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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 17:20:10 GMT
Wow what a difference. Was certainly no perfect performance, but we looked like an completely different team than in past weeks. Why? Because Hughes looked at the opposition, looked at how we've been playing, and picked a team and a system to win today's match. Unfortunately we couldn't get all 3 points, but I thought there were a hell of a lot of positives to take from the game. One of the biggest is the confirmation that when he needs to, Hughes knows how to get results. When we dropped into the bottom 3 in his first season, he brought in Charlie and Crouch and went direct. The start of the season, when we couldn't buy a win, he brought back Charlie and Whelan in the cage. And now after 3 thumpings, he brings back Charlie and the cage and goes direct to Crouchy. And it worked! I think for me, what it makes me think, is what if Hughes had been less passive this season, and picked the team and system to get results, not just to look pretty. Perhaps had he made the correct changes, especially over Christmas, we'd have got to a cup final and Europe may have been a very real possibility. However, it is a season of what ifs, but today does offer some hope that Hughes may well be learning from his mistakes I just wish he wouldn't wait til we are in dire straights to change the way we play.
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Post by swampySCFC on Apr 30, 2016 17:25:55 GMT
In fairness mate we were playing Sunderland. We can't beat the top sides at the moment and we haven't beaten a bottom side today.
We will be lucky to finish 10th and that is a big disappointment
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Post by crapslinger on Apr 30, 2016 17:27:42 GMT
In fairness mate we were playing Sunderland. We can't beat the top sides at the moment and we haven't beaten a bottom side today. We will be lucky to finish 10th and that is a big disappointment Hughes has spent £40million on transfer fees alone this season, we have gone backwards
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 17:34:29 GMT
He's not versatile within a game.
My 7 year old cousin could have picked crouch and told people to hit it long to him.
It's when we play 60 minutes of ineffective football and something needs to change that he needs to be versatile. He isn't.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 17:36:47 GMT
In fairness mate we were playing Sunderland. We can't beat the top sides at the moment and we haven't beaten a bottom side today. We will be lucky to finish 10th and that is a big disappointment Hughes has spent £40million on transfer fees alone this season, we have gone backwards Completely agree, this season has been a massive disappointment as a result of Hughes' mismanagement over Christmas. He has Pursued with naive tippy tappy shite at times when we were playing awful. My point is, he has showed he can mix it, but he only does it when he has to. If he could change the team in order to beat the specific team we were playing against we could cruising into the top 7
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2016 17:52:22 GMT
Let's be fair, the opening post is misty eyed bullshit, harping back to his hero.
We huffed and puffed and at times hoofed it to a big man against the worst side I've seen down Stoke this season. We were marginally better.
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Post by johnnysoul60 on Apr 30, 2016 18:01:17 GMT
I thought that we were much better today than in recent games , we defended a lot better as a team and Crouch and Adam both made a big difference , When Adam plays well the team seems to have more momentum going forward and Crouch won lots of the ball and laid it off well , sadly as usual we didn't get players around him quickly enough often enough .
I hope that Hughes has realised that slowball doesn't work and will mix it up more , especially at home . Time will tell , still lots to do in terms of work on set plays and finishing though both need a lot of work
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Post by no1972 on Apr 30, 2016 18:21:36 GMT
Showing he does not no when to use a sub or spend large amounts of money,the worse two players on the pitch by a country mile cost us 30 million +agents fees + signing on fees and they were the two worse players on the pitch from both sides how the manager not put Bojan on I don't know.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 19:19:30 GMT
In fairness, he adapted the centre halves to deal with Defoe's threat.
But at home against such a poor side, it should be them worrying about dealing with our threat, not the other way around.
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Post by ryan4england on Apr 30, 2016 20:34:04 GMT
massive summer ahead, has to get it right in recruitment, get the right type of players in (steel) and imo we could go 3 steps forward but continue to buy good 'footballers' and we'll do the same next season if we're lucky. I think it's a bit harsh to judge Imbula yet until he's had a preseason with the club, I think he'll end up the player he looked in his first game.
if we have a 30 mil budget, some hardware would be good, a solid centre half (defender) like Scott Dann and an Andros Townsend who is direct and can play both sides, what a goal by him today aswell I think we missed a trick there in January, sadly it looks like they might stay up but hopefully they go down so we could get him in summer.
Hughes for me needs to mix it up more often because he seems to be under the impression his preferred setup will come good often enough but we are predictable
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Post by SneydGreenStokie on Apr 30, 2016 20:34:22 GMT
In fairness mate we were playing Sunderland. We can't beat the top sides at the moment and we haven't beaten a bottom side today. We will be lucky to finish 10th and that is a big disappointment Bollocks. We shot ourselves in the foot today and had enough chances to win 3 games. Poor decision making led to the penalty and that was their only threatening attempt on goal. They were dogshit. We need to remind ourselves how fortunate we are instead of moaning our bollocks off SGS
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Post by crapslinger on Apr 30, 2016 20:44:36 GMT
massive summer ahead, has to get it right in recruitment, get the right type of players in (steel) and imo we could go 3 steps forward but continue to buy good 'footballers' and we'll do the same next season if we're luck. I think it's a bit harsh to judge Imbula yet until he's had a preseason with the club, I think he'll end up the player he looked in his first game. if we have a 30 mil budget, some hardware would be good, a solid centre half (defender) like Scott Dann and an Andros Townsend who is direct and can play both sides, what a goal by him today aswell I think we missed a trick there in January, sadly it looks like they might stay up but hopefully they go down so we could get him in summer. Hughes for me needs to mix it up more often because he seems to be under the impression his preferred setup will come good often enough but we are predictable Good post we need some backbone in the team, a proper CB hopefully with Ryan if not we need two, a fast direct winger if Arnie goes two, Joselu out new striker in, decent back up goalkeeper, a combative midfielder to replace Glen, Muniesa out injury prone, Wilson out mistake prone, Tex no point, Shaq not sure he is what we need, Ireland no point, Given out to old, Hagard not good enough yet back up for Johnson injury prone, Odem Finished at this level out deployment of different game plans and decent substitutions, apart from that we are fine
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Post by crapslinger on Apr 30, 2016 20:46:01 GMT
In fairness, he adapted the centre halves to deal with Defoe's threat. But at home against such a poor side, it should be them worrying about dealing with our threat, not the other way around. Which is a sign of how poor we ourselves have become lately.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 21:29:55 GMT
Let's be fair, the opening post is misty eyed bullshit, harping back to his hero. We huffed and puffed and at times hoofed it to a big man against the worst side I've seen down Stoke this season. We were marginally better. I tell you what pugsley, I've made a good, balanced post, yet you still come back with the same old "he loves Pulis" bullshit. You clearly have some utterly moronic agenda against me as well as Pulis. If I was to support Pulis you come back with with the same old shite. My opening post was honest, and actually supported Hughes to an extent. What I said was he has made mistakes, but recognised it by going back to a way in which we can get results, rather than getting dicked on 4-0..whether he can build his own spine remains to be seen, however, he showed that he acknowledges his naïvety over the last 3 games prior to today, and actively changed the personal and the style of play in order to get a result..I love seeing us outplay teams with football (you won't believe that.) like against man city or man Utd...but for me, I want to see us wining or at least giving it everything..and today, as a result of the changes we almost achieved both..but how refreshing was it to see us working hard and putting tackles in? I love Stoke city and want us to do as well as we can and I think think Hughes is not yet close to pushing us to our potential..but if he is more savvy and picks teams to win not look pretty, as he did today, the futures bright.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2016 21:36:42 GMT
Let's be fair, the opening post is misty eyed bullshit, harping back to his hero. We huffed and puffed and at times hoofed it to a big man against the worst side I've seen down Stoke this season. We were marginally better. I tell you what pugsley, I've made a good, balanced post, yet you still come back with the same old "he loves Pulis" bullshit. You clearly have some utterly moronic agenda against me as well as Pulis. If I was to support Pulis you come back with with the same old shite. My opening post was honest, and actually supported Hughes to an extent. What I said was he has made mistakes, but recognised it by going back to a way in which we can get results, rather than getting dicked on 3-0..whether he can build his own spine remains to be seen, however, he showed that he acknowledges his naïvety over the last 3 games prior to today, and actively changed the personal and the style of play in order to get a result..I love seeing us outplay teams with football (you won't believe that.) like against man city or man Utd...but for me, I want to see us wining or at least giving it everything..and today, as a result of the changes we almost achieved both..but how refreshing was it to see us working hard and putting tackles in? I love Stoke city and want us to do as well as we can and I think think Hughes is not yet close to pushing us to our potential..but if he is more savvy and picks teams to win not look pretty, as he did today, the futures bright. I stand by my reply. We reverted to a type of football we used to play and we struggled to put away the worst team to come down the Brit all season. We need to get back to the football that saw us take apart teams like the Shit, Citeh and Liverpool and not start to hoof it again.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 21:41:00 GMT
I tell you what pugsley, I've made a good, balanced post, yet you still come back with the same old "he loves Pulis" bullshit. You clearly have some utterly moronic agenda against me as well as Pulis. If I was to support Pulis you come back with with the same old shite. My opening post was honest, and actually supported Hughes to an extent. What I said was he has made mistakes, but recognised it by going back to a way in which we can get results, rather than getting dicked on 3-0..whether he can build his own spine remains to be seen, however, he showed that he acknowledges his naïvety over the last 3 games prior to today, and actively changed the personal and the style of play in order to get a result..I love seeing us outplay teams with football (you won't believe that.) like against man city or man Utd...but for me, I want to see us wining or at least giving it everything..and today, as a result of the changes we almost achieved both..but how refreshing was it to see us working hard and putting tackles in? I love Stoke city and want us to do as well as we can and I think think Hughes is not yet close to pushing us to our potential..but if he is more savvy and picks teams to win not look pretty, as he did today, the futures bright. I stand by my reply. We reverted to a type of football we used to play and we struggled to put away the worst team to come down the Brit all season. We need to get back to the football that saw us take apart teams like the Shit, Citeh and Liverpool and not start to hoof it again. But we've tried that, and it opens up our defence and emphasises our weaknesses..alongside out injuries we haven't been able to play the free flowing football you crave..therefore why not keep it right and get results rather than winning the possession and losing the game? Hughes needs to learn when to change the system and team..not just when the current formation is exhausted (like the false 9 over Xmas.) but when we need to play a different way in order to beat the team infront of us..I know I'd rather see us playing long ball and win than having more possession but lose..just look at the Atletico vs Barca game..would you rather have 10% Possession and win or have the ball all game and lose?
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Post by chiefdelilah on Apr 30, 2016 21:42:58 GMT
It's all fair enough, it's just a shame that some put dramatically higher expectations on this manager than they ever had for the last one.
And seem to want to give the old manager credit for any success the current one achieves. 'Build his own team' my arse.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2016 21:44:15 GMT
I stand by my reply. We reverted to a type of football we used to play and we struggled to put away the worst team to come down the Brit all season. We need to get back to the football that saw us take apart teams like the Shit, Citeh and Liverpool and not start to hoof it again. But we've tried that, and it opens up our defence and emphasises our weaknesses..alongside out injuries we haven't been able to play the free flowing football you crave..therefore why not keep it right and get results rather than winning the possession and losing the game? Hughes needs to learn when to change the system and team..not just when the current formation is exhausted (like the false 9 over Xmas.) but when we need to play a different way in order to beat the team infront of us..I know I'd rather see us playing long ball and win than having more possession but lose..just look at the Atletico vs Barca game..would you rather have 10% Possession and win or have the ball all game and lose? We didn't win. We didn't look like winning. Our goal was a foul. We were lucky not to have two penalties against us. We had nothing up front. Was it any better today than the last few weeks? Marginally.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 21:45:59 GMT
But we've tried that, and it opens up our defence and emphasises our weaknesses..alongside out injuries we haven't been able to play the free flowing football you crave..therefore why not keep it right and get results rather than winning the possession and losing the game? Hughes needs to learn when to change the system and team..not just when the current formation is exhausted (like the false 9 over Xmas.) but when we need to play a different way in order to beat the team infront of us..I know I'd rather see us playing long ball and win than having more possession but lose..just look at the Atletico vs Barca game..would you rather have 10% Possession and win or have the ball all game and lose? We didn't win. We didn't look like winning. Our goal was a foul. We were lucky not to have two penalties against us. We had nothing up front. Was it any better today than the last few weeks? Marginally. I disagree, but are they your true thoughts? What would you change? What are your thoughts on the gaffer?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 21:50:03 GMT
I'm not sure that I saw any versatility watching that today.
I watched us roll back the years by playing a big man and launching it. A blind man could have made that call. To be fair to Crouch, first half he won more than his fair share of aerial duels.
The only positive to take from today was that we didn't get beat.
Diabolical home form this season, epitomised by that today.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2016 21:50:49 GMT
We didn't win. We didn't look like winning. Our goal was a foul. We were lucky not to have two penalties against us. We had nothing up front. Was it any better today than the last few weeks? Marginally. I disagree, but are they your true thoughts? What would you change? What are your thoughts on the gaffer? Of course they are my true thoughts. I sat there today frustrated at the lack of quality from our players, from Pieters fannying around with throw ins as usual, Shaq falling on his arse to Crouch winning headers but no one around him. Hughes is a good manager hamstrung by injuries this season.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 21:52:34 GMT
I disagree, but are they your true thoughts? What would you change? What are your thoughts on the gaffer? Of course they are my true thoughts. I sat there today frustrated at the lack of quality from our players, from Pieters fannying around with throw ins as usual, Shaq falling on his arse to Crouch winning headers but no one around him. Hughes is a good manager hamstrung by injuries this season. So would you rather see us playing like Atletico and winning or barca and losing? Also, what are your analysis on the season as a whole?
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Post by AlanHansen on Apr 30, 2016 21:53:20 GMT
It's nearly May and he hasn't got a clue what his best 11 is. Plus to stop the slide he's had to return to players like Crouch and Adam.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2016 21:58:59 GMT
Of course they are my true thoughts. I sat there today frustrated at the lack of quality from our players, from Pieters fannying around with throw ins as usual, Shaq falling on his arse to Crouch winning headers but no one around him. Hughes is a good manager hamstrung by injuries this season. So would you rather see us playing like Atletico and winning or barca and losing? Also, what are your analysis on the season as a whole? Our season has been fucked by injuries but we've reached a cup semi final and lost on penalties and we will still finish top 10. A frustrating season especially at home
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Post by chrisparker on Apr 30, 2016 22:00:25 GMT
It's nearly May and he hasn't got a clue what his best 11 is. Plus to stop the slide he's had to return to players like Crouch and Adam. So?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 22:24:38 GMT
But we've tried that, and it opens up our defence and emphasises our weaknesses..alongside out injuries we haven't been able to play the free flowing football you crave..therefore why not keep it right and get results rather than winning the possession and losing the game? Hughes needs to learn when to change the system and team..not just when the current formation is exhausted (like the false 9 over Xmas.) but when we need to play a different way in order to beat the team infront of us..I know I'd rather see us playing long ball and win than having more possession but lose..just look at the Atletico vs Barca game..would you rather have 10% Possession and win or have the ball all game and lose? We didn't win. We didn't look like winning. Our goal was a foul. We were lucky not to have two penalties against us. We had nothing up front. Was it any better today than the last few weeks? Marginally. We did look like winning. We should have scored 3 or 4 (Crouch header from 7 yards, Arnie blasted over and Imbula bottled it at the end) and were queueing up on the edge of their box for most of the second half. It wasn't a foul. We weren't unlucky with the penalties. We had Peter Crouch up front. It was a huge improvement on recent weeks, although still not good enough. Your post is utter fucking horse shit.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 22:36:20 GMT
So would you rather see us playing like Atletico and winning or barca and losing? Also, what are your analysis on the season as a whole? Our season has been fucked by injuries but we've reached a cup semi final and lost on penalties and we will still finish top 10. A frustrating season especially at home The injury blaming I don't rate too much it's had a part to play, but we've still had a better team than the likes of West Ham or Leicester injuries or not..had we have kept it tight and made sure we didn't concede stupidly easy goals we could still have had a far better season...the reason we went out of the cup was purely due to Hughes' naïvety in the first leg and the games running up to it and that has made this season a huge wasted opportunity
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Post by AlanHansen on Apr 30, 2016 22:43:24 GMT
It's nearly May and he hasn't got a clue what his best 11 is. Plus to stop the slide he's had to return to players like Crouch and Adam. So? So we've taken backward steps. There's no game plan and I'm sure he picks his front line by pulling numbers out of a hat. Piss poor. It's a massive summer. He needs to shift out Cameron, Muniesa, Joselu, Shaqiri and Wollsheid for starters. Plus the obvious choices of Ireland and Teixeira. Crouch will probably leave and I fear we may lose Arnie.
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Post by riponstokie on Apr 30, 2016 22:48:37 GMT
It's all fair enough, it's just a shame that some put dramatically higher expectations on this manager than they ever had for the last one. And seem to want to give the old manager credit for any success the current one achieves. 'Build his own team' my arse. The last manager for all his faults loved being Stoke manager, was one of ,if not the, most successful Stoke managers of all time and ensured 99% of the time that team gave their all...you keep saying that "give the old manager credit" are you stupid? Did we not have the same conversation in the last week or so which resulted in me giving credit to Hughes for our progression? No my bad..of course your clouded and quite frankly dim understanding refuses to acknowledge me praising Hughes which I have done today, and in our prior conversation, furthermore, I never said build his own "team" I said "spine" he has yet to prove he can bring in the solidarity and characters to have a solid yet expansive side...here lies the next test..
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Post by crapslinger on Apr 30, 2016 22:49:10 GMT
So would you rather see us playing like Atletico and winning or barca and losing? Also, what are your analysis on the season as a whole? Our season has been fucked by injuries but we've reached a cup semi final and lost on penalties and we will still finish top 10. A frustrating season especially at home More excuses ! top ten possibly or is that halfway ? £40 million on transfers alone and we are arguably worse then last season, I am sure the Coates family will be carrying out an autopsy on this season not very positive is it ?
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