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Post by Admin on Feb 15, 2004 21:02:08 GMT
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Post by SuperStokie on Feb 15, 2004 21:09:58 GMT
Bloody hell Smudge, i'm just about to go watch a DVD and you put the match report up!  Jon  |
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Post by wanchaiwarrior on Feb 16, 2004 6:46:58 GMT
So it appears clear from reports of Saturday’s game at Palace (one for the neutral to enjoy maybe, but not if you were there as a Stokie I bet!) that rumours of Paul Williams’ resurrection as a First Division quality centre half were premature.  The difference a commanding figure at the back makes to a team cannot be overestimated. Look at all great teams, and even the best Stoke teams over the years (Franklin – 40/50s, Smith – 70s, Overson – 90s, Shtaniuk – 2000s), and there has always been a dominant rock solid figure at the back, someone all the others take the lead from and who organises the rest of the defence (Shtanner wasn’t the latter really, but Crossley did the organising job whilst at the club to perfection). Gerry Taggart was becoming that man again for us until he went back to Leicester. We need to get Gerry back, or someone of his ilk, and fast if the season is not going to just fade away into “what might have beens”. Now I’m not one to get carried away with all this talk of the play-offs as all teams have good and bad spells throughout a season and maybe we are due a bad one. Equally Saturday could just have been a one off result. If we can continue our decent form, and maybe sneak into a top ten finish, then it will set down a marker for next season, so we can look to attract players to a club which should be in with a realistic tilt at the promotion places next season. Squad players from the Premiership (surely our best transfer targets) are much more likely to drop down to Division One to sign for a promotion chasing club than a relegation haunted outfit, where they could find themselves in Division Two before too long rather than heading back up to the top league. One or two decent loan or permanent signings by Tone now could well give us the fillip we need to set off on another winning sequence and set us in good stead to “push on” (© Tony Pulis) next season. |
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Post by TheWiseMaster on Feb 16, 2004 9:44:20 GMT
Excellent report as ever - got to be one of the best after match reports on Rivals.
However can I make one or two points. I think you are being a little kind to our midfield - where were they when the critical fourth goal was scored - had we defended further up the field maybe our defence wouldn't have ben so stretched?
I wonder if Palace targeted the left side to get at Williams - why with Clerke and Hall to get past were we so vulnerable?
Halls went awol towards the end when Gray could and should have scored two or three times
Also the service to Ade was poor - he was constantly pointing to the floor for a through ball which rarely came. Twice Halls moved forward - ignored Ade and tried to hit the corner flag instead.
You have one booking for Palace - I made it two including Leigterwood's cynical hack at Commons only two minutes after coming on
One question
Why don't you show the opposition line-up?
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Post by rabson on Feb 16, 2004 10:27:34 GMT
I thought Halls did pretty well on Saturday and he was up against just a fair player in Michael Gray.
He was caught out once or twice towards the end but I felt that was because he was trying to get forward more.
Before the game when our lot were giving Styles a load of stick when he was warming up I thought we might get "pay back" from him when the game started. These refs are human or almost human any way and it would be unreal if the stuff we give Styles did not have some effect.
However at the end of the day I did not think him worse than others we have had this season and although I could not be sure about the first penalty he gave against us I think there is a fair chance he got it right.
Our problem was the defence was totally crap and operated like headless chickens. The first goal was a disgrace and that was where the rot started.
I give palace credit but we made the job easy for them.
Don't agree with you about Svard I thought he had a poor game first half but he became a lot better when he moved into the middle when Eustace went off.
Am hoping we can get a centre half "organiser" this week or we could be going backwards when things were looking so good.
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Post by cockneypotter on Feb 16, 2004 13:19:27 GMT
Smudge you are being too harsh. The ref gifted it to a good palace side. the home fans got the shock of their lives when we were straight back at em after the first goal. When do you see a Stoke side doing that? Brilliant. Even at 2-1 we were doing well. But you can't keep losing penalties when the ref is a total wassack. Even the 4th goal our defenders were petrified to make contact. It would have been a totally different game without the pennos, especially the 2nd. We may have lost 3-2 or 3-1 but that may have better reflected Palace's superiority. How can you have a standing ovation after letting in 6? Styles totally lost it. He ruined it and I for one don't blame the players for getting unstuck. Give the players a break.
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Feb 16, 2004 13:30:02 GMT
Its funny how dirrent people interpret a report. I didn't read Smudge's report the way cockney did. I read it as a sympathetic report as far as Stoke were concerned - certainly nothing in there to warrant asking Smudge to "give the players a break".
As far as the players' markings are concerned, Smudge has to call it as he sees it. He can only mark on the performances he saw - not on the performances he thinks he MIGHT have seen with a different ref in charge.
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Post by cockneypotter on Feb 16, 2004 13:44:17 GMT
Fornside. thanks for the comments. all very valid. i just think there are always plenty of opportunities for us to say "weren't we REALLY pants today" but actually it was a mad out-of-body game and a one off. i'm still so livid about styles that i haven't even got there about performance, although john halls is fast making it into my top 11 lifetime stokies.
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Feb 16, 2004 14:05:10 GMT
Well, my lifetime experience goes back to watching Greenhoff, Smith, Huddy and even Matthews (second time around)so I won't elevate anyone of this side to that status yet. However, of the current crop of players, Eustace and Halls have it in them to join the Stoke immortals if they continue to progress at the rate they have this season.  |
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youthster
Academy Starlet
You gotta stay positive
Posts: 135
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Post by youthster on Feb 17, 2004 13:16:43 GMT
got to agree about halls! i also can go back to the late 60's and it's early days for him with us, but this youth looks class
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Post by scousemasterflash on Feb 17, 2004 16:53:14 GMT
Forget about Taggart, he wouldn't take the pay cut, greedy fat bastard that he is.
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Post by gordonblanks on Feb 17, 2004 17:47:40 GMT
Forget about Taggart, he wouldn't take the pay cut, greedy fat bastard that he is. That's unfair! Just look at it this way. You go to work and say you earn £300 a week then you're boss says 'we don't need you at the moment and tells you to go work for someone else for the same wages'. Turns out this other firm would like to set you on........but they are onlyoffering £100 a week. Honestly what would you do? |
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Post by Davef on Feb 17, 2004 18:14:41 GMT
Yeah, thanks for clearing that up for us scousemf.  |
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