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Post by Gods on Sept 5, 2020 16:56:51 GMT
A strong finish to the last campaign, back to back wins and clean sheets in the final 2 friendly games against Prem opposition, a manger who appears to be clinically sane...
There will be bumps in the road, of course there will, but surely at worst the show is back on the road, tell me that much at least?!
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Post by neddy on Sept 5, 2020 16:57:50 GMT
A strong finish to the last campaign, back to back wins and clean sheets in the final 2 friendly games against Prem opposition, a manger who appears to be clinically sane... There will be bumps in the road, of course there will, but surely the show is at least back on the road, tell me that much at least?! Oh don’t it’s the hope that kills you.... 😂
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Post by PotteringThrough on Sept 5, 2020 16:58:12 GMT
Don't, just don't.
(Me too...)
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Post by robwahlmann on Sept 5, 2020 16:58:41 GMT
A strong finish to the last campaign, back to back wins and clean sheets in the final 2 friendly games against Prem opposition, a manger who appears to be clinically sane... There will be bumps in the road, of course there will, but surely the show is at least back on the road, tell me that much at least?! At least a much more comfortable ride than the last 3 seasons I hope!
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Sept 5, 2020 17:01:39 GMT
I hate myself for thinking the same...
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Post by Championship Potter on Sept 5, 2020 17:02:52 GMT
Still a very concerning lack of pace for me. Frustrating as it would be easily fixed with a Prem loanee or two! No need to break the bank... We should be in pole position for those young Prem loanees that the likes of Derby and Swansea always seem to get given the lack of wide options we have currently.
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Post by wazbagsbro on Sept 5, 2020 17:03:44 GMT
Wait till he gets his players with pace through the door,the optimism will be unbearable ,but for now long?
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Post by thisisouryear on Sept 5, 2020 17:06:03 GMT
This is our year
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Post by wagsastokie on Sept 5, 2020 17:07:22 GMT
Wait till he gets his players with pace through the door,the optimism will be unbearable ,but for now long? Optimism and knowing Stoke about 4.45 next Saturday afternoon
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Sept 5, 2020 17:08:57 GMT
The manager has now got a situation where there is competition for places which will always get the best out of players. Although I would like to see a right back like Nathan Byrne come on to push Smith.
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Post by heworksardtho on Sept 5, 2020 17:09:47 GMT
A strong finish to the last campaign, back to back wins and clean sheets in the final 2 friendly games against Prem opposition, a manger who appears to be clinically sane... There will be bumps in the road, of course there will, but surely at worst the show is back on the road, tell me that much at least?! Know what your saying Gods but friendlies mean nothing but fitness and formations 😷
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Post by heworksardtho on Sept 5, 2020 17:10:27 GMT
Make a good username that 😎
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Post by wazbagsbro on Sept 5, 2020 17:13:48 GMT
Optimism and knowing Stoke about 4.45 next Saturday afternoon Exactly,believing we are favourites to go up and what followed tells us to not dream or dread ,just hope
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Post by Goonie on Sept 5, 2020 17:46:16 GMT
Still a very concerning lack of pace for me. Frustrating as it would be easily fixed with a Prem loanee or two! No need to break the bank... We should be in pole position for those young Prem loanees that the likes of Derby and Swansea always seem to get given the lack of wide options we have currently. That's the fly in the ointment for me too and fast teams will exploit that
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Post by stokefanone on Sept 5, 2020 18:29:34 GMT
we will need to score a lot of early goals as teams with pace will get some joy as the older legs tire. saying that I feel optimistic that we will be around the top 4 come May.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2020 18:32:27 GMT
Gods please just stop!!! Your making yourself sound an absolute..... Mate we’re going up trust me!!
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Post by wearestoke80 on Sept 5, 2020 21:46:43 GMT
This thread could come back to bite us on the arse come the end of the season
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Post by datguy on Sept 5, 2020 22:01:44 GMT
Always thought the hallmarks of a good team in any league is how well you use the players that were considered not good enough. The most unusual thing I thought about Leicester winning the league was that Ranieri got players like Andy King, Wes Morgan, Danny Simpson, Christian Fuchs etc looking like Premier League winners.
Point being... MO'N's use of players like Tymon, Davies, TOB etc and turning them into what appears to be decent Championship footballers is assuring and an indicator into the season ahead.
I think we'll be sitting around 7th-10th by Christmas and then we'll look for a big push second half of the season.
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Post by meirparkpotter on Sept 5, 2020 22:43:56 GMT
I'm feeling foolishly optimistic. I think Mikel will be mustard for us, we've got a decent left back in, we've kept the core of the team that we finished last season strongly with and have added an experienced striker who has bags of experience. Tashan Oakley-Boothe looks like he's got something about him too. COYMP
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Post by trout-licker on Sept 6, 2020 2:10:48 GMT
It's rare that we win pre season games so that's obviously encouraging. Plus the decent end to last season.
We're not perfect but no Championship team is. I think Mikel could be the key this season.
With a decent manager in charge, which we have, we should be in with a shot at promotion no doubt.
We have every reason to be optimistic.
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Post by elystokie on Sept 6, 2020 8:09:17 GMT
A strong finish to the last campaign, back to back wins and clean sheets in the final 2 friendly games against Prem opposition, a manger who appears to be clinically sane... There will be bumps in the road, of course there will, but surely at worst the show is back on the road, tell me that much at least?! Know what your saying Gods but friendlies mean nothing but fitness and formations 😷 That's when we lose to the Dog and Duck. When we win we all see it as a key indicator of how the seasons going to pan out
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Post by mrcoke on Sept 6, 2020 8:10:36 GMT
The feel good factor has touched me as well, but then I think logically.
All successful teams are built on a sound defence. This is still the area that gives me greatest concern. Our defence let in loads of goals last season, even after MON arrived and turned us around, we would regularly concede silly goals. We have brought in one ageing LB, and the young players are not reliable. Here's hoping more time together plus Mikel in front of them, shores up the defence.
We lack pace, the answer to that is to make the ball do the work. There have been signs during pre-season that our passing has improved under MON, and there is less side to side and backward passing, followed by long balls up the field.
I'm satisfied that goal scoring will not be an issue. (Damn! I shouldn't have said that.)
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Post by zerps on Sept 6, 2020 8:21:27 GMT
Not being in the bottom 3 once all campaign would be a start
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Post by David Brent on Sept 6, 2020 8:28:39 GMT
We have to get a few more players in with pace
Without this , we will Struggle
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Post by foxysgloves on Sept 6, 2020 8:29:21 GMT
The biggest source of the hope I have for this season is MON.
Steady hand at the helm. What we’ve needed for years and years.
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Post by somersetstokie on Sept 6, 2020 8:59:03 GMT
We are all reasonably happy that the team has been showing well in preseason. Along the way we have matched the achievement of Port Vale in reaching the second round of the EFL cup! So there may even be a small element of excitement around the potteries. I think we can excuse ourselves a small degree of optimism as we look ahead. We have a reasonably strong team on paper, with some good players still to hopefully come back, including Shawcross, Allen and Verlinden. We have a wide variety of attacking options and can probably afford to lose one of that number to get the squad size down. Most importantly we seem to have a good Manager who is quietly going about his business in an efficient way, and can seemingly come up with some answers when things are not going so well. The key is getting the players fit and performing to the best of their potential, which has been a problem for a few seasons now, but Michael O Neill seems to be well capable of getting on top of that situation.
The excitement to me comes in the way M O N seems to be happy to try out options and has a certain propensity to throw in a curve ball or to. I don't think anyone predicted the arrival of a player with the reputation of John Obi Mikel, and Stephen Fletcher has the ability to be a real surprise package. Add to that a few off the wall options, such as the possiblity of Josh Tymon adding life to the left flank options, Oakley Booth building a promising career and Verlinden adding potential quality on the right.
With a month of the transfer window to come we still can't rule out any further surprise developments on the playing front, although any new initiatives might well be stalled while we try to reduce the squad numbers and wage bill and move surplus players like Bauer and Etebo out of the club.
The issue regarding the dead wood players who are draining the clubs resources while contributing nothing on the pitch is going to remain with us for a while, but those who got us into this situation are going to have to work things out and resolve this. There is much to be done off the field as well as on it.
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Post by zerps on Sept 6, 2020 9:10:17 GMT
The biggest source of the hope I have for this season is MON. Steady hand at the helm. What we’ve needed for years and years. I love how his demeanour doesn’t waiver win lose or draw. I wish I could say the same. As with Nath. He was either storming the boothen end or trying to stop a blood vessel in his neck bursting.
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Sept 6, 2020 9:12:10 GMT
I cant wait for the season to get going. Every team starts with hope and optimism at the start of a season.
I think MON is a winner and starting to get the mentality into the teams. I like his mostly positive substitions where he tries to turn draws into wins.
If the players start to believe we will have a decent season. Need to start the season well
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Post by spitthedog on Sept 6, 2020 9:19:00 GMT
I hope we don't get relegated.
That is not me being negative btw, that is me trying to manage my level of 'hope' expectation realistically.
I feel like I deserve a relatively relaxed, chilled season after all the tensions and anxieties of previous years.
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Post by somersetstokie on Sept 6, 2020 9:32:44 GMT
Know what your saying Gods but friendlies mean nothing but fitness and formations 😷 That's when we lose to the Dog and Duck.
When we win we all see it as a key indicator of how the seasons going to pan out This belief in some pub league super side, namely the Dog and Duck, has always intrigued me, as much as any other "urban myth" might do. Who are the Dog and why are they apparently so good? Why do their exploits not get more recognition? And why is it consistently them achieving dramatic results, and not the equally enigmatic, Pig and Whistle, or the Slug and Lettuce. Perhaps locally the Sentinel might rediscover its former role in investigative journalism and run an informed article, or a short series, on the Dog and Duck background and record. We could even have one of the Daily Mail's favourite classic projects, as they follow the fortunes of the Dog from the FA Cup first preliminary round and continue along the road to Wembley. Lets hear it for the Dog and Duck!
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