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Post by Pricey on Dec 23, 2023 17:12:04 GMT
Further to the above, I actually think Leris has less talent than pretty much any player in the squad. Guy can just run but he's not a footballer at any sort of decent level.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 23, 2023 17:07:47 GMT
Both were better in the second half but neither look physical enough for the league. Vidigal actually looks a bit scared of players hitting him. Mmaee I think we persist with for a bit longer, mainly because I think he's a better player, but in the long term he probably isn't the answer.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 19, 2023 20:06:46 GMT
Shueys at the wheel at the wheel Shueys at the wheel! Drop your own suggestions Isn’t this the Liverpool fans taking the piss during a game where they ripped Man Utd to shreds?
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Post by Pricey on Dec 17, 2023 23:51:28 GMT
We played Sunderland, lost to them and went for Neil. We played Plymouth the other week, lost to them and now might be going for Schumacher. As a recruitment strategy it’s: a) basic, and b) ridiculous Did we not have anyone in mind before sacking Neil? Are we that shambolic? I mean yes, obviously, but you’d like to think there’s at least some method to the madness. Apparently not. To be fair Pricey, Neil had been on our radar for some time. Shame the Brighton game wasn't today I actually think Neil was an appointment advised by Pulis but I’m basing that mainly on one comment Pulis made on a podcast: “if they stick with Alex, they’ll be OK”. Plus Neil’s complete lack of modern tactics and his unnecessarily awkward personality.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 17, 2023 23:20:34 GMT
We played Sunderland, lost to them and went for Neil.
We played Plymouth the other week, lost to them and now might be going for Schumacher.
As a recruitment strategy it’s: a) basic, and b) ridiculous
Did we not have anyone in mind before sacking Neil? Are we that shambolic? I mean yes, obviously, but you’d like to think there’s at least some method to the madness. Apparently not.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 15, 2023 11:12:51 GMT
Prepare to get what you want. I’m telling you: bloke will bring back the good times. you mean we will end up in league one and might actually compete for something again! Top half finish I say. Promotion challenge 24/25. Promotion 25/26.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 15, 2023 11:09:17 GMT
I’m pro-Eustace, even though we’re a shambles as a club at this level. If it is him I don’t think he’ll let us down and based on what I’ve seen of him as a manager I think it’d feel like a breath of fresh air vs what’s come before. He represents a good balance between the personalities of our successful managers and is like a not batshit mental Nathan Jones. In Eustace I trust. its just another plodding British manager who will achieve the square root of sod all i really really want to be wrong though! Prepare to get what you want. I’m telling you: bloke will bring back the good times.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 15, 2023 11:03:20 GMT
I’m pro-Eustace, even though we’re a shambles as a club at this level. If it is him I don’t think he’ll let us down and based on what I’ve seen of him as a manager I think it’d feel like a breath of fresh air vs what’s come before. He represents a good balance between the personalities of our successful managers and is like a not batshit mental Nathan Jones.
In Eustace I trust.
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Post by Pricey on Dec 9, 2023 15:43:15 GMT
Dire.
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Post by Pricey on Nov 24, 2023 19:33:59 GMT
Choupo playing off Kane tonight. Great to see.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 19, 2023 2:36:35 GMT
This could be bollocks but it feels like he’s been a victim of his own success almost. Having Millwall solidly top half and in serious playoff contention may turn out to be significant overachievement vs what comes next and their owners could have delusions of grandeur. Although if they are going for Eustace he looks the better bet quality-of-football-wise and should at least keep them in mid-table.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 20:28:17 GMT
Was voted best young player in the league and best right back in the league by the players League Two is a million miles off the championship. It certainly isn’t that easy to spot a player who can step up. Credit to who ever kept banging his drum. Strength and athleticism in spades just needs some refinement. £1.2M and the rest, dare say you could take a major profit already. Just get that heart rate and adrenaline down for the final ball like a sniper’s shot. Maybe the Colchester forwards could handle his final ball and now he’s a bit confused?
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 20:20:11 GMT
He's no Gavin Ward that's a certain fact. That's who we've had a bad run with! To be fair to Mr Eltringham thought he had quite a good game today. Wasn't hard after Tuesdays debacle but to be fair no complaints at all with Mr Eltringhams performance today, credit where credits due.. He was good! Junior would’ve been sent off in the first half if it was Tuesday’s ref.
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Alex Neil
Oct 7, 2023 20:12:35 GMT
via mobile
mr likes this
Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 20:12:35 GMT
Last year was atrocious but they didn’t sack him at the end of the season so they’ve got to give him time now. Did you also say that about MON last August?
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 19:12:54 GMT
Just doesn't make sense. Was like he accepted the result. Leicester weren't threatening and why not take a risk! Who settles for a loss with attackers on the bench? He cut the figure of a manager who had either given up, or was trying to prove some sort of fucked up point. The trying to prove some sort of fucked up point is all I have for having Vidigal on the bench but not bringing him on. He was taking the piss out of the club there as far as I’m concerned.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 19:00:53 GMT
Agree.
But I was most frustrated when Johnson pissed about with the ball instead of giving it to Bae shortly before they got their second. I’m not sure how most of our midfield have had success in this league; they must have been carried by better teammates.
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Alex Neil
Oct 7, 2023 18:56:53 GMT
via mobile
Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 18:56:53 GMT
The players we have are now Neil players, for good or bad. Changing managers at this point means the new manager inherits them with little chance of changing them. The annoying point about football management is that they nearly all have failed somewhere so any replacement would be a failed manager. We have to see this out a little longer, probably to the next transfer window and then see where we are. Anyway as fans we have little or no say, only results will cause a change or not! So going for a decent young manager who has had success with one club is out of the window after Jones is it? FFS.
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Alex Neil
Oct 7, 2023 18:54:35 GMT
via mobile
Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 18:54:35 GMT
It's ironic really that AN talks as if he was the Pep Gaurdiola of the championship and yet is the least tactical manager, in the championship. Yes , he keeps endlessly chopping and changing everything. But that is not a tactic. That's the result of being indecisive. Do you see Stoke marking touch tight at set pieces for instance? No Do you see Stoke getting into 2 banks of four , with the midfield dropping deep when we lose the ball? No Do we watch Stoke attacks ,saying things like...we have got an over load down our right side again ? Or that was clever how they worked that the 3rd man run ? I didn't see that coming. No . If you ignore a catalogue of major weaknesses, like not knowing what he should be doing when their winger has him one v one ! Then I will grant you, Hoever loves a 3 rd man run , but that's seems to be because he personally , just does his own thing for 90 mins ( for good or for bad ! ) rather than a team tactic. The idea that AN is tactical for me is myth . He talks endlessly about tactics, but come match day we actually don't have a co ordinated plan to block the opposition's route to goal ( eg two banks of four) or create opportunities for ourselves , be it overloads , 3 rd man runs or anything else . We did the two banks of four today and it was relatively effective as long as Leicester didn’t move the ball quickly. He also maintained it until the end of the game, even at 2-0 down! Was almost like Pulis has been brought in as a defensive adviser.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 18:32:37 GMT
Only 11 games into the season and yet again it looks like it’s a write off. The predicament we are is down to the manager. Yes we’ve been unfortunate with injuries, but you have to build a squad to cope with them. If we’d done it correctly then we’d have 2 players for every position & not be forced into playing 2 midfielders in defence. It was obvious to all of us that we were a CB short. It was clear to us all that depending on a 33 year old at left back, who’s been plagued with injury in past seasons as our only natural LB was a big risk. I hear and see people saying once the injuries clear up then things will pick up, but I’m far from convinced. The games this season when he’s had more options available, we’ve had to witness the 532 abomination on numerous occasions. Or 433 where our tactic seems to be a long ball to Wesley and hope something drops. Today he’s had 9 midfielders & attackers in the squad that he signed & yet that was the best that we could muster. We looked beaten after the first minute. It was negative and we looked scared to give it a go. Where were the patterns of play that you should be able to see from work on the training ground? I’m just seeing nothing to be positive about that shows me this manager is tactically adept and able to build a cohesive attacking team. It’s not just today (it was always going to be tough), just don’t see any kind of identity. We’ve averaged approximately 2 shots on target per game this season, just shows that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the set up. Over a year he’s been in charge, this is his squad that he’s built and we have had to watch nearly 50% of the games result in defeat. This is his squad he’s built, his squad he’s conditioning, his squad he sets up tactically & it’s failing miserably. The pressure has to be seriously on him now as we can’t afford to continue like this for much longer. Defeat to Sunderland and I can’t see how he will survive. Yeah, spot on. I always notice the shots on target numbers because they’ve been stubbornly low for a long time. Neil knows that, it’s been a long-term problem and he’s done fuck all about it; the same applies to most aspects of our play. He had his time and it was when he got Norwich promoted. Bloke’s dead wood, like Hughes and Lambert.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 17:29:38 GMT
If he did get sacked in the next few weeks we would be the laughing stock of football. Unlike now, where we’re widely lauded as fucking fantastic.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 16:01:16 GMT
Looking too good for us atm. Some epic energy and one-on-one defending. Even got a reducer in. Next stop Everton.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 15:51:54 GMT
He’s going to have to go I think.
Still playing a low block and no subs at 85 minutes.
Pearson and Johnson are crap and they are his players; the ones he trusts.
Not good enough.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 7, 2023 14:02:19 GMT
When Souttar went along the line he was like "who the fuck are this lot?"
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Post by Pricey on Oct 5, 2023 12:24:02 GMT
We’ve only had one season since promotion in 07/08 where we won more games than we lost (14/15). That’s the definition of more downs than ups isn’t it? Bloody hell.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 5, 2023 12:12:49 GMT
I could maybe see some merit to this argument if we had been vaguely decent at any time since relegation. This last 5 years of bottom half finishes way below pre-season expectations has been far worse than any time in the premiership other than the relegation season. I would genuinely rather be a top 6 championship side than a bottom 6 premier league team. Unfortunately the clowns that own us can't even deliver that. We only finished in the bottom 6 of the Premier League once or twice didn’t we?
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Post by Pricey on Oct 5, 2023 11:26:32 GMT
Until Tuesday night I hadn't been to a match for about 5 years. I've been in Cornwall for 17, saw bits of the early Prem years and maybe only went to two games under Hughes; just steadily lost interest really and generally only look at results and follow games via the BBC website now, as well as popping on here a few times a week. Anyway...I really enjoyed Tuesday because of the novelty - thought we were shite - but there was a definite feeling of both players and fans going through the motions to some extent. How many are just turning up out of habit now? Football is meant to be entertainment and escapism but for Stoke fans it seems as grim as the prevailing socioeconomic and political situation at the moment. I'm amazed the crowds are still as high so fair play to everyone for still going; although by the looks of this thread even a decent percentage of season ticket holders aren't going to every game and if they're automatically included in the attendance figures maybe the true numbers are a few thousand down? Hope you're well Pricey old lad. Looked out for you at End of the Road this year Oi oi. Only went that one year (2019); was actually the last festival I went to! Thought the 2023 lineup looked a bit crap but I’m sure there was always at least something worth watching at all times.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 5, 2023 11:03:14 GMT
Until Tuesday night I hadn't been to a match for about 5 years. I've been in Cornwall for 17, saw bits of the early Prem years and maybe only went to two games under Hughes; just steadily lost interest really and generally only look at results and follow games via the BBC website now, as well as popping on here a few times a week.
Anyway...I really enjoyed Tuesday because of the novelty - thought we were shite - but there was a definite feeling of both players and fans going through the motions to some extent. How many are just turning up out of habit now? Football is meant to be entertainment and escapism but for Stoke fans it seems as grim as the prevailing socioeconomic and political situation at the moment. I'm amazed the crowds are still as high so fair play to everyone for still going; although by the looks of this thread even a decent percentage of season ticket holders aren't going to every game and if they're automatically included in the attendance figures maybe the true numbers are a few thousand down?
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Post by Pricey on Oct 5, 2023 9:10:25 GMT
As others have said diamond formation was so pointless . Why!? A) It’s another change of formation for another game. B) it didn’t work as they had so much space on the wings. Was wondering why Leris wasn’t tracking back and it’s because he was playing up front. He’s over complicating things clearly as we ain’t winning. Grrrr. People are so happy with a bit of fight without consideration of all of the stated aspects in this thread, it's mind boggling. It really wasn't much better than previous weeks, it was slightly better with the same randomness, poor selection/formation and tactics. I don't see how that isn't perceived by some? Also why are people on Twitter telling Laurent he had a "good game"??? What the actual shizzle? Laurent and Johnson gave each other a “well-played mate” high five and hug at the end. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Dreck.
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Post by Pricey on Oct 4, 2023 19:47:50 GMT
5. The formation we went with meant there was such an easy route for them to get the ball forward. They would in one of two ways find the hole where our winger would be and end up with stacks of time. Our attacking option was to go long but we rarely won decent ball and very rarely got in and around the second ball. We didn’t really create a clear cut chance and with all the changes of personnel he didn’t think about switching it up. It’s very unambitious considering we were losing. There was fight which was good to see. Spot on. I actually think we were quite lucky Southampton didn’t have a decent striker on the pitch; that diamond midfield was awful. Re: the last point it felt like fight with an almost total absence of decent tactics or quality. So errrrrr...not good. Need a couple of the injured attacking players back ASAP to provide more goal threat and the midfield looks pretty dire, especially if Burger and Bae don’t get going very soon.
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Wesley
Oct 3, 2023 22:41:35 GMT
via mobile
Post by Pricey on Oct 3, 2023 22:41:35 GMT
Decided he looked like a shit Lukaku tonight. And Lukaku is now shit so that’s not even a backhanded compliment. Can’t run, can’t jump, can’t control it properly and too big. Prefer Lowe even though he’s very raw and probably not good enough either.
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