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Post by bunnyscfc on Oct 14, 2024 18:21:35 GMT
I hated that bloody label we were given - but I'm writing an article for a leading football mag and would love your memories and thoughts on that period.
Please pop them on here, or email me at duckstoke@gmail.com
Ta x
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Oct 14, 2024 18:22:18 GMT
I hated that bloody label we were given - but I'm writing an article for a leading football mag and would love your memories and thoughts on that period. Please pop them on here, or email me at duckstoke@gmail.com Ta x Shoot or Match? |
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Post by bassmaster on Oct 14, 2024 18:30:00 GMT
I hated that bloody label we were given - but I'm writing an article for a leading football mag and would love your memories and thoughts on that period. Please pop them on here, or email me at duckstoke@gmail.com Ta x Shoot or Match? Hand Ball actually. |
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Post by bunnyscfc on Oct 14, 2024 18:31:53 GMT
I hated that bloody label we were given - but I'm writing an article for a leading football mag and would love your memories and thoughts on that period. Please pop them on here, or email me at duckstoke@gmail.com Ta x Shoot or Match? Roy Race's mag |
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Post by lordb on Oct 14, 2024 18:41:12 GMT
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Post by lordb on Oct 14, 2024 18:43:12 GMT
It was a great period which just needed a cute signing or two to get us into Europe and have a long spell playing at that level however we had an agent led transfer policy which doomed us
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Post by stokieinlondon on Oct 14, 2024 18:47:45 GMT
It was the second best time I’ve ever had being a stoke fan.
I loved the Macari years, with Steino (I was a young kid but remember it) and then with Pesch etc. it was great.
The best time was Pulis’s promotion and then first season in the Premier League. I absolutely loved every minute - beating the odds, being talked about in every football media, upsetting the big boys and singing my absolute heart out. I cannot put a price on that.
The Stokalona years were different class though, we were actually outplaying and out thinking some of the mega powers. When I heard we signed Bojan I was in Amsterdam with work. It’s sort of one of those things you remember where you were. We turned a corner all at once and in a very short time became a team to fear.
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Oct 14, 2024 18:58:50 GMT
Peak Pulisball is still the most exciting times I've had watching Stoke, but "Stokealona" made me feel like a child again. My favourite non-Stoke players as a kid were the likes of Kinkladze, le Tissier, Yeboah, and Hagi. Having players like that in a Stoke team seemed an impossibility.
Yet nearly 20 years later, our own versions of those players were tearing up the Premier League; Bojan, Arnautovic, Fuller, Shaqiri, Affelay, Nzonzi... with the steel of the likes of Shawcross, Whelan and Walters, it was an amazing time. I thought back to being a kid and wondered if there were non-Stokey kids out there who admired these players as much as I'd loved the creative geniuses of the mid-90s.
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Post by lagwafis on Oct 14, 2024 19:20:51 GMT
That run between 28th November 2015 and 2nd January 2016 summed Stoke up to a tee. Unforgettable wins over Manchester City, Man United and Everton with some shit show defeats against Sunderland, Crystal Palace and West Brom spliced either side and in between.
Looking back under Hughes and I still think some of our best football was played either pre 'Stokealona' or without Bojan and Shaqiri even in the side. The end of 2013/14 when Odemwingie was on fire (3-1 home vs. West Ham, 4-1 home vs. Fulham, 4-1 away at Aston Villa). Likewise the end of 2014/15 when we beat Spurs 3-0 and Liverpool 6-1 in back to back home games.
A big shame we couldn't keep Odemwingie fit, or held on to Victor Moses for that matter. Then again 'Ni-stokie-geria' (or whatever the hell we'd call it) doesn't have the same ring.
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Post by danceswithclams on Oct 14, 2024 19:27:31 GMT
Genuinely the last time I actually looked forward to watching Stoke.
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Post by elystokie on Oct 14, 2024 19:35:53 GMT
Genuinely the last time I actually looked forward to watching Stoke. I was really looking forward to the Hull game.. That'll learn me 🤦 |
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Post by Olgrligm on Oct 14, 2024 19:54:49 GMT
I'm convinced that we would have been playing in Europe if Ryan didn't get injured away at Leicester. Leicester won the league that year, it's not outlandish to say we should have been a top four team.
Unfortunately, that injury was the beginning of the end for Hughes.
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Post by Mr_DaftBurger on Oct 14, 2024 20:02:17 GMT
The fact it had people looking back comparitively to the early 70's side of Hudson et Al showed how good it was.
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Post by march4 on Oct 14, 2024 20:10:18 GMT
Enjoyable though it was, it was built without strong foundations and has sadly led to a decline which still doesn't seem to have bottomed out.
Any mention of Stokealona should not go far without recognising the enormous contribution TP made to that era. Without the spine of TP's team and the ethos TP created around the club I don't think Hughes would have been as successful.
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Post by lordb on Oct 14, 2024 20:18:07 GMT
Enjoyable though it was, it was built without strong foundations and has sadly led to a decline which still doesn't seem to have bottomed out. Any mention of Stokealona should not go far without recognising the enormous contribution TP made to that era. Without the spine of TP's team and the ethos TP created around the club I don't think Hughes would have been as successful. Agreed however there was absolutely no way Pulis could produce a side of that quality Hughes did a brilliant job ....until he didn't |
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Post by mrnovember on Oct 14, 2024 20:43:22 GMT
I could be wrong, but I feel like it was the absolute peak "Have you tried an Oatcake yet?" era.
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Post by jokker on Oct 14, 2024 20:51:09 GMT
Nothing can beat the Waddington run from the late 60s to the mid 70s, which is when I started watching them, but the Bojan-led years come close. However it was a fantasy in a way. Yes we beat Arsenal et al, but we couldn't keep it up, because the back four and lower midfield wasn't up to scratch, and playing with three forwards unwilling or incapable of tracking back and defending meant that we we too easy to play through.
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Post by skip on Oct 14, 2024 21:45:15 GMT
A hair's breadth from breaking into the top six. A very, very special Stoke side.
Hughes' work at this time is massively under appreciated in some quarters.
Best of luck with the article Bunny.
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Post by NassauDave on Oct 15, 2024 10:08:15 GMT
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Post by Tom_stokiepmre89 on Oct 15, 2024 10:23:43 GMT
Enjoyable though it was, it was built without strong foundations and has sadly led to a decline which still doesn't seem to have bottomed out. Any mention of Stokealona should not go far without recognising the enormous contribution TP made to that era. Without the spine of TP's team and the ethos TP created around the club I don't think Hughes would have been as successful. Disagree. It was built ON strong foundations. It fell to shit when the foundations needed renovating. Hughes was a terrific manager when he inherited Pulis’ core, and was able to use his contacts and reputation (at the time) to sprinkle stardust onto that solid core. Hughes’ failure came when Pulis’ core disintegrated and a new core needed to be built. There were plenty of us who recognised our downwards trajectory after the underwhelming penultimate season in the premiership when we finished 13th. Unfortunately, the top brass didn’t see what many of us could, and Hughes was entrusted with the rebuild, and we signed Kevin “Fucking” Wimmer for megabucks at the time…aaand the rest is history. |
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Post by Pugsley on Oct 15, 2024 10:36:33 GMT
Enjoyable though it was, it was built without strong foundations and has sadly led to a decline which still doesn't seem to have bottomed out. Any mention of Stokealona should not go far without recognising the enormous contribution TP made to that era. Without the spine of TP's team and the ethos TP created around the club I don't think Hughes would have been as successful. So why didn't he produce similar. If he did maybe he wouldn't have been sacked? Both managers did great jobs until they didn't. As usual, back then we kept them too long. Nowadays it's the opposite! |
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Post by Gary Hackett on Oct 15, 2024 10:38:55 GMT
I'm convinced that we would have been playing in Europe if Ryan didn't get injured away at Leicester. Leicester won the league that year, it's not outlandish to say we should have been a top four team. Unfortunately, that injury was the beginning of the end for Hughes. Getting rid of Huth was the start of the end for Hughes. |
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Post by jesusmcmuffin on Oct 15, 2024 10:50:24 GMT
Enjoyable though it was, it was built without strong foundations and has sadly led to a decline which still doesn't seem to have bottomed out. Any mention of Stokealona should not go far without recognising the enormous contribution TP made to that era. Without the spine of TP's team and the ethos TP created around the club I don't think Hughes would have been as successful. Disagree. It was built ON strong foundations. It fell to shit when the foundations needed renovating. Hughes was a terrific manager when he inherited Pulis’ core, and was able to use his contacts and reputation (at the time) to sprinkle stardust onto that solid core. Hughes’ failure came when Pulis’ core disintegrated and a new core needed to be built. There were plenty of us who recognised our downwards trajectory after the underwhelming penultimate season in the premiership when we finished 13th. Unfortunately, the top brass didn’t see what many of us could, and Hughes was entrusted with the rebuild, and we signed Kevin “Fucking” Wimmer for megabucks at the time…aaand the rest is history. Wimmer gets brought up at every opportunity whilst ignoring the great signings he made I remember on here before we signed Wimmer and linked with VVD ...many on her here were taking the piss out of Southampton , 10 million for a player from a pub league etc SAF made terrible signings. It happens . The lad from West Ham was the player he really wanted, forget his name. He wasn't keen on coming Will come to me |
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Post by thepremierbanksy on Oct 15, 2024 10:55:06 GMT
A hair's breadth from breaking into the top six. A very, very special Stoke side. Hughes' work at this time is massively under appreciated in some quarters. Best of luck with the article Bunny. 12 points and a swing of 32 in goal difference behind 6th placed Southampton tells a slightly different story  As others said, that side was capable of dizzyingly high performances but still had the consistency of a mid-table side. |
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Post by skip on Oct 15, 2024 11:07:44 GMT
A hair's breadth from breaking into the top six. A very, very special Stoke side. Hughes' work at this time is massively under appreciated in some quarters. Best of luck with the article Bunny. 12 points and a swing of 32 in goal difference behind 6th placed Southampton tells a slightly different story As others said, that side was capable of dizzyingly high performances but still had the consistency of a mid-table side. I was thinking holistically rather than statistically. |
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Post by rowleyscfc on Oct 15, 2024 11:08:39 GMT
Great great memories, had the perfect blend of a of Pulis' steel and a Mark Hughes freedom, which all came to a head with that 6-1 demolition of Liverpool at the end of the 14/15 season.
The following year Leicester went and won the league, if we had managed to keep hold of N'zonzi, Begovic and Huth, and then added them extra bits of quality we would of gone and had another European tour as a minimum and maybe even pushed spurs and Leicester in that one freak of a season.
We should of doubled down in that summer, increased the wage structure at the club and heavily invested. unfortunately we didn't(Not wisely at least) and then a semi against the forementioned Liverpool ultimately sent us on a downward spiral we haven't recovered from to this day.
Great times, which one day will return. not just yet however.
Just wish we would of had one more tour of europe with that team and another final, and maybe a trophy to boot.
Here hoping all of that lays in our future.
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Post by thisisouryear on Oct 15, 2024 11:57:11 GMT
Enjoyable though it was, it was built without strong foundations and has sadly led to a decline which still doesn't seem to have bottomed out. Any mention of Stokealona should not go far without recognising the enormous contribution TP made to that era. Without the spine of TP's team and the ethos TP created around the club I don't think Hughes would have been as successful. Agreed however there was absolutely no way Pulis could produce a side of that quality Hughes did a brilliant job ....until he didn't If only they could work together |
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Post by Tom_stokiepmre89 on Oct 15, 2024 12:01:14 GMT
Disagree. It was built ON strong foundations. It fell to shit when the foundations needed renovating. Hughes was a terrific manager when he inherited Pulis’ core, and was able to use his contacts and reputation (at the time) to sprinkle stardust onto that solid core. Hughes’ failure came when Pulis’ core disintegrated and a new core needed to be built. There were plenty of us who recognised our downwards trajectory after the underwhelming penultimate season in the premiership when we finished 13th. Unfortunately, the top brass didn’t see what many of us could, and Hughes was entrusted with the rebuild, and we signed Kevin “Fucking” Wimmer for megabucks at the time…aaand the rest is history. Wimmer gets brought up at every opportunity whilst ignoring the great signings he made I remember on here before we signed Wimmer and linked with VVD ...many on her here were taking the piss out of Southampton , 10 million for a player from a pub league etc SAF made terrible signings. It happens . The lad from West Ham was the player he really wanted, forget his name. He wasn't keen on coming Will come to me The point I'm making though is that the terrific signings Hughes made in the earlier years were generally more attack minded players being added to the rock solid foundations he'd inherited. Under those circumstances there is a high margin for error because, if the flair players don't perform, you still have that foundation that can weather the storm and form the basis for grinding out the necessary results. When it's the foundations themselves that need rebuilding, the margin for error is far narrower because if you get that wrong you end up in the situation we found ourselves in; where relying on someone like Shaqiri's individual magic isn't enough. Shaqiri scored some goals that could've been crucial in our relegation run in; but because the team behind him weren't capable of grinding it out, his goals sadly became an irrelevance in the end. With this in mind, it's not unfair to single out Wimmer; who was signed for a huge fee (at the time) in a crucial position. With hindsight we might've survived if we'd instead signed 2/3 unglamorous but industrious defensive players with that cash. (not to say Wimmer was "glamorous" but the fee definitely was) |
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Post by lordb on Oct 15, 2024 14:37:49 GMT
I'm convinced that we would have been playing in Europe if Ryan didn't get injured away at Leicester. Leicester won the league that year, it's not outlandish to say we should have been a top four team. Unfortunately, that injury was the beginning of the end for Hughes. Getting rid of Huth was the start of the end for Hughes. Nah, we improved massively after that point (despite that transfer perhaps) The Imbula signing was the start of the decline |
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Post by jokker on Oct 15, 2024 20:49:49 GMT
Getting rid of Huth was the start of the end for Hughes. Nah, we improved massively after that point (despite that transfer perhaps) The Imbula signing was the start of the decline Not the signing. It was a brilliant signing of a player who looked smashing in his first dozen games or so. He just failed to adjust and he wasn't helped by anyone. Wimmer was the pits. |
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