest English football teams and were one of the founding members of the Football League. They began as Stoke Ramblers, but have been known as Stoke City since 1925. One of the best periods for the club was between 1933 and1953, they played in the top division and managed to reach the fourth place twice. They also have a Football League Cup victory from 1972 and would reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 2011.

Some of the most famous players in the club's history are Stanley Matthews, Neil Franklin, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, Peter Dobing, George Eastham, Peter McIlroy, Denis Smith, Harry Burrows who at the time had the most powerful left foot in football, the mercurial Alan Hudson, John Ritchie  and the best player never to be capped by England, Jimmy Greenhoff.

Mention of Gordon Banks reminds me of one of many of Bill’s claims - that he was once substituted by Gordon Banks. Allegedly at the time of his removal Bill’s team were winning 4-1 and by the end it was 4-4. Bill clings on to the notion that he was a better goalie than Gordon! Another of his claims is that funnily enough he once played five a side against George Eastham, his job was to mark him,  Bill’s team lost 6-0, George scored a couple and made the rest. Unsurprisingly Bill never once got the ball from him!

Michael O’Neil, who was appointed in November 2019 when they were bottom of the league, has been rebuilding and getting rid of lots of players in the process. Does that sound familiar? At the end of last season they said goodbye a few times as they cleared the decks for squad rebuilding. Among the former Potters are Jack Butland, Mame Diouf, Mo Sankoh and Julien Ngoy.

O’Neil’s philosophy also rings a bell, he has said: ‘Having more people out of the team than in it is what really challenges your culture. More players have left than have come in and we put a real focus on the types of people we want, not just what they are as players.’

When he arrived he was hamstrung by the players bought in by previous managers and administrators, many of their fans have pointed out that the club has been mismanaged for quite a while. As one noted ‘Hughes's first couple of seasons were OK until he ripped the heart and soul out of the team, since then it's been a comedy of errors with expensive garbage coming through the door along with idealistic managers with an open cheque book. O’Neil has come in and has been shackled by FFP. He is giving youth a go (Josh Tymon especially) and with the likes of Fletcher, Vranic and Allen the old heads are providing experience.

Stoke snippets

  • Stoke once had a vicar patrolling midfield. Father Elijah Smith took off his cassock to play for the Potters in the 1880s. The half-back, who was in charge of a church in Stoke, starred in the club's first ever league win, over Notts County.
  • The Potters finished bottom of Football League in its inaugural season, and again the following year before they failed to be re-elected in 1890.
  • Stoke are responsible for the penalty kick. The Potters had reason to gripe when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Notts County in 1891. They were piling on the pressure in search of an equaliser when Notts defender Jack Hendry punched away a goal-bound shot. Stoke were given a free-kick but the opponents stacked 11 men on their own line and blocked any shot. Referee John Lewis thought this wasn't fair so campaigned to introduce the penalty kick when he became a football legislator.
  • The most capped player to have played for the club is goalkeeper Gordon Banks – with 73 caps for England.
  • Sir Stanley Matthews holds the record for the oldest ever player to feature in England’s top division. His appearance for Stoke City against Fulham in February 1965 came shortly after his 50th birthday.
  • The club’s only major trophy to date was the League Cup, which they won in 1972 after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final. They also lifted the Football League Trophy in 1992 and 2000.
  • The Oatcake was their fanzine, which was named after a local delicacy. It ran for over 30 years before publishing its 653rd and final issue for the opening Championship game against QPR in August 2019.

Hot on the heels of an improved home performance on Saturday, especially in the first half, it will be interesting to see if tonight we can start to build a bit of concentration, confidence and consistency. I lost count of how many times Curtis Fleming used the word ‘consistency’ in his press-match presser. In fact I reckon when NP asked him to do the presser he added see if you can make a point about a decent 45 minutes being just that and stress it is something we need to build on. Curtis then contrived to communicate by continually and consistently chatting about being consistent! ?

Matty James, George Tanner and Andy King are all unavailable so the squad is likely to be unchanged, although NP may make some tweaks to the starting line-up.

 

88B04165-460B-486A-9BDD-47EA252C3C27.jpeg

Hey JB, tell your Aussie mate to ave it! We hammered em 1-0 

COYR’s.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
keflav

keflav

Posted
Posted

Bloody hell just took my blood pressure and it's not been that high since I was in hospital with hypertension, that's what 45 years of supporting city has done to me.. ??? too be fair a great battling performance and just what we all want to see from now on win lose or draw...??

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jerseybean

Jerseybean

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 hour ago, westonred said:

I wouldnt say outplayed for 45 mins we had a good 10 mins at the end of the half (you dont work for Sky do you ?) ;)

To be totally honest I’m in Malta atm and my Sky coverage crashed at 30 minutes so my ‘outplayed for 45’ was really based on what I saw in the opening half an hour. Second half the coverage was restored ??? what a great result! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Northern Red

Northern Red

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, keflav said:

Bloody hell just took my blood pressure and it's not been that high since I was in hospital with hypertension, that's what 45 years of supporting city has done to me.. ??? too be fair a great battling performance and just what we all want to see from now on win lose or draw...??

I've had to have a whisky at full time to calm down!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
The Swan and Cemetery

The Swan and Cemetery

Posted
Posted
Just now, ZiderEyed said:

Hard running from Martin and Weimann cannot go unnoticed. That quick to the ball, intense City, backed up by noisy fans at AG is a hell of a combination.

UTFC

Yep, thought both were great tonight, Martin murdered them in the air and did some great closing, Weimann Duracel bunny fantastic towards the end. It’s been mentioned before and think a fair challenge, that we don’t have enough players at the peak of their careers mid to late twenties, but tonight, both Dad’s Army and the yoof were fantastic. 
 

Very dodgy first 15 mins or so and hardly entirely safe thereafter, but plenty of chances created ourselves and looked to be a proper connection between defence, midfield and forwards. Think where Benarous plays makes a huge difference to a better shape, along with having attack minded wing backs (albeit think Vyner needs to concentrate a bit harder to cover Scott, Baker seemed a lot better covering O’Dowda on the other side). Can’t claim I had either Benarous or Scott/O’Dowda as wing backs on my “come on Nige/Curtis, it’s obvious what to do” list, so fair play, credit where it’s due. 

As others have said, fans great as well. The celebratory, rather than terrified, mood at about 90 mins was great to see/hear. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jerseybean

Jerseybean

Posted
  • Author
Posted
7 minutes ago, FNQ said:

Hey JB, tell your Aussie mate to ave it! We hammered em 1-0 

COYR’s.

FNQ don’t worry he’s had a proper double-barreled onslaught from me…..after taunting me throughout the second half about late goals and Campbell coming on to win it, etc ??? a great result and the bragging rights are mine! We certainly did hammer em 1-0 ?

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Show Me The Money!

Show Me The Money!

Posted
Posted

Great 3 points but that match was awful. On another day we would have lost that easily. They should have had a pen and Scott should probably have been sent off.

 Just hope getting the win just helps to boost the confidence and get us playing some better stuff and that was dire to watch I’m afraid

  • Haha 1
  • Confused 1
  • Hmmm 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TonyTonyTony

TonyTonyTony

Posted
Posted
Just now, Show Me The Money! said:

Great 3 points but that match was awful. On another day we would have lost that easily. They should have had a pen and Scott should probably have been sent off.

 Just hope getting the win just helps to boost the confidence and get us playing some better stuff and that was dire to watch I’m afraid

A lot of championship games are like that. Difference tonight was we were not bullied

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ZiderEyed

ZiderEyed

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, The Swan and Cemetery said:

Yep, thought both were great tonight, Martin murdered them in the air and did some great closing, Weimann Duracel bunny fantastic towards the end. It’s been mentioned before and think a fair challenge, that we don’t have enough players at the peak of their careers mid to late twenties, but tonight, both Dad’s Army and the yoof were fantastic. 
 

Very dodgy first 15 mins or so and hardly entirely safe thereafter, but plenty of chances created ourselves and looked to be a proper connection between defence, midfield and forwards. Think where Benarous plays makes a huge difference to a better shape, along with having attack minded wing backs (albeit think Vyner needs to concentrate a bit harder to cover Scott, Baker seemed a lot better covering O’Dowda on the other side). Can’t claim I had either Benarous or Scott/O’Dowda as wing backs on my “come on Nige/Curtis, it’s obvious what to do” list, so fair play, credit where it’s due. 

As others have said, fans great as well. The celebratory, rather than terrified, mood at about 90 mins was great to see/hear. 

Benarous' disciplined really surprised me - for a boy making his first few steps in men's football, he kept demanding the ball after he got battered, kept his shape (for the most part) when he had to track back, closed down his man with real guts and determination - a genuinely good performance.

Was meant to go tonight but can't afford the train right now, so gutted I missed out on the inevitable celebrations (have one for me if you're reading/posting on OTIB in the pub).

Signs of an NP resurgence? Or is that a bit presemptuous?

  • Flames 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ZiderEyed

ZiderEyed

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, mozo said:

Sky just showed the Massengo vs Chester pen appeal and called it a defo pen even though Chester pulled on Massengo's hair with both hands! 

Pulling hair is surely the most cowardly of fouls?! Maybe pulling a beard is worse?!

I honest to god once had a centre back pull on my pubes at a corner, I think they can handle a little hair pulling above the shoulders. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BS4 on Tour...

BS4 on Tour...

Posted
Posted

Cracking result - we could easily have been 0-4 down early on ... great attitude from the young ones and the seasoned pros put in huge efforts too - Baker was outstanding tonight and Weimann’s work rate is often unnoticed but not by me  - the boys out there tonight were playing against a fabulous team and our chaps were obviously together and determined. We weathered an early storm where Stoke could easily have been out of sight. They didn’t convert all those chances though and we came through - it’s an awesome feeling tonight - I’ll hold onto it as long as I can ... enjoy the result everyone, cheers ...

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TonyTonyTony

TonyTonyTony

Posted
Posted
Just now, BS4 on Tour... said:

Cracking result - we could easily have been 0-4 down early on ... great attitude from the young ones and the seasoned pros put in huge efforts too - Baker was outstanding tonight and Weimann’s work rate is often unnoticed but not by me  - the boys out there tonight were playing against a fabulous team and our chaps were obviously together and determined. We weathered an early storm where Stoke could easily have been out of sight. They didn’t convert all those chances though and we came through - it’s an awesome feeling tonight - I’ll hold onto it as long as I can ... enjoy the result everyone, cheers ...

Great post 

  • Flames 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...