Just back - my thoughts

[DansViews]

On the whole we didnt play too bad, first 25 minutes i thought that we played with no passion, didnt seem interested at all.

When the two goals went in, we seemed to have woke up a bit and started getting a load of chances, i thought we would have put a few away, but it wasnt to be. The commitment of most the team was good enough, only a few (Fuller, Creswell) IMO didnt bother.

One thing that does really piss me off though, is that fuller is a lazy bastard, He is one of our best players and he bags some good goals for us, but when he loses the ball he doesnt try to win it back, also when in an offside position he doesnt attempt to get onside. I love fuller to bits, but just wish he would be a bit more active OFF the ball.

Simmo - 6 - Didnt have much to do after the two goals (which he could do nothing about).

Griffin - 6 - Steady game, made some good runs and won a few tackles.

Shawcross - 5 - Didnt think he had a good game tonight, at fault for a goal. Missed a sitter.

Cort - 6 - Won ALOT of headers and was unlucky to get injured, played well until then.

Pugh - 4 - Didnt exist in this game, was possibly a bit overwhelmed by the boos he got. Also i noticed that there was alot of space on his side of defence and much like hoefkens got caught out.

Lawrence - 6 - Not his best game for us, but still got about and did alot of work. Fair play.

Whelan - 6.5 - Worked well in midfield but the lack of movement upfront stopped him from playing through balls.

Delap - 5 - Throws were off target tonight, and seemed a bit quiet, put in 1 or 2 good tackles.

Creswell - 5 - Another quiet game for cresswell, dont think he did well at all.

Sidibie - 6 - Did well in parts but didnt win that many headers. Should have scored.

Fuller - 5 - Had a few good chances but couldnt find the net, Threw a massive tantrum when he was fouled in the box and didnt move for a good two minutes because he was too busy throwing himself to the ground in a temper.

The Ref - 2 - Absolute disgrace and should never have been allowed to ref this game. Card happy, gave in to the preston crowd and was VERY unlucky not to get decked by a fan because of his stopping the play when their player was "Injured". He was a **** of the highest order.

Preston Crowd - 4 - Very quiet a few songs and we outsung them most of the night.

[Mama Zeus Sidibe]

Didnt think cort played that well myself. And cresswell was a 4 max. Would also give delap a 6. He did exactly the right thing in squaring to to LL, the rest is history.

Ref's rating is a bit high aswel

[1stdoublechampions]

boothenendbrit said:

The Ref - 2 - Absolute disgrace and should never have been allowed to ref this game. Card happy, gave in to the preston crowd and was VERY unlucky not to get decked by a fan because of his stopping the play when their player was "Injured". He was a **** of the highest order.

Preston Crowd - 4 - Very quiet a few songs and we outsung them most of the night.

.....................................
I always like to address the balance, because that is what is available to us in this democracy of ours.

I'd like everyone to read the two above paragraphs from the above poster and try and spot the flaw in the argument!

I'll help you out!

"Preston crowd 4 - very quiet"
"The ref - 2 - gave in to the Preston crowd"

So how did we do that then? Telepathically?

Right, down to business...

A fairly even game, between two sides that looked on a par with each other, in many areas of the pitch.

There was one major difference - Ricardo Fuller, every time he gets the ball the crowd expect him to do something different and on another day he could have had a hat-trick and he was foiled by some excellent one-on-one goalkeeping, from a goalkeeper that is renowned for making those types of saves. It is true what boothenendbrit says in that Fuller does throw a paddy and I was waiting for Pullis to bring him a bottle of hot milk to calm him down!

I felt Shawcross was commanding at the back for Stoke and marshalled your defence very well and kept our chances down to a premium.

The Stoke players who were surprisingly quiet, were Cresswell and Pugh and maybe part of their heart still remains at Deepdale? It just surprised me that two ex-players didn't want to put one over on their ex-club, especially considering that they received a bit of flak.

I always got the impression that if Stoke were to score, it would most likely result from something that Fuller did and if you take him out of your team, then the dimensions becomes limited.

I personally hope Stoke do make it to the Premiership, although from what I have seen WBA look to have a completeness that will see them go up as Champions and who to join them? Anyone's guess!

So that's WBA we have chalked off, Watford we have chalked off and now Stoke and yet noone gave us a chance - obviously people forget that the large bulk of our squad were in your position last season and slight differences can change a teams fortunes.

If Stoke stay level headed and stop the talk of 'who is going up with us then', you just might achieve all your dreams.

[Admin]

Sidibe gets a higher mark than Fuller? Are you sure?

Fuller missed three one-on-ones but he created them all for himself, whereas Mamma squandered three great chances laid on a plate for him.

[TheWiseMaster]

Well Fuller was given an assist with at least one goal chance from Whelan?

[r10ryx]

we need sinclair from chelsea now

[fishty]

I thought Shawcross had his worst game in a Stoke shirt tonight. He was beaten in the air far too often, and his distribution was by and large well below the high standards he has set himself.

My biggest worry from tonight was the lack of leadership. There was nobody really trying to verbally rally the players around them, clapping hands etc etc. It may be a panickety point, but I think you always need somebody who is going to bark out some encouragement, and issue a good bollocking if needs be. We don't really have anyone in the side (post-Eustace) that will do this. We should be looking to Griff and Rory to do this, but neither seem particularly verbal. Maybe Cort's injury will allow us to bring in a verbal center back (anyone know what Granqvist is like in this regard?)

[TheWiseMaster]

He's noisy but he can't speak English!