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Post by jollypotter88 on Dec 28, 2012 10:41:36 GMT
Can't say I have heard TP ever get ahead of himself but a good read. We must discuss this on the KnotFM Sports Show Sunday at 7PM!
But a nine-match unbeaten run going into tomorrow's visit of Southampton has left Stoke as a viable outside bet for a fifth-placed finish, while the FA Cup also offers them a possible chance to repeat last season's Europa League exploits.
Pulis certainly retains fond memories of a 2011/12 continental campaign that totalled a dozen matches in such far-flung countries as Croatia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Israel and Turkey before eventual elimination in Spain against Valencia last February.
"It's something we should aim for," Pulis acknowledged, "and I'm sure players and fans alike would relish the challenge if we ever got there again.
"That's not to overlook how tough it was with the number and timing of the games and how that affected our league form," he added cautiously.
"It takes a lot to get used to games coming thick and fast on a Thursday and then a Sunday, not to mention the fact they kindly gave us away games in the league after virtually every away game in Europe – and they were long trips.
"But having the odds against us is what gets us going as a club, and that includes our fans."
But Pulis warned supporters against getting ahead of themselves as Stoke limber up for tomorrow's 3pm clash with a Southampton side desperate for points and seeking a second away win of the season.
It follows Stoke's wonderful 3-1 Boxing Day victory over Liverpool, but Pulis warned: "In many respects the Southampton game will be the toughest of the two because of the raised expectations.
"Southampton are giving it a good go and they will be a big challenge for us, especially if we are not up for the game.
"The other night was tremendous for everyone, and the players deserved their praise for the wonderful effort they put in, especially after losing a goal so early in the match.
"But that is gone and now we have to raise ourselves for another challenge. That is why we need our fans to be with us once more and just as noisy as the other night."
Pulis's concern over the Southampton fixture is further fuelled by an enforced reshuffle in defence because of one-match bans for skipper Ryan Shawcross, pictured left, and full-back Geoff Cameron following their fifth bookings of the season against Liverpool.
Matthew Upson is on standby for his first league appearance of the season in place of Shawcross at centre-half, while Ryan Shotton is the obvious stand-in for Cameron.
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Post by casper113 on Dec 28, 2012 10:44:28 GMT
it will give the reserves a game
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Post by werrington on Dec 28, 2012 10:44:35 GMT
We were in Europe once and fielded the reserves.
I cant see why he would be keen for us to get back there if he has no real interest in it ?
Not a dig just an assumption
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Post by jollypotter88 on Dec 28, 2012 10:49:44 GMT
I did still enjoy it quite allot. Nice to see us there and we did better than most expected. I think IF we played a strong team / the one we play right now we could do even better...But we know that won't happen!
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Dec 28, 2012 10:50:42 GMT
Logically, any ambitious manager of an established club in the Prem has to aim for Europe. The Europa League can seem like a pain in the arse but we still have to aim to get as high as possible. To aim to finish in the top half- but only between 1st and 4th or 8th and 10th would just be stupid!  Similarly with the cups - win one and you are in Europa League - but we still want to win the FA Cup, don't we? Europe just goes with the territory of any club which has a bit of success. |
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Post by ColonelMustard on Dec 28, 2012 10:51:21 GMT
We were in Europe once and fielded the reserves. I cant see why he would be keen for us to get back there if he has no real interest in it ? Not a dig just an assumption Tellingly says "should aim for" and "players and fans alike" |
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Post by werrington on Dec 28, 2012 10:53:37 GMT
We were in Europe once and fielded the reserves. I cant see why he would be keen for us to get back there if he has no real interest in it ? Not a dig just an assumption Tellingly says "should aim for" and "players and fans alike" How could the players relish it mate? They majority of em were sat at home |
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Post by jollypotter88 on Dec 28, 2012 10:54:55 GMT
Stoke will find a level that can not be surpassed one day. For me 5th is always going to be the Stoke City can do due to not having a billionaire on-board. Yes we would always want to go forward but its massively unlikely we would ever have the money to break into the top 4 (or am I being negative?). Europe and cup success is about our level. Is there a day when we could ever go further do you think? (Be realistic now  ) |
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Post by ColonelMustard on Dec 28, 2012 11:10:24 GMT
Tellingly says "should aim for" and "players and fans alike" How could the players relish it mate? They majority of em were sat at home pretty much first team out for the home leg but this is well raked ground I was just agreeing with you in the first post that I don't think he's that keen either - seems to view it how he viewed domestic cups in the lower leagues |
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Post by apb1 on Dec 28, 2012 11:51:29 GMT
Stoke will find a level that can not be surpassed one day. For me 5th is always going to be the Stoke City can do due to not having a billionaire on-board. Yes we would always want to go forward but its massively unlikely we would ever have the money to break into the top 4 (or am I being negative?). Europe and cup success is about our level. Is there a day when we could ever go further do you think? (Be realistic now ) Our best hope is that a couple of the top four implode financially while we keep our finances as they are, backed by a growing Bet 365. If that happened and a few others had an off season we might nick a fourth spot. |
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Post by jollypotter88 on Dec 28, 2012 12:08:12 GMT
Fair point. With the debt man city have and chelsea have it could be one of them. We know Utd have over 500m of debt but with them being a global brand they will most likely never struggle. Wonder how it will affect them going into cups with debt like that?
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Dec 28, 2012 12:21:07 GMT
It doesn't take too much imagination to thank that Everton could (could, not will) scrape into the top 4. We are closer to Everton in terms of the quality of our squad than we have been since promotion and, arguably, we are on a sounder financial footing.
We are still behind Everton, of course, but not so far behind- so a top four spot is something to aim for in a season or two. It would take some good luck and a stumble or two from the traditional top 4 but it is possible. If you'd told me when we got promoted that we'd have a positive goal difference at Christmas AND be ahead of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sunderland, I'm not sure I would have believed you - so anything is possible, given time and a bit of luck.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 28, 2012 12:22:23 GMT
Is Tone alright?
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Post by jollypotter88 on Dec 28, 2012 12:22:59 GMT
When you put it like that Lakeland I can't argue....sod it lets go for the title this year!!!! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2012 13:55:29 GMT
dont understand this about the reserves? played the firsts throughout the group besides one and first leg to valencia,
i can fully understand fielding a second team at the mestalla, when already 1-0 down from what should be a fortress, so what chance have we away? and the same in Turkey when we had already gone through from the groups
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 28, 2012 13:58:08 GMT
dont understand this about the reserves? played the firsts throughout the group besides one and first leg to valencia, i can fully understand fielding a second team at the mestalla, when already 1-0 down from what should be a fortress, so what chance have we away? and the same in Turkey when we had already gone through from the groups That's just a shit attitude to have though, there is always a chance and as we showed we probably should have won the game at the Mestalla with the reserves. KJ missed some great chances.  |
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Dec 28, 2012 13:58:50 GMT
dont understand this about the reserves? played the firsts throughout the group besides one and first leg to valencia, i can fully understand fielding a second team at the mestalla, when already 1-0 down from what should be a fortress, so what chance have we away? and the same in Turkey when we had already gone through from the groups I think, the main reason for the second string in the Mestalla was that our league results had been shocking since Christmas. If we had had six points more (which we would have expected) by the time we went to Valencia, I think we'd have seen a very different side. Instead, the league game the following Sunday had, sadly, become a "must win". |
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Post by kylelightbourne on Dec 28, 2012 14:35:33 GMT
No team can cope with Europe if they aren't even rotating the squad, is that really hard to understand?
We certainly didn't just play the reserves though, if we did we wouldn't have walked the group stage, plus we had to win the following home game after Valencia and we did. We got it spot on, the reserves actually did very well at Valencia anyway
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Post by werrington on Dec 28, 2012 14:40:37 GMT
No team can cope with Europe if they aren't even rotating the squad, is that really hard to understand? We certainly didn't just play the reserves though, if we did we wouldn't have walked the group stage, plus we had to win the following home game after Valencia and we did. We got it spot on, the reserves actually did very well at Valencia anyway We played 6 away in Europe and the three i attended.....Thun, Istanbul and Valencia we most certainly did play the reserves |
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Post by kylelightbourne on Dec 28, 2012 14:52:00 GMT
No team can cope with Europe if they aren't even rotating the squad, is that really hard to understand? We certainly didn't just play the reserves though, if we did we wouldn't have walked the group stage, plus we had to win the following home game after Valencia and we did. We got it spot on, the reserves actually did very well at Valencia anyway We played 6 away in Europe and the three i attended.....Thun, Istanbul and Valencia we most certainly did play the reserves I didn't think we meant the qualifying rounds (when we played against very shit teams), and I already explained why the reserves were rightly played at Valencia. And as I said, yes we rotated players, what team doesn't in Europe? Do tell? The team that was put out did what was expected of them right up until Valencia, so any point you make about playing the reserves before Valencia is irrelevant cos we got through, therefore the team that was put out WAS good enough |
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Post by werrington on Dec 28, 2012 14:56:59 GMT
We played 6 away in Europe and the three i attended.....Thun, Istanbul and Valencia we most certainly did play the reserves I didn't think we meant the qualifying rounds (when we played against very shit teams), and I already explained why the reserves were rightly played at Valencia. And as I said, yes we rotated players, what team doesn't in Europe? Do tell? The team that was put out did what was expected of them right up until Valencia, so any point you make about playing the reserves before Valencia is irrelevant cos we got through, therefore the team that was put out WAS good enough There is plenty of logic in that post mate but the point is that he took the chance and played the reserves so it could of gone tits up. I dont go along with the bollocks that Europe knackered our season up as it goes back to my original point |
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Post by jarvinski on Dec 28, 2012 15:46:52 GMT
No point in qualifying when the capped one has no respect for 6000 fans which at the very least cost them £500 for the privelidge of watching our reserves play very well
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Post by Pugsley on Dec 28, 2012 19:48:51 GMT
TP obviously had a lobotomy for Crimbo or it's an imposter.
No way would the real TP even hint at this kind of expectancy/ambition.
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Post by sutekh on Dec 28, 2012 19:51:11 GMT
TP obviously had a lobotomy for Crimbo or it's an imposter. No way would the real TP even hint at this kind of expectancy/ambition. Or maybe he has taken up songwriting  |
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Post by bayernoatcake on Dec 28, 2012 19:57:17 GMT
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Post by shiftyfifty on Dec 28, 2012 20:00:08 GMT
No point in qualifying when the capped one has no respect for 6000 fans which at the very least cost them £500 for the privelidge of watching our reserves play very well Reserves or not, they were some of the best days of my life. |
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Post by padders01 on Dec 28, 2012 20:03:38 GMT
This is what makes wank performances at Villa, Norwich and Reading frustrating beyond belief.
I've been saying for months, this is a very average Premier League this season bar the two Manchester. If we really had some balls we could push for top 6 and then you never know once you get into the last 6 weeks and we are within touching distance of 4th spot
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Post by jarhead on Dec 28, 2012 22:07:13 GMT
I hope he has finally seen sense at last that the squad is very talented and we should be aiming for Europe and 50pts not all this crap of 40pts and stifle games to death to get there when the investment in the playing staff is massive and he/we as a club should be more positive and have faith in our squad and like on Wednesday night pick the right balance.
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Post by jarhead on Dec 28, 2012 22:08:19 GMT
This is what makes wank performances at Villa, Norwich and Reading frustrating beyond belief. I've been saying for months, this is a very average Premier League this season bar the two Manchester. If we really had some balls we could push for top 6 and then you never know once you get into the last 6 weeks and we are within touching distance of 4th spot Totally agree |
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