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Post by upthefud on Feb 9, 2015 23:30:17 GMT
Swansea and Saints good shout. The other two get a grip! At the time Pulis took us up we'd spent 26 years bumming about in the lower leagues. West Ham and Sunderland were fucking streets ahead of us. We were in L1 when West Brom began their yoyo adventure, we were streets ahead of them by the time TP left Point taken, but WHU have spent time in the Championship since we've been in the Prem, so in essence, were at some stage, behind us; now they're up and established again..and flying, under the guidance of a 'dinosaur' manager. I'm not sure we were ever 'streets ahead' of WBA either. Fared better, yes. That's mainly down to those two clubs being badly run and mis-managed though. They were always top flight clubs and never spent too long in the doldrums. They could attract better players and managers than us and have a bigger fan base. It's a completely different situation. The clubs you could compare promotion scenarios other than the two examples I've agreed with are probably Ipswich, Derby, Reading, Hull ect and those clubs didn't have anywhere near the same level of sustained success as Pulis brought to us Ok so not streets but still ahead, so we made up a two division gap in essence.
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Post by ParaPsych on Feb 9, 2015 23:30:21 GMT
For those people who think taking Stoke into the PL and keeping them there was easy and any half decent manager could do it, tell that to the Chairman of : Derby/Middlesborough/Ipswich/Norwich/Wolves/Blackburn/Sheff. W./Birmingham/Notts Forrest/Fulham/Cardiff/Charlton/Leeds/Blackpool/Wigan. Phil brown kept hull up. Laudrup kept Swansea up, won them a trophy and won away in Valencia. Poyet kept Sunderland up. Hughes kept qpr up. He took a Blackburn side not long back in the premier league to a top 6 finish, a cup final and Europe. You could go on and on. TP did a great job at Stoke. With the backing he had, others could have succeeded just as others could have failed. I enjoyed the ride but his time will forever be tainted by abject surrenders, Valencia away and the pathetic 2 years that followed the cup final. I'd had enough by the time he left and was glad to see the back of him. But i don't get the others would have done it argument. Other people could have done lots of things if others hadn't done it first, there is after all fucking billions of us. But Einstein gets the plaudits for the theory of relativity and TP gets the plaudits for cage theory 101 and doing a good job for us helping us on the way to where we are now. I'm sure that a fair comparison. Next time anyone does anything remotely well are we to just say, oh well someone else could gave done it so who fucking cares about them?
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Post by Davef on Feb 9, 2015 23:31:30 GMT
Peter Coates was obviously very grateful to Tony for guiding us to promotion and five years of Premier League football, but he clearly felt we were in danger of following those clubs didn't he? Not necessarily, wanting to move in another direction and fearing the drop are two different things. Coates made the right call but remains grateful for the fantastic job TP did It wasn't Peter Coates who came out with the "another direction" line. He's a Premier League chairman, it's a results business and our results weren't good enough. It's that simple.
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Post by Davef on Feb 9, 2015 23:33:54 GMT
Phil brown kept hull up. Laudrup kept Swansea up, won them a trophy and won away in Valencia. Poyet kept Sunderland up. Hughes kept qpr up. He took a Blackburn side not long back in the premier league to a top 6 finish, a cup final and Europe. You could go on and on. TP did a great job at Stoke. With the backing he had, others could have succeeded just as others could have failed. I enjoyed the ride but his time will forever be tainted by abject surrenders, Valencia away and the pathetic 2 years that followed the cup final. I'd had enough by the time he left and was glad to see the back of him. But i don't get the others would have done it argument. Other people could have done lots of things if others hadn't done it first, there is after all fucking billions of us. But Einstein gets the plaudits for the theory of relativity and TP gets the plaudits for cage theory 101 and doing a good job for us helping us on the way to where we are now. I'm sure that a fair comparison. Next time anyone does anything remotely well are we to just say, oh well someone else could gave done it so who fucking cares about them? That's absolutely fair comment Para. There were also plenty lining up to say that we would be doomed to certain relegation if TP left though and that's proven to be complete bollocks.
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Post by ParaPsych on Feb 9, 2015 23:38:32 GMT
But i don't get the others would have done it argument. Other people could have done lots of things if others hadn't done it first, there is aftr all fucking billions of us. But Einstein gets the plaudits for the theory of relativity and TP gets the plaudits for cage theory 101 and doing a good job for us helping us on the way to where we are now. I'm sure that a fair comparison. Next time anyone does anything remotely well are we to just say, oh well someone else could gave done it so who fucking cares about them? That's absolutely fair comment Para. There were also plenty lining up to say that we would be doomed to certain relegation if TP left though and that's proven to be complete bollocks. I just feel really sorry for the people who haven't enjoyed it as much as i have. I honestly think the club have got nearly everything spot on in terms of appointments and timings and such stuff. I find it astonishing how down on things people get on either side of this debate.
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Post by upthefud on Feb 9, 2015 23:38:43 GMT
Not necessarily, wanting to move in another direction and fearing the drop are two different things. Coates made the right call but remains grateful for the fantastic job TP did It wasn't Peter Coates who came out with the "another direction" line. He's a Premier League chairman, it's a results business and our results weren't good enough. It's that simple. Yep it's a business, we'd become a bit stale and attendances were falling it was the right move. Fact is Pulis took over with a core squad of Cutler, Handyside, Thomas, Gujonsson, Gunnasson and Iwelumo. He left us with a core squad of Begovic, Shawcross, Huth, N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He did a fantastic job Dave. Writing for the Oatcake and going through the shit times you must see this.
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Post by Davef on Feb 9, 2015 23:39:55 GMT
I've never denied he did a great job.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2015 23:40:30 GMT
It wasn't Peter Coates who came out with the "another direction" line. He's a Premier League chairman, it's a results business and our results weren't good enough. It's that simple. Yep it's a business, we'd become a bit stale and attendances were falling it was the right move. Fact is Pulis took over with a core squad of Cutler, Handyside, Thomas, Gujonsson, Gunnasson and Iwelumo. He left us with a core squad of Begovic, Shawcross, Huth, N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He did a fantastic job Dave. Writing for the Oatcake and going through the shit times you must see this. How would he have gone on with a more modest transfer budget I wonder?? You know, like the one Hughes has to work with...?
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Post by discokaraoke on Feb 9, 2015 23:41:02 GMT
What gets my blood boiling over this, is that sir peter never gets any praise for our achievements! Without the serious backing from him, we wouldn't even be in the prem. Pulis is not GOD! The backing he got, any half decent manager would have achieved similar! Keep up the good work Peter Coates Any half decent manager? Were Pulis' antics at Palace luck? Coates gets a lot if credit and you're just a sad bitter man because Tony Pulis proved you wrong Pulis did not prove me wrong. I have followed Stoke through thick and thin for over 45 years, traveled all over the country and i see it how it was and how it is. I said from day one that Pulis would take us up. I also knew he would keep us in the prem, but always knew we could never progress to a level above of just surviving. Pulis NEVER proved me wrong.
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Post by upthefud on Feb 9, 2015 23:43:38 GMT
Any half decent manager? Were Pulis' antics at Palace luck? Coates gets a lot if credit and you're just a sad bitter man because Tony Pulis proved you wrong Pulis did not prove me wrong. I have followed Stoke through thick and thin for over 45 years, traveled all over the country and i see it how it was and how it is. I said from day one that Pulis would take us up. I also knew he would keep us in the prem, but always knew we could never progress to a level above of just surviving. Pulis NEVER proved me wrong. He took over with us 4th bottom in the Championship and having not been in the top flight for roughly 18 or so years? Are you saying at that point you'd have been annoyed with us becoming a mid table premiership club? I'm calling bullshit
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Post by upthefud on Feb 9, 2015 23:46:31 GMT
Yep it's a business, we'd become a bit stale and attendances were falling it was the right move. Fact is Pulis took over with a core squad of Cutler, Handyside, Thomas, Gujonsson, Gunnasson and Iwelumo. He left us with a core squad of Begovic, Shawcross, Huth, N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He did a fantastic job Dave. Writing for the Oatcake and going through the shit times you must see this. How would he have gone on with a more modest transfer budget I wonder?? You know, like the one Hughes has to work with...? Hughes got to start his reign with Begovic Shawcross Huth N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He's added well but let's not pretend that the reason we haven't had to spend a fortune is the group of players that he inherited. Money was wasted but given the money we gained from increased tv rights, attendances and our global image offset his bad signings IMHO
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Post by discokaraoke on Feb 9, 2015 23:48:45 GMT
I'll try again on the off chance anyone reasonable is at home. Was that the same period that saw us record the biggest semi final win at the new Wembley, beat Newcastle 4-0, draw with Chelsea, beat Wolves 3-0 and Arsenal 3-1 before turning up battered, bruised and bandaged up before giving a team worth 300M a game in our only Cup Final appearance? You're right truly horrific times to be a Stoke fan. I don't know how I got through it all, looking back. Read more: oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/239983/pulis-bring?page=14#ixzz3RI9X66SZThere are too many good times to list. Coventry away, Hull away, West Brom away, THE Villa game, the Arsenal games Yes, there were shit times, but given the success he brought I can live with the odd 0-0 here and there. It's bitterness No bitterness from me, i am gratefull, i want what is best for my club.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2015 23:52:09 GMT
How would he have gone on with a more modest transfer budget I wonder?? You know, like the one Hughes has to work with...? Hughes got to start his reign with Begovic Shawcross Huth N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He's added well but let's not pretend that the reason we haven't had to spend a fortune is the group of players that he inherited. For every good signing I'll name three bog-average or terrible ones. You'll always get some right if you're splashing money about willy-nilly, let's be honest. I'd say that a better legacy could/should have been left given the investment. So let's agree that Hughes inherited a decent spine of a team. He's performed miracles in the transfer market since being here, whilst suffering the legacy of the previous managers' kid-in-a-sweetshop approach to transfers and fees.
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Post by discokaraoke on Feb 10, 2015 0:03:19 GMT
For those people who think taking Stoke into the PL and keeping them there was easy and any half decent manager could do it, tell that to the Chairman of : Derby/Middlesborough/Ipswich/Norwich/Wolves/Blackburn/Sheff. W./Birmingham/Notts Forrest/Fulham/Cardiff/Charlton/Leeds/Blackpool/Wigan. Phil brown kept hull up. Laudrup kept Swansea up, won them a trophy and won away in Valencia. Poyet kept Sunderland up. Hughes kept qpr up. He took a Blackburn side not long back in the premier league to a top 6 finish, a cup final and Europe. You could go on and on. TP did a great job at Stoke. With the backing he had, others could have succeeded just as others could have failed. I enjoyed the ride but his time will forever be tainted by abject surrenders, Valencia away and the pathetic 2 years that followed the cup final. I'd had enough by the time he left and was glad to see the back of him. Me and the mightyone agree
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Post by enuntio on Feb 10, 2015 0:04:10 GMT
Hughes got to start his reign with Begovic Shawcross Huth N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He's added well but let's not pretend that the reason we haven't had to spend a fortune is the group of players that he inherited. For every good signing I'll name three bog-average or terrible ones. You'll always get some right if you're splashing money about willy-nilly, let's be honest. I'd say that a better legacy could/should have been left given the investment. So let's agree that Hughes inherited a decent spine of a team. He's performed miracles in the transfer market since being here, whilst suffering the legacy of the previous managers' kid-in-a-sweetshop approach to transfers and fees. I'm thinking part of the problem was getting players to come here, will it be the same or better for West Brom, but with that said, not everyone can play in London or...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2015 0:09:11 GMT
For every good signing I'll name three bog-average or terrible ones. You'll always get some right if you're splashing money about willy-nilly, let's be honest. I'd say that a better legacy could/should have been left given the investment. So let's agree that Hughes inherited a decent spine of a team. He's performed miracles in the transfer market since being here, whilst suffering the legacy of the previous managers' kid-in-a-sweetshop approach to transfers and fees. I'm thinking part of the problem was getting players to come here, will it be the same or better for West Brom, but with that said, not everyone can play in London or... As time went on I think that the outside perception of our style would have put potential signings off, too.
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Post by davejohnno1 on Feb 10, 2015 8:14:17 GMT
Phil brown kept hull up. Laudrup kept Swansea up, won them a trophy and won away in Valencia. Poyet kept Sunderland up. Hughes kept qpr up. He took a Blackburn side not long back in the premier league to a top 6 finish, a cup final and Europe. You could go on and on. TP did a great job at Stoke. With the backing he had, others could have succeeded just as others could have failed. I enjoyed the ride but his time will forever be tainted by abject surrenders, Valencia away and the pathetic 2 years that followed the cup final. I'd had enough by the time he left and was glad to see the back of him. But i don't get the others would have done it argument. Other people could have done lots of things if others hadn't done it first, there is after all fucking billions of us. But Einstein gets the plaudits for the theory of relativity and TP gets the plaudits for cage theory 101 and doing a good job for us helping us on the way to where we are now. I'm sure that a fair comparison. Next time anyone does anything remotely well are we to just say, oh well someone else could gave done it so who fucking cares about them? Not at all but equally "the only tony pulis could have done that" brigade need to apply the same standards.
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PerthPotter
Academy Starlet
Posts: 119
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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Post by PerthPotter on Feb 10, 2015 9:38:36 GMT
Just for the record, the first half of the 2012/13 season was highly successful, by end of 2012 I think we had only lost 3 games and had 29 points. Quite right and we should have pushed on from that but for some reason something in TP's head went and we regressed. Interesting that you quote that first half of the season yet fail to acknowledge that in the first 5 months on 2013 (that led up to TP's removal) we only won 3 and lost 12 of the 18 games in that period. This includes the seasonal 3-0 surrender at The Etihad and another 1-0 surrender at home to Man City in the FA Cup. So, what went wrong? What changed in TP's head? Just for the record I am not a PHW either. I didn't want TP back when he came back in 2006 but he won me over and I will always be grateful for what he did for this club. I started watching Stoke in 1979 and had got to the point where I didn't think I would see top flight football again. Add to that the FA Cup Final and Europe and I will always have the highest regard for TP both for the work he did at the club and the charitable work he did and still does for the area. However, I had also had enough of the way things were going on the pitch and felt the time was right for him to move on.
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Post by Stretfordpotterer on Feb 10, 2015 9:43:13 GMT
Pulis did a great job, but as the players got better, the football got worse.
Ultimately, you will always be judged against expectations.
From 2007-2011 he performed consistently in excess of expectations, therefore was able to justify his methods without much in the way of dissent.
However from the start of the 11-12 season through to his departure he didn't meet up with expectations and so he was moved on. Simple as.
Expectations change, Tony Pulis doesn't, therefore he will always face problems.
At stoke the expectation remained flat in terms of where we should be finishing, i don't think any right minded Stokie would say otherwise, we are a midtable team, with a midtable budget. However, at the prices we pay, and the money spent on transfers, the expecation of the type of football we could play, and certainly the positivity with which we should play, changed dramatically.
TP stubbornly refused to accept that we were capable of going to the likes of the Etihad, Anfield, Old Trafford and playing to win, in fact that was pretty much his attitude to all away games.
He refused to accept that for the amount of money spent, he should not be continually left with square pegs in round holes, even when there were no injuries.
He refused to accept that we could play in any other way.
In a way it's a shame because at times, he has proven that he is capable of playing in a direct but positive way. But the ultimate frustration for me was that he always reverted to type even when a more positive approach had got results for him.
He should never have to buy a pint in Stoke on Trent, but it was the right time to move on and we are better off for it, playing better football, winning more points, in front of better crowds, spending less on players and it actually feels like a worthwhile exercise buying a ticket to an away game.
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Post by Stretfordpotterer on Feb 10, 2015 9:53:34 GMT
Just for the record, the first half of the 2012/13 season was highly successful, by end of 2012 I think we had only lost 3 games and had 29 points. Quite right and we should have pushed on from that but for some reason something in TP's head went and we regressed. Interesting that you quote that first half of the season yet fail to acknowledge that in the first 5 months on 2013 (that led up to TP's removal) we only won 3 and lost 12 of the 18 games in that period. This includes the seasonal 3-0 surrender at The Etihad and another 1-0 surrender at home to Man City in the FA Cup. So, what went wrong? What changed in TP's head? Just for the record I am not a PHW either. I didn't want TP back when he came back in 2006 but he won me over and I will always be grateful for what he did for this club. I started watching Stoke in 1979 and had got to the point where I didn't think I would see top flight football again. Add to that the FA Cup Final and Europe and I will always have the highest regard for TP both for the work he did at the club and the charitable work he did and still does for the area. However, I had also had enough of the way things were going on the pitch and felt the time was right for him to move on. The first half of 12/13 certainly saw us collect a decent points total but by god we were awful, just awful. I think we went 10 games unbeaten in that period and if you exclude the magnificent Liverpool game, managed to do it while only playing well for about 60 minutes in total, a truly bizarre little spell. Ultimately, over 38 games, we played well for 90 mins once. Once. The rest was just grind, grind, grind. Sometimes you have to grind, it's a key component of any decent team, but you can't just grind all the time, promising jam tomorrow, not at todays prices. Also, another nail in Pulis coffin was, i suspect, the rise of Swansea and Southampton who proved that you could get promoted, play nice football, stay up comfortably and not spend a fortune. Everything TP had been telling anyone who would listen was impossible.
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Post by Pugsley on Feb 10, 2015 10:02:30 GMT
Tony Pulis doesn't do expectation. In fact he actively tries to suppress it.
He got us to Wembley playing some very decent stuff at times - expectations went up, along with the budget. It was his golden chance to push us on to something truly amazing - instead he shat his pants and reverted to type.
Thankfully Coates saw the light and sacked him, brought in a great Manager and just as importantly a proper set of coaches. We're on the cusp of something special again - let's hope the club realise it and back the Manager.
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Post by Olgrligm on Feb 10, 2015 10:15:40 GMT
I think you have to lend some context to the job of keeping us up and keeping us here. Hardly anybody is saying that he didn't do a very good job, but it's still necessary to put it in its proper historical context.
Saying he kept us up and got us established seems a little bit lame now. That's partly because we've moved on from those days and have our sights set on the top half and partly because teams like Southampton and Swansea have followed our act and become well established teams in their own right.
When we first came up, though, promoted clubs were treated as open day for ridicule and writing off. Nobody needs reminding of Paddy Power, or 'the thought of Leon Cort facing Fernando Torres is laughable' (two clean sheets against Liverpool that season, you journalist cretin), or that TalkSport discussion where they said over and over again that we'd do well to ever win a game. Derby had just been relegated with a record points low, 'doing a Derby' had entered the popular vocabulary, the poster boys for promoted clubs at Reading found themselves flushed away in their second season and the other newly promoted team, Birmingham, we're relegated without a whimper. The year before that, Watford and Sheffield United were both relegated at the first time of asking. The best chance that anybody gave the promoted teams was a begrudging 'West Brazil play tippy tappy so they might stay up'. Most just predicted that all three promoted teams would go down.
Anyway, as everyone now knows, we didn't just stay up, but we finished in a very respectable 12th place. On top of that, the teams that we relegated were the long standing and we'll established PL teams, Newcastle and Middlesbrough. In short, we didn't just scrape survival, we thrived and kicked out two long term tenants. That meant that it wasn't actually impossible to break up the old cabal and other teams didn't have to suffer the 'new Derby' tag. It was no easy feat, but it did make things easier for the teams that followed in our path.
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Post by dutchstokie on Feb 10, 2015 10:31:31 GMT
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Post by albion1 on Feb 10, 2015 10:32:50 GMT
Or Swansea/Sunderland/Southampton/West Brom/West Ham In the interests of a little more balance Swansea and Saints good shout. The other two get a grip! At the time Pulis took us up we'd spent 26 years bumming about in the lower leagues. West Ham and Sunderland were fucking streets ahead of us. We were in L1 when West Brom began their yoyo adventure, we were streets ahead of them by the time TP left Pretty sure after we came back up we finished above you 3 seasons on the bounce ;-) So to flip it when we came up last time you were 'streets ahead' of us but yet finished below us 3 times in a row until Pulis left
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Post by albion1 on Feb 10, 2015 10:35:13 GMT
Yep it's a business, we'd become a bit stale and attendances were falling it was the right move. Fact is Pulis took over with a core squad of Cutler, Handyside, Thomas, Gujonsson, Gunnasson and Iwelumo. He left us with a core squad of Begovic, Shawcross, Huth, N'Zonzi, Whelan, Walters and Crouch. He did a fantastic job Dave. Writing for the Oatcake and going through the shit times you must see this. How would he have gone on with a more modest transfer budget I wonder?? You know, like the one Hughes has to work with...?We should fine out now I guess, although I still hope he leaves in the summer
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Post by WorkingclassHero on Feb 10, 2015 10:58:17 GMT
That post about him having two fit left backs and choosing to give Ledley his debut there is hilarious. Pulis will keep you up don't worry
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Post by Stretfordpotterer on Feb 10, 2015 11:56:12 GMT
I think you have to lend some context to the job of keeping us up and keeping us here. Hardly anybody is saying that he didn't do a very good job, but it's still necessary to put it in its proper historical context. Saying he kept us up and got us established seems a little bit lame now. That's partly because we've moved on from those days and have our sights set on the top half and partly because teams like Southampton and Swansea have followed our act and become well established teams in their own right. When we first came up, though, promoted clubs were treated as open day for ridicule and writing off. Nobody needs reminding of Paddy Power, or 'the thought of Leon Cort facing Fernando Torres is laughable' (two clean sheets against Liverpool that season, you journalist cretin), or that TalkSport discussion where they said over and over again that we'd do well to ever win a game. Derby had just been relegated with a record points low, 'doing a Derby' had entered the popular vocabulary, the poster boys for promoted clubs at Reading found themselves flushed away in their second season and the other newly promoted team, Birmingham, we're relegated without a whimper. The year before that, Watford and Sheffield United were both relegated at the first time of asking. The best chance that anybody gave the promoted teams was a begrudging 'West Brazil play tippy tappy so they might stay up'. Most just predicted that all three promoted teams would go down. Anyway, as everyone now knows, we didn't just stay up, but we finished in a very respectable 12th place. On top of that, the teams that we relegated were the long standing and we'll established PL teams, Newcastle and Middlesbrough. In short, we didn't just scrape survival, we thrived and kicked out two long term tenants. That meant that it wasn't actually impossible to break up the old cabal and other teams didn't have to suffer the 'new Derby' tag. It was no easy feat, but it did make things easier for the teams that followed in our path. All very true, i suppose the other point to mention is that the Pulis style took the premier league completely by surprise. Nobody had played such a direct game in years and it took 18 months at least for teams to get to grips with it, and eventually to counter it. Pulis real problems, in terms of the watchability of the football, came when away at Stoke began to be seen as a good game to take a point from, rather than a target for 3 points. Once that happened you went from home games being a relatively decent spectacle to all bar 5 or 6 games against the bigger teams being an absolute slog.
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Post by Davef on Feb 10, 2015 12:18:41 GMT
Quite right and we should have pushed on from that but for some reason something in TP's head went and we regressed. Interesting that you quote that first half of the season yet fail to acknowledge that in the first 5 months on 2013 (that led up to TP's removal) we only won 3 and lost 12 of the 18 games in that period. This includes the seasonal 3-0 surrender at The Etihad and another 1-0 surrender at home to Man City in the FA Cup. So, what went wrong? What changed in TP's head? Just for the record I am not a PHW either. I didn't want TP back when he came back in 2006 but he won me over and I will always be grateful for what he did for this club. I started watching Stoke in 1979 and had got to the point where I didn't think I would see top flight football again. Add to that the FA Cup Final and Europe and I will always have the highest regard for TP both for the work he did at the club and the charitable work he did and still does for the area. However, I had also had enough of the way things were going on the pitch and felt the time was right for him to move on. The first half of 12/13 certainly saw us collect a decent points total but by god we were awful, just awful. I think we went 10 games unbeaten in that period and if you exclude the magnificent Liverpool game, managed to do it while only playing well for about 60 minutes in total, a truly bizarre little spell. Ultimately, over 38 games, we played well for 90 mins once. Once. The rest was just grind, grind, grind. Sometimes you have to grind, it's a key component of any decent team, but you can't just grind all the time, promising jam tomorrow, not at todays prices. Also, another nail in Pulis coffin was, i suspect, the rise of Swansea and Southampton who proved that you could get promoted, play nice football, stay up comfortably and not spend a fortune. Everything TP had been telling anyone who would listen was impossible. There's a small feature in tomorrow night's Oatcake about our record since we've been in the Premier League at this stage of the season (not written by me before anyone gets their knickers in a twist ) 33 points represents the best total we've had after 24 games since we came up, but did you know that in four of TP's five seasons as our manager in the Premier League, we were on 30 points after 24 games? Thereafter, from our final 14 games of the season, we picked up 17 points in 2009/10, 16 in 2010/11, 15 in 2011/12 and finally 12 in 2012/13. It's a pretty consistent record, but does it show that TP's teams didn't have enough in the bank to finish seasons strongly or was he, as some suspect, not truly 'going for it' to keep expectations in check?
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Post by Onneravineet on Feb 10, 2015 12:23:08 GMT
I'm not going to lie, and I feel a little bad for saying this, but reading those posts was far too familiar. I smiled and then... ...felt relieved that we haven't had ANY of those kind of threads since Hughes has been at our club.
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Post by sheikhmomo on Feb 10, 2015 12:23:24 GMT
The first half of 12/13 certainly saw us collect a decent points total but by god we were awful, just awful. I think we went 10 games unbeaten in that period and if you exclude the magnificent Liverpool game, managed to do it while only playing well for about 60 minutes in total, a truly bizarre little spell. Ultimately, over 38 games, we played well for 90 mins once. Once. The rest was just grind, grind, grind. Sometimes you have to grind, it's a key component of any decent team, but you can't just grind all the time, promising jam tomorrow, not at todays prices. Also, another nail in Pulis coffin was, i suspect, the rise of Swansea and Southampton who proved that you could get promoted, play nice football, stay up comfortably and not spend a fortune. Everything TP had been telling anyone who would listen was impossible. There's a small feature in tomorrow night's Oatcake about our record since we've been in the Premier League at this stage of the season (not written by me before anyone gets their knickers in a twist ) 33 points represents the best total we've had after 24 games since we came up, but did you know that in four of TP's five seasons as our manager in the Premier League, we were on 30 points after 24 games? Thereafter, from our final 14 games of the season, we picked up 17 points in 2009/10, 16 in 2010/11, 15 in 2011/12 and finally 12 in 2012/13. It's a pretty consistent record, but does it show that TP's teams didn't have enough in the bank to finish seasons strongly or was he, as some suspect, not truly 'going for it' to keep expectations in check? I thought we should 'all just move on', dave?
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