Struggling to get over this one

[kevkj]

Well its Monday morning and im still down after the defeat.

Even the neutrals were saying how unlike the Stoke of last year that performance was.

Im really dissapointed by the manner of the defeat both effortwise and tacticts.

In fact im Angry, us as supporters were put through that frustration.Mostly due to the formation and tacticts but also due to player effort and commitment.

No-one can tell me we are better this season than last,were slower as a team, less commiitted and disjointed.

Im my view the signings have added nothing and actaullyy seem to have ripped the spirit out the team.

I hope im wrong but im worried and angry.

[stokie1988]

Agreed!

I'm trying to look ahead at the Everton game but i fear for a heavy defeat.

I am really disappointed, i know we try and we work 'ard' but sometimes that isn't good enough, if we had a go and lost by a few more but scoring a few it would of all been so different.

[hipflask]

Me too mate - already twice at work this morning I've launched into a foul-mouthed tirade when asked about Saturday

However, staying positive, in Tony we trust and hopefully we can restore some pride at Everton and then restore the spirit of the Bearpit against West Ham.

[stokiekey]

We've had two bad games this season, Liverpool and Manchester United. Yes Liverpool and Manchester United. Even though we didn't perform that well Saturday (well, acctualy OK, we played absolute shite and i was bored out my head for most of the game) we arent falling apart? I think it's just against the big teams Pulis is just scared of putting out an attacking team, which really i think is stupid because we end up losing out when we go defensively against the "big" teams. I think it's just that he dosent want the defeat to be too big if we go out looking for the win, but if you go out attacking minded you have a better chance of getting something out of the game. If we give it a go and lose 7-0 instead of sitting back all game i'd prefer it much more to be like that. Come on Tony sort it out please.

[Lakeland Potter]

It was a poor performance and the players didn't seem to be up for it and the tactics didn't work. But it is the first time for a long time that the players didn't seem to be up for it - unlike, say, the Liverpool game where we were out classed but gave our all.

So, I'm not angry. Every team has a bad day at the office now and again. We had ours on Saturday - and we must move on. Me getting angry about things isn't really going to achieve much - so I'm not going to bother. I'm off to take the dog for a long walk and have a think about getting something from the Everton game next Sunday. ;D

[stokie1988]

Its just like Wigan on Saturday, they went out and give it a go and look what happened! You force mistakes on the opposition instead of letting them control the game completely!

[Deleted]

Shower of shyte.

We were never at the races, the tactics didn’t work and Tone didn’t change it early enough.

The players didn’t put the work rate in that we are used to (and what you expect as a minimum).

Plus the fans singing about the Munich Disaster FFS (grow the fuck up. It’s not big and it’s not clever)

All in all not a good day.

WD

[ColonelMustard]

Don't really have a problem with formation or personnel, it was the work rate was suspiciously below par throughout the whole team, with the exception of possibly Sorro. Whether this was because of two consecutive disappointments or something else it made for a poor spectacle and a disappointment. It feels like santa turned up eat the mince pie, drank the sherry and forgot to leave any presents.

[RAF]

Definitely a day to forget.
We've had our say, time to move on and hope this weekend brings better things from the manager, the team and the fans.

H

[lew86]

As for "workin ard", there were 3 players that put an effort in, Sorro, Kitson and Lenny (and Matty in the first 20 mins).

There were various threads yesteday about them but I can't remember any input from Whitehead and Collins, just can't remember seeing them at all.

Poor show all round, hope Tony has had a good think yesterday and the run up to Saturday and wakes them up abit.

Move on.

[Deleted]

Having arrived back home at 1pm (4am UK time), from my mammoth trip back to the UK, I thought I'd come on here and see what everyone else thought of Saturday. If I wasn't desperately trying to stay awake for another couple of hours, I'd seriously wish I hadn't bothered!

There's a good piece on the beeb – that I'd link if I wasn't sooooooo tired – in which the BBC Sports/Football editor bloke starts a campaign to get Ryan Giggs knighted. And – while knighting (most) Welsh people is never a good idea – I have to agree with Phil Thingy.

For 60 minutes on Saturday the game looked as though it would finish 0-0. Yeah, OK, Manure had all of the play, but could you really see them scoring? My memory of the game – and it's clouded quite a lot by sleep deprivation – is that almost all of their chances were half chances, that we were doing much of what we did against Chelsea (except the scoring bit) and were looking as though we might hold out for a famous draw.

Then they took off the 87th best player from Portugal, replaced him with the 200-year-old bloke-from-Wales and he won them the match. OK, so – for some reason – we never bothered to mark Giggs, but he was the reason they won … The reason they did finally create the only absolutely nailed on certainty of a chance that finally broke our defensive resistance.

I'm not saying we were great – or that the tactics were great – cos we weren't. But the mass suicide getting written up on here is just a bit too much (isn't it?). Pulis will always try and get a 0-0 when we play anyone with a bit more ability than Aldershot Town; you'd think we'd be used to that by now. Yes it's annoying that we don't have a go … But we don't and we won't, and all the carping on about that fact isn't going to change things either.

Everton away is no easy fixture, it wasn't before they started to turn their form around and it won't be any easier now that they have (even if they did only just beat an absolutely awful Pompey side). Wishing that next weekend's game will see Pulis finally have his road to Damascus conversion is a waste of time. We'll go for a 0-0 and hope we (somehow) sneak a goal.

I think the thing which worried me most about my trip back home (apart from the fact that it is warmer over there than it is back over here!) is that we seem to have raised our expectations – of our team, our manager and our tactics – so far so fast.

We were a little unfortunate against Chelsea (at least not to sneak a draw, which would have been a fantastic result) and we got stuffed by Manure. If that's cause for a mass hanging then we really are in trouble (and that's we the fans, not we the team/club). With Pulis in charge the way to 42 points will always be the same (at least for the next few years) and that way does not include chucking caution to the wind and playing any more than one upfront versus Manure.

Get a grip people. It's almost as depressing on here as queuing on the M6 to try to get north of Preston.



(Now I'm off to cook tea, before I'm too tired to see the oven temperature control … never mind the numbers that must be printed on it ...)

ah

[jacka118]

We have to move on from this, yes we were shite and lacked passion and commitment, but thats one shit performance of 45 premiership games - Looking forward to the Everton game!

Go On Stoke!

[Titan Uranus]

It's not the defeat to Man Poo that rankles with people.

It's the manner of the defeat.

And the stupid team selection of our manager.

[stevoyork]

Today I'm thinking Pulis and Fergie negotiated that result before the game! Pulis: Go on then, you can win, but only beat us by two, ok? Fergie: Great! :-(

Such a lackluster/ 'defensive' display. But that's the last I'll be saying on it!

[Deleted]

It was a very poor performance from players and management. I was bored and the whole thing had an air of inevitability about it. The worrying thing for me is that Pulis does not seem to know his best team and once again we are in the scenario of square pegs in round holes. Still we move on to Everton and hopefully a better performance and result.

[sheikhmomo]

Sept 28, 2009 8:37:35 GMT @andyhar said:

Having arrived back home at 1pm (4am UK time), from my mammoth trip back to the UK, I thought I'd come on here and see what everyone else thought of Saturday. If I wasn't desperately trying to stay awake for another couple of hours, I'd seriously wish I hadn't bothered!

There's a good piece on the beeb – that I'd link if I wasn't sooooooo tired – in which the BBC Sports/Football editor bloke starts a campaign to get Ryan Giggs knighted. And – while knighting (most) Welsh people is never a good idea – I have to agree with Phil Thingy.

For 60 minutes on Saturday the game looked as though it would finish 0-0. Yeah, OK, Manure had all of the play, but could you really see them scoring? My memory of the game – and it's clouded quite a lot by sleep deprivation – is that almost all of their chances were half chances, that we were doing much of what we did against Chelsea (except the scoring bit) and were looking as though we might hold out for a famous draw.

Then they took off the 87th best player from Portugal, replaced him with the 200-year-old bloke-from-Wales and he won them the match. OK, so – for some reason – we never bothered to mark Giggs, but he was the reason they won … The reason they did finally create the only absolutely nailed on certainty of a chance that finally broke our defensive resistance.

I'm not saying we were great – or that the tactics were great – cos we weren't. But the mass suicide getting written up on here is just a bit too much (isn't it?). Pulis will always try and get a 0-0 when we play anyone with a bit more ability than Aldershot Town; you'd think we'd be used to that by now. Yes it's annoying that we don't have a go … But we don't and we won't, and all the carping on about that fact isn't going to change things either.

Everton away is no easy fixture, it wasn't before they started to turn their form around and it won't be any easier now that they have (even if they did only just beat an absolutely awful Pompey side). Wishing that next weekend's game will see Pulis finally have his road to Damascus conversion is a waste of time. We'll go for a 0-0 and hope we (somehow) sneak a goal.

I think the thing which worried me most about my trip back home (apart from the fact that it is warmer over there than it is back over here!) is that we seem to have raised our expectations – of our team, our manager and our tactics – so far so fast.

We were a little unfortunate against Chelsea (at least not to sneak a draw, which would have been a fantastic result) and we got stuffed by Manure. If that's cause for a mass hanging then we really are in trouble (and that's we the fans, not we the team/club). With Pulis in charge the way to 42 points will always be the same (at least for the next few years) and that way does not include chucking caution to the wind and playing any more than one upfront versus Manure.

Get a grip people. It's almost as depressing on here as queuing on the M6 to try to get north of Preston.



(Now I'm off to cook tea, before I'm too tired to see the oven temperature control … never mind the numbers that must be printed on it ...)

ah

In many ways it’s a huge compliment to Pulis and the players that everyone’s so down after a thorough kicking by the best team in the country, Andy but God was it painful. After dozens of seasons of watching disparate collections of players not giving a fuck and strolling through games as confused and disinterested passengers it was a bit of a shock to the system to see it back. I suppose that in the past, those performances have been against the likes of Wycombe and not Man Utd but it was a very worrying performance.

The best thing about last season though was our ability to bounce back but if we go to Everton with one up front and the ball coming back to us every single minute of the ninety then we’re going to get beaten and beaten badly and a decent start starts to look decidedly average.

Those three points dropped in the last minutes of the previous two games is looking very amateurish now.

[stokemark]

Im with you on this - Really struggling yet -

- If we had lost at home to one of the teams in 'our league' it would have had much more serious implications

- If we had beaten Bolton we would have an additional 2 points which would have been equivalent to drawing at home against both Chelsea and ManUre

Funny how football can make you feel

[Smudge_SCFC]

AndyHar,

I know what you're saying mate, but The Shit did force some chances... Valencia missed his one on one, Nani curled that effort wide with a free shot and Tommy stranded and then the ball drilled across the face of our goal should have been poked home by O'Shea.

I honestly feel that Man Utd never felt the need to get out of second gear and once they made one simple change they won at a canter. We never saw the ferocious, Chelsea-style, barrage because they never needed it.

[teflondel]

TP is not one for slagging his players off and so we should take heart that both he and Whealan have both come out and said what we all knew, that they played badly and let themselves and the fans down.

By accepting that then you would assume that the commitment levels through training and for the upcoming matches will be back to the level we have come to expect.

[jimmygscfc]

I'm struggling more with what looks like the waste of a signing on someone as ordinary as Collins and the warped logic of playing an excellent central defender like Huth at right back. It wasn't his fault but Lawrence ended up covering his 'zone' for most of the first half. I'm also at a loss to understand what Delap continues to bring to this team other than the odd cover tackle when we're on the backfoot. That said, Whelan and Whitehead looked decidedly second-rate too. Given that we can't sign anyone until January, I'm coming round to the argument that suggests Faye in midfield in front of the back four (surely Ryan can't have as bad a game again!) and Whelan and a.n.other in midfield. Suffice to say, at home at least I'd play Fuller, Kitson/Beatiie and Tuncay.

[luds]

If you were to ask me before the start of the season where I thought Stoke would be at this point I would have said:

Burnley - W
Liverpool - L
Brum - D
Sunderland - W
Chelsea - L
Bolton - D
Man Utd - L

Now unless I'm getting my calculations wrong I'd say that score would be on par. Unlucky not to get anything from Chelsea and not to win at Bolton because of late goals is just the way the cookie crumbles in football.

This is by no means a poor start to the season, the only 3 games lost have been to the top 3 clubs in the country, the two games drawn Stoke were arguably denied a deserved 3 points from each and well 3 points is 3 points from the other two.

I am always reluctant to slag off new signings until they have been given the time to find their feet and gel with the players and tactics. Collins has hardly set the world alight and the same can be said for Whitehead but they have most certainly improved the squad if not the first team.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tuncay will be an excellent and integral signing, TP just hasn't managed to find the right time to introduce him to a starting berth whether he hasn't been deemed fit enough or whether the tactics haven't suited.

[serpico]

All my anger stems from TP not starting Tuncay still can't my head around it, there's no justification for it, none at all .

and i'm worried that he's going to go on a Cresswell-esque stubborn streak of trying to ram square pegs into round holes ( huth and collins), it seems to me he's actually trying to make us even more defensive than last season hope I'm wrong, but playing 4 centre back across the back 4 stinks to high heaven .

[rabbigan]

Me to and dont anyone think Everton will bring a change of our tactics.