Frightening lack of quality in Stoke side

[Pugsley]

Good result last night and they had a real go in the second half.

Stoke have good organisation and great work ethic but unfortunately have a team packed full of poor footballers. Sidibe is without doubt the worst footballer I have seen - no pace no touch no end product. Parkin is a joke - he made an impact for three minutes when he came on but did miss an absolute sitter. He then preceded to make a fool of himself. Cresswell was lost on the left wing and clearly frustrated. Fuller was trying to hard and getting upset with the dross he was having to chase.

IMHO Stoke have two footballers - Pugh and Lawrence. Pugh was tremendous in the second half and Lawrence delivers a good pass.

It is clear that Stoke need a good left sided player and another centre-midfielder (Diao needs to get fit). Push Cresswell up with Fuller and start playing football.

[Lakeland Potter]

I'm amazed you didn't have a good word to say for our back four last night.

On second thoughts, I am not amazed at all! ;D

[apb1]

Pugsley are you saying that Fuller is not a footballer?

*shakes head and weeps*

[Pugsley]

They were well organsied against two good forwards and did a good job. NZogbia caused problems in the first half but on the whole they did well.

[Pugsley]

I thought Fuller was average last night - did far too much on his own, kept hold of the ball too long especially when the likes of Lawrence and Cresswell were in better positions. It can be forgiven I suppose especially having to play with Sidibe.

OK three footballers.

[apb1]

I agree he struggled at times - what was really evident was the pace that Premiership defenders have. In the first half Fuller seemed annoyed that his tactic of simply running round people and scoring wasn't paying off.

HOWEVER, he was still ace, and provided 90% of our threats on goal; not bad considering the week he's had.

We do need someone up front to come in next week though. Limited as Mama is he works very arrd and Parkin simply isn't up to it. I suppose Cresswell (who showed his limitations as a wide player tonight) could be pushed up front. But then we need a proper wide player - Pugh must stay in the middle.

Maybe Delap can play right mid, Pugh/Eustace, Lawrence on left?

[BraveSirRobin]

Cresswell not a 'footballer' either??

[Thank you from Moorlander1]

Pugsley you are like this mornings Sky news a total wanker. They say this morning that Newcastle were the better team. Unlike the pundits on BBC last night including Shearer all agreed we were the better side.

[y_oh_y_delilah]

Absolutely typical of the negativity still inherent in some 'fans'.

Pugsley, as a matter of interest how would you define a footballer?
The goalkeeper for example - does he have to be a 'footballer' by your definition?

The two young full-backs, what about them? Who would you like seeing at full back for Stoke, perhaps Deco and Messi, now they're good footballers but perhaps not what's required at full back. Maybe, no nonsense, players who tackle hard and fair are the better options, eh!

Then we have the two centre half's, again certainly no footballers by your definition. But that aside, didn't they win virtually every header, nearly every tackle and distribute the ball pretty well. A pity they aren't 'footballers' though.

Now that's 5 of the team accounted for, plus by your reckoning three who CAN play football - so that's eight out of eleven.

Everyone agrees that we do need 2 or 3 new faces to make the difference between also-rans, but Salif is going to be one of them, so by my reckoning another couple of players and we'll have a team full of genuine footballers.
So, what's your point again??

[Admin]

Pugs,

I often quietly bemoan the lack of quality in some of our players, so I 'half see' where you're coming from. Sidibe drives me insane and so do one or two others.

To be fair we don't claim that on the ball quality is our greatest asset. It is COMMITMENT and ENDEAVOUR on which we build our side and the things we have achieved so far this season. Both Alan Hansen and Henry Winter commented on our application and dedication.

I just don't think now is the right time to be negative about some of the players. I hope that TP will now address this problem during the transfer window.

[y_oh_y_delilah]

Hey! Smudge - I noticed that you weren't in your usual seat yesterday!

I only realized this when the catering booth below block 29 were bemoaning the fall in pie sales!

[Pugsley]

Hmm Cresswell - Played out of position BUT did three things in the match - one was to win the ball off the fullback and put Fuller in for weak left footed shot. The other two was in the first half when bearing down on goal he shot and it went out for a throw in and the second he beat his man got to the byline and crossed it out of play.

History shows Cresswell is a decent Championship forward. However he is forced to play wide left to accomodate the worst centre-forward in Stoke City history. In the current setup he doesn't look like a footballer he looks lost - he showed it with his constant frustration last night.

The full backs were good in the tackle but Nzogbia gave them a tough time in the first half AND they constantly gave the ball away with long hoofs down the line to nobody in particular - How many times did you see Fuller, Cresswell and Lawrence show there frustration with them?

Smudge - Stoke were the better team last night JUST. Newcastle missed good chances in the first half and outplayed Stoke. Stoke got at them in the second half and were the better side and created the best chances (spurned by poor finishing).

I think people are getting carried away by the cracking atmosphere last night and a decent performance against a poor Premiership side missing players and lacking confidence.

[mcf]

Only at Stoke would we moan about our players after such a game.

That is what is frightening.

[chrispk76]

i wouldnt swap nicky butt for pugh , eustace or diao and he's played in the prem all his career. he was the worst "footballer" on the pitch last night.

[Pugsley]

Butt had a lot of the ball last night but did very little with it. Gave it away a lot. Pugh got the better of him especially in the second half where he was tremendous.

If you think Sidible had a better game than anyone last night then you are on drugs - he was by far the worst player on the pitch and without doubt the worst forward seen at Stoke since Scott, Whitehurst and Bamber.

[davejohnno1]

MCF...For once I would agree with you. It was a cracking effort 2nd half, and we played great.

Constructively though, Cresswell is really starting to do my head in on the left hand side. I know he is doing us a job there, but his usefulness in this position has long since ended and despite his work rate, he is a liability at times.

The sooner we get a decent left sided player in the better, as Cressy really needs to be played up front or not at all!

Apart from that one thing, I thought we were superb yesterday, especially the two full-backs.

[PONTAFCE]

I think the way we played was ok against a premiership side,we were by far the better side especially in the second half.And still people slate the players for there performance you should be backing them.

[dman]

I think Sidibe had a cracking first half for holding up, his final ball was rather dreadful though, the second half he went missing imo, i think fuller was our worst player last night, and i dont think he played badly, i thought he was just trying too hard. i cant think you can throw any criticism towards any of the players, they all played well.

[mcf]

I thought Cresswell messed up a couple of times but he still had a really good game.

Him and Lawrence never stopped running and were prepared to play high up the field and this led to our 20 minute 2nd half spell were you thought we could win it.

I think we need a Sidibie or a Parkin so that we can go back to front quickly and I'm not sure we could do this with Cresswell up front.

As Eustace gets fitter and if Pugh has a run in there then maybe we do have the legs in midfield to play through it, rather than over it???

Nice to have a choice.

[Do it for bringbackthevic]

You can have the greatest player in the world at holding a the ball up, But if he can't do anything with it then what's the point ?
Sidibe got himself so much space in the 1st half against a Premiership side it was frightening! Then I realised the reason he gets so much space is that he poses no goal threat whatsoever so theres no need for them to tackle him. When he's got the ball he looks frightened and can't wait to get rid of it.
Other than that I thought it was a cracking performance & Pugh looks right at home in CM.

[dman]

id like to see just for a game or two parkin and sidibe playing together, parkin looks far better when hes playing for goals, not supporting fuller, and instead of keeping fuller on the pitch no matter what it might give us another option, or it may be total poop and never be seen again, but you never know

[tqstokie]

IMHO for what it is worth, I only watched on the box. The game was poor first half, Stoke treated the ball like a hot potato and launched it on most occasions there was not much good football from either side. Second half Stoke played much better although the tendency is to hoof it long all the time. Sidibe was too far away from Fuller who was left to chase a lot of poor ball. Having said all that, Stoke shaded the second half and might easily have won. On the players, Sidibe was poor, Fuller tried hard but was alone. Pugh, Eustace, Lawrence and Cresswell all worked very hard without really playing a lot of passing football. The back four were tremendous, especially the two full backs, held position well and were determined and committed in the tackle. All in all I agree about lack of quality but the effort was there for all to see and we could have won. The two full backs both reminded me of Bill Bentley at his awesome best.

[bolly_premprem]

pugs, are you just out to get a rise from people.

ffs we were playing a premiership team, and more than matched them.

sidbe, played well in the first half, held the ball up, fed the ball to fuller, and that turn and through ball about half way through the first half, i can only suggest you are just blind to his ability. Sidebe is not a goal scorer, he knows that, pulis knows that and still he gets a match when he is fit . The second half he dropped off, but still looked very unhappy when he was taken off.

That said, I think stoke played better football after he was taken off, and seemed more of a team.

Parkin, showed a glimpse of what he can do, and with the right service could become a real cult figure.

Fuller didnt seem to be quite at his best, if anything I think he was trying to be the hero. that shot in the first half that when he got he corner after trying to hit it straight past the defender (sorry dont remember what defender) sidebe was in the middle calling for the ball, and fuller didnt even look at him (dont blame him, just pointing it out, if it had been a goalscorer woudl he have passed it?)

I still think cressie should be up front, with sidebe behind the 2 strikers, but that is never going to happen.

now, a question. pugh played well and deserves another go in the middle, the defenders all played well and shouldnt be changed, soooo where does delap play. I can't see Pulis dropping him because of his long throws, so with delap, eustace, pugh and diao all competing for the middle 2 spots, who gets in .

Delap has played left midfield so that could be an option to bring cressie up front, but is that an option TP will take?

[Olgrligm]

I don't have any complaints about any player last night. They all did their job as they were supposed to, Sidibe included. Some of this criticism is simply deluded.

[BraveSirRobin]

Did you see the Hull game Dman?

[dman]

no i didnt??? would that answer my question if i had lol???

[Pugsley]

mcf said:

Him and Lawrence never stopped running

Once again you are confusing people running with playing good football.

[originalchampions]

I viewed the match last night from a perspective of a PNE fan, for one reason to see how our former players are getting on and to also see another Premiership side lose out.

For the first 30 minutes or so I thought you was one dimentional in the extreme with far too many first time balls played upto Sidebe and it was completely ineffective.

However once the team got the ball down and played some football, I thought Stoke were excellent and totally deserved to win that match and was unfortunate in not doing so.

The commitment from your players was intense and noone could accuse any of the players lacking any passion and Pullis definitely is getting the best out of Danny Pugh, who was exceptional and looks to have turned things around. Your full backs were on top of the wingers and in particular the right back looked very impressive.

In respect of Fuller, I have seen Fuller have many of those games before, when he played for us and in big games it is as though he is trying to hard, trying to take on the total responsibility for the attacks and the best chance you had actually resulted in Fuller showing some composure and vision to set up Parkin.

Cresswell looked a little ineffective on the left wing, however he never stopped running and gave an outlet to your team although his delivery was lacking. I am not surprised that Pullis is playing him out on the wing because in the years he spent with PNE, he constantly pulled out wide, even though he was employed as a striker.

Good game anyway and you've got every chance this season.

[mcf]

He did enough for me Pugs

[Pugsley]

Of course he did because you have been brainwashed by a Manager who has hoodwinked the supporters into thinking hard work is the be all and end all.

He should be playing up front with Fuller.