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Post by Pugsley on May 2, 2024 7:52:54 GMT
Pearson and Johnson, the last of the Preston mafia who have fucked us over. Gallagher as well.
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Post by Pugsley on May 1, 2024 10:11:47 GMT
Has the potential to be a premier league coach ... hopefully in charge of us! Time to stick with a manager rather than pile on pressure as soon as things don't go to plan. Too many arse wipes still think we have a divine right to be top 6 and whinge like hell when we're not. When you spend £150m since relegation which dwarfs any other club by a long way, we should have the divine right to be top 6. To have been in a relegation battle that was still a threat up until last week, quite frankly is appalling management from the top down. Absolutely baffles me how many Stoke fans like yourself are happy to accept any old shite, i mean have some standards.... it seems to be such a Stoke fan thing. We don't have any right at all. The arrogance that you can just throw money at a problem and expect results is breathtaking. We have an advantage that we have resource but you have to work just as hard to make sure it's used correctly.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2024 17:03:39 GMT
There's a difference between expecting and aiming. We have to have ambition or what's the point? A agree. It’s a very good point you make. Everyone has ambitions of achieving great things but there must be an element of realism in there, otherwise all fans would be disappointed every season unless they win something like a cup or promotion etc. I expect us to make a play off push next season and I would, as would the club, be disappointed if it doesn't happen. I don't think that is unrealistic in this league.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2024 11:36:49 GMT
The cap is a multiple of the income received by the poorest team in the Prem. The key factor is the size of the multiplication factor. 4.5 was initially suggested which would catch out 2 or 3 of the big spenders. However, 5 is now the likely value which would affect no clubs. Only Chelsea have gone over if the multiple is 5. No surprise there.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2024 11:25:02 GMT
I don't think this seasons position will have any bearing on next, take last years table for example - 6 - Sunderland 7 - Blackburn 8 - Millwall. Currently occupying 15, 16 and 19 respectively. Hull finished 15th last year & after some good recruitment this year they're in with a chance of the play-offs with a game to go. Norwich finished 13th, comfortable play-off spot this year. And of course Ipswich weren't even in the division. We have a platform now to go on and secure 6-7 first team players that will take this team from consistently average, to performing at a good level week-in, week-out. And in reality that's all you need to do well in this league. We've shown we can perform at a top-level recently, but just as much we've shown we can be utterly awful. Consistency and a constant flow of points and we'll do just fine. The volatile nature of the league means that anything can happen. Work hard on and off the pitch, get your recruitment right, start well and get momentum and good things will happen. Walters and Schumacher are desperate to do well and will put in the effort, unlike the two previous no marks.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 30, 2024 11:22:13 GMT
Of course they will. Don’t be daft I get that every team wants to win every game but teams like Rotherham can’t expect promotion. There's a difference between expecting and aiming. We have to have ambition or what's the point?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 29, 2024 13:36:24 GMT
Anyone who thinks StS is not an improvement on clueless fuck Neil needs to give their head a wobble.
Probably the same individuals who believed Neil was 'exactly what we need'.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 15:55:44 GMT
I said it at the start of last season with that clueless fuck Neil in charge... promotion challenge. Same applies to Schumacher - he has to deliver a better season and see us at least trying to get in the top 6.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:41:53 GMT
The last two games we have been braver, something that you have wanted. I think his role is clearer with a DM behind him. The way we set up more recently has suited him better. He's an 8 for mewho plays better with forwards that create space for an overload. We have and as we should because the league is wank. Don’t treat it with respect it doesn’t deserve. Cundle though can get in the bin. Awful for 95% of his time here and turned up for the game against his old mates. We don’t need that mentality. We need plauers that want it in all games and he doesn’t. Like Ben Pearson?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:40:00 GMT
You should have gone to Specsavers. People are happy we've stayed up, that's all. Everyone knows it's been a poor season again. They don't need telling every 10 minutes by people who think they know it all. No they haven’t. “It’s not been good but it’s not been the worst” It absolutely has been the worst in the last 20 years. “We don’t need another overhaul” Well we need 7 new first team players which imo is a fucking overhaul. The standards are though the floor. No accountability has been had by this fanbase and the acceptance of utter shit is frightening. It hasn't been the worst. We'd have been relegated if so. We do need more players which is poor after last summer but those responsible have left the club. Fans made it known they weren't happy with Neil and Martin and the club acted.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:32:30 GMT
The aim should be promotion. My guess is most will be content with a top half finish. Again, recruitment will be key. Christ, from reading here and Twitter from the last few days most will be happy with a shit season that ends with a few wins. It’s absolutely fucking mind boggling. You should have gone to Specsavers. People are happy we've stayed up, that's all. Everyone knows it's been a poor season again. They don't need telling every 10 minutes by people who think they know it all.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:27:20 GMT
Now we know we have a 7th consecutive crack at this Championship thing starting in August. We'll thankfully be shut of Leicester and hopefully Leeds as well and Sheffield United and likely Burnley and Luton coming down from the Prem won't exactly tear up any trees. It must be to get involved at the business end of the table, a flirtation with the play-off competition at least? Last time Burnley were in this league under Kompany they romped it. The league is low on quality and anyone half decent will do well if they can cope with the attritional nature of the fixtures coming thick and fast.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:15:26 GMT
Fuck me Bayern He deserves to get his own pl as yers in and to give him a chance. We have stayed up and 3 or 4 weeks ago I thought that was impossible. We are staying up say I never thought we’d go down tbh but it only looked close after Schumacher shat himself. Course you didn't. Did you put a pound on?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:13:07 GMT
From Neil to Schumacher is worth celebrating. The signing of Burger, Bae Jun Ho and Million. The emergence of some genuine team spirit and a growing bond between team and supporters. The fact that the supporters stuck with the players and brought back some of the old atmosphere. A chink of blue sky in the gloom that shrouded the club half way through the season. Not our finest season but far from our worst. It’s not. We should still just about sack him imo. And I think he’ll be gone by October still even now. This season has been fucking atrocious. The home form has been appalling and there’s very little to look forward to. We need 7 new first teamers minimum and will likely finish bottom half again. Great. There's plenty to look forward to.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 28, 2024 8:04:27 GMT
Mission accomplished for this season i.e. keeping us in this hell hole division. Done a superb job with what he inherited, which was a mess.
Totally vindicated John Coates decision to get rid of idiots Neil and Martin and sticking with StS. Another good decision looks like Walters as Sporting Director. Perhaps things are changing for us.
Onto next season with some positivity. Good times ahead?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 25, 2024 7:48:59 GMT
Stoke fans bleating on about tactics... Most should stick to the mints
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 24, 2024 14:50:09 GMT
In what way has he looked like he wants to play for us? By hugging his mates in the tunnel? If he didn't want to be here, he wouldn't be celebrating an important victory would he I prefer footballers proving it on the pitch not in the tunnel. As a marquee signing he has been woeful. Hopefully StS can get a tune out of him but I have serious doubts. I'd sell if possible. Easier said than done though.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 24, 2024 11:21:42 GMT
In what way has he looked like he wants to play for us? By hugging his mates in the tunnel? Not sure there should be any doubt he wants to play for us. If he could control his foolishness he's a good player. Only problem is by his own admission he's not good at being a bench warmer and struggles to keep up his fitness and sharpness if he's not playing every week when available. Given Schu's preference for 1 deeplying central midfielder and the fact Burger is better at just about everything than him I can't see him being a regular starter. Thommo seems a much better probably much cheaper understudy, still picks up a lot of cards but not normally for such cockish things. How can he be a good player if he's so unprofessional?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 24, 2024 11:07:19 GMT
I saw that when it was posted on instagram at the time. I wondered why Pearson calls them "my little boys" but I'm guessing he's maybe one of the leaders in the dressing room. Knocks on the head the myths about him not wanting to play for us now AN has left too In what way has he looked like he wants to play for us? By hugging his mates in the tunnel?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 23, 2024 11:20:29 GMT
I suppose nobody thought Pulis would be the manager either…. Circumstances were somewhat different. Were they? Both inherited struggling sides filled with poor footballers.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 22, 2024 10:32:15 GMT
Not altogether convinced by him. Went from being really happy, after the opening games, to dispondent in the subsequent games. Clawing back my faith gradually. Has to be given the chance next season, hopefully with a decent forward recruited Yeah he's not the man to take us forward for me but bar a disastrous final two games the board will stick with him. I just can't see how or why this isn't going to end the same way it has done the previous few years. We did really well yesterday and under every manager we've had over this horrible period of 6 or 7 years, they've given us a few good games which gives the fans hope. I've seen nothing to suggest Schumacher is different to the other guys but clearly, very keen to be proven wrong. There is no evidence to suggest he is or isn't the man to take us forward. He's basically been firefighting since he came here, trying to rescue the disaster that was Alex Neil and his chronies. Nobody can name one viable manager who would have done better. Let's give him a chance.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 21, 2024 15:39:49 GMT
People on here wanted Moore as our manager. Christ on a bike.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 20, 2024 19:20:40 GMT
He’s taking us down apparently He’s actually fuckin saved us Take a bow son 100% correct.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 20, 2024 16:09:12 GMT
Well done the lads and the manager. High pressure game and they came up with the goods.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 20, 2024 16:08:16 GMT
So the stats show: Alex Neil’s 20 league games this season gained 21 points (W6-D3-L11, Goals 19-28), Schumacher’s first 20 league games have gained 23 points (W6-D5-L9, Goals 19-29). Pretty much what you'd expect. We drew a couple of games that we'd have lost under Neil. The difference is that Neil had totally run out of road and had visibly run out of ideas by the Sheffield Wednesday game. I still can't get over us instructing our goalkeeper to time waste and see out a 0-0 draw against the worst team in the league and us inevitably conspiring to lose anyway. I don't think we're at that point with Schumacher. He had a sticky patch in the middle with disciplinary problems where it looked like he might have lost some players, but he dealt with this extremely well after naively allowing the Mmaee stuff out in the press and soon had the squad clearly fully behind him. The appointment of Walters also helped. We're just in a situation where we have an error prone defence and an impotent attack, so we are always going to be inconsistent and have very bad days. Recruitment is so, so important this summer. I should add that, like others, I'm in two minds about Schumacher. There is a marked difference between Neil and Schumacher. One wants to be our manager and is desperate to do well. The other didn't and was just picking up his inflated paycheck.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 19, 2024 12:04:54 GMT
Makes me laugh, lower clubs using the FA Cup to chase more money and then moaning about the bigger clubs chasing more money. Clubs, at whatever level, couldn't give a monkey's about the integrity of the competition. Isn't that quite a strange take on it? The money from the FA Cup is totally different kettle of fish for the likes of Tranmere compared to the likes of Arsenal. It's a much bigger proportion of their incomes and it can be about survival which isn't the case for the big teams. The FA Cup is an established competition which has historically had this capacity for lower teams to earn much needed income. It's not just that though, it is the lack of consultation which shows total disrespect for clubs whose participation in the competition is as valid as any PL team. For example, why are PL clubs making decisions about replays in the 1st Round of the competition when they are not even involved at that stage? Yes, all clubs are fundamentally self interested, but that self interest takes on a very different nature in the lower levels of football. Perhaps it is. If the FA announce tomorrow that prize money will increase in the early rounds funded by the Premier League teams the lower league clubs will soon pipe down. Nothing to do with replays.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 19, 2024 11:24:51 GMT
Makes me laugh, lower clubs using the FA Cup to chase more money and then moaning about the bigger clubs chasing more money.
Clubs, at whatever level, couldn't give a monkey's about the integrity of the competition.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 18, 2024 15:25:27 GMT
I don't really see the issue here other than changing tradition. Who wants a replay at the Etihad only to get their arses handed to them by a reserve side in front of 20K?
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 18, 2024 14:06:19 GMT
I think it's fair game to question the competence of the current 'man in charge' i.e. John Coates. During his tenure it's been nothing short of a disaster with one calamitous decision after another. Lambert, Rowett after chasing him 3 times, Jones based on a conversation with a bloke in the pub, O'Neill who had zero club experience (to date his best appointment - low bar) and Alex Neil who again he courted a number of times. StS is a high risk appointment. And that's just the managers!!! We're on the precipice of the third tier again under the Coates ownership. It's really not good enough and reflects terribly on them. John Coates need to step back from football matters, he's clearly to involved, and trust the people he's put in place to do their jobs. I wouldn’t argue with that. I’d like to know more about our decision making processes and the level of his input/control. There’s clearly something (or things) wrong and it’s fair to assume the man at the top is a big part of our problems. At the same time I think the Coates family and their wealth is vital to the club going forward. I might be wrong but I can’t see us being top of too many shopping lists for Saudi or American billionaires. And even if we are do we want to sever our links with an incredibly wealthy local family. So it’s catch 22. Hopefully John Coates can either step back and relinquish control (if that’s the issue) or get someone in to advise him better. Something has to change, ideally under Coates.
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Post by Pugsley on Apr 18, 2024 14:04:38 GMT
I'd be amazed if StS is let go whatever division we are in. It would be yet another addition to the ever growing rap sheet of the owners.
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