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Post by SneydGreenStokie on Mar 2, 2008 16:53:04 GMT
Now I have had the chance to calm down, my thoughts on today's match have changed a little. I as much as most probably was particularly aggrevied adter watching us lose heavily today. However, there are some positives:
The referee was quite obviously at fault today and this culminated in his outrageous red card to Griffin which locked a door that was already shut. Top that with Agymang's involvement in the 3rd goal - clearly offside - and our bad luck in hitting the bar, before all this happened, meant that yet again, for the 2nd time in 5 days, lady luck was clearly not shining on us.
This makes the league super tight. WBA are now only 4 points behind us, with 2 games in hand. Watford play their game in hand on tuesday at home to norwich. A game they should win. Bristol have the chance to go 5 points clear of us if they win at charlton. We could do with a favour off charlton I feel. So, if the worst comes to the worst, we could be 3rd on Saturday, 5 points behind Bristol, and 2 behind watford, with WBA only 1 point behind us, with a game in hand.
However, I dont believe this is a time to panic. It seems like we are having our 'wobble'. Watford have had one and WBA have had one. Bristol, have yet to have one. We have had very bad luck over the last 2 games, particularly wih referees, and Im sure we cant possibly continue to have worse luck than we have recently experienced. We have to play watford away and bristol at home, games that are massive to the club but also games where we can turn the screw a little and put the pressure back on those teams.
A plus point by potentially dropping down to 3rd is that the media will stop looking at us again. Ever since we have had the spotlight i.e. pulis manager of the month, Lawrence in the press etc, we have had nothing put bad luck and maybe the pressure of being in the top 2 is getting to the lads a little. However, I 100% believe we are capable of getting back on track. Other teams around us will also start to feel the pressure a little and hopefully, we have now had our little wobble and can get back on track with 3 points against burnley on saturday, another tricky game. We have 10 cup finals now and we must show our mettle for these games. In terms of the players performance today:
Simmo - 5 - Poor for the first goal, should not be getting beaten from that distance
Griff - 6 - Prior to the disgraceful decision to send him off, looked steady and calm. It may get rescinded but that didnt help us today at all.
Cort - 6 - did ok, particularly 2nd half under pressure. Bad defending for their 2nd goal
Shawcross - 5 - poor. looked jaded and where was he following up on liegertwood for their 2nd goal?
Pugh - 4 - Poor throughout. Out of position regulalry, and gave the ball away too much. Dicko would have been a better bet for this game.
Lawrence - 5- pressure seems to be getting to lenny. He didnt really get involved. Great delivery for the chance that hit the bar. I still wouldnt have taken him off though
Diao - 4 - off the pace and was overrun by their midfielders
Whelan - A bright point for us. Was good 2nd half and had a couple of good efforts. Never stopped trying. Well miss him against burnley and norwich.
Cresswell - 5 - Tried hard but got nowhere
Sidibe - 4 - ineffective and rightly taken off. We need another striker urgently
Fuller - 7 - Ran himself ragged and showed great effort and commitment in the 2nd half. Unlucky at the end of the 1st half that hit the post. Hes not having much luck but hopefully he will have a scoring streak soon to see us over the line. I felt for him today and he ran his bollox off.
Subs:
Wilko - 4 - looked a little out of his depth. Is he struggling for fitness after his injury?
Buxton - 6 - Defended well when he came on. He shouldnt be near the 1st team though.
Gally - 6 - Showed some nice touches. I think we need to see him start a few games and he could have a real impact.
Finally, I dont know if its been posted but where was Riggott? If hes not fit, then why the fuck have we signed him with only 10 games left??
Come on Stoke, lets not throw away 36 games of hard work and toil. We CAN get back on track. We just need a break and I feel we can do it. 7 wins out of the next 10 will see us home. Home form is crucial and I feel we cannot afford to lose another game.
SGS
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Post by mamathestriker on Mar 2, 2008 16:55:29 GMT
Very good post SGS.
We've been built on beating adversity this season so I feel confident we'll hit back.
Go on Stoke!
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Post by Caerwrangonpotter on Mar 2, 2008 16:58:55 GMT
It wouldnt be Stoke without taking it to the limit! I think that the FA Cup run will & catch up will make it hard for Brazil. Bristol City seem to have more tougher games than us, but classic Stoke will no doubt make the easiest games seem like Chinese arithmatic. 2nd place will do nicely....
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Post by onlyonesirstan on Mar 2, 2008 16:59:53 GMT
SGS. A very good post mate, and it's nice to see positive and sensible comments, which mama has also posted in previous posts. We will be back, and that I personally believe will happen.
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Post by SneydGreenStokie on Mar 2, 2008 17:10:10 GMT
We just need to calm down and get our heads back on and I think we will be ok. It is technically still in oour hands as we have to play both watford and bristol. I can see it going all the way to the last game of the season before ANY teams are promoted.
SGS
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Post by interestedobserver on Mar 2, 2008 17:43:17 GMT
There's no question that this one hurt Stoke's promotion chances. But it's not terrible. I have a simulator which calculates promotion odds. Going into today the Potters appeared to have a 70% chance of promotion, The loss today dropped them to about 50% (which isn't terrible). If you are interested, you can see the calculations here: chancebot.com/elc/ |
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Post by SneydGreenStokie on Mar 2, 2008 17:52:07 GMT
Does it show WBA as having 0% chance of going up ???
SGS
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Post by interestedobserver on Mar 2, 2008 17:54:20 GMT
Not yet
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