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Post by knowles on Aug 10, 2015 2:38:12 GMT
His tweets suggest he genuinely enjoyed himself! Well done Stoke on sorting him out and gaining a bit more publicity.
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Post by knowles on Aug 10, 2015 2:36:58 GMT
A very civilised 10pm over in the west. Goarrrrrrn Stoke!
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Post by knowles on Aug 10, 2015 2:27:10 GMT
He had some ankle ligament damage as a hangover from the Porto match and was a doubt coming into this weekend. Not major damage though, I don't think.
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Post by knowles on Aug 9, 2015 23:45:13 GMT
Played well in two positions, although his distribution wasn't as good at left back- I think he forgot he was so close to the touchline and kept kicking it out!
He really is a magnificent player though and to have got him for four more years is fantastic news.
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Post by knowles on Aug 9, 2015 17:12:25 GMT
I agree with you liamo, but thought he did well first half. I wonder how much damage that injury right on half time did to him. Very quiet second half.
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Post by knowles on Aug 9, 2015 17:08:26 GMT
Here are mine:
Butland - 7 Johnson - 7 Cameron - 8 Muniesa - 7 Pieters - 6 Whelan - 7 Van Ginkel - 7 Adam - 5 Afellay - 7 Walters - 6 Diouf - 6 Wollscheid - 7
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 8:40:55 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 8:34:24 GMT
I have no idea lastoftheldk...that info will have to wait for another day. Took me about 3 hours to research this!!
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 7:09:15 GMT
If we go for someone, we need an experienced leader in the heart of our defence. Who is available that offers that though? You're not going to get anyone on the cheap who, in all likelihood, would only be a regular for three months or so. It's a tough one, but I think we do need to add. Muniesa's hamstring troubles concern me and then we're left with a flaky looking pairing who are littered with regular errors. Perhaps we can nab someone on loan?
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 5:47:47 GMT
It would make you a bit worried ahead of the season as a West Ham fan, wouldn't it?
A run in Europe could have really impacted on their league season, although I still think they'll have a bit of trouble this campaign.
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 5:40:14 GMT
Can't beat Martin Tyler, for me. Sadly Trevor Francis does about 90% of Stoke's home matches for us foreigners and it can be painful...
About the only thing positive he's said about us since coming up is that James Beattie is excellent at penalties!
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 5:36:47 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 4:33:58 GMT
And a bit more: 12th Minute Applause. I think the ground will be on their feet on Sunday. So touching that it has taken off as it has.
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Post by knowles on Aug 7, 2015 2:20:00 GMT
Four Stokies, including JoeinOz, look ahead to Sunday's match here. I think Hughes will play Butland, Johnson, Wilson, Muniesa, Pieters, Whelan, van Ginkel, Adam, Walters, Arnautovic, Diouf.
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 23:29:18 GMT
Knowles, Where on earth do you find the time to put together such amazing stats packages? Is there anything you don't know about Stoke City? I think we should have a feature, here on the Oatie, called Challenge Knowles. Really impressive stuff, congratulations on being Encyclopedia Britannia. Ha! Challenge away! It may surprise you that all the knowledge found on my site isn't totally from memory! That said, my knowledge ain't bad.
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 6:52:56 GMT
I think Diouf winning it depends on his start to the season, elystokie. If he doesn't score for a few games Joselu will take his place. Bojan is 4/1 this time around.
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 6:11:51 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 3:18:57 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 0:40:29 GMT
A great read as always chiefdelilah. It's funny you mention him berating the linesman. He did the same against the Singapore Select XI after he had kept a lad onside. Wouldn't shut up as they went off at half-time and one of the Stoke lads had to put an arm around him and tell him to get an orange segment down his gullet.
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 0:11:30 GMT
good article I enjoy keeping tabs on our ex players Me too. Keep checking my site- I'm going to be having weekly features on former Stokies!
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Post by knowles on Aug 6, 2015 0:09:56 GMT
What about an article about upcoming achievements that are possible this coming season. Did Crouch score his 100th PL header? I forget. Four more needed to reach 100 goals in the Premier League. 47 are headers, as pointed out by Pretty Little Boother. I can't see him getting all that much game time this season, but hopefully enough to hit the back of the net four times.
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Post by knowles on Aug 5, 2015 7:54:20 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 5, 2015 6:25:17 GMT
JoeinOz asked me to investigate something yesterday- the ratio of goals scored with a player's weaker foot. So, I have analysed Stoke's goals from the last two years and come up with this article. If you like stats and analysis, you'll probably love this!
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Post by knowles on Aug 5, 2015 5:15:17 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 4, 2015 2:02:42 GMT
I know...I love writing things like this! Pointless stats and records excited me. OK I have got a job for you. Please find out which players (not just Stoke) have the best variation in how they score. i.e left foot right foot or head. Inside outside the box etc. I'll do it for Stoke...challenge accepted. Give me a few days...
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Post by knowles on Aug 4, 2015 1:47:58 GMT
What a strangely compelling little article! I know...I love writing things like this! Pointless stats and records excited me.
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Post by knowles on Aug 4, 2015 0:20:27 GMT
Superb stuff, where do you find the time? From this, it is extremely difficult to establish what Hughes sees as his first eleven to kick off against Liverpool and the question is raised as to whether that first eleven have actually had any time on the pitch together. So do we go into the new season with a team that has had no opportunity to work on tactics, positions, set plays, etc. in a true game environment? I'd have thought, at least one of the Cologne games would have seen the starting eleven together but it certainly doesn't look that way, unless we are in for a real surprise come Sunday. And based on performances in Cologne, not a pleasant surprise. I'm a saddo...!! Like you, I'm surprised we haven't played our strongest XI at any point, but I suppose it keeps the opposition guessing. We would have been even more worried if we played our starting side and played with the same lethargy in Germany (which given the performances on both days would probably have happened). Do you think Hughes knows his starting side? I wonder how many question marks he has at the moment. I'd say centre back, central midfield and winger have questions and I'd be concerned about playing Johnson at right back, but I think he will start there.
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Post by knowles on Aug 4, 2015 0:14:57 GMT
Cheers, Knowlsey. You perhaps ought to put an asterisk (*) against the names of those players who started pre season late because of international commitments over the summer. The late start for some players skews the stats quite a lot. But, a good piece of work, give yourself a pat on the back. Cheers John. How many players were really held back due to international commitments though? They all played at least one game in Singapore, with the exception of Butland (who might not have played anyway). On to the main stuff now! Can't wait
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Post by knowles on Aug 3, 2015 7:01:38 GMT
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Post by knowles on Aug 3, 2015 5:41:16 GMT
You're right- there were some positives.I'm particularly impressed with Haugaard, but the fact you can only play one keeper and we're blessed with Jack Butland makes it difficult to get overly excited right now! That said, an injury to Butland and we're in safe hands with Given and Haugaard. For the potential starters- Bojan's hour was encouraging and Odemwingie looked lively in both matches (despite his failure to look along the defensive line...) I'm pleased Shenton, Moseley and Moha all played and none of them disgraced themselves, either. Hopefully we saved our attacking impetus for the real deal because we had none of it over the weekend.
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