AndrewPointon.Com

on 24 August, 2008

. 4 Comments

Stoke City defied the experts today and if I’m honest totally astonished me too by obtaining a result against Aston Villa that I scarcely believed possible. Having witnessed the defensive frailties at Bolton I feared the worst, unhappily telling colleagues all week that we’d get a footballing lesson from Villa, and that their forward line would run amok against our slow and suspect rearguard. I figured a defeat by at least two clear goals was on the cards and I had genuine fears of four goals flying in at the wrong end. But Stoke produced a memorable display to match the occasion of their first ever Premiership home match in front of a passionate crowd that was given as 27,500.

Joined by fellow Leeds Stokies Dave and Paddy, the day started well with an uneventful journey followed by home-made soup and North Staffs Oatcakes at my parents’ house in the garden no less. Had Summer arrived?! A planned pre-match pint with some of the Stokies that I’d visited Belgium with sadly didn’t happen, so it was into the ground to soak up the atmosphere rather than beer. We took up position in the South Stand which has been split to allow home fans to sit in what was once entirely the away end. This now meant I had been in every stand in the ground and it was impressive to look out on the Boothen End and the rest of the massive home support from this vantage point high in the South Stand corner.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis had made changes to the side that started at Bolton. Liam Lawrence and Ricardo Fuller both started to give us that extra creative and attacking threat we missed at the Reebok for most of the game. There were debuts for the two Fayes, Amdy replacing Glen Whelan in central midfield alongside Seyi Olofinjana, and Abdoulaye Faye replaced Ryan Shawcross in defence. Carl Dickinson started at Left Back while Richard Cresswell was replaced on the left by Lawrence. On paper it was a stronger side than on the opening day but would it be enough to cancel out Villa’s pace and skill?

Stoke started very brightly, roared on by a noisy home crowd. Most of the first 45 minutes was played in the Aston Villa half, the visitors unsettled by the Potters’ direct and physical play, and in my view were playing well below their capabilities. Rory Delap’s long throw-in routine was utilised regularly to unnerve Villa’s defence, although in the main they had the measure of it and dealt with most of the efforts fairly comfortably. Stoke were industrious and dominated possession without looking really dangerous. At the other end Villa’s chances were limited as Stoke controlled the first half, never giving the away side the chance to settle and get into their stride. They did appear to have a decent claim for a penalty when a rare foray into Stoke’s box saw Olofinjana lean on Agbonlahor and force him over. Referee Mark Halsey was unsighted, peering through a group of players, and he failed to point to the spot. However a few seconds later with 30 minutes on the clock he was awarding a penalty at the other end for Stoke! Delap appeared to be chopped by Villa captain Laursen after some neat work in the box as he attempted to pull the ball back into the danger area. Lawrence stepped up and coolly smote the ball hard and low into the corner just beyond the dive of Friedel who guessed the right way. It was Stoke’s first ever Premiership goal and the place when berserk with incredible scenes of jubilation. With the benefit of a slow motion replay after the game it looked like Delap made a meal of the slightest of clips, but from the stands in real time it looked a certain penalty. Fuller may have added an unlikely second goal just before half-time when he headed a Delap missile just inches wide. The Potters left the pitch to a huge ovation while without a doubt below par Villa trooped off to a half-time rollocking.

HT Stoke City 1 Aston Villa 0, and I decided against another dreadful Britannia cup of tea.

Predictably Aston Villa improved greatly in the second half. Their passing was more incisive, their approach more urgent, and soon Stoke were finding themselves pressed back, dropping deeper in a bid to quell the reinvigorated Villa. The away side’s midfield became more influential as they passed their around Stoke, and used their wide players more effectively than in the first half. There was a sense of inevitability when on 63 minutes John Carew equalised for the visitors. Good approach play culminated in a fine final move, Carew playing the ball into Young who beautifully back-heeled a return-pass allowing the striker to fire across Thomas Sorensen, the ball arrowing into the far corner. At this point Stoke fans would be forgiven for fearing the worst and wondering how many it might become if heads dropped. It was a deserved equaliser and in a quick spell after the goal Villa might have added another as they looked threatening every time they came forward. Gareth Barry was inches away from connecting with Young’s cross to give the visitors the lead. Villa were now dominating the game and their passing and movement had Stoke in forced retreat.

So it was against the run of play when Fuller put Stoke into the lead on 80 minutes. Olofinjana mopped up in midfield, played a ball forward to Lawrence who then slipped in a fine pass for Fuller to chase. A sublime flick on the turn unlocked the defence and the Jamaican powered away from his marker to be able to drill the ball into the far corner from a tight angle. It was something out of the blue from nothing made by the individual skill of Fuller, and it marked Stoke’s best piece of football in the game. The atmosphere had intensified again as the home support sensed an unlikely victory was now possible. But as the deafening strains of “Delilah” rang round the ground, a silly free-kick was given away in midfield just two minutes later and while the delivery was poor, the napping Stoke defence allowed Laursen to squeeze home from close range. The goal strangled the “Delilah” mid-flow and once again the harsh lesson at Bolton of mistakes being punished at this level had been unheeded.

By now I think the majority of Stoke fans would have settled for a point to remove the risk of conceding a late Villa winner. However in a final piece of drama it was Stoke who stole all three points. Mamady Sidibe, who had replaced Kitson on 76 minutes, sent the home fans wild when deep into injury time he got his head to a Delap throw-in hurled from the left. The big striker didn’t seem to know much about it as he had his back to goal in a crowd of players and merely thrust back his head. It was enough to send the ball into the net and the Stokies in the stands daft on delirium. It was the last action of the game, the perfect time to score, and the Britannia Stadium rocked like Stoke City had won the cup never mind a game.

FT Stoke City 3 Aston Villa 2, and I needed sweet tea for the shock!

Overall it was a very good display from Stoke City with lots of positives. A totally unexpected result and scoreline to be fair. It was a deserved win despite Villa bossing much of the second half and playing the better football during that time. However Stoke played the ball on the ground far more in this game, a few frustrating hopeful punts into the channels littered a game that saw more passing football than Stoke are usually credited with. There were impressive debuts for Faye and Faye, particularly Abdoulaye with his “thou shall not pass” dominance of whoever bore down on him, mixed with an ability to bring the ball out of defence. He also seemed to bring the best out of Cort, while Amdy Faye linked up well with Olofinjana, who also showed some good touches and much promise. The whole team worked hard for each other and showed great character to look for a winner. With Lawrence and Fuller in the side we look more threatening and the wonderful individual skill of Fuller fashioned a goal when I was beginning to question Stoke’s attacking threat and worried about having another goal in the side. When the ball was played on the ground Stoke looked better for it, showing they can pass the ball if they want to, the holding on to possession assisting the first half dominance over Villa. Some minor negatives are the tendency to rely heavily on Delap’s monster throws (about 10 throws produced a couple of clear chances, one leading to a goal), the use of hopeful punts into the channels to no one, and a few occasions of giving the ball away through sloppy passes or being out-muscled. We still sit too deep at times, and the defence is still not as tight as it should be. But it would be churlish to criticise that overall performance after such a great result. It was a huge improvement on last week and Villa are a better side than Bolton. There was encouragement for the future, and much cheer for the next week! Plenty to build on, and it instils hope for the season. With displays like that a trip to the Britannia might not be the pushover and easy three points that opponents might think. Well done Stoke!

Before heading back to Leeds we bumped into Oatcake Fanzine legend Old Stokie, the delight of the win producing a hearty hug from the City stalwart. There was even praise for Pulis from one of his biggest critics. As Old Stokie sauntered off to find his lift home, we made our way towards a celebratory bag of chips in Smithpool Road before the Padmobile made its way back north to Leeds. What a day, what a shock, what a result, what a fine bag of chips too. Hoarse but happy.

Wanderers’ wake up call for Potters

Published

on 16 August, 2008

. 2 Comments

Well as I’d pretty much expected, Stoke City got a stark lesson today about how the Premiership poses a real step up in quality even when faced by fairly ordinary opposition. Many Stoke fans saw the trip to Bolton Wanderers as an ideal opportunity to pick up a point or even better, grab a win. Wanderers’ narrow escape from relegation last season and the physical style favoured by their manager Gary Megson was considered good reason for Stoke venturing to Lancashire with genuine optimism. But after the ninety minutes were up Stoke were given a clear sign of what a battle lies ahead of them if they are to avoid the drop back into the Championship.

Fellow Leeds Stokie Paddy and I set off today full of a mixture of excitement and trepidation, and in Paddy’s case, full of potent painkillers for a bad back. What might have been a journey full of rapid chatter was rather subdued, my travelling companion feeling rather queasy from the medication. Indeed his first act to mark arriving at our first Premiership away ground was to to unleash a “pavement pizza” into the shrubbery. Maybe it was a comment on my driving, or a portent of what was to come during the match. Parked up and feeling perkier we joined the throngs of supporters making their way to the impressive Reebok Stadium.

As the teams came out the first thing that annoyed me was our yellow away kit. There was no clash with Bolton’s kit so why not wear the famous red and white stripes to mark our return to the top flight? Plus as style guru Paddy correctly pointed out, the yellow shirt clashed horribly with striker Dave Kitson’s ginger hair. Injuries meant Stoke fielded a weakened side (well even weaker than the best weak side we’d have hoped to put out), key absentees being the creative force of striker Ricardo Fuller and midfielder Liam Lawrence who both started on the bench. It seemed an odd team selection playing Full Backs Andy Wilkinson and Andy Griffin on their opposite sides, but that’s Tony Pulis for you, the master of playing people out of position.

However Stoke City made a bright start even if the game did not. I felt in the first 20 minutes or so Stoke edged a physical contest that was far from pretty, too many aimless hoofs, up-and-unders, and bouts of head tennis from both sides. But Stoke didn’t seem overawed. The two banks of four of defence and midfield held up the home side and the Bolton fans around us were getting frustrated and a bit worried. Stoke might have taken the lead when a freekick by Glenn Whelan was met by the head of Leon Cort, but Jaaskelainen produced a fine stop from close range. However as the half wore on Bolton started to play more on the ground and that’s when Stoke looked a bit more stretched, and the two banks of four were less effective as the home team passed around them with increasing ease.

Any hope of taking something from the game evaporated in the last 15 minutes of the first half. Bolton’s first goal was spectacular but a fluke, when on 34 minutes Steinsson chested down a fine crossfield ball on the right of Stoke’s area. The right-back volleyed over a cross, which swerved on its way over a stranded Thomas Sorensen and into the far top corner of Stoke’s net.
My main moan is that he had time and space to whack it from out there. Our whole team at this point was dropping deeper and deeper with Kitson feeding off scraps. Stoke don’t tend to press much, they sit back and let opponents come to them. It might work and frustrate in the Championship but not at this level. Bolton’s second goal on 41 minutes was a combination of poor defending and some quality from Kevin Davies the striker, holding off Ryan Shawcross and Wilkinson and backflicking a header home from a looped freekick by Cahill. The Potters desperately needed half-time to regroup, but conceded again two minutes into injury time after giving away a free-kick on the left around 30 yards out. Joey O’Brien’s delivery was met by the unmarked new siginging Johan Elmander, who powered a header past the helpless Sorensen. It was just poor defending, I think Shawcross just let his man run in unmarked. It was also stark proof if anyone needed it that you get punished severely at this level for any mistakes.

HT Bolton Wanderers 3 Stoke City 0, and I managed to resist the half time potato, cheese and butter pie.

During the second half Bolton let their foot off the gas but still had chances to extend their lead, a mistake from Wilkinson slipping up and letting the Wanderers man dance clear was nearly punished by Elmander on 49 minutes. It took a goal line clearance too by Kitson to prevent a fourth Bolton goal on 75 minutes. Stoke looked at lot better when Lawrence and Fuller came on as subsitutes, more threatening, and you’d expect the duo to be in the usual starting side, which might have made a difference to the result of the game if they had started. Indeed Fuller got himself on the scoresheet and into the record books when he grabbed a goal four minutes into injury time. Substitute Carl Dickinson looked up on the left before swinging over a fine cross which picked out Fuller’s run, allowing the Jamaican to plant a powerful header past Jaaskelainen from 12 yards.

FT Bolton Wanderers 3 Stoke City 1, and wish I’d had that pie at half time.

Positives: the last gasp goal meant the players go off remembering that rather than a 3-nil defeat which will give them a boost and raise their spirits. It’s something to take into the next game, and it was a good goal too. For large parts of the game Stoke matched Bolton in the physical stakes, and looked threatening from set pieces. The Stoke fans were magnificent as well. I thought Kitson worked hard with meagre support, and even got back to clear off the line to prevent a Bolton fourth. It’s the opening game and we will learn with experience. It might wake people up about the task in hand and be more realistic about Stoke’s actual quality.

Negatives: a side like Bolton, who we targeted as a realistic hope of getting a result against, were fairly ordinary but still had too much quality for Stoke making them pay for errors. The defence is a big worry and the Full Back selection was a mystery. Stoke lack pace and creativity. Stoke’s banks of four could be left chasing shadows too easily after the initial 20 minutes, not the quelling force they could be in the Championship. The football wasn’t very pretty, and sadly ultimately not effective either. Stoke need a left-sided midfielder too as Cresswell is not that man.

I’m no fan of Stoke manager Tony Pulis and his adopted style of football, and it will win few plaudits in this division. Nor am I keen on his persona or dress sense! (I’ve never understood why he turns up in a flash suit then changes into a cap, tracksuit and his trademark bright white trainers for the game. He looks more like a twocker than a Premiership manager). But I’m a pragmatist and I have some sympathy when he says it is hard to bring in players to improve the squad. Today he could not pick the best 11 due to injuries too. My concern is that we do need strengthening throughout the side and whatever the reasons if we don’t bring in some quality we will struggle badly. Let us see what some new faces do to the team, but I think it might be a long hard season if today’s match is anything to go by. I dread to think what will happen when we encounter a team with pace and skill throughout the side.

Just before we headed off for the M61 motorway we met up with Norwich-based Stokie Stephen Foster and his son to “compare notes” on the match. He advised us of an astonishing Guardian newspaper article where Pulis advocates the return of National Service for Britain’s youth, a view that makes me like him even less, if that is indeed possible. One final tale of the unexpected was being collared by an Evening Sentinel journalist for our opinions of the match. He filmed a brief interview with us that might make it on to the paper’s website. We were unable to muster much enthusiasm, though at least I managed to refrain from uttering my frank and profane view on Pulis until off camera!

To complete a miserable day, Farsley Celtic lost 2-3 at home, and FCV Dender lost 1-3 at home to Standard Liege. Seems like it’s a day for threes.

Here we go, here we go, here we go!

Published

on 15 August, 2008

. 0 Comments

Well the waiting is over, the excitement is mounting, and Stoke City’s first match in the top flight for 23 years is a few hours away. I’m going over to Bolton tomorrow to cheer on the Potters in their first ever Premiership clash. Stoke have made two more signings today, no relation but both called Faye and both are Senegalese internationals, one a defender the other a defensive midfielder. Given the limited number of signings made so far, they are welcome, if very late additions.

Obviously I’ll be cheering Stoke on and hoping they get off to a good start in what will be a massive test over the coming season. But the realist in me is very worried. The new signings tally now stands at five. However we propped up a thin squad last season with loan players and remarkably got by with a collection of hard-working average Championship players peppered with a few quality individuals who could muster a bit of skill occasionally. I estimated we ended the last season with about three lower table Premiership quality players. With the new faces I’d say that number was now seven or eight. It’s still not enough and we may pay dearly for it. Stoke cannot rely on the loan system to bail them out of trouble this season, and the Premiership is a huge step up from the very average Championship they were promoted from. Tony Pulis’ teams are typically well organised, physical and stick to a well rehearsed game plan that favours functionality over flair. But his trademark solid defence had too many cracks last season, and these concerns have not yet been addressed. Now faced with faster and more skillful opponents I fear the worst.

Some Stoke fans will leap on this as negative “doom-mongering”, but I love my football club and think the concerns are valid and needed to be debated. A healthy dose of realism is needed, and supporting a football club involves both praise when due and criticism when merited. If supporters think something is not good enough for their beloved club then they should make their voices heard. Tony Pulis will receive a justifiable extended honeymoon period from the fans following our promotion. I am often a critic of Pulis, no great fan of his style or approach, nor his persona for that matter and have been frustrated by the slow arrival of desperately needed new signings. Yet I want him to succeed, because that is for the good of Stoke City. My head says were are favourites for relegation but my heart has to believe otherwise. The Premiership may expose all the limitations I suspect Pulis has, or he might rise to new levels and surprise us all. As the season transpires Pulis may prove woefully inadequate, and I will not be shy about voicing my criticism, even fury. However for now it is time to pull together, cheer on the lads in Red ‘n’ White and wish the whole club the best of luck for the coming season. I think we might need it!

Goaaarrrnn you rip-roaring Potters!!

Breakfast with Boskamp but no Dender goal feast

Published

on 4 August, 2008

. 0 Comments

The previous afternoon’s meeting with Johan Boskamp was not the end of the FCV Dender experience. Johan had kindly invited me to return later in the day with fellow Leeds Stokie, Dave aka The Goat Major who was returning that evening from a stint in Sweden. Unfortunately we left it too late to visit that night, so Johan told us to turn up in the morning. We arrived at the hotel just as the Boss Man was sauntering in for breakfast and told us to join him at his table with Patrick Asselman, Dender’s Manager and other members of the coaching team. Johan declared he slept “like a block” until someone set the fire alarm off in the early hours. It wasn’t too early for a joke though as one of his assistants brought him some pills to take with his breakfast. “Ah my Viagra” he said with a grin as those around the table burst out laughing. One nice touch was that every member of the team coming down to breakfast shook hands with the people at our table including Dave and myself even though they had no clue who we were.

We were allowed to hang around with FCV Dender until the coach came to take them to Elland Road, Patrick asking me to take some photographs for the club website as they brought neither an official cameraman or even a camera with them. Johan set about drawing up plans of his teams and formations so we left him to it. However a shout and whistle across the bar from one of his coaching staff trying to attract my attention to get me to take a photo brought a furious response from the irate Boskamp, shouting back what sounded like “Hey this isn’t a football field now”. Any one who thought Boskamp was just a jovial clown best think again. When he’s at work he’s deadly serious, focussed, a disciplinarian and well organised. I’d wandered over to look at his team selections and said wryly “But there’s no room for Mama Sidibe in there”. I got an unamused grunt for a reply, so sidled away sharpish to leave him to it. As Dender departed we were invited to meet post-match behind the scenes in the changing rooms. After a pub lunch with two of Dave’s maniac mates at The Fenton pub near the University for a blast from the past, we all set off for the stadium and took our seats in the massive East Stand.

FCV Dender clearly suffered from leaving five key players behind, three due to visa issues, the other two being injured. They lined up in a 4-3-3 formation with centre forward Norman Sylla playing pretty much as a left winger, likewise for his team mate on the right leaving a large but slow target man in the centre in the form of Van den Eede. To be honest it never really worked. FCV Dender looked sluggish and disappointing in the first half, overrun in midfield and lacking potency upfront. Eraly on their keeper made three very good saves to prevent what looked certain goals. Martinovic’s brilliant one-handed save flicked Robinson’s rising shot over the crossbar with 17 minutes gone and a weak clearance which laid the ball to the feet of Beckford required a frantic block from Siebe Blondelle to prevent an opening goal which eventually came, three minutes later. Robert Snodgrass’ free-kick from the right wing was worked into the centre of Dender’s box with the help of Showunmi’s strength and Huntington arrived in space to drive a low finish past Martinovic.

This setback didn’t seem to raise Dender from their slumbers, but merely encouraged Leeds further. With 28 minutes gone Snodgrass aimed a corner into a crowd of players and Marques dispatched a simple header into the bottom of the net as the defence stood and watched. Leeds’ third goal arrived on 34 minutes, effectively ending the tie. Showunmi played in Beckford, who floored Dender’s keeper with a quick shuffle of the feet to clip home a tidy finish with some poise. Dender somehow reached the interval without sustaining further damage, in fact, they nearly scored when confusion between ‘keeper Casper Ankergren and former Stoke loanee Frazer Richardson, saw Sylla steer a lob past an empty net. Dender no doubt trudged off to a half time rollocking from the stern looking Boskamp.

However Dender scored within 10 minutes of the restart. Sylla collected a long ball on the left to run infield before driving a low shot against Ankergren, the rebound falling nicely for Van den Eede to curl a low finish into an empty net. Leeds might have been punished again were it not for a wasteful finish on the hour from Sylla, who chipped the ball over the bar with only Ankergren to beat. A plethora of substitutions by Gary McAllister dampened the tempo of the game, allowing Dender’s young replacements to express themselves and raise the team’s overall performance. It was rather unexpected and against the run of play when Leeds wrapped up the game four minutes from time, Huntington rising to head home a fourth goal from former Stoke City player Peter Sweeney’s corner. It had been a disappointing display from Dender, and didn’t bode well for post-match joviality from Bossie!

Leeds United: Ankergren, Richardson (Bayly 56), Marques (Michalik 56), Huntington, Sheehan, Snodgrass (Douglas 62), Prutton (Gardner 62), Howson (Sweeney 62), Robinson (Delph 62), Showunmi, Beckford (Parker 65). Subs (not used): Lucas, Martin.

FCV Dender: Martinovic, Deflandre, Filipovic, De Petter, Van den Eede, Wiggers (De Pever 46), Destorme (Jacobs 46), Neva, Sylla, Blondelle, Barbe (Copel 74). Subs (not used): Berthelin, Degroote, Vanderbiest, Wittesaele.

Dave and I blagged our way into the reception area of the banqueting suite, finding ourselves amidst Leeds’ souvenirs of better times (Billy Bremner’s shirt and all that), and waited patiently to see whether Johan would allow us “back stage”. Evidently the post match post mortem was not for our eyes or ears. What seemed an age passed and players started to leave for the coach. Patrick Asselman invited us to join them at the hotel but we were off to the wedding party of another Leeds Stokie, the Padster of Farsley. So it was one last shake of the huge hand of Johan, a quick autograph, a big thank you for all his hospitality, and we were off. I did get a final photograph alongside the very polite Norman Sylla, who on another day might have scored a hat-trick. All in all a very memorable weekend. Many thanks Johan, best of luck for the coming season.

More Photos

The Boss Man

Published

on 1 August, 2008

Johan Boskamp message to Stoke Fans

. 0 Comments

By some strange twist of fate this weekend Leeds United play Belgian side FCV Dender in a pre-season friendly. Leeds were due to play Lokeren but they pulled out and Dender stepped in. Why should this interest me? FCV Dender are managed by former Stoke City manager Johan Boskamp. In April a collection of mad Stokies went to Brussels for a weekend of drink, culture and football. The football element was listening via webcast to Stoke City’s big game which might have led to promotion, and a trip to FCV Dender to see them play in an equally big match. Their win that evening secured another season in the Belgian top flight against all the odds and to defy all the “experts”. After that game we met Johan and were treated to hospitality in the players’ lounge. Unfortunately it was brief meeting and one arranged for the next day never materialised.

Today on a whim I thought I might try to met up with “Bossie” again, cursing myself for not sorting something sooner. An email to FCV Dender brought nowt. A call to Leeds Utd was equally useless. So I thought I’d be cheeky and text Johan a “welcome to Leeds message”, never expecting a reply. Much to my amazement Johan rang me back very shortly to say they had just arrived at the hotel and I was welcome to meet up before or after the game. By chance the hotel is outside the city centre and only five minutes walk from my work place. It was lunchtime, and working on the premise that “shy bairns get nowt” I set off with my camera to see if I could speak to the Boss Man. I found him eating lunch. Rather than being annoyed by the interruption he invited me to sit down and join him and the team. I spent a very amusing fifty minutes with him before I had to return to work. I’ve been invited to bring some other Leeds Stokies over to see him later today or tomorrow. For all other Stokies Johan has a message for you (below). Top guy, the Boss. Approachable, friendly, funny and by his own admission, totally crazy! A very memorable afternoon. Thanks Johan.

Potters in Kitson swoop!

Published

on 18 July, 2008

. 4 Comments

Stoke-on-Trent and the footballing world were rocked today by news of Potters’ supremo plucky Pulis pulverizing previous club transfer records and landing prize catch Dave Kitson from Reading in a £5.5 million raid. The ginger hit man arrived at the Britannia Stadium today to boost City’s bid for Premiership survival in their first season in the top flight for 23 years. The former Sainsbury’s shelf stacker was once considered not good enough for his home club non-league Hitchin, but the striker becomes Pulis’ first swoop of the new season after five years of hard work and goal feasts at Reading. Kitson’s arrival eases Stoke’s Scott Carson woe, the ‘keeper choosing rivals West Brom instead after visiting the Britannia Stadium for talks. When quizzed about the new £5.5 million signing, City Chairman Peter Coates turned deathly pale and spluttered, “I must have added one too many zeros in my chequebook”.
Er allegedly, so the tabloids might have it

But seriously its been a long time coming (75 days after promotion, and 18 after the transfer window opened), but this might actually have been worth the wait. I’ve long been an admirer of Kitson although I never thought of him as a “Tony Pulis type player” to be honest. I’m staggered by the amount we have paid, partly because I’m not sure if Kitson is worth that sort of money, but mainly because it’s Stoke and I’m not used to being associated with multi-million pound signings. We’ve watched as our rivals have spent small fortunes and already brought in several players, and I was beginning to wonder if Stoke were struggling to attract players to the club especially after the debacle over Scott Carson joining West Brom rather than us. We are favourites for the drop and that could put players off. But this signing sends out a positive message. Finally a message of intent. However it has to be the first of many. I think we now have three, maybe four Premiership quality players in the squad. There needs to be many more than that if we are to compete this season and not end it in humiliation.

Mind you I have to worry about the youth when he claims Pulis was a big influence in his decision to sign. “I just warmed to him to him straight away. He is an honest bloke and seems to be a great lad, and that made it an easy decision to come here”, was Kitson’s verdict of the manager on the official website. Honest?! More like the most shiftiest looking man in Britain. Maybe he was using the term honest as employed by Stephen Foster in the splendid book “She stood there laughing”, where a player’s honesty was proportionate to his poor to average ability. If honest was the only polite adjective you could use to describe a player then you knew he was rubbish!

Welcome to Stoke Dave. Here’s to plenty of goals. (Assuming of course that the manager will play you as a striker, or indeed play you at all. Naturally you might struggle to dislodge Mama Sidibe from the side… )

Farsley Celtic 0 Port Vale 0

Published

on 8 July, 2008

. 3 Comments

Farsley Celtic have become my second team. Naturally Stoke City are at the forefront of my footballing passions, but when my fellow Leeds Stokie friend Paddy moved to Farsley a few years ago we started to occasionally attend matches at the wonderfully named Throstle Nest. I rather enjoy standing on a terrace and listening to the comic banter of disgruntled Yorkshiremen, it’s not that disimilar to my days on the Boothen End at the old and sadly missed Victoria Ground at Stoke. (Apart from the different accent and a much larger crowd of course!) While I have become quite taken by this non-league side, it is a relatively detached way to enjoy a game without the utter misery felt when your team loses. While I cheer them on and want them to win, it’s not the end of the world if Farsley don’t do the business. Just as well seeing as they were relegated after one season in the Blue Square Premier, the division just below the Football League.

However tonight Farsley took on Stoke City’s local “rivals” Port Fail, er I mean Vale. This was one game I’d have loved the Celts to have won, if only for the pleasure of singing the sensational “Beat by a village, you’ve been beat by a village” to the Vale fans. Cambridge Utd got that treatment last season. Marvellous stuff. What were the Vale doing up in Yorkshire? Well Vale’s current manager Lee Sinnott left Farsley to join them, having done a wonderful job of delivering three promotions at Farsley in just four seasons. He did another wonderful job leading Vale to relegation to the bottom tier of the Football League in his first season in charge. Oops. Mustn’t laugh, but to be fair he faced a mammoth task and they were pretty doomed before he arrived. So Sinnott returned to his old stamping ground with his new team to provide a pre-season friendly match, and hopefully something for us Stokies to chuckle at.

I’d love to report that it was a good game but I can’t. Both clubs fielded young sides, many of the Farsley stalwarts were nowhere to be seen apart from their only international cap (Pakistan) Amjad “Ammers” Iqbal, and veteran journeyman Steve Torpey who looks about three times the age of some of his junior team mates. While the football was played mainly on the ground with some decent passing moves, the quality in front of goal was lacking by both sides. To their credit Farsley matched Vale for fitness, industry, and often skill, indeed it was the home side that fashioned the best openings in the first half, but not the required finish. If Farsley had been wearing their shooting boots the Vale might have trailed 3-0 by half time, the Burslem team failing to trouble the Celts ‘keeper once. The second half produced even fewer chances, the only one of note falling to the Vale, but it was superbly saved at close range by the Farsley goalie. To be honest neither side deserved to win it, though Farsley probably took it on points seeing as a visiting Martian would not have been able to pick out which was the League side and which contained semi-pros. Despite being a friendly there were some crunching tackles flying about, mainly from the home side with a point to prove maybe. Final score at Throstle Nest 0-0.

I’d like to think I provided the Vale fans with one talking point to return to the Potteries with. I attended the game with a Stoke scarf tied to a Farsley scarf, draping them around my neck so both my allegiances were on clear display. Passing by Vale fans produced looks of stunned disbelief, disappointment, and prompted one lady in the stand to deliver a “I don’t believe eeeet”, pointing at the offending article. I grinned back cheekily and replied “Better believe it, Stokies here, Stokies there, Stokies bleedin’ everywhere!” Hopefully Vale fans returning home will be chuntering about going all the way to some obscure place in Yorkshire and still seeing a Stoke fan

The Vale fans may be from the other side of the city but they share the same self-depreciatory humour as their Stokie counterparts. One Valeite noted the hoarding with the Blue Square Premier logo emblazoned across it and added drily, “I wonder how much they want for that sign? It’ll save us buying a new one in a season’s time!”
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Rejection times two

Published

on 30 June, 2008

. 0 Comments

It’s Day 57 following Stoke City’s promotion to the Premiership and no new faces to report yet. Today our moves for two targets have apparently been rejected by their current clubs…

From the BBC website:

* Rangers have rejected a £1.5m bid from Stoke City for midfielder Lee McCulloch
* Sunderland have rejected a bid of £1.7m from Stoke City for ‘keeper Marton Fulop

It could be a long hard season at this rate. Longer and harder than we might have feared. Mind you it’s still taking a while to sink in that we are now offering sums in millions rather than thousands!

Downtown with Dallas

Published

on 17 June, 2008

in Football, Life stories and Travel

. 2 Comments

Tina was working most of Monday so I arranged to meet fellow Stokie Dallas Cowboy for a morning coffee in downtown Jacksonville in the bohemian area of Riverside. Surely he should now be changing his Oatcake Message Board moniker to Jacksonville Jaguar?! Anyway I took the bus from the beach into town and then the recently introduced “trolley” to Riverside. I shall impart some wise words found on an advert inside the bus…

“Talking loud… saying nothing - don’t cuss on the bus!”

Dallas Cowboy (otherwise known as Calvin) wandered around the corner just as I was approaching the rendez-vous point. Settled down at a cafe table overlooking the famous Five Points junction, we supped coffee, talked Stoke City, and watched confused motorists try to navigate the junction without having a prang. There were a few close calls in a free for all, mainly due to dithering by drivers not aware they had the right of way. Our morning coffee stretched to lunch, and then to early evening. It was around 5:30pm when I finally left, walking back to The Landings along the St John’s River walkway, and then running the last leg to the bus station catching the bus just as the driver was closing his doors. Phew.

One of the many topics of conversation were the new Premiership fixtures out today which of course Stoke City will now be part of. It still hasn’t quite sunk in. But what is beginning to sink in is the enormity of the task in hand and the frightening nature of the fixtures. We start away at Bolton Wanderers on 16th August which is likely to be a Megson-Pulis bore-athon but we might get a point. That is followed by games against Aston Villa, Middlesborough, Everton, Liverpool and Chelsea. I can see us struggling to get a win until 22nd November when we play West Brom at home. They always seem to come unstuck against Stoke. Even more worrying is a recent piece from Stoke’s Director of ~~Gardening~~ Football John Rudge where he apparently said we just need a couple of new quality players. There’s being positive and there’s being downright deluded. I think saying we have a couple of Premiership quality players already and need about ten more is closer to the mark.

Anyway I was glad to meet up with Calvin for a second time during my visit, a thoroughly decent bloke and passionate about Stoke City and playing the game in the right style and spirit. Hopefully our paths will cross in the future. I loved listening to his graphic descriptions of his memories of past Stoke teams when we did have true quality throughout the side and were admired for our football style not pilloried for it. There might have been no cussing on the bus but there was plenty at our table during the day.

Just before I turn in for the night my bus journey made me think of another ludicrous thing about the USA (well certainly round here). So in the continuing series here is number 7.

7. The snobbery about bus use. Buses are seen as a last resort, the transportation for the poor who cannot afford a car, not a useful, cheap and environmentally friendly mode of travel.

Today I travelled around 40 miles. I had a seat to myself in a clean, comfortable, safe, air-conditioned bus and the trolley bus. What did I pay for this service? $2.50 in total. It would have been another 50c but I walked back from Riverside to downtown. You show me a car that could do 40 miles for that price, especially since it’s over $4 a gallon now here. I think a few Americans will start changing their views about bus travel…

Stokies here, Stokies there…

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