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Post by ted1965 on Nov 5, 2008 16:33:58 GMT
I have to express the pride which I feel being a Stoke supporter right now has grown to epic proportions not only have we reached the promised land after so long in the wilderness but the way we have adapted to life at the top table has been excellent, yes there are still a few teething problems and moments of exasperation but overall it’s been a wonderful experience and a great time to be a supporter of this proud club.
If our adjusting to the higher level hasn’t been enough now those at the club are showing a dignity and almost statesman like response in the face of immense provocation from Arsen Wenger, it makes him look small minded, petty and most of all takes the wind completely out of his arguments. It was wonderful to read and hear the responses from the manager and owner, they didn’t get mad they simply blew them out of the water. It shows just how far this club has come in terms of PR, if this had happened a while ago I am not sure what the reaction might have been but we may not have come out of it as we have today.
If there’s one media organization who can find fault with what Stoke have said then they truly are anti this football club and have not one ounce of fair mindedness or appreciation of decent behaviour. This isn’t a popularity contest or whether you like one style of football over another this is about how you deal with provocation of the highest order. We dealt with Arsenal on the field Saturday, overwhelmed them physically, out battled them and deservedly came away with three points, hard earned but fairly earned. The only side who actually had a player sent from the field for violent conduct was Robin Van Persiie, something Wenger seems to have conveniently dismissed as merely a booking and not a red card. This again shows his complete blinkered view of football and once again demonstrates an attitude out of touch with reality and the facts.
The pride and passion that we the supporters have shown since we arrived in the Premiership is almost ignored by the media because it again doesn’t suit their blinkered view of this football club in some places. If supporting your club is now going to reduced to something like snooker or tennis then it’s going to die on it’s backside. The selling point of football to most people is the passion that it creates in people, there’s no other sport that can rouse the blood or ire as football. The sheer spine tingling emotions of a crowd getting behind their team in unison is hair raising and Stoke supporters do it better than anyone, it’s official and it’s a fact.
When you combine the passion of the supporters, with the power and gut busting enthusiasm of our players who went out there on Saturday to win a game by using their attributes and negating Arsenals it was nothing short of perfection. The atmosphere was hostile but again only in the sense of wanting our side to win. I guess that isn’t fair either, lets outlaw Stoke from having passionate supporters who want to sing and chant and get right behind their heroes. I would much rather we had support like they get at Old Trafford or The Emirates where the prawn sandwich brigade sing about once every 20 minutes and only then if there well on top. If they were losing you’d hear a pin drop. I would say to all those in the media it’s called supporting your club, wanting to show the players that you’re the twelfth man in a league where we can’t compete financially with 80% of the other sides. Though in reality when it comes to supporters we are Chelsea or Manchester City and yes I will say it we are in a league of our own right now, we can truly point to our supporters and say we are the pride of the Premiership.
The first three months of our Premiership ride has been one of discovery, we have discovered that not only can we compete in the top flight we can actually win games we never believed possible.
We have discovered our players may not be the most technically gifted in the world but they have hearts like lions and are prepared to put themselves on the line to get rewards. They are honest players who give their all for the cause and despite setbacks they have so much character to bounce back immediately.
We have discovered that you can’t beat one of the big boys without their manager losing his dignity and common sense because they can’t take a defeat in good grace. That in this brave new world of football it’s not the done thing to actually challenge a big side and expect to be congratulated on your achievements without the backhanded slap of well you couldn’t have won if they had played to their full potential.
We have discovered a real pride in this football club, that it responds to distasteful accusations with dignity and a style that many bigger clubs could and should learn from. If Wenger or Ferguson had made those comments about each others players would either of those clubs have handled it in such good natured way, we all know the answer because we have seen it before.
We have discovered that honest effort and determination can be rewarded in this world of football greed and dishonesty. That you don’t need to have players who throw themselves to the floor with eight victory rolls to be successful. We have also discovered that we can play some good football among the so called long ball route one that we have been labelled with.
We have discovered that Rory’s throw ins not only terrify the best defenders in the land but have been such a talking pint that they have probably had as many column inches as who will win the league in the last month. It’s wonderful that we have such debating points attached to this football club, how much less interesting would the league be without us in it. I venture to say duller add less gracious than a Wenger press conference.
Though most of all we have discovered we belong at this level, that we have ruffled the feathers of the mighty and they don’t like it and we have the best supporters man for man in this league, that discovery will surely pay benefits not just for this year but for many to come.
We may have been through hell and back and the club may have looked totally unprofessional and more like a three ring circus at times over the last three decades but we have come a long way and this football club has put the pride back into the Premiership and if many other clubs followed the examples set by those at this club since yesterday afternoon then the Premiership would be a far more honest and downright better place to be.
Well done Stoke City the pride of the Premiership.
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Post by monkhousestokie on Nov 5, 2008 16:39:37 GMT
Spot on as ever Ted.
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Post by knowles on Nov 5, 2008 16:47:15 GMT
Superb Ted- a spot on analysis. Long may it continue and that we stay at this level (I told everyone we were Back Where We Belong)  |
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Post by Block 25 on Nov 5, 2008 16:50:48 GMT
nice to see you back ted spot on as ever ted goarrnnn stoke  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2008 16:50:48 GMT
nice post there ted
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Post by jbstokie on Nov 5, 2008 17:00:46 GMT
Good post, spot on
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Post by salopstick on Nov 5, 2008 17:01:07 GMT
ted - maybe you should write a book
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Post by sheikhmomo on Nov 5, 2008 17:13:58 GMT
ted - maybe you should write a book He's have Sting round his house blathering on about the rainforest if he did |
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Post by trebor63 on Nov 5, 2008 17:17:26 GMT
nice to see you back ted spot on as ever ted goarrnnn stoke Nice to see you back? he's never been away its just that it takes him a few weeks to type up his posts ;D PS Yet again another cracker, cheers Ted |
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Post by mystokebadge on Nov 5, 2008 17:24:53 GMT
top post
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Post by stokie25 on Nov 5, 2008 17:47:41 GMT
becoming quite a fan of yours Ted Excellent analogy of where we are, keep up the good work ;D |
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Post by XLITTLEMISSSTOKEX on Nov 5, 2008 17:50:59 GMT
ahh what a nice post all very true
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Post by andrew47 on Nov 5, 2008 18:02:45 GMT
I'm not one to pick holes Ted, but I noticed a typo |
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Post by headsgoup on Nov 5, 2008 18:49:00 GMT
ted - maybe you should write a book That is a book. ??? |
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Post by Bick on Nov 5, 2008 19:08:04 GMT
That post reminds me of the speech the old guy does at the end of brassed off! The film that is used in Oasis - fucking in the bushes.
Lots of pride and passion in there ted, got me proud all over again.
Although it makes me think of the coming matches, namely brazil and hull, which concern me as 'must win' matches, similar to what Arsenal thought of us.
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