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Post by owdestokie2 on Oct 31, 2019 9:29:43 GMT
In reply to the title of the post and trying to balance thoughts about our plight in the 80’s.........
To witness the downward spiral from the EPL to our current position in the EFL and all that entails, the quality of our current squad, miserable records being set and the thought of “no apparent light at the end of the tunnel”....... I’m massively disillusioned to say the least. I also know half a dozen more long standing supporters who feel exactly the same.
I’m not sure what the answer is at the moment.
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Post by Davef on Oct 31, 2019 9:41:27 GMT
When we were embarrassing ourselves in the 80s and 90s, there was always the chance to day dream that one day we'd be taken over by a multi-millionaire and that we'd make it up into the Premier League.
Well, that happened of course, but in your worst nightmares did you ever think that we'd end up more or less back where we started?
I don't think you can compare this situation with what went on under the likes of Mills, Ball, Bates and Little. There's no excuse for this.
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Post by march4 on Oct 31, 2019 9:46:04 GMT
When we were embarrassing ourselves in the 80s and 90s, there was always the chance to day dream that one day we'd be taken over by a multi-millionaire and that we'd make it up into the Premier League. Well, that happened of course, but in your worst nightmares did you ever think that we'd end up more or less back where we started? I don't think you can compare this situation with what went on under the likes of Mills, Ball, Bates and Little. There's no excuse for this. Nail, head, etc.
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Post by starkiller on Oct 31, 2019 9:52:22 GMT
Sheer ineptitude.
Making the same disastrous mistakes that has seen other clubs suffer the same fate.
Dismissive of supporters who saw all of the signs.
The last Premier League transfer window still stands out as an act of criminal negligence.
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Post by ravey123 on Oct 31, 2019 10:41:45 GMT
Having a season ticket for 35 or more years I've certainly seen worse teams and we've been in worse situations than this. However, as others have mentioned the previous bad times came when the club didn't have 2 pennies to rub together so it was "understandable".
This current situation is totally different - we have been awash with cash this last few years and still managed a total fuck-up.
I'm at the point now where I'm losing complete interest
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Post by chumley on Oct 31, 2019 10:44:00 GMT
You ain't supported them long enough then brother
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Post by kristoff on Oct 31, 2019 11:05:59 GMT
Quite simply yes I have. Supporting a team who’s fans quite readily attack each other for disagreements, end up hurting children and OAP’s in the crowd whilst the club seems endlessly in a tunnel with no light.
Yes it’s shit atm but fuck me it’s been far worse.
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Post by DC1863 on Oct 31, 2019 11:19:01 GMT
The club definitely needs the restructure that was promised 18 months ago.
- An upheaval of the recruitment process.
- Turnover of staff and job roles at the top level.
- Adoption of some semblance of philosophy at the club.
Whether we bring in a director of football, sporting director or something different I think the board need to employ real football people at a high level to govern the direction the team(s) take on and off the pitch, they can still operate as owners but take direction from qualified people who know the game.
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Post by shakermaker on Oct 31, 2019 11:57:27 GMT
The club definitely needs the restructure that was promised 18 months ago. - An upheaval of the recruitment process. - Turnover of staff and job roles at the top level. - Adoption of some semblance of philosophy at the club. Whether we bring in a director of football, sporting director or something different I think the board need to employ real football people at a high level to govern the direction the team(s) take on and off the pitch, they can still operate as owners but take direction from qualified people who know the game. My memory fails me, but did we have a Technical/Sporting Director or a Head of Recruitment in place before the 2006/07 season started? That was when we started to recruit the team that got us promoted the season after.
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Post by kristoff on Oct 31, 2019 11:58:16 GMT
The club definitely needs the restructure that was promised 18 months ago. - An upheaval of the recruitment process. - Turnover of staff and job roles at the top level. - Adoption of some semblance of philosophy at the club. Whether we bring in a director of football, sporting director or something different I think the board need to employ real football people at a high level to govern the direction the team(s) take on and off the pitch, they can still operate as owners but take direction from qualified people who know the game. My memory fails me, but did we have a Technical/Sporting Director or a Head of Recruitment in place before the 2006/07 season started? That was when we started to recruit the team that got us promoted the season after. Wasn’t Rudge our director of football at that point?
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Post by owdestokie2 on Oct 31, 2019 12:50:29 GMT
Having a season ticket for 35 or more years I've certainly seen worse teams and we've been in worse situations than this. However, as others have mentioned the previous bad times came when the club didn't have 2 pennies to rub together so it was "understandable". This current situation is totally different - we have been awash with cash this last few years and still managed a total fuck-up. I'm at the point now where I'm losing complete interest I’m 46 years a season ticket holder and completely agree with your sentiments. For several days now I’ve been considering where to watch the WBA game. In the cold, possibly wet weather or in the pub in front of a 50in TV and with a great pint of Bass. I’ll probably attend out of a false sense of loyalty. Will it be worth it?
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Post by bertiestan on Oct 31, 2019 13:26:03 GMT
I don't care now tbh. They don't give a shit, why should we? Cos stokes in the blood n not in theirs🤷🏻♂️
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Post by bayernoatcake on Oct 31, 2019 13:53:00 GMT
I don't care now tbh. They don't give a shit, why should we? Cos stokes in the blood n not in theirs🤷🏻♂️ I mean the owners tbh.
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Post by georgieboy52 on Oct 31, 2019 13:54:13 GMT
Trying to think of I’ve ever been more naffed off/ disillusioned/ bored / uninterested in SCFC than I am now. My first game was in 1990 as a young teenager. Sad state of affairs. Surely we’ll have something to cheer about soon?😳 Mick Mills.
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Post by shakermaker on Oct 31, 2019 15:00:51 GMT
My memory fails me, but did we have a Technical/Sporting Director or a Head of Recruitment in place before the 2006/07 season started? That was when we started to recruit the team that got us promoted the season after. Wasn’t Rudge our director of football at that point? Indeed he was, thank you. And that points to the foundation of our success - someone with bags of experience who knew the league inside out, and shared the same philosophy as Pulis. We replaced him with a football agent who's only experience was managing Leek fucking Town! I think we have made a step forward in appointing Chapple as Head of Recruitment. I hope the search is currently ongoing for an experienced Technical/Sporting/Director of Football with a degree of pedigree in the game.
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Post by nott1 on Oct 31, 2019 15:04:40 GMT
Trying to think of I’ve ever been more naffed off/ disillusioned/ bored / uninterested in SCFC than I am now. My first game was in 1990 as a young teenager. Sad state of affairs. Surely we’ll have something to cheer about soon?😳 It's very disheartening!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2019 15:44:34 GMT
the problem with stoke is you cant get anything done without the say so of tony scholes and jon coates ,and they know literally nothing about the game and worse they have surrounded themselves with yes men
they didn't like lambert saying the club was unprofessional ... though Ipswich , were happy to back him they didn't like rowetts criticisms ... though millwall respect him
they love nj , because he praises them in every way possible 24/ 7 , even though he is hopeless
Jon coates is bullet proof , he will never ever be sacked by the coates family
The only possible way forward I can see , is to get rid of Scholes, the scouting network , and bring in a proper CEO and a proper director of football and tell them to turn everything bar the academy upside down
You can't really criticise the academy , they are bringing through the players ... edwards , Campbell , Collins , verlinden .. the problems lie everywhere else
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2019 16:02:35 GMT
Quite simply yes I have. Supporting a team who’s fans quite readily attack each other for disagreements, end up hurting children and OAP’s in the crowd whilst the club seems endlessly in a tunnel with no light. Yes it’s shit atm but fuck me it’s been far worse. I don't think it has been worse ?
We have had times going backwards because we are skint , or the roof has blown off the stand or what have you
But I can't recall us pre Tony Scholes , having millions and being awash with cash , and going backwards because we have p*ssed it all up the wall
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Post by stoketom1 on Oct 31, 2019 16:07:42 GMT
Yep, 1978 and Blythe Spartans.
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Post by lordb on Oct 31, 2019 16:24:15 GMT
Wasn’t Rudge our director of football at that point? Indeed he was, thank you. And that points to the foundation of our success - someone with bags of experience who knew the league inside out, and shared the same philosophy as Pulis. We replaced him with a football agent who's only experience was managing Leek fucking Town! I think we have made a step forward in appointing Chapple as Head of Recruitment. I hope the search is currently ongoing for an experienced Technical/Sporting/Director of Football with a degree of pedigree in the game. Suspect there is no intent to recruit for such a person Instead Chapple will simply be Chief Scout with Scholes in charge of all transfer and contract negotiations.
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Post by serpico on Oct 31, 2019 16:30:39 GMT
there are bigger things to worry about than football, i never get disillusioned, a football game is a football game, be it in the 3rd tier or the premiership, i'll still support stoke.
I'm just amazed at the current behaviour of the club, its like someone sitting in their house when its on fire and saying "i'll just watch the last part of the chase to see if the contestant can beat the beast then i might head for the exit"
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Post by geoff321 on Oct 31, 2019 16:53:51 GMT
The one benefit of several years of failure is that when success returns it will taste that much sweeter.
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Post by sutekh on Oct 31, 2019 17:27:50 GMT
this is the first time that I have not bothered with a season ticket since 1984 and I started to watch one of our televised games before I got pissed off and changed channels. And I must add that I dunna miss it one bit.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2019 18:36:24 GMT
Personally I think it's more like this. Years ago on the old fenetre Oatcake there was a poster called Njkk. (Nick King), he of the centre circle protest of many many years ago for the older supporters on here. Anyroad after yet another pathetic and inept display in the old third division he came out with this gem.
"They may be shit but the're our shit"
Trouble is now, they are shit but they don't feel like our shit
Hope that makes sense
GD
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Post by pushon on Oct 31, 2019 19:32:54 GMT
I don't care now tbh. They don't give a shit, why should we? Bayern, for once you've probably got the majority of the board agreeing with you. Don't despair though mate, I'm sure you'll soon be back to normal and getting everyones backs-up,just for the hell of it.🤓
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Post by samstokie1 on Oct 31, 2019 19:51:24 GMT
At the start of the season I would actually care if we lost but now I don't react or feel anything when we do because its happened so many times
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Post by surreystokie on Oct 31, 2019 20:00:17 GMT
Have had little to say up to now but not because of fury or worse, indifference, but simply heartbroken.
As Dave F says, it could all have been avoided, two seasons ago. Instead it has been compounded. Beyond belief.
However, we are not yet sunk and we are now needed more than ever. Don’t get your armchair ready but come along on Monday and get behind the lads. And ditto the Barnsley game, such a Potentially vital six-pointer.
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Post by skip on Oct 31, 2019 20:15:14 GMT
This thread is as good a place as any to share an anecdote from today.
I work with a Millwall fan. Today he said, without any histrionics or laughter that Stoke on Saturday was the worst away performance he can remember in years. And the post match consensus in the pub was that Stoke are nailed on to go down. "Sorry mate but your lot were absolutely woeful."
In terms of disillusionment I just said "I know".
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Post by dreamtheater on Oct 31, 2019 20:29:59 GMT
I'm certainly disillusioned but I'm also feeling extremely sad, angry, and upset that the fans have, mostly, all been able to see the disasters of the past few seasons unfolding before us, and yet the Board have just naively sat there and seemingly just let it happen. Coates's often quoted "what's all the fuss about" will become the epitaph for this sorry chapter in our history. I've supported the club since the early 60's and have seen some real lows (and some highs as well) but as has been said by others, during those periods we never had any expectations, nor the wealth from having been an established top 10 Premier League team so soon beforehand. This implosion is staggering by it's speed and severity, and it could all have been so easily avoided by the Board. To go from the players we had at our peak a few short years ago, and the wonderful performances and results that they produced, to the woeful journeymen, the "couldn't give a damn" dross that we have now is just bewildering and unbelievable. The decisions, and also the lack of decisions, made by the Board have sent us careening on this ever increasing downward spiral where we are now extremely worried if it will just stop when we drop into League One. Our current situation seems unlikely to keep us in the Championship, and yet the Board members still sit on their hands and watch another relegation unfold before them, and do nothing to arrest the decline. Their statement which said "lessons have been learned" has been shown to be an empty, meaningless gesture to placate the fans as they are following the same methodology once again, with the same result looking an ever more likely outcome. The desperately needed root and branch clear out was in fact nothing more than a little bit of light pruning, with little or no real change or improvement being made. The often quoted, and often viewed "meet the Board evening" video with John Coates and Teflon shows alarmingly what incompetent idiots we currently have running our club, and the prospect of things turning round and improving anytime soon seem non-existent as long as these clowns remain in charge. For John Coates to openly quote (and obviously be proud of it) the "recruitment process" for our current car crash of a manager shows the naivety, inexperience, and incompetence that has gone completely unchecked, and is sending us hurtling towards yet another relegation. The club desperately needs another experienced, no-nonsense manager who can stop this happening (there is absolutely no time to lose) and turn our beloved club back onto an upward trajectory to give us all hope and something to cheer about once again, and yet there is no word from the Board - nothing, nada, zilch. The Board will let this continue (they're showing this by their constant inactions) so it is once again going to be down to the fans to start voicing our disapproval and demanding change and improvement. To do nothing is being as complicit as the Board in the club's demise. absolutely spot on !!!!
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Post by GoBoks on Oct 31, 2019 20:57:22 GMT
When we were embarrassing ourselves in the 80s and 90s, there was always the chance to day dream that one day we'd be taken over by a multi-millionaire and that we'd make it up into the Premier League. Well, that happened of course, but in your worst nightmares did you ever think that we'd end up more or less back where we started? I don't think you can compare this situation with what went on under the likes of Mills, Ball, Bates and Little. There's no excuse for this. So it happened to us, just like dozens and dozens of clubs before us. With the exception of the big 6 and Everton, is there any club that has had sustained success with no fall off? Come to think of it, the big six are not immune to it either. Who'd have thought that Liverpool would spend 30 years without winning a League title after winning it 11 out of 18 times (and ending outside the top 2 only once!) just before that? Or that Manchester United after being Champions 13 times in 22 years and never less than third (3 times), would only get one runner up spot in the next 6 years? So we're in our slump. What to do? Cry & scream? Or endure it bravely, knowing it's just a slump and we will be back? Frustrated, yes. Sad, yes. Disinterested, NEVER!
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