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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 20:58:47 GMT
I rarely look at the table before the end of November, by then things are shaping up and you get a general idea of how things are going. Our start hasn't been ideal but we lost to Liverpool by a wonder goal, picked up points away at Spurs and Norwich and lost at home with 9 men and we're still the better side !
I'm not worried or concerned at all. Give it time and everything will be ok.
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Post by lordb on Aug 31, 2015 21:09:12 GMT
More points and more goals than last season,eigth or higher.
I think Afellay has already shown he is a good player who once he settles all be a very good player for us. Bojan and Shaqri is better than anything post Waddington. MVG hasn't shown well yet but common sense tells you it's highly probable there is a good player in there. Butland has been superb.
Ryan,who knows? None if us for sure. Therefore it's just as likely he comes back ,and comes back fine,well before winter as it is that he will be out for the season. It's a fact,not opinion,that Hughes sides do better in the second half of the season.
I think this is could be the best season for 40 years.
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Honestly
Aug 31, 2015 21:16:25 GMT
via mobile
Post by malteser68 on Aug 31, 2015 21:16:25 GMT
More points and more goals than last season,eigth or higher. I think Afellay has already shown he is a good player who once he settles all be a very good player for us. Bojan and Shaqri is better than anything post Waddington. MVG hasn't shown well yet but common sense tells you it's highly probable there is a good player in there. Butland has been superb. Ryan,who knows? None if us for sure. Therefore it's just as likely he comes back ,and comes back fine,well before winter as it is that he will be out for the season. It's a fact,not opinion,that Hughes sides do better in the second half of the season. I think this is could be the best season for 40 years. I admire but don't share your optimism Hope you're right of course
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Post by roylandstoke on Aug 31, 2015 21:19:20 GMT
No side is too good to go down but it would be a huge, HUGE shock if we went down.
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Post by lordb on Aug 31, 2015 21:27:27 GMT
More points and more goals than last season,eigth or higher. I think Afellay has already shown he is a good player who once he settles all be a very good player for us. Bojan and Shaqri is better than anything post Waddington. MVG hasn't shown well yet but common sense tells you it's highly probable there is a good player in there. Butland has been superb. Ryan,who knows? None if us for sure. Therefore it's just as likely he comes back ,and comes back fine,well before winter as it is that he will be out for the season. It's a fact,not opinion,that Hughes sides do better in the second half of the season. I think this is could be the best season for 40 years. I admire but don't share your optimism Hope you're right of course I'm just being logical. Fail to see how a side with Bojan and Shaqri in it doesn't score goals,against any body anywhere. This side is only to get better. Of course if Ryan is out for six months then that will be a big problem.
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Post by crapslinger on Aug 31, 2015 21:29:20 GMT
More points and more goals than last season,eigth or higher. I think Afellay has already shown he is a good player who once he settles all be a very good player for us. Bojan and Shaqri is better than anything post Waddington. MVG hasn't shown well yet but common sense tells you it's highly probable there is a good player in there. Butland has been superb. Ryan,who knows? None if us for sure. Therefore it's just as likely he comes back ,and comes back fine,well before winter as it is that he will be out for the season. It's a fact,not opinion,that Hughes sides do better in the second half of the season. I think this is could be the best season for 40 years. Affelay has also shown he can be a liability as early as yesterday, VG looks a shadow of Zonz to many if's for me, hopefully you are proved right with your predictions, do you do readings and how much do you charge mystic meg.
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Post by lordb on Aug 31, 2015 21:30:25 GMT
Here's a prediction,Stoke to finish above West Ham,Leicester and Southampton. Palace and Swansea look good. Not convinced Spurs will make Europe this year. Liverpool look odd too but should make Europe. Top four to pull away a bit this year. Rest of top ten to get closer to each other.
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Post by lordb on Aug 31, 2015 21:36:00 GMT
More points and more goals than last season,eigth or higher. I think Afellay has already shown he is a good player who once he settles all be a very good player for us. Bojan and Shaqri is better than anything post Waddington. MVG hasn't shown well yet but common sense tells you it's highly probable there is a good player in there. Butland has been superb. Ryan,who knows? None if us for sure. Therefore it's just as likely he comes back ,and comes back fine,well before winter as it is that he will be out for the season. It's a fact,not opinion,that Hughes sides do better in the second half of the season. I think this is could be the best season for 40 years. Affelay has also shown he can be a liability as early as yesterday, VG looks a shadow of Zonz to many if's for me, hopefully you are proved right with your predictions, do you do readings and how much do you charge mystic meg. MVG has been anonymous. But surely there is a player in there? His CV tells you that. As for Afellay,any player can get sent off for petulance. I'm surprised people haven't been impressed with his passing and clever play. Fitness was the previous issue with him,but he looks fine in that regard. Bojan showed last season that it takes time (and brains + hard work,oh and a manager who knows how to handle him). Come on there I'd more to come,you can see it can't you?
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Post by mermaidsal on Aug 31, 2015 21:36:37 GMT
Are than any Stoke fans that seriously think we are or will be in a relegation battle this season? Reading some of the comment's over the message board this weekend there seems to be genuine concern. I personally don't think we will be because of the strength and depth in our current squad. I do think we should push Cameron into central midfield and bring Marc Wilson into central defense. A small minority of fans are too quick to judge especially after four games. It all depends on the next 5 games imho, we had a decent opening group of fixtures and could reasonably have expected 6 more points than we have. Apart form the second half at Spurs we've flattered to deceive at best and been crap at worst. We know Hughes sides traditionally don't start well but if we don't turn this round dramatically, it's the toughest league in the world and if we find ourselves tangled up in the bottom 6 by Oct/Nov we may be stuck in that part of the table - ok on paper we have the strength, but right now we're not playing anywhere near it
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Post by crapslinger on Aug 31, 2015 21:38:56 GMT
I admire but don't share your optimism Hope you're right of course I'm just being logical. Fail to see how a side with Bojan and Shaqri in it doesn't score goals,against any body anywhere. This side is only to get better. Of course if Ryan is out for six months then that will be a big problem. We have a dedicated CB bought in by Hughes to cover the loss of Ryan, however he is now reluctant to play him wonder why. At the end of last season as far as we were aware we needed a right back a winger and possibly cover for Whelan, after bringing in 12 players we now need a winger a replacement for Zonz, cover for Whelan and a CB, now that's what some call progress
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Honestly
Aug 31, 2015 21:39:15 GMT
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Post by cobhamstokey on Aug 31, 2015 21:39:15 GMT
My heart says no,
The problem is we have too many questions needing answering so it's impossible to say.
When will Ryan get back? If it's not till new year we need someone in.
Is VGinkle the real deal? We can't say either way?
How good is Afellay?
Will Shaq do the business?
Will odom ever get back to where he was 2 years ago?
When will Bojan be back to 100 percent?
So many questions that we aren't certain of the answer.
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Post by lordb on Aug 31, 2015 21:42:13 GMT
My heart says no, The problem is we have too many questions needing answering so it's impossible to say. When will Ryan get back? If it's not till new year we need someone in. Is VGinkle the real deal? We can't say either way? How good is Afellay? Will Shaq do the business? Will odom ever get back to where he was 2 years ago? When will Bojan be back to 100 percent? So many questions that we aren't certain of the answer. All true. Apart from the Shaqri question. Of course he will. However what we do know is the manager had proved he gets the best out of players.
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Post by crapslinger on Aug 31, 2015 21:43:37 GMT
Are than any Stoke fans that seriously think we are or will be in a relegation battle this season? Reading some of the comment's over the message board this weekend there seems to be genuine concern. I personally don't think we will be because of the strength and depth in our current squad. I do think we should push Cameron into central midfield and bring Marc Wilson into central defense. A small minority of fans are too quick to judge especially after four games. It all depends on the next 5 games imho, we had a decent opening group of fixtures and could reasonably have expected 6 more points than we have. Apart form the second half at Spurs we've flattered to deceive at best and been crap at worst. We know Hughes sides traditionally don't start well but if we don't turn this round dramatically, it's the toughest league in the world and if we find ourselves tangled up in the bottom 6 by Oct/Nov we may be stuck in that part of the table - ok on paper we have the strength, but right now we're not playing anywhere near it Football is played out on a pitch not on paper Sal, we look disjointed lack leadership devoid of attacking prowess and very suspect at the back, the formation is alien to a lot of the players plus the new signings have not hit the ground running as has happened with other PL clubs, I would be very surprised if many fans are not concerned privately.
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Post by crapslinger on Aug 31, 2015 21:53:11 GMT
Affelay has also shown he can be a liability as early as yesterday, VG looks a shadow of Zonz to many if's for me, hopefully you are proved right with your predictions, do you do readings and how much do you charge mystic meg. MVG has been anonymous. But surely there is a player in there? His CV tells you that. As for Afellay,any player can get sent off for petulance. I'm surprised people haven't been impressed with his passing and clever play. Fitness was the previous issue with him,but he looks fine in that regard. Bojan showed last season that it takes time (and brains + hard work,oh and a manager who knows how to handle him). Come on there I'd more to come,you can see it can't you? My CV reads very well I wrote it, guarantees nothing though does it at the end of the day he is on loan does he want to be here ?, Afellay looks like a red card walking it is not the first time we have seen his petulance it should have been stamped out before Saturday, Joselu the jury is out well and truly abstained, Wolfy looks like a Brek Shea repeat signing, I do not have a crystal ball at hand so I am relying on your skill in this department by the way next weeks lottery numbers
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Post by crapslinger on Aug 31, 2015 22:00:51 GMT
My heart says no, The problem is we have too many questions needing answering so it's impossible to say. When will Ryan get back? If it's not till new year we need someone in. Is VGinkle the real deal? We can't say either way? How good is Afellay? Will Shaq do the business? Will odom ever get back to where he was 2 years ago? When will Bojan be back to 100 percent? So many questions that we aren't certain of the answer. All true. Apart from the Shaqri question. Of course he will. However what we do know is the manager had proved he gets the best out of players. Apart from Tex, Sidwell and Bardsley he has done a fantastic job, we await for the verdict on this seasons signings apart from Wolfy of course who he appears to have discarded already.
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Post by lordb on Aug 31, 2015 22:07:17 GMT
MVG has been anonymous. But surely there is a player in there? His CV tells you that. As for Afellay,any player can get sent off for petulance. I'm surprised people haven't been impressed with his passing and clever play. Fitness was the previous issue with him,but he looks fine in that regard. Bojan showed last season that it takes time (and brains + hard work,oh and a manager who knows how to handle him). Come on there I'd more to come,you can see it can't you? My CV reads very well I wrote it, guarantees nothing though does it at the end of the day he is on loan does he want to be here ?, Afellay looks like a red card walking it is not the first time we have seen his petulance it should have been stamped out before Saturday, Joselu the jury is out well and truly abstained, Wolfy looks like a Brek Shea repeat signing, I do not have a crystal ball at hand so I am relying on your skill in this department by the way next weeks lottery numbers The lottery is a random chance situation. Hughes getting the best out of good players isn't. Hughes side starting slow before talented players kick in happens at every club he had been at bar one. Hardly being mystic meg predicting Stoke to improve is it? We started worse,performance wise,last season than we have this. To be honest I might go on holiday next August as we should of all expect this kind of start every year.
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esol
Spectator
Posts: 45
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Post by esol on Aug 31, 2015 22:11:26 GMT
We'll come good when the side knits together! We won't get relegated. Hughes has earned my trust over the last two seasons. I'm a little dismayed that's not the case with everybody.
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