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Post by wuzza on Jun 7, 2024 15:53:24 GMT
Well this thread has certainly brought the memories flooding back. Other than the time they kicked us out to accommodate away supporters I stood in the Butler St my entire time watching Stoke at the Vic and Gus was always there, at least in the early days. Like others have said I was never quite sure what he was calling out other than ‘coming around gents’ always seemed to be the finishing line. Good days when football seemed to have a bit more space for such things.
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Post by wuzza on Jun 6, 2024 13:58:20 GMT
Hope you are fit and well again soon 👍
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Post by wuzza on Jun 6, 2024 11:05:46 GMT
So, as my Pickleball career progresses (double medaled at the weekend, thanks for asking) two ladies I play mixed with were having a coach in and asked if I would like to join. Jon turns up last week, the epitome of central castings idea of a coach. Stocky, thirties, backward ball cap, attitude for days. You get the idea. Good lesson last week, start this week and I’m hitting really well. He looks up in the middle of something and asks about my Tampa Bay Rowdies T shirt. Explanation over he asks “What EPL team do you support?” I say who I support and that we are next level down and he yells “I’m a Stoke City Fan” He’s so excited he yells for a water break to tell the story. He and a friend loved sawker, were planning a trip over, and wanted to get behind a team. In his words they didn’t want one of the ‘top’ clubs. Oh no. Some ‘real’ club for them. His best friends name was Potter and so, on such whimsy, two more Stoke fans were made. As he concluded my doubles partner looked up and said. And how are Stoke doing now? Without drawing breath he’s said Oh we’re shit at the moment and, even after all the recent club turmoil, despair, general zeitgeist, yours truly first words, reflex were… “But we won’t be next year” 1.Well done for spreading the word 2. Thank you for inspiring me to find out what the hell Pickleball is ! 🙂
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Post by wuzza on Jun 5, 2024 11:25:16 GMT
For club that seems to have had nothing but bad luck for a century and a half we certainly maxed out our good luck the day a young Peter Coates decided he fancied watching a game of footy down at the Vic ! Say what you like about certain ‘short term’ recruitment decisions he and his family have essentially set this club up to survive and thrive for the future generations of SoT for decades to come. Yet we still have utter loons wanting them out They just don’t get it Be grateful you don’t get it. If you did it might mean you were as insane as they are 🙂
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Post by wuzza on Jun 5, 2024 7:11:17 GMT
For club that seems to have had nothing but bad luck for a century and a half we certainly maxed out our good luck the day a young Peter Coates decided he fancied watching a game of footy down at the Vic ! Say what you like about certain ‘short term’ recruitment decisions he and his family have essentially set this club up to survive and thrive for the future generations of SoT for decades to come.
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Post by wuzza on Jun 2, 2024 18:01:19 GMT
He was a very good player ( destroyed my team regularly ) but that was nothing compared to what he achieved after his diagnosis. A remarkable man with an equally remarkable family. Small in stature but leaving a massive legacy. RIP
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Post by wuzza on May 31, 2024 11:10:34 GMT
There’s only two locations that players not locating in London will care about - 1. Their bank account 2. The Cheshire ‘golden triangle’. Luckily we are in a position to satisfy both and as such can never really add this to our portfolio of excuses for under performance.
(why the club has done what it has with a valuable commodity like Bae beggars belief but there must be some method in the madness)
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Post by wuzza on May 30, 2024 10:43:43 GMT
At first glance it’s a bit Sunderland/Sheff U but we weren’t afraid of a bit of black trim back in the 70’s and indeed regularly played away in the home shirt and black shorts and socks. I always thought it made the team look a bit bigger and stronger - all very psychological. Que sera sera.
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Post by wuzza on May 29, 2024 9:00:41 GMT
Im expecting a steady Bristol City / Preston type season. Never seriously troubling either end of the table. Progress of a sort.
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Post by wuzza on May 28, 2024 8:50:14 GMT
Sad to say but even something as simple as a small dodgy representation of a kiln would improve the abomination we’ve been running with for the last couple of decades.
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Post by wuzza on May 27, 2024 15:40:39 GMT
For me it wasn’t just the affordable prices that made going to a match such an attractive proposition back in the day it was the fact that you could decide to go ‘on a whim’ , roll up at the turnstile , hand over a few bob and that was that. Now you have to register on gawd knows how many data bases, go online, pay by whatever method the current fad is, bring ID , collect a ticket from the office , provide references etc etc etc. I’m exaggerating I know and to the tech savvy it’s probably fine but it doesn’t half put me off on many an occasion.
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Post by wuzza on May 22, 2024 20:19:24 GMT
I can imagine a day when fans are paid to attend. The crowd is as much a part of what is mostly a TV spectacle as the players. Without the crowd you have nothing, but they make up fewer than 1% of the audience for major games. We're in the realms of AI. Crowds can be 'invented'. To be fair they’ve already dabbled with coverage of a few broadcasts of EA Sports events - frankly it’s hard to tell the difference when they do the motor sport ones!
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Post by wuzza on May 22, 2024 19:53:26 GMT
They have put every Rugby League game on live this season and it hasn’t had a detrimental effect on attendances. Admittedly away fans don’t generally have as far to travel for some of the less ‘user friendly’ kick off times. For the armchair fan it’s great - I’ve seen nearly every match.
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Post by wuzza on May 22, 2024 17:51:53 GMT
I’ve always thought that success at this level depends on having a healthy percentage of players on the way up with plenty to prove. Combine it with a couple of old pros who can direct operations and we live in hope.
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Post by wuzza on May 21, 2024 8:11:56 GMT
Just love these junior team sheets / squad lists. About the only thing left in football that makes me smile 🙂
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Post by wuzza on May 19, 2024 8:52:24 GMT
As it progressed I found it became a surreal but strangely addictive experience. I remember standing outside the turnstiles of the Butler St paddock before one game towards the end of the season and wondering if I had travelled on the wrong day - there was nobody to be seen. Away games were ok because you had zero expectations and fans of other clubs treated you like some poor befuddled old relative who needed a bit of TLC. Anyway it was not an entirely horrific time , there were some good laughs to be had as ‘gallows humour’ came to the fore -I wonder what it would have been like in today’s social media driven world where everything is analysed to the nth degree.
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Post by wuzza on May 16, 2024 16:30:08 GMT
Surprises me that we’ve had enough ‘competitive spirit’ in the past 5 years to come on to FA”s radar that many times. Much ado about nothing but it keeps some people in a job.
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Post by wuzza on May 16, 2024 12:26:35 GMT
It’s a bit disturbing when photographs from your own youth look like exhibits from a museum 😟
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Post by wuzza on May 15, 2024 10:13:21 GMT
Don’t think we ever properly recovered from losing that first game back in 1888.
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Post by wuzza on May 15, 2024 7:46:38 GMT
I know it’s a cliche for someone of my generation to think the game has gone backwards , become tedious,predictable, and lacking in any sort of character ......... but , sadly for me I suppose , I genuinely believe this is the case. I'm the same, I love Stoke and the passion I have for the club will always stay the same. But football in general? I'm not anywhere near as interested as I was say 10-15 years ago. I suppose that's life, I'm over 40 now with a house, partner etc. 15 years ago I was a different person! But football just doesn't interest me as much. I often find games boring, I don't think it has the characters it used to and I find this obsession with playing out from the back weird. Like last night, I could have watched the Spurs game but just couldn't be bothered to tune in. I used to know every player in the PL, now I honestly couldn't name you Man City or Liverpool's starting XI. Yep that sums it up for me. I pay for Sky Sports but the football (other than Stoke or anything directly effecting Stoke) is the last thing on the agenda as far as I’m concerned.
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Post by wuzza on May 15, 2024 4:52:35 GMT
I know it’s a cliche for someone of my generation to think the game has gone backwards , become tedious,predictable, and lacking in any sort of character ......... but , sadly for me I suppose , I genuinely believe this is the case.
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Post by wuzza on May 14, 2024 14:35:58 GMT
As above - a few stupid individual errors are the difference between him being derided (by some) and being a bit of a hero.
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Post by wuzza on May 14, 2024 5:15:31 GMT
It would be interesting to see what Campbell looked like in a good team. His ability to finish but do not a lot else might still turn him into an absolute hero. Sadly his lack of achievement here and his injury problems have probably knocked that opportunity on the head - at least at this level. The move to Rangers that was touted a while back would probably be ideal.
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Post by wuzza on May 12, 2024 10:58:15 GMT
Relegation should cause minimum disruption to all three clubs - they have planned and budgeted for it. I think it’s going to be yet another incredibly tough season - we are going to have to progress enormously just to finish in the top 10.
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Post by wuzza on May 8, 2024 14:41:05 GMT
Blimey it really doesn’t seem that long ago since we were watching him play 🙁 RIP .
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Post by wuzza on May 4, 2024 13:34:18 GMT
It’s for the best - Blues were much more likely to put a stronger side together next season than Argyle (and they are a fairly horrible club).
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Post by wuzza on Apr 27, 2024 18:44:29 GMT
To me Thompson is a no brain contract extension. A degree of versatility and good attitude make him a Championship squad necessity.
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Post by wuzza on Apr 27, 2024 18:40:16 GMT
Yep I would add my congratulations to those who continue to do the hard yards of travelling and supporting a club that has been in decline for so many years. I’m glad that days like today give you some reward.
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Post by wuzza on Apr 19, 2024 17:25:11 GMT
I know the money is fantastic but it must also be so great to be a footballer and know you have the capacity to bring a bit of joy to youngsters like this heroic (and wonderfully polite) lad. To roll out a cliche - it puts all the other football stuff into much needed perspective. Well done to all involved.
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Post by wuzza on Apr 13, 2024 16:22:24 GMT
Of the many words I could use to describe our current position ‘safe’ is certainly not one of them.
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