will we realy do a derby ?

[stokie5554]

loads of fans all over england are saying

"Enjoy it while you can"


but do you think we will be as bad as derby
or even do you think we will stay up

[Mr Wheeze]

No and possibly.

[trebor63]

NO and no

[big bea]

well piss it, we will finish 12th

[frasier37]

Personally i don't think Coates is prepared to do what is needed for us to stay in the prem, money wise that is.
So, i think we'll do similar to Derby.

But, i'm hoping Peter proves me completely wrong.

[R.I.P Fullers Nan]

Most fans r fooking jealous.

[Juan Kerzhoff]

Will we fuck do a Derby i firmly believe that out of the 3 newly promoted we have a better chance than the other 2 of staying up.

We are more than capable of taking points from the likes of Wigan Sunderland Fulham Brazil Dull and Bolton and i honestly believe we will surprise some of the big boys too.

[luke45]

No chance.

[scfcmatt]

It is possible.

[powchirper]

1 Its impossible to do a Derby as we are Stoke.

2 If we dont qualify for Europe Pulis should fall on his sword

[sheikh al dubai bin stokie]

unless we majorly strengthen the squad in all areas then, to quote Star Wars, "i have a bad feeling about this"

however... maybe, just maybe TP will re-program the simulator and we wont have a Kobayashi Maru

[glouscesterstokie]

cant see us doing a derby atall know i think we will atleast treble their points tally

[Bojan Mackey]

We had a more prem worthy squad than derby when they got promoted.

So we'll be ok

[davemongisback]

I don't care if we do or not. We are in the Premiership, thats all that matters. This time last year we would of killed to be in this position, so I'm gonna enjoy every fucking second of it, even if we're 6 nil down against Man U, i'll still enjoy giving that greasy portugese fuck pig as much greif as I can muster.

CCCCCCC'MMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Just look at my Pearce signature, that will be me next year so full of passion.

[Deleted]

I don't think anyone will "do a Derby" for quite some time. They were extraordinarily bad. I think we'll have a damn good go at it and finish either jubilantly in 17th or agonisingly in 18th.

[stokie63]

no we wont do a derby given the right players i think we will be ok.

[northantsash]

derby were shockingly bad, crap defence darren moore and leacock.
we have a much better team spirit and attitude to get something from a game. i'm not saying i think we will win 15 games, i just think we wont lose too many. hull and especially the baggies will get stuffed if they try to play total football against arsenal, united etc.

[ted1965]

There are several differences between ourselves and Derby which should ensure we don’t struggle in quite the same way they did.

The first one being we earned our promotion on merit, yes people can criticise the style of play all they like but we lost fewer games than any other side in the Championship, were among the leading scorers. If you look at Derby, they were the poorest side in the top 10 when they gained promotion, they over achieved as they weren’t expected to beat either Southampton or The Brazilians. So having reached the Premiership ahead of schedule they were faced with the dilemma of spend huge amounts to improve what was a very average Championship squad or hope to add a few old hands and see where it took them, we all know where it took them.

I think Coates will have looked at that scenario and while he may not want to stretch the finances too breaking point simply to survive he will understand that sufficient spending is required on the right type of players to give the manager a fighting chance of keeping us up.

The united front at the club is also very different from the Derby situation, where there seemed to be internal warfare over whether the manager was good enough and once you have any kind of split between the boardroom and manager you’ve got major problems. The one thing we can be sure of, the owner is convinced he has the right manager and is willing to back his judgement that will ensure we have stability and should ensure a far better season than many so called experts predict.

The Derby scenario was what many of those experts have been praying for, so they can tell everyone the gap between the Championship and the Premiership is so great now this is what happens to sides who simply aren’t good enough to be promoted. So now they look at us and say ah yes the next Derby are among us the same with Hull, they want it to happen, so that they can eventually whisper it’s time to close the promotion door unless you can prove to us you’re good enough to make that jump, we will prove more than competitive and I firmly believe there’ll be a lot of humble pie on the media table come next Spring.

[crowey]

No, I am convinced we will stay up. Dull will be relegated & possibly The Baggies

[Bick]

We need to strengthen, but no way will we do a derby. I think we will at least finish above Hull and WBA.

Hull are looking at players who are well past it and from league 1! They will be murdered.

And WBA? They couldn't handle a stength team like stoke in the champ, they will fall to us, Wigan and Bolton amoungst others, and their passing game will be ripped apart against prem defences.

[robin1302]

We'll have more points than Derby after 4 games

[Rockape]

I can't see it. Why? Physically we are 'big' enough for the Prem and tactically Pulis will bring in the sort of players that will add to the squad instead of replacing it with an 11-man gamble.

I live in Watford and it's the first question I'm asked when I talk football down here. It's been my line since we went up and I don't see a reason to change it yet!

[second season tree]

i think the squad that finished the season for derby is worse than the squad that finished the season for stoke, thats with no signings at all so i'd expect us to put up a better fight that them

[viewfromthecrowsnest]

Concerning all this, I'd love to know what the club's strategy is. Is it a 3 or 5 year plan which involves a relegation and another promotion, gaining more cash in the process where we can gradually accumulate a squad good enough to remain in the Prem without too much relegation fear?

In all I reckon it will be a month before we see any new players come through the door. Everything seems on hold while Euro 2008 is on. Once it is finished the market will be well and truly open for trading!!