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Post by swampySCFC on May 1, 2016 15:15:58 GMT
All the talk of Europe and top 4 around Christmas time has proved to be bollocks. Home form, which most fans witness has been poor. Very frustrating to drop like a stone in the last few games with poor results and not enough goals scored. The big signings haven't had enough impact this year and essentially we are still a mid table side.
Given the form at the moment then 40 points will be the target next year
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Post by mickmillslovechild on May 1, 2016 15:37:35 GMT
How is it deluded? Up until a month ago (i.e. a few weeks from the end of the season) we were in 7th and only about 5 pts off the champs league places. Explain to me how, without masses of injuries, a europa spot would have been therefore considered "delusional"? It's not 2008 anymore mate. Based on the last few weeks evidence it's delusional but after the previous 30 odd games that came before that we were actually in a pretty damn decent place you know. No-one is saying we insist upon top 6 or therefore we must be shit but it's perfectly reasonable to suggest we could have done so (y'know based on points and all that) if we hadn't had so many injuries and if the players hadn't switched off for the last few games. You can't just judge our entire season on the last few weeks, that's just lazy, knee jerk over-reactionism. I wasn't saying that at all. What you have posted has nothing to do with what I thought or said. ??? You responded to a quote saying how 9th or 10th being a disappointment shows how far we've come and with a bit more luck basically we could have been top 6, you then said it actually shows how deluded we've become. Exactly what did you mean then by your post? If you think i've misunderstood it then don't you think it'd be an idea to clarify what on earth you actually WERE meaning by it?
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Post by chrisparker on May 1, 2016 15:47:57 GMT
All the talk of Europe and top 4 around Christmas time has proved to be bollocks. Home form, which most fans witness has been poor. Very frustrating to drop like a stone in the last few games with poor results and not enough goals scored. The big signings haven't had enough impact this year and essentially we are still a mid table side.Given the form at the moment then 40 points will be the target next year This comment makes me really angry. We're an established top 10 team in the premier league. Isn't that good enough for now? The top 4 talk was bollocks in any case & if you bought into that then that's your problem. We were always going to have a bad spell at some stage & a club like Stoke just can't afford to have the number of injuries we've had. You're expecting too much, too quickly.
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Post by StokieNath on May 1, 2016 15:49:19 GMT
No one in the right mind should have thought we'd make champions league, what a load of drivel.
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Post by sheikhmomo on May 1, 2016 15:56:21 GMT
A perfectly decent season that tailed off pretty badly. Despite it being one of our better top flight performances historically, it’s hard to get away from the fact that its just felt completely underwhelming. We really haven’t played well that often, particularly at home. I genuinely do have confidence in Hughes turning it around though after some major summer surgery.
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Post by Staffsoatcake on May 1, 2016 15:58:47 GMT
If we can finish in the top 10 every season I wont complain,Sunderland fans would give their right arms at the moment if they could finish where we have finished these past 3 seasons. Saying that, I want a few cups to go with those top half finishes.
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Post by RAF on May 1, 2016 16:01:08 GMT
No one in the right mind should have thought we'd make champions league, what a load of drivel. That's because Nath, some people on here are too fucking dim to manage their own expectations. It wasn't long ago that it was banded about on here that we should be just happy being in the Prem and finishing 17th place and upwards. H
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Post by johnnysoul60 on May 1, 2016 16:04:55 GMT
Id say it has been a rollercoaster of a season , with some highs and lows , our biggest problem has been inconsistency ,
we have had some good away performances and done well at home against a few of the big teams .
My worry looking forward is that a club like Stoke can go either way in such a competitive league , we could easily be next seasons West ham or Newcastle and i worry just now that we have a few too many players that if it came down to it would be more Newcastle than West ham
Having said all that 48 points is a decent effort overall , just all feels a bit flat
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Post by milky on May 1, 2016 16:06:12 GMT
No one in the right mind should have thought we'd make champions league, what a load of drivel. That's because Nath, some people on here are too fucking dim to manage their own expectations. It wasn't long ago that it was banded about on here that we should be just happy being in the Prem and finishing 17th place and upwards. H Exactly. I'd love to know how and when we got from anyone wanting more than 40 minutes being ungrateful bastards to (potentially )3 successive top ten finishes deemed unacceptable?
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Post by Caerwrangonpotter on May 1, 2016 16:08:49 GMT
constantly inconsistent
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Post by StokieNath on May 1, 2016 16:11:59 GMT
I'd class finishing below 16th a 'disappointing season'. I mean look at the money what the barcodes have spent this season, now that's a 'disappointing season'
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Post by GrahamHyde on May 1, 2016 16:19:45 GMT
It is the way we have crumbled or simply not turned up in too many games that has me frustrated, plus the injuries and some very weird subs 12th to 10th is fine, but it does feel like there is a bloody good team in there somewhere and we have only seen glimpses A higher temp forward passing game is required for next season This. The home form has been the biggest disappointment. I can reel off a whole list of poor games occurring at different points throughout the season, but mainly in the latter stages. We all know the ones they are. Everton 3-0 Stoke Man Utd 3-0 Stoke Leicester 3-0 Stoke Stoke 0-4 Tottenham Liverpool 4-1 Stoke Manchester City 4-0 Stoke You then have a few games off the top of my head where we've failed to hold on to leads, although broadly speaking they have been few and far between. 2-0 up against Leicester and failed to win that, 2-0 up against Swansea and failed to win that etc. As well as losing twice to West Brom and failing to take more than a point from Sunderland. HOWEVER... we have performed very well on the road and the away games have been enjoyable. Great cup run and so very unlucky not to beat Liverpool in the semi-final which would have given us another well deserved trip to Wembley. In addition, we've beaten Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City at home without conceding a goal, drew with Arsenal likewise and playing excellently at Swansea, Southampton, Watford, Tottenham, Everton and West Ham. All in all, we've relied on individual touches of brilliance and good play to win games, rather than grinding results out through sloppy goals from set pieces. Couple that with the injuries that we've been hit with and we're looking back on 'what might have been' rather than appreciating another good season.
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Post by swampySCFC on May 1, 2016 16:21:02 GMT
All the talk of Europe and top 4 around Christmas time has proved to be bollocks. Home form, which most fans witness has been poor. Very frustrating to drop like a stone in the last few games with poor results and not enough goals scored. The big signings haven't had enough impact this year and essentially we are still a mid table side.Given the form at the moment then 40 points will be the target next year This comment makes me really angry. We're an established top 10 team in the premier league. Isn't that good enough for now? The top 4 talk was bollocks in any case & if you bought into that then that's your problem. We were always going to have a bad spell at some stage & a club like Stoke just can't afford to have the number of injuries we've had. You're expecting too much, too quickly. No need to get angry. We are 9th probably 10th on merit with a 7 point gap to 8th. I would say 9th to 13th are mid table sides this year. Overall however we have had some spankings. The GD is testimony to that and we have capitulated far too often as we did again yesterday. And injuries are part of the game. You have a squad to cope with that and its the Managers job to assemble one that lasts the season. Nevertheless it would be nice to finish with a couple of wins
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Post by GrahamHyde on May 1, 2016 16:24:46 GMT
All the talk of Europe and top 4 around Christmas time has proved to be bollocks. Home form, which most fans witness has been poor. Very frustrating to drop like a stone in the last few games with poor results and not enough goals scored. The big signings haven't had enough impact this year and essentially we are still a mid table side. Given the form at the moment then 40 points will be the target next year I worry with the way Hughes' sides tend to start the season. We can't keep affording to give sides such head starts early on. 6 games before we got a win on the board this season? Valuable points dropped because I sense we don't go in to the season as well prepared as we should be.
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Post by mickmillslovechild on May 1, 2016 16:29:41 GMT
That's because Nath, some people on here are too fucking dim to manage their own expectations. It wasn't long ago that it was banded about on here that we should be just happy being in the Prem and finishing 17th place and upwards. H Exactly. I'd love to know how and when we got from anyone wanting more than 40 minutes being ungrateful bastards to (potentially )3 successive top ten finishes deemed unacceptable? To be fair i think you've both completely missed the point some are making. I don't think i've seen anyone on here seriously say top 4 is an expectation or even top 6 for that matter and i haven't seen anyone on this thread say we've had a shitter as a consequence. Most are happy to settle for top 10 but there's absolutely nothing wrong in being a little disappointed it isn't a little higher given where we were just 5 games ago. We've shown we have the potential to push on and it's a little disappointing that, largely due to injuries, we haven't been able to reach that potential. Unfortunately you 2 seem to have decided that anyone who suggests that seems to have wildly u realistic expectations and are suddenly being doom merchants as a consequence. Less about what most have actually said and more about you creating strawman arguments based on things no-one (on this thread at least) has even implied. There is a HUGE difference between being disappointed we didn't finish the job off and saying the season is unacceptable. They are 2 entirely different things.
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Post by RAF on May 1, 2016 16:45:48 GMT
Exactly. I'd love to know how and when we got from anyone wanting more than 40 minutes being ungrateful bastards to (potentially )3 successive top ten finishes deemed unacceptable? To be fair i think you've both completely missed the point some are making. I don't think i've seen anyone on here seriously say top 4 is an expectation or even top 6 for that matter and i haven't seen anyone on this thread say we've had a shitter as a consequence. Most are happy to settle for top 10 but there's absolutely nothing wrong in being a little disappointed it isn't a little higher given where we were just 5 games ago. We've shown we have the potential to push on and it's a little disappointing that, largely due to injuries, we haven't been able to reach that potential. Unfortunately you 2 seem to have decided that anyone who suggests that seems to have wildly u realistic expectations and are suddenly being doom merchants as a consequence. Less about what most have actually said and more about you creating strawman arguments based on things no-one (on this thread at least) has even implied. There is a HUGE difference between being disappointed we didn't finish the job off and saying the season is unacceptable. They are 2 entirely different things. Mick, I don't know what you think you have read that I have posted but you have certainly completely misunderstood what my point is anyway. You say you haven't seen anyone seriously suggest a top 6 finish? Well there were quite a few posters suggesting it not so long ago. I have no problems with people being disappointed about the way the season has fizzled out either but my point stands that if you expected European football which quite clearly some did then you also have to be prepared for it not to happen also, which some clearly were not. Some of the complete overreactions on here are quite frankly laughable. Thus me saying 'some' and not 'all' people. Now that is no strawman argument squire. H
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Post by StatesideStokie on May 1, 2016 16:46:14 GMT
I think the issue gets clouded by some of the rancid morons that seem to take great pleasure in constantly slaughtering our manager and players on here. I think it's fair to say the season has been a little disappointing but that's largely down to expectations being raised. The progress made by the club under Hughes' leadership over the past three years has been fantastic, and it's beyond fucking ludicrous that this is being held against him by a section of our support that think consistent top ten finishes are now unacceptable.
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Post by turtlefox on May 1, 2016 18:56:20 GMT
I wasn't saying that at all. What you have posted has nothing to do with what I thought or said. ??? You responded to a quote saying how 9th or 10th being a disappointment shows how far we've come and with a bit more luck basically we could have been top 6, you then said it actually shows how deluded we've become. Exactly what did you mean then by your post? If you think i've misunderstood it then don't you think it'd be an idea to clarify what on earth you actually WERE meaning by it? I mean that people feel it's been a bad season by finishing 10th. It wasn't that hard to understand, was it ?
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Post by mickmillslovechild on May 1, 2016 19:07:53 GMT
??? You responded to a quote saying how 9th or 10th being a disappointment shows how far we've come and with a bit more luck basically we could have been top 6, you then said it actually shows how deluded we've become. Exactly what did you mean then by your post? If you think i've misunderstood it then don't you think it'd be an idea to clarify what on earth you actually WERE meaning by it? I mean that people feel it's been a bad season by finishing 10th. It wasn't that hard to understand, was it ? so it's back to my original point then.....why is that deluded? until a few weeks back we were 7th and with a very realistic chance of europe points wise. therefore how is it deluded to be disappointed that it's very likely we're going to finish at least 3 places lower than that?
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Post by milky on May 1, 2016 19:09:34 GMT
Exactly. I'd love to know how and when we got from anyone wanting more than 40 minutes being ungrateful bastards to (potentially )3 successive top ten finishes deemed unacceptable? To be fair i think you've both completely missed the point some are making. I don't think i've seen anyone on here seriously say top 4 is an expectation or even top 6 for that matter and i haven't seen anyone on this thread say we've had a shitter as a consequence. Most are happy to settle for top 10 but there's absolutely nothing wrong in being a little disappointed it isn't a little higher given where we were just 5 games ago. We've shown we have the potential to push on and it's a little disappointing that, largely due to injuries, we haven't been able to reach that potential. Unfortunately you 2 seem to have decided that anyone who suggests that seems to have wildly u realistic expectations and are suddenly being doom merchants as a consequence. Less about what most have actually said and more about you creating strawman arguments based on things no-one (on this thread at least) has even implied. There is a HUGE difference between being disappointed we didn't finish the job off and saying the season is unacceptable. They are 2 entirely different things. Mick ,I've said elsewhere it's been disappointing in a could have been so much better kind of way and there are various reasons why we haven't achieved what we may have done,all which have been discussed. I stand by my views though.In a way maybe the manager has been a victim of his own ambition by suggesting Europe was our target and I've seen folk suggest the season has been a failure because we haven't achieved it.
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Post by turtlefox on May 1, 2016 19:12:26 GMT
In my eyes we are not a team who can think of anything less than Europe as being a disappointment. I'm more than happy with tenth and will always be. People who think otherwise are deluded if they get disappointed.
EDIT- Should have linked Mickmills
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Post by crapslinger on May 1, 2016 19:15:03 GMT
To be fair i think you've both completely missed the point some are making. I don't think i've seen anyone on here seriously say top 4 is an expectation or even top 6 for that matter and i haven't seen anyone on this thread say we've had a shitter as a consequence. Most are happy to settle for top 10 but there's absolutely nothing wrong in being a little disappointed it isn't a little higher given where we were just 5 games ago. We've shown we have the potential to push on and it's a little disappointing that, largely due to injuries, we haven't been able to reach that potential. Unfortunately you 2 seem to have decided that anyone who suggests that seems to have wildly u realistic expectations and are suddenly being doom merchants as a consequence. Less about what most have actually said and more about you creating strawman arguments based on things no-one (on this thread at least) has even implied. There is a HUGE difference between being disappointed we didn't finish the job off and saying the season is unacceptable. They are 2 entirely different things. Mick ,I've said elsewhere it's been disappointing in a could have been so much better kind of way and there are various reasons why we haven't achieved what we may have done,all which have been discussed. I stand by my views though.In a way maybe the manager has been a victim of his own ambition by suggesting Europe was our target and I've seen folk suggest the season has been a failure because we haven't achieved it. It is perilous but necessary to set targets for your team as a manager, same in all walks of life I am afraid that is life, by setting expectations too high you can make a rod for your own back as has happened this season, if you miss the targets that you set people will ask questions which is natural.
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Post by milky on May 1, 2016 19:29:55 GMT
Mick ,I've said elsewhere it's been disappointing in a could have been so much better kind of way and there are various reasons why we haven't achieved what we may have done,all which have been discussed. I stand by my views though.In a way maybe the manager has been a victim of his own ambition by suggesting Europe was our target and I've seen folk suggest the season has been a failure because we haven't achieved it. It is perilous but necessary to set targets for your team as a manager, same in all walks of life I am afraid that is life, by setting expectations too high you can make a rod for your own back as has happened this season, if you miss the targets that you set people will ask questions which is natural. I don't disagree with that carps and I do have issues with some of the decisions Hughes has made..not least his constant changing of the front man,his (none)use of Diouf in his natural role and the fact Bojan can't seem to get on the pitch. That said without the shit run of injuries we've had I don't think we'd have been too far away from his target. Next season is going to be very interesting. I'm hoping and praying for a decent start for once.
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Post by starkiller on May 1, 2016 19:32:19 GMT
How strange that we will finish 9-10th and we are all saying its been a disappointing season! Shows how far we have come doesn't it? Under the circumstances we have done really well, but with a good centre forward and centre half we could have been top 6! Shows how deluded we have become. This delusion has led to one of the wankest atmospheres known since the Brit was assembled from a pack and folk were rattling around in it.
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Post by crapslinger on May 1, 2016 19:42:16 GMT
It is perilous but necessary to set targets for your team as a manager, same in all walks of life I am afraid that is life, by setting expectations too high you can make a rod for your own back as has happened this season, if you miss the targets that you set people will ask questions which is natural. I don't disagree with that carps and I do have issues with some of the decisions Hughes has made..not least his constant changing of the front man,his (none)use of Diouf in his natural role and the fact Bojan can't seem to get on the pitch. That said without the shit run of injuries we've had I don't think we'd have been too far away from his target. Next season is going to be very interesting. I'm hoping and praying for a decent start for once. I also think that the way the season has paned out our squad is not as strong as many people claimed, I accept that injuries have had a significant impact however we have weak cover in many positions, to many ageing and injury prone signings have bitten us in the arse, we have seen flashes of brilliance from the two marquee signings but they have been all too brief, baffling substitutions have cost us points at times.
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Post by mickmillslovechild on May 1, 2016 20:07:25 GMT
In my eyes we are not a team who can think of anything less than Europe as being a disappointment. I'm more than happy with tenth and will always be. People who think otherwise are deluded if they get disappointed. EDIT- Should have linked Mickmills Alright see your point. Maybe it would be better to use the term "frustrated" rather than disappointed. To be fair i think very few would have expected europe to even come onto the radar this year let alone set it as an expectation at the start of the season but surely slight frustration right now is acceptable given how close we actually were just a month ago? Believe me i'm more than happy with a 3rd consecutive top 10 and don't see that as a bad season at all but this is the first time that the "what if...." question hasn't just been a possibility but was actually in our own hands to take and we haven't ballsed it up because we're not good enough or big.enough, it's been due to injuries mid-season and players simply not working hard enough at the end of the season.
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Post by univex on May 1, 2016 20:14:11 GMT
To quote my Spurs supporting boss, it has been a disappointing season as we finished behind Leicester.
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Post by turtlefox on May 1, 2016 21:01:46 GMT
In my eyes we are not a team who can think of anything less than Europe as being a disappointment. I'm more than happy with tenth and will always be. People who think otherwise are deluded if they get disappointed. EDIT- Should have linked Mickmills Alright see your point. Maybe it would be better to use the term "frustrated" rather than disappointed. To be fair i think very few would have expected europe to even come onto the radar this year let alone set it as an expectation at the start of the season but surely slight frustration right now is acceptable given how close we actually were just a month ago? Believe me i'm more than happy with a 3rd consecutive top 10 and don't see that as a bad season at all but this is the first time that the "what if...." question hasn't just been a possibility but was actually in our own hands to take and we haven't ballsed it up because we're not good enough or big.enough, it's been due to injuries mid-season and players simply not working hard enough at the end of the season. Fair play. With new players coming in, it's not going to tick like clockwork all the time and this may be a progressive theme over the next few years . New players need time to adjust . We could have done a Leicester this year but fate played us a rotten hand. Still ,very proud of the team and the set up even if the last few weeks have been a wake up call to the manager, the players and fans.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2016 21:29:21 GMT
I was talking to a Wolves fan the other day and I said we had had a disappointing season as we would only finish 10th. He said he would give his right arm to finish mid table in the premier league. Puts it into perspective really. This.
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Post by chrisparker on May 1, 2016 21:34:07 GMT
Shows how deluded we have become. This delusion has led to one of the wankest atmospheres known since the Brit was assembled from a pack and folk were rattling around in it. The atmosphere at the Brit is whole different story. Let's be honest it's been missing since 2010.
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