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Post by Linx on Aug 19, 2017 8:24:18 GMT
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Aug 19, 2017 8:27:28 GMT
Encouraging to hear him talk up Ryan's importance. Underlines what a load of bollocks the 'he's not a captain' stuff is as well.
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Post by loosestools on Aug 19, 2017 8:29:05 GMT
Reasonable response from Hughes I thought.
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Post by gibby1409 on Aug 19, 2017 9:00:15 GMT
Good article and loving Hughesy's response.
I'm hoping the visit of those wankers from north London is the perfect time for the team, and supporters, to get into their ribs and let's get into em!
Goaaaaarn Stoke
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2017 9:09:21 GMT
Good read that. I wouldn't have been too fussed if he was moved on at the end of last season, but I've been quite impressed with who we have bought in so far; and Hughes certainly seems to have a real grit and desire to make this season work. Lets hope that this translates on to the pitch and performances
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Post by davejohnno1 on Aug 19, 2017 9:14:05 GMT
In such circumstances Hughes speaks brilliantly and he ALWAYS talks us up.
If we get back to what we know Hughes teams can be like, all the better.
I struggle to dislike Hughes.
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Aug 19, 2017 9:15:32 GMT
Good article - and confirms why I think Hughes is the right man for the job. He recognises the continuing value of the Pulis era approach but wants to add some class and quality to the solid foundations. To get and stay in the top half you need both.
Also agree we are already stronger than at the end of last season and with a couple more of the quality we have already brought in we will be a lot stronger. And the only thing that will change that opinion in the next 5 games would be series of inept, gutless performances - which would be surprising given the character of the players name checked by Hughes for their leadership qualities.
Neck out - massive loss to Arsenal imminent...😊
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Post by robwahlmann on Aug 19, 2017 9:17:38 GMT
A win today will remove much of the gloom from supporters doubting this team's ability! GO ON STOKE!  |
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Post by alster on Aug 19, 2017 9:32:44 GMT
A win today will remove much of the gloom from supporters doubting this team's ability! GO ON STOKE! Even a really good performance would lift a lot of the negativity. Many fans are trying to be positive about our business without any real evidence others like myself are quite sceptical. Seeing a team that actually functions as an attacking unit will bring many of us on side despite our reservations. |
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Post by robwahlmann on Aug 19, 2017 9:34:28 GMT
A win today will remove much of the gloom from supporters doubting this team's ability! GO ON STOKE! Even a really good performance would lift a lot of the negativity. Many fans are trying to be positive about our business without any real evidence others like myself are quite sceptical. Seeing a team that actually functions as an attacking unit will bring many of us on side despite our reservations. We all hope!  |
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Post by blackpoolred on Aug 19, 2017 9:36:19 GMT
Nice to see Hughes mentioning Shawcross in that way, if we lose him it would be like throwing in the towel.
The article is right though. We have replaced a 33 year old midfielder with another 33 year old, sold our best asset and have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back and still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net. On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window, while others seem to move forward.
Nice comments by Hughes mentioning Mathews/Hudson, but words are cheap and unless Hughes can bring in significant improvements in key areas then he really is staring down the abyss.
Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about, but I am not sure even if he had them he would bring in the players we need and that is the problem, because Coates obviously feels the same. If this is the case I am not sure why he has not walked and also not clear why Coates has not brought in somebody new - all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable
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Post by alster on Aug 19, 2017 9:41:40 GMT
Nice to see Hughes mentioning Shawcross in that way, if we lose him it would be like throwing in the towel. The article is right though. We have replaced a 33 year old midfielder with another 33 year old, sold our best asset and have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back and still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net. On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window, while others seem to move forward. Nice comments by Hughes mentioning Mathews/Hudson, but words are cheap and unless Hughes can bring in significant improvements in key areas then he really is staring down the abyss. Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about, but I am not sure even if he had them he would bring in the players we need and that is the problem, because Coates obviously feels the same. If this is the case I am not sure why he has not walked and also not clear why Coates has not brought in somebody new - all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable I totally agree but thats how it is so we'd better hope it works. I really hope the negativity I feel is misplaced. |
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Post by johnnysoul60 on Aug 19, 2017 10:04:36 GMT
Talks very well there but really needs the team to show it today .
Big game in terms of performance even if we don't get the result they need to show the fans they won't surrender any more .
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Post by davejohnno1 on Aug 19, 2017 10:06:32 GMT
Nice to see Hughes mentioning Shawcross in that way, if we lose him it would be like throwing in the towel. The article is right though. We have replaced a 33 year old midfielder with another 33 year old, sold our best asset and have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back and still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net. On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window, while others seem to move forward. Nice comments by Hughes mentioning Mathews/Hudson, but words are cheap and unless Hughes can bring in significant improvements in key areas then he really is staring down the abyss. Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about, but I am not sure even if he had them he would bring in the players we need and that is the problem, because Coates obviously feels the same. If this is the case I am not sure why he has not walked and also not clear why Coates has not brought in somebody new - all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable People like you won't change no matter what he does. He isn't tony pulis so you want him out. 9th placed finishes, unlucky penalty defeats in cup semi finals, exhilarating performances matter not where you are concerned. You always will and always have focused only on the negatives, the main one being he isn't tony pulis. Even Hughes morphing into tony pulis isn't good enough for you. Its tiresome really but hey ho. Hopefully you and your ilk will soon be back in your cage as Hughes turns it around or disappears into the sunset. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2017 10:13:13 GMT
Good read.
Back it up on the pitch and everyone will be happy.
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Post by mrcoke on Aug 19, 2017 10:18:40 GMT
Nice to see Hughes mentioning Shawcross in that way, if we lose him it would be like throwing in the towel. The article is right though. We have replaced a 33 year old midfielder with another 33 year old, sold our best asset and have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back and still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net. On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window, while others seem to move forward. Nice comments by Hughes mentioning Mathews/Hudson, but words are cheap and unless Hughes can bring in significant improvements in key areas then he really is staring down the abyss. Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about, but I am not sure even if he had them he would bring in the players we need and that is the problem, because Coates obviously feels the same. If this is the case I am not sure why he has not walked and also not clear why Coates has not brought in somebody new - all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable " That is true and both are triers, give 100% and lead, but Fletcher is a big step up in class on Whelan, who would never have played for a CL club. "sold our best asset" After Butland, that is also true, but Arni is not CL class, his stats are quite average in fact. The fact that he was so standout and important to us says as much about the rest of the forwards as it does about Arni. I don't think it will take so much for the new players to replace his stats in terms of goals and assists. "have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back" True, we changing to 3 CBs and playing wing-backs, which is now the issue to address properly; there's time if the right players become available, and more to the point want to play for Stoke. We do have got young players coming through; something the author is apparently unaware of. "still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net." So what's new? It's been like that since we joined the Prem and have moved a shed load of strikers through the club, very few of whom have achieved 10 goals in a season. The main issue in the last 18 months has been the poorer defending, which I think is being addressed. "On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window," I disagree. We have improved the defence, time will tell whether the new players can score better than the players who have left. There is still time in the transfer window to buy more and the club is very solvent and in a position to pay. The main problem as mentioned above is getting players to want to come to Stoke. "Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about" I hope the club never throws about its funds, that would be stupid. The club repeatedly beats its transfer record,and I'm confident would do it again for the right player, such a s top quality left wing-back. The problems are who?, will their club sell? would the player want to play at Stoke?
"all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable" You'll gather I have an opposite view. What's more my view will not be dented by short term results. |
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Post by Linx on Aug 19, 2017 11:03:15 GMT
Well said, mrcoke. And especially well done on taking the time to deconstruct the original argument. Most of us, myself included, just couldn't be arsed, even if we felt the same way as you do.
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Post by bolders on Aug 19, 2017 11:08:12 GMT
The cost of a player should not matter it is the quality of the player that matters. The price doesn't always guarantee the players quality and success, see Imbula, Torres and a host of many more. There have been players brought for next to nothing or even free that have been great players, even the snake.
The whole fad with peoples want for billions being spent on X Y Z is due to the hyperbole that Sky presents this and every transfer window.
They are the ones getting off on how much is spent each window buy each club hoping and pushing to out do last windows total there is such a jizz fest about it and there are millions of sycophants that drink it in and believe that is the sum of football!
Remember people its quality we want and hopefully that is what we have got.
Plus just under 2 weeks left in the window we could still spunk our own wad on some players
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Post by blackpoolred on Aug 19, 2017 15:39:27 GMT
Nice to see Hughes mentioning Shawcross in that way, if we lose him it would be like throwing in the towel. The article is right though. We have replaced a 33 year old midfielder with another 33 year old, sold our best asset and have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back and still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net. On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window, while others seem to move forward. Nice comments by Hughes mentioning Mathews/Hudson, but words are cheap and unless Hughes can bring in significant improvements in key areas then he really is staring down the abyss. Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about, but I am not sure even if he had them he would bring in the players we need and that is the problem, because Coates obviously feels the same. If this is the case I am not sure why he has not walked and also not clear why Coates has not brought in somebody new - all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable " That is true and both are triers, give 100% and lead, but Fletcher is a big step up in class on Whelan, who would never have played for a CL club. "sold our best asset" After Butland, that is also true, but Arni is not CL class, his stats are quite average in fact. The fact that he was so standout and important to us says as much about the rest of the forwards as it does about Arni. I don't think it will take so much for the new players to replace his stats in terms of goals and assists. "have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back" True, we changing to 3 CBs and playing wing-backs, which is now the issue to address properly; there's time if the right players become available, and more to the point want to play for Stoke. We do have got young players coming through; something the author is apparently unaware of. "still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net." So what's new? It's been like that since we joined the Prem and have moved a shed load of strikers through the club, very few of whom have achieved 10 goals in a season. The main issue in the last 18 months has been the poorer defending, which I think is being addressed. "On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window," I disagree. We have improved the defence, time will tell whether the new players can score better than the players who have left. There is still time in the transfer window to buy more and the club is very solvent and in a position to pay. The main problem as mentioned above is getting players to want to come to Stoke. "Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about" I hope the club never throws about its funds, that would be stupid. The club repeatedly beats its transfer record,and I'm confident would do it again for the right player, such a s top quality left wing-back. The problems are who?, will their club sell? would the player want to play at Stoke?
"all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable" You'll gather I have an opposite view. What's more my view will not be dented by short term results. Nice post. Although you will not be surprised to hear that I disagree slightly. For one we will not be playing 3 centre-halves in every game, tactics will change accordingly and what if that formation does not work, it hasn't in the past, what if 1 of those players pick up an injury. At the end of last season we had one mediocre R/B & one mediocre L/B on our books(and some promising youths to be fair), we now have no vialble R/B and the same L/B and have started the season with our centre-forward at R/B.. Sorry but that is unfathomable for most of us - including the neutrals in the media. We do have time left in the window so this will hopefully be rectified, but it would not be the 1st time he let's a defender leave to one of our rivals and forgets to replace him. If you believe the stories doing the rounds in the social media then it may well be more than just a rumour that Coates is demanding he gets the best of the players he has and is not prepared to give his current manager a wad of money. Also reading between the lines of every interview Hughes did last week he repeatedly mentioned how much Everton had spent on their squad and how hard it was to compete when a team that spends that much money, these comments were possibly aimed at our chairman. We have gone backwards regarding the flanks of our defence and we have lost our best asset in Arnie, he scored 20 goals in the last 2 seasons and also created a few, players like him are not easy to replace at all and we are a weaker squad without him. Hopefully, we will have found some gems in Choupo and Jese and until we have had a good look at them we won't know if they can make a serious impact or not. Either way you look at it, we hardly look like a team who is moving forward and at best, in the words of Arnie, have remained stagnant |
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Post by mrcoke on Aug 20, 2017 8:23:52 GMT
"We have replaced a 33 year old midfielder with another 33 year old, " That is true and both are triers, give 100% and lead, but Fletcher is a big step up in class on Whelan, who would never have played for a CL club. "sold our best asset" After Butland, that is also true, but Arni is not CL class, his stats are quite average in fact. The fact that he was so standout and important to us says as much about the rest of the forwards as it does about Arni. I don't think it will take so much for the new players to replace his stats in terms of goals and assists. "have not addressed any of the glaring issues we have at Right/Left back" True, we changing to 3 CBs and playing wing-backs, which is now the issue to address properly; there's time if the right players become available, and more to the point want to play for Stoke. We do have got young players coming through; something the author is apparently unaware of. "still in desperate need of finding somebody who can put the ball in the back of the net." So what's new? It's been like that since we joined the Prem and have moved a shed load of strikers through the club, very few of whom have achieved 10 goals in a season. The main issue in the last 18 months has been the poorer defending, which I think is being addressed. "On the face of it we have taken yet another step backward in this window," I disagree. We have improved the defence, time will tell whether the new players can score better than the players who have left. There is still time in the transfer window to buy more and the club is very solvent and in a position to pay. The main problem as mentioned above is getting players to want to come to Stoke. "Seems clear that his chairman is not going to give him the funds to throw about" I hope the club never throws about its funds, that would be stupid. The club repeatedly beats its transfer record,and I'm confident would do it again for the right player, such a s top quality left wing-back. The problems are who?, will their club sell? would the player want to play at Stoke?
"all a bit shite at the moment and unfathomable" You'll gather I have an opposite view. What's more my view will not be dented by short term results. Nice post. Although you will not be surprised to hear that I disagree slightly. For one we will not be playing 3 centre-halves in every game, tactics will change accordingly and what if that formation does not work, it hasn't in the past, what if 1 of those players pick up an injury. At the end of last season we had one mediocre R/B & one mediocre L/B on our books(and some promising youths to be fair), we now have no vialble R/B and the same L/B and have started the season with our centre-forward at R/B.. Sorry but that is unfathomable for most of us - including the neutrals in the media. We do have time left in the window so this will hopefully be rectified, but it would not be the 1st time he let's a defender leave to one of our rivals and forgets to replace him. If you believe the stories doing the rounds in the social media then it may well be more than just a rumour that Coates is demanding he gets the best of the players he has and is not prepared to give his current manager a wad of money. Also reading between the lines of every interview Hughes did last week he repeatedly mentioned how much Everton had spent on their squad and how hard it was to compete when a team that spends that much money, these comments were possibly aimed at our chairman. We have gone backwards regarding the flanks of our defence and we have lost our best asset in Arnie, he scored 20 goals in the last 2 seasons and also created a few, players like him are not easy to replace at all and we are a weaker squad without him. Hopefully, we will have found some gems in Choupo and Jese and until we have had a good look at them we won't know if they can make a serious impact or not. Either way you look at it, we hardly look like a team who is moving forward and at best, in the words of Arnie, have remained stagnant Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. We'll have to agree to differ; I'm sure Hughes is now committed to 3 CBs and it's now a question of finding the best WBs. I thought Diouf and Pieters played quite well yesterday. I haven't a clue what our Chairman thinks or believes, but I'm sure as a business man he is not going to let it be known publicly that he would spend lots of money and will be running a tight ship. I'm sure he is appalled at the inflation in the game and would be doing what ever he can to damp the flames. Arni scored 12 goals the season before last, which is exceptional for him, and primarily due to Hughes encouraging him to go more direct. IMO he is a poor shooter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Arnautovi%C4%87 |
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Post by scfc75 on Aug 20, 2017 9:01:56 GMT
Although a lot of fans have been questioning the fighting spirit... or lack of since selling Whelan, Walters etc... I think most underestimate the fighting spirit that Hughes himself has. He's obviously well aware of criticism from some fans, and has responded excellently so far. Good on him.
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