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Post by Gary Hackett on Feb 6, 2021 20:55:39 GMT
He should have recalled Afobe once Gregory had gone, not signing a striker is his biggest mistake. I'd rather play with 10 men. We do every time Vokes gets on the pitch.
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Post by generationex on Feb 6, 2021 20:55:58 GMT
TP had one win in 14 and it cost him his job. I can't see MON lasting beyond the end of the season if this continues. I don't know what the issue is but he seems to have lost his positive effect on the squad. He'd also spent best part of 100m I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?!
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Post by gawa on Feb 6, 2021 21:18:36 GMT
While we're not winning anywhere near enough and that is an issue. At the same time you could easily have written, "3 league losses in 12 league games", and the title paints a completely different picture.
The problem is 8 draws our of 12. Convert half of those to wins and you've got playoff form. Just lacking quality and consistency up top at the minute.
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Post by davejohnno1 on Feb 6, 2021 21:21:50 GMT
He'd also spent best part of 100m I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?! Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking
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Post by greenhoff on Feb 6, 2021 21:28:31 GMT
I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?! Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking This 100%
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 21:30:19 GMT
He'd also spent best part of 100m I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?! Maybe if he hadn’t lost the plot...
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Post by stokemark on Feb 6, 2021 21:30:48 GMT
I counted the Villa & Wolves results as being part of us playing well early in the season. Do I have to discount them and accept we didn't do as well as I thought? Obviously. Cups are a bonus for us these days. All that matters and all we should be judged on are league performances. I'd suggest that games against Wolves and Villa reserves were very different propositions than games against the strength of team that both Spurs and Leicester fielded against us. What a very silly comparison
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Post by Squeekster on Feb 6, 2021 21:37:20 GMT
I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?! Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking Hughes inherited the back bone of Tones team and with one or two shrewd signings plus Peiters who was already in the pipe line served Mark well. Hughes then started to dismantle the back bone and it went tits up.
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Post by lordb on Feb 6, 2021 21:41:29 GMT
I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?! Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking Macari was fabulous on a budget, when had that bit more to spend he dropped some clangers Spending lots just doesn't suit us
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 21:44:19 GMT
Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking Hughes inherited the back bone of Tones team and with one or two shrewd signings plus Peiters who was already in the pipe line served Mark well. Hughes then started to dismantle the back bone and it went tits up. ‘One or two’, ok. The backbone of Tone’s team had gone to shit and he got them playing again. Better than they had before.
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Post by Davef on Feb 6, 2021 21:51:09 GMT
He'd also spent best part of 100m In taking us from the bottom of our present division to promotion, establishment in the Prem, a cup final and rampaging through Europe. The greatest ever bargain in our history. Sacking TP was one of the greatest errors in our history alongside selling Stan and not insuring the ground properly. Had TP remained we would still be in the Prem and would probably have won one of the cups by now. Instead we gave Hughes silly money and he used it to oversee our decline and eventual relegation. Go to bed.
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Post by theonlooker on Feb 6, 2021 21:54:28 GMT
He'd also spent best part of 100m In taking us from the bottom of our present division to promotion, establishment in the Prem, a cup final and rampaging through Europe. The greatest ever bargain in our history. Sacking TP was one of the greatest errors in our history alongside selling Stan and not insuring the ground properly. Had TP remained we would still be in the Prem and would probably have won one of the cups by now. Instead we gave Hughes silly money and he used it to oversee our decline and eventual relegation. Rampaging through Europe?
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Post by spitthedog on Feb 6, 2021 21:59:53 GMT
Starting to feel like the 16/17 season where the football was dire but Hughes still having 'credit in the bank' was stopping the majority of fans from properly questioning what was happening on the pitch. Not saying O'Neill should be sacked now or even at the end of the season. But one win in 14 is not acceptable, nor is the general lack of goals and standard of football. We simply have to improve or else more serious questions need asking in May. Yep lets sack MON like we did Hughes.....and look how that ended
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Post by mrteddysalad on Feb 6, 2021 22:06:56 GMT
Question. How many of O'Neill's 7 signings (excluding this month's batch as we haven't seen enough of them) have actually improved us? Fletcher, Mikel, Thompson, Fox, Chester, Brown and TOB are the seven I refer to. Some good, some meh, Brown is the only bad one. They're all low risk signings though. He didn't get locked into crap like Vokes and Ince for 5 years on big contracts like the previous numpties
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Post by generationex on Feb 6, 2021 22:08:07 GMT
I know, seems like small change since then doesn’t it?! Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking The only signings I can remember after the cup final that cost anything of any note were Nzonzi and Adam. Great value. The rest cost about 2 weeks wages of the notorious ones.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 22:08:33 GMT
Starting to feel like the 16/17 season where the football was dire but Hughes still having 'credit in the bank' was stopping the majority of fans from properly questioning what was happening on the pitch. Not saying O'Neill should be sacked now or even at the end of the season. But one win in 14 is not acceptable, nor is the general lack of goals and standard of football. We simply have to improve or else more serious questions need asking in May. Yep lets sack MON like we did Hughes.....and look how that ended He hasn’t had the chance to to be fair. Jury’s out on his transfer business for now.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 22:09:29 GMT
Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking The only signings I can remember after the cup final that cost anything of any note were Nzonzi and Adam. Great value. The rest cost about 2 weeks wages of the notorious ones. Well there’s Crouch, Palacios and Jerome... And the fact that he spent all that money to make the team significantly worse...
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Post by generationex on Feb 6, 2021 22:11:36 GMT
Hughes’ Legacy of Doom. That’s how it ended. 18 months too late.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 22:13:28 GMT
Hughes’ Legacy of Doom. That’s how it ended. 18 months too late. Should’ve got rid of him at the end of the previous season. They got rid of Pulis at exactly the right time but didn’t do the same with Hughes.
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Post by Squeekster on Feb 6, 2021 22:15:47 GMT
Hughes inherited the back bone of Tones team and with one or two shrewd signings plus Peiters who was already in the pipe line served Mark well. Hughes then started to dismantle the back bone and it went tits up. ‘One or two’, ok. The backbone of Tone’s team had gone to shit and he got them playing again. Better than they had before. Granted but none the less it was the back bone of Tones team.
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Post by generationex on Feb 6, 2021 22:16:08 GMT
The only signings I can remember after the cup final that cost anything of any note were Nzonzi and Adam. Great value. The rest cost about 2 weeks wages of the notorious ones. Well there’s Crouch, Palacios and Jerome... And the fact that he spent all that money to make the team significantly worse... Crouch was a brilliant signing! Palacios his big miss - well it seemed like it at the time, if only we’d know what was coming. Jerome - decent signing, got a return on him. Seems hard to remember when stoke players didn’t end up in Turkey at our expense - but it did once happen.
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Post by greenstokie on Feb 6, 2021 22:16:36 GMT
Patience needed. We were a basket case club, heading in the same direction as Sunderland. The rot has stopped. We're busy clearing out the deadwood. It couldn't be done all in one go. It's a mix and match of experience with youth and O'Neill has worked wonders so far. Has he got everything right? I doubt it and I'm sure he knows that too. But with the loot he has had to spend, compared to some of our previous managers and because of the FFP, MoN's been given loose change to spend on players.
We overachieved early on this season. Some key injuries have certainly hampered us badly. A couple of wins will boost confidence and I've no doubt they'll come. An unlikely play off spot would be a huge bonus now. I'll take a top half finish as decent progress from the previous dross in this division.
It's also been a season like no other. I genuinely think we will be so much better with fans back in the ground, with a manager that seems to understand our DNA.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 22:17:23 GMT
‘One or two’, ok. The backbone of Tone’s team had gone to shit and he got them playing again. Better than they had before. Granted but none the less it was the back bone of Tones team. Tone deserves the credit for Tone’s achievements. Hughes deserves the credit for the good stuff that happened on his watch. He revitalised those players and in many cases got more out of them than the bloke who signed them.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Feb 6, 2021 22:21:01 GMT
Well there’s Crouch, Palacios and Jerome... And the fact that he spent all that money to make the team significantly worse... Crouch was a brilliant signing! Palacios his big miss - well it seemed like it at the time, if only we’d know what was coming. Jerome - decent signing, got a return on him. Seems hard to remember when stoke players didn’t end up in Turkey at our expense - but it did once happen. Crouch’s signing got Pulis sacked ultimately. Didn’t fit the system and performances and results declined. Goals dried up. Hughes got more out of him. Jerome could’ve contributed more but the bloke who signed him didn’t want to play him. We spent about £40m and signed about 10-15 players after the cup final season and yet never came close to playing as well as we had during that run again, talk me through that one?
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Post by davejohnno1 on Feb 6, 2021 22:25:46 GMT
Pulis wasted shed loads of cash to make us worse after cup final season. Hughes had to work on tight leash for a while, did great, then wasted another shed load of cash. To then think we compounded that by allowing Rowett and Jones to spend another 70m is heartbreaking The only signings I can remember after the cup final that cost anything of any note were Nzonzi and Adam. Great value. The rest cost about 2 weeks wages of the notorious ones. We signed 13 players that season. The fact you only recall 2 speaks volumes. Anyhow, that's a different discussion and not really one for this thread.
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Post by thevoid on Feb 6, 2021 22:29:28 GMT
Crouch was a brilliant signing! Palacios his big miss - well it seemed like it at the time, if only we’d know what was coming. Jerome - decent signing, got a return on him. Seems hard to remember when stoke players didn’t end up in Turkey at our expense - but it did once happen. Crouch’s signing got Pulis sacked ultimately. Didn’t fit the system and performances and results declined. Goals dried up. Hughes got more out of him. Jerome could’ve contributed more but the bloke who signed him didn’t want to play him. We spent about £40m and signed about 10-15 players after the cup final season and yet never came close to playing as well as we had during that run again, talk me through that one? I'd have Jerome back now!
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Post by spitthedog on Feb 6, 2021 22:32:46 GMT
Crouch’s signing got Pulis sacked ultimately. Didn’t fit the system and performances and results declined. Goals dried up. Hughes got more out of him. Jerome could’ve contributed more but the bloke who signed him didn’t want to play him. We spent about £40m and signed about 10-15 players after the cup final season and yet never came close to playing as well as we had during that run again, talk me through that one? I'd have Jerome back now! There was no enthusiasm for him when he was here. Anyway who says there was is bluffing. Used to get slated every game virtually.
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Post by thevoid on Feb 6, 2021 22:34:31 GMT
I'd have Jerome back now! There was no enthusiasm for him when he was here. Anyway who says there was is bluffing. Used to get slated every game virtually. Not by me. He should have started more games.
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Post by generationex on Feb 6, 2021 22:38:30 GMT
The only signings I can remember after the cup final that cost anything of any note were Nzonzi and Adam. Great value. The rest cost about 2 weeks wages of the notorious ones. We signed 13 players that season. The fact you only recall 2 speaks volumes. Anyhow, that's a different discussion and not really one for this thread. Without googling I couldn’t say the numbers but after Crouch and Palacios we are talking peanuts and none befouled the club for half a decade. It cannot be overstated how much shit Mark Hughes left. Possibly the worst recruitment in English football history and certainly Stoke City’s. It is a different discussion but ultimately every thread on the board is rooted in that calamity until we are promoted again.
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Post by SamB_SCFC on Feb 6, 2021 23:02:03 GMT
Starting to feel like the 16/17 season where the football was dire but Hughes still having 'credit in the bank' was stopping the majority of fans from properly questioning what was happening on the pitch. Not saying O'Neill should be sacked now or even at the end of the season. But one win in 14 is not acceptable, nor is the general lack of goals and standard of football. We simply have to improve or else more serious questions need asking in May. Yep lets sack MON like we did Hughes.....and look how that ended The point was we sacked Hughes too late. Should have been done at the end of the 16/17 season instead of half way through the following season with us in a dreadful position. I'm not saying we should sack him now or even at the end of this season. But if this current run continues much longer questions need to be asked because it's not all about the lack of quality up front, the approach to matches and poor substitutions aren't helping either. I still have faith that he'll move us forward long term but 1 win in 12 in the league just isn't good enough.
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