Stoke City at home match-day thread

[Jerseybean]

Good day fellow-Reds. Stoke City under the Bristol sky tonight at 745 pm and it’s the main match on Sky so is not on Robins TV. If you want to get to the Gate and cheer on the boys: https://tickets.bristol-sport.co.uk/categories/bristolcityfchome?

The first visit to Ashton Gate for Dean Holden since his departure, I’m sure he will be given a decent reception. As Michael O’Neil pointed out in his presser ‘We know their squad quite well. Obviously Dean Holden was there last season so we have good knowledge on the players.’

Who remembers Stoke City 2 Bristol City 1, April 19th, 2008? For those who don’t take a look here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7344104.stm

Stoke subsequently secured promotion by finishing in second place (behind WBA) and Gary Johnson said after the game that  ‘Some people are naturally disappointed because it looks as though automatic promotion is unlikely. What we must do now is make sure we are in the play-offs and then give it our best shot if that is the case.’

The Britannia was rocking that day and the City faithful never once dropped their voices below an audibly magnificent level. As they say, the rest is history, for any young uns who don’t know what I’m talking about read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7416502.stm

Here are the final league places at the end of the 2007/08 season:

1 West Bromwich Albion 

2 Stoke City (P)

3 Hull City 

4 Bristol City

5 Crystal Palace

6 Watford

My Australian mate Bill is a big Stoke fan, his pre-match comments follow:

‘Be afraid, be very afraid. Your home record is the worst in the four English leagues, possibly every league and our last two alway games were wins and against teams with good home records, Luton and Blackpool. Plus we have our star striker Tyrese Campbell back from long-term injury and in Jacob Brown we have a young, in-form striker who has just won his first Scottish cap.

I also have the delightful memory of a few seasons back (2018) when we thrashed you 1-0 at Ashton Gate thanks to the last ever league goal from Darren Fletcher! You could of course garner some hope from two critical injuries to Harry Souttar our highly rated centre half and a broken leg for Powell our truly inspirational number 10. But don’t hope too much we have excellent replacements and you can’t even beat average sides with 10 men.  So I think it’s going to be another 1-0 thrashing!! Oh and it’s been 10 years since Stoke won four games in a row.’

Mention of Bill provides an opportunity to promote his excellent new book, which I highly recommend to anybody interested in mental health. His compelling book is provocative, humorous, touching and based on his extensive experience  of clinical psychology. It’s called  ‘What Happened?: What mental health is really about’  By Dr Bill Saunders and is available now from Amazon.

Our record against them isn’t great we’ve lost 26, won 17 and drawn 15.

Last season they finished in 14th place and against them we lost 0-2 (at home) and won 0-2 (away.)

They faced Peterborough in their last a game and won 2-0 (with the second goal coming in the 96th minute) Surridge's late red card means he won’t feature tonight, they currently occupy fifth place in the table. Tonight’s encounter will be a tough one particularly given our home form.

Form over last six matches, Bristol City: LLWLLD Stoke Cityk: LLDWWW and Stoke haven’t conceded in their last three games.

Stoke are one of the oldest English football teams and were one of the founding members of the Football League. They began as Stoke Ramblers, but have been known as Stoke City since 1925. One of the best periods for the club was between 1933 and1953, they played in the top division and managed to reach the fourth place twice. They also have a Football League Cup victory from 1972 and would reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 2011.

Some of the most famous players in the club's history are Stanley Matthews, Neil Franklin, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, Peter Dobing, George Eastham, Peter McIlroy, Denis Smith, Harry Burrows who at the time had the most powerful left foot in football, the mercurial Alan Hudson, John Ritchie  and the best player never to be capped by England, Jimmy Greenhoff.

Mention of Gordon Banks reminds me of one of many of Bill’s claims - that he was once substituted by Gordon Banks. Allegedly at the time of his removal Bill’s team were winning 4-1 and by the end it was 4-4. Bill clings on to the notion that he was a better goalie than Gordon! Another of his claims is that funnily enough he once played five a side against George Eastham, his job was to mark him,  Bill’s team lost 6-0, George scored a couple and made the rest. Unsurprisingly Bill never once got the ball from him!

Michael O’Neil, who was appointed in November 2019 when they were bottom of the league, has been rebuilding and getting rid of lots of players in the process. Does that sound familiar? At the end of last season they said goodbye a few times as they cleared the decks for squad rebuilding. Among the former Potters are Jack Butland, Mame Diouf, Mo Sankoh and Julien Ngoy.

O’Neil’s philosophy also rings a bell, he has said: ‘Having more people out of the team than in it is what really challenges your culture. More players have left than have come in and we put a real focus on the types of people we want, not just what they are as players.’

When he arrived he was hamstrung by the players bought in by previous managers and administrators, many of their fans have pointed out that the club has been mismanaged for quite a while. As one noted ‘Hughes's first couple of seasons were OK until he ripped the heart and soul out of the team, since then it's been a comedy of errors with expensive garbage coming through the door along with idealistic managers with an open cheque book. O’Neil has come in and has been shackled by FFP. He is giving youth a go (Josh Tymon especially) and with the likes of Fletcher, Vranic and Allen the old heads are providing experience.

Stoke snippets

• Stoke once had a vicar patrolling midfield. Father Elijah Smith took off his cassock to play for the Potters in the 1880s. The half-back, who was in charge of a church in Stoke, starred in the club's first ever league win, over Notts County.
• The Potters finished bottom of Football League in its inaugural season, and again the following year before they failed to be re-elected in 1890.
• Stoke are responsible for the penalty kick. The Potters had reason to gripe when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Notts County in 1891. They were piling on the pressure in search of an equaliser when Notts defender Jack Hendry punched away a goal-bound shot. Stoke were given a free-kick but the opponents stacked 11 men on their own line and blocked any shot. Referee John Lewis thought this wasn't fair so campaigned to introduce the penalty kick when he became a football legislator.
• The most capped player to have played for the club is goalkeeper Gordon Banks – with 73 caps for England.
• Sir Stanley Matthews holds the record for the oldest ever player to feature in England’s top division. His appearance for Stoke City against Fulham in February 1965 came shortly after his 50th birthday.
• The club’s only major trophy to date was the League Cup, which they won in 1972 after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final. They also lifted the Football League Trophy in 1992 and 2000.
• The Oatcake was their fanzine, which was named after a local delicacy. It ran for over 30 years before publishing its 653rd and final issue for the opening Championship game against QPR in August 2019.

Hot on the heels of an improved home performance on Saturday, especially in the first half, it will be interesting to see if tonight we can start to build a bit of concentration, confidence and consistency. I lost count of how many times Curtis Fleming used the word ‘consistency’ in his press-match presser. In fact I reckon when NP asked him to do the presser he added see if you can make a point about a decent 45 minutes being just that and stress it is something we need to build on. Curtis then contrived to communicate by continually and consistently chatting about being consistent!

Matty James, George Tanner and Andy King are all unavailable so the squad is likely to be unchanged, although NP may make some tweaks to the starting line-up.

 

[054123]

What a read!

Thank you!

Bristol City 1-2 Stoke City

Lets see if we can continue the positive traits of Saturday.

Edited November 24, 2021 by 054123

[FNQ]

Great write up.. thanks.

not sure what CF is going on about, we’ve been consistent all season at home

2-1 to us.. on the telly here in Aus. COYR’s

[Waconda]

Continue the selection, coaching, organisation, tactics, formation and intensity shown on Saturday and we will at least be competitive.

1-1 again for me.

If we slip back into the disorganised shambles of previous weeks/months then a 0-3 defeat.

[Jerseybean]

20 minutes ago, FNQ said:

Great write up.. thanks.

not sure what CF is going on about, we’ve been consistent all season at home

2-1 to us.. on the telly here in Aus. COYR’s

FNQ which channel is it on in Oz? Bill who I mentioned in the MDT is in Perth and didn’t think he could get it live on TV 

[redysteadygo]

To us old un's there are some great players named there especially Stanley Mathews who helped Stoke to the Second Division in 1933 and 1963 That's 30 years apart. Inconceivable now.

[Frenchay Red]

49 minutes ago, Jerseybean said:

FNQ which channel is it on in Oz? Bill who I mentioned in the MDT is in Perth and didn’t think he could get it live on TV 

Bein 1 sports

[Red Army 75]

I thought I heard GT say on Monday night they only had 37% possession against Peterborough. We may have a bit more of the ball tonight so we really need to use it well. Tough game tonight 

[Redrascal2]

When I think of Stoke versus City, I remember  two of my favourite goals. A Matt Bryant screamer at the Gate and a Tinnion special at Stoke. It would be great to have one of those type of goals tonight. COYR

[DownendStokie]

Morning all. Local Stoke fan here. Looking forward to the game tonight but not feeling particularly confident. Our last 3 results have looked good on paper but the performances (esp against Peterborough on Saturday) haven't quite matched them. Harry Souttar and Nick Powell are huge misses for us but we do have Vrancic who is playing really well and Tyrese Campbell who is getting back to match fitness after a long layoff due to injury.

winning 4 in a row isn’t a very “Stoke” thing to do so I’m expecting a draw at best. Hoping for a bit of entertainment to take my mind off the cold!

Good luck.

Edited November 24, 2021 by DownendStokie

[FNQ]

1 hour ago, Jerseybean said:

FNQ which channel is it on in Oz? Bill who I mentioned in the MDT is in Perth and didn’t think he could get it live on TV 

Hey mate.. BEIN Sports. ( via Foxtel)

Cheers

[Red7]

I know it's on Sky Sports Main Event, but is it also on the red button? Asking for a friend.

[Selred]

3 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

George Tanner

Are we sure he's out? He's been the face used on social media to promote the game so perhaps he's fit?

[Finley_Smith10]

0-2 Stoke. They’re decent and that Campbell up top for them is a handful

[Waconda]

4 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Out for a few weeks apparently

Changes in formation and tactics should be as minimal as possible following Saturday.

[Finley_Smith10]

Would like to see this today;

Bentley

Kalas Atkinson Baker

Scott Williams Massengo Odowda

Semenyo Wells Weimann

 

What I think he’ll do;

Bentley 

Vyner Kalas Baker

Scott Bakinson Massengo Odowda

Weimann Martin Benarous

Edited November 24, 2021 by Finley_Smith10

[Waconda]

4 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Yep. Alex Scott had a good game at wing back

I really hope they stick with the new system and tactics for a period of time, there will be loses along the way but we will be competitive.

Especially as we stuck with an absolutely disastrous way of playing for months. 

[bcfc01]

32 minutes ago, DownendStokie said:

Morning all. Local Stoke fan here. Looking forward to the game tonight but not feeling particularly confident. Our last 3 results have looked good on paper but the performances (esp against Peterborough on Saturday) haven't quite matched them. Harry Souttar and Nick Powell are huge misses for us but we do have Vrancic who is playing really well and Tyrese Campbell who is getting back to match fitness after a long layoff due to injury.

winning 4 in a row isn’t a very “Stoke” thing to do so I’m expecting a draw at best. Hoping for a bit of entertainment to take my mind off the cold!

Good luck.

The stats for the Peterborough game are a bit surprising;

Stoke 37% possession, Posh 63%

Stoke 327 passes, Posh 550

Stoke 7 attempts, Posh 14

But thats just the stats, its what you do with the ball and the most vital stat is that Stoke won 2-0 - looks like the second goal was very late into added time when Posh were all out attack.

If we can replicate the form from Saturday and maintain it for the whole game, we should win imo, but thats been the problem for a long time now - no consistency of performance. Its just as likely that we capitulate and lose 0-3.

 

[Waconda]

2 minutes ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

Would like to see this today;

Bentley

Kalas Atkinson Baker

Scott Williams Massengo Odowda

Semenyo Wells Weimann

What I think he’ll do;

Bentley 

Vyner Kalas Baker

Scott Bakinson Massengo Odowda

Weimann Martin Benarous

HNM in for Benerous would be my only change from Saturday (injuries allowing)

[Davefevs]

Tough match tonight, aren’t they all.

Stoke playing a back three (352 variant) are gonna potentially cause us the same probs that Blackburn did second half when they switched to a back three and pushed their WBs high.  Stoke’s WBs are naturally full-backs (Smith / Tymon) so will be interesting to see how high they squeeze our own WBs.

I drew some pics.  I did them in Stoke’s away kit to make it hard for @ExiledAjax…..sorry!

We can obviously go long, but if we do attempt to play out from Bentley, there are some things to overcome.  if we just allow Stoke to mark / split our CBs and we just take up standard positions then we are reliant on winning loose balls further up the pitch. (Pic 1 - ball is black circle)

If Baker and Vyner split and Smith pushes high, then we can switch to Vyner (Scott needs to drag Tymon up the pitch) or ping O’Dowda.  Risk attached, but there is for Stoke too (pic2)

If Smith stays on O’Dowda but our CBs split, then we either play out to Baker / Vyner, but if they are marked too tight, then Kalas gets the ball.  If he attracts a Stoke midfielder, then that leaves someone like Williams or Bakinson free to pick up a pass and beat the first line of their press. (Pic3)

This of course is all a bit theoretical, so will be interesting to see how things pan out on the pitch.  But I will definitely be looking at how high Smith and Tymon play.

Up top, Brown is as energetic as Weimann, but Fletcher is their equivalent of Martin.  We need to take advantage that only one is an energetic presser and try to play on the side that Fletcher takes up.

Vrancic will play in the hole, leaving Sawyers and Allen in midfield.  Allen is busy, but Sawyers, nor Vrancic and great “trackers” and we must try to exploit that with energy in our “midfield three”.  I’m not saying don’t play Bakinson, but if ever there was a game to sit in the LS and just watch Sawyers, tonight would be it.  Bakinson could learn a lot….hopefully he’s been watching video clips.

Hoping to see more of what I saw first half and last 10-15 on Saturday.

[22A]

Their fans have posted some negative views ahead of tonight's game; players are out, the formation is wrong, regulation defeat etc.

https://oatcakefanzine.proboards.com/thread/302392/bristol-city-stoke

 

[Davefevs]

11 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

The stats for the Peterborough game are a bit surprising;

Stoke 37% possession, Posh 63%

Stoke 327 passes, Posh 550

Stoke 7 attempts, Posh 14

But thats just the stats, its what you do with the ball and the most vital stat is that Stoke won 2-0 - looks like the second goal was very late into added time when Posh were all out attack.

If we can replicate the form from Saturday and maintain it for the whole game, we should win imo, but thats been the problem for a long time now - no consistency of performance. Its just as likely that we capitulate and lose 0-3.

 

Typical possession stats for a team that score early on and then are comfy to let the other team have it in their own half.

Posh shots predominately long, just one on target….of the shots not shown on here, 5 were blocked.

Stoke are a 50.4% possession team over the season.

They also are a side that pass the ball generally, but happy to mix it when required.

Edited November 24, 2021 by Davefevs

[Finley_Smith10]

16 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

HNM in for Benerous would be my only change from Saturday (injuries allowing)

Would quite like Semenyo to be involved. Just think he adds abit of Pace to the team. But yeah if HNM comes in I guess Bakinson plays abit more advanced 

[ExiledAjax]

16 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I drew some pics.  I did them in Stoke’s away kit to make it hard for @ExiledAjax…..sorry!

Well that's someone off the Christmas card list.

Jokes aside, kits will be tough tonight. Red v green under the lights. Not good. With it on Sky as well I'm hoping there will be a bit of noise on social media. 

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, ExiledAjax said:

Well that's someone off the Christmas card list.

Jokes aside, kits will be tough tonight. Red v green under the lights. Not good. With it on Sky as well I'm hoping there will be a bit of noise on social media. 

Just DMd you

[Rossi the Robin]

Great match day post
I look like Tom Hanks on Castaway after reading all that 

[ooRya]

No need to change anything (please!), first half against Blackburn was the most enjoyable we've played at home for a looooooooooooooong time.

[ralphindevon]

That difficult time of the season for me with myself in the home end and my wife in the away end.

For matrimonial peace a draw is always a good result. A thrashing by one team doesn’t lead to arguments but a narrow, maybe underserved win by either team will lead to a difficult journey back down the M5………but if it was in our favour I’d take it

COYR

[Kodjias Wrist]

7 minutes ago, TomF said:

That Stoke game in 2008 still hurts.  I think it was the TV game at 5pm and we'd stood in the away end delirious with how the 3pm results had gone.  2nd place was there on a plate for whoever won the game.   First half we simply didn't deal with Ameobi.  Second half we threw everything at them and probably should have come home with a point.

Still hate Stoke for the 'we'll never play you again' chats at full time.  Tossers. 

I remember before that game there was an evening post headline quoting "2 more wins and we are up" before facing a struggling Southampton and an average Wolves. We lost then drew and then had stoke up next which was a game we needed to get at least a point put obviously flopped it.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Kodjias Wrist said:

I remember before that game there was an evening post headline quoting "2 more wins and we are up" before facing a struggling Southampton and an average Wolves. We lost then drew and then had stoke up next which was a game we needed to get at least a point put obviously flopped it.

This is the Bristol City we know and love!  Every bloody time!!!

[Simon bristol]

1 hour ago, DownendStokie said:

Morning all. Local Stoke fan here. Looking forward to the game tonight but not feeling particularly confident. Our last 3 results have looked good on paper but the performances (esp against Peterborough on Saturday) haven't quite matched them. Harry Souttar and Nick Powell are huge misses for us but we do have Vrancic who is playing really well and Tyrese Campbell who is getting back to match fitness after a long layoff due to injury.

winning 4 in a row isn’t a very “Stoke” thing to do so I’m expecting a draw at best. Hoping for a bit of entertainment to take my mind off the cold!

Good luck.

My mrs is a stokie, not far from longton tesco, and i split my time between there and bristol…. Im dreading this game,,, i just cant see anyway we will win, which gives her plenty of opportunity for giving me grief!

[kiwicolin]

We are not there tonight but will be watching on sky . COYR COYR 

[ralphindevon]

47 minutes ago, TomF said:

That Stoke game in 2008 still hurts.  I think it was the TV game at 5pm and we'd stood in the away end delirious with how the 3pm results had gone.  2nd place was there on a plate for whoever won the game.   First half we simply didn't deal with Ameobi.  Second half we threw everything at them and probably should have come home with a point.

Still hate Stoke for the 'we'll never play you again' chats at full time.  Tossers. 

That was a downer that’s been hard to recover from.

It wasn’t Ameobi though. Sidibie scored 2 I think and Ricardo Fuller who also caused us grief all game.

[Mr Popodopolous]

I know 3-5-2 worked well Saturday but- yes it's tempting to tinker and yet break it- but 4-3-3 could keep the 3 v 3 in CM and pin back/overload on their wingbacks. Then again don't change the setup from a good match, which Saturday was.

I know Martin is a key part of how we play but wonder if for some games when all fit etc, Weimann central, Semenyo wide right and O'Dowda wide left could be one option. There's a certain symmetry to that albeit not perfect. On balance probably best to stick with this but I still have some reservations about 3-5-2.

[PHILINFRANCE]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Tough match tonight, aren’t they all.

Stoke playing a back three (352 variant) are gonna potentially cause us the same probs that Blackburn did second half when they switched to a back three and pushed their WBs high.  Stoke’s WBs are naturally full-backs (Smith / Tymon) so will be interesting to see how high they squeeze our own WBs.

I drew some pics.  I did them in Stoke’s away kit to make it hard for @ExiledAjax…..sorry!

We can obviously go long, but if we do attempt to play out from Bentley, there are some things to overcome.  if we just allow Stoke to mark / split our CBs and we just take up standard positions then we are reliant on winning loose balls further up the pitch. (Pic 1 - ball is black circle)

 

An excellent post Dave, as ever, although I must say it was all a bit too complicated for me, hence the reason I deleted your written tactical explanations when responding.

I prefer to think of football as a simple game and, not that I am suggesting this applies to you  , but, as the late, great Brian Clough once said:

'Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes.'

Anyway, on the subject of players rather than tactics being important, and I suppose this is what prompted me to post, I couldn't help but notice that the City team in your diagram appears to have only ten players.

Do you think it might help if we used eleven players like our opponents?    

[HappyClapper]

2 hours ago, ralphindevon said:

That difficult time of the season for me with myself in the home end and my wife in the away end.

For matrimonial peace a draw is always a good result. A thrashing by one team doesn’t lead to arguments but a narrow, maybe underserved win by either team will lead to a difficult journey back down the M5………but if it was in our favour I’d take it

COYR

Very magnanimous of you Ralph. She’s lucky to have you.

[maxjak]

6 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

Good day fellow-Reds. Stoke City under the Bristol sky tonight at 745 pm and it’s the main match on Sky so is not on Robins TV. If you want to get to the Gate and cheer on the boys: https://tickets.bristol-sport.co.uk/categories/bristolcityfchome?

The first visit to Ashton Gate for Dean Holden since his departure, I’m sure he will be given a decent reception. As Michael O’Neil pointed out in his presser ‘We know their squad quite well. Obviously Dean Holden was there last season so we have good knowledge on the players.’

Who remembers Stoke City 2 Bristol City 1, April 19th, 2008? For those who don’t take a look here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7344104.stm

Stoke subsequently secured promotion by finishing in second place (behind WBA) and Gary Johnson said after the game that  ‘Some people are naturally disappointed because it looks as though automatic promotion is unlikely. What we must do now is make sure we are in the play-offs and then give it our best shot if that is the case.’

The Britannia was rocking that day and the City faithful never once dropped their voices below an audibly magnificent level. As they say, the rest is history, for any young uns who don’t know what I’m talking about read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7416502.stm

Here are the final league places at the end of the 2007/08 season:

1 West Bromwich Albion 

2 Stoke City (P)

3 Hull City 

4 Bristol City

5 Crystal Palace

6 Watford

My Australian mate Bill is a big Stoke fan, his pre-match comments follow:

‘Be afraid, be very afraid. Your home record is the worst in the four English leagues, possibly every league and our last two alway games were wins and against teams with good home records, Luton and Blackpool. Plus we have our star striker Tyrese Campbell back from long-term injury and in Jacob Brown we have a young, in-form striker who has just won his first Scottish cap.

I also have the delightful memory of a few seasons back (2018) when we thrashed you 1-0 at Ashton Gate thanks to the last ever league goal from Darren Fletcher! You could of course garner some hope from two critical injuries to Harry Souttar our highly rated centre half and a broken leg for Powell our truly inspirational number 10. But don’t hope too much we have excellent replacements and you can’t even beat average sides with 10 men.  So I think it’s going to be another 1-0 thrashing!! Oh and it’s been 10 years since Stoke won four games in a row.’

Mention of Bill provides an opportunity to promote his excellent new book, which I highly recommend to anybody interested in mental health. His compelling book is provocative, humorous, touching and based on his extensive experience  of clinical psychology. It’s called  ‘What Happened?: What mental health is really about’  By Dr Bill Saunders and is available now from Amazon.

Our record against them isn’t great we’ve lost 26, won 17 and drawn 15.

Last season they finished in 14th place and against them we lost 0-2 (at home) and won 0-2 (away.)

They faced Peterborough in their last a game and won 2-0 (with the second goal coming in the 96th minute) Surridge's late red card means he won’t feature tonight, they currently occupy fifth place in the table. Tonight’s encounter will be a tough one particularly given our home form.

Form over last six matches, Bristol City: LLWLLD Stoke Cityk: LLDWWW and Stoke haven’t conceded in their last three games.

Stoke are one of the oldest English football teams and were one of the founding members of the Football League. They began as Stoke Ramblers, but have been known as Stoke City since 1925. One of the best periods for the club was between 1933 and1953, they played in the top division and managed to reach the fourth place twice. They also have a Football League Cup victory from 1972 and would reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 2011.

Some of the most famous players in the club's history are Stanley Matthews, Neil Franklin, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, Peter Dobing, George Eastham, Peter McIlroy, Denis Smith, Harry Burrows who at the time had the most powerful left foot in football, the mercurial Alan Hudson, John Ritchie  and the best player never to be capped by England, Jimmy Greenhoff.

Mention of Gordon Banks reminds me of one of many of Bill’s claims - that he was once substituted by Gordon Banks. Allegedly at the time of his removal Bill’s team were winning 4-1 and by the end it was 4-4. Bill clings on to the notion that he was a better goalie than Gordon! Another of his claims is that funnily enough he once played five a side against George Eastham, his job was to mark him,  Bill’s team lost 6-0, George scored a couple and made the rest. Unsurprisingly Bill never once got the ball from him!

Michael O’Neil, who was appointed in November 2019 when they were bottom of the league, has been rebuilding and getting rid of lots of players in the process. Does that sound familiar? At the end of last season they said goodbye a few times as they cleared the decks for squad rebuilding. Among the former Potters are Jack Butland, Mame Diouf, Mo Sankoh and Julien Ngoy.

O’Neil’s philosophy also rings a bell, he has said: ‘Having more people out of the team than in it is what really challenges your culture. More players have left than have come in and we put a real focus on the types of people we want, not just what they are as players.’

When he arrived he was hamstrung by the players bought in by previous managers and administrators, many of their fans have pointed out that the club has been mismanaged for quite a while. As one noted ‘Hughes's first couple of seasons were OK until he ripped the heart and soul out of the team, since then it's been a comedy of errors with expensive garbage coming through the door along with idealistic managers with an open cheque book. O’Neil has come in and has been shackled by FFP. He is giving youth a go (Josh Tymon especially) and with the likes of Fletcher, Vranic and Allen the old heads are providing experience.

Stoke snippets

• Stoke once had a vicar patrolling midfield. Father Elijah Smith took off his cassock to play for the Potters in the 1880s. The half-back, who was in charge of a church in Stoke, starred in the club's first ever league win, over Notts County.
• The Potters finished bottom of Football League in its inaugural season, and again the following year before they failed to be re-elected in 1890.
• Stoke are responsible for the penalty kick. The Potters had reason to gripe when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Notts County in 1891. They were piling on the pressure in search of an equaliser when Notts defender Jack Hendry punched away a goal-bound shot. Stoke were given a free-kick but the opponents stacked 11 men on their own line and blocked any shot. Referee John Lewis thought this wasn't fair so campaigned to introduce the penalty kick when he became a football legislator.
• The most capped player to have played for the club is goalkeeper Gordon Banks – with 73 caps for England.
• Sir Stanley Matthews holds the record for the oldest ever player to feature in England’s top division. His appearance for Stoke City against Fulham in February 1965 came shortly after his 50th birthday.
• The club’s only major trophy to date was the League Cup, which they won in 1972 after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final. They also lifted the Football League Trophy in 1992 and 2000.
• The Oatcake was their fanzine, which was named after a local delicacy. It ran for over 30 years before publishing its 653rd and final issue for the opening Championship game against QPR in August 2019.

Hot on the heels of an improved home performance on Saturday, especially in the first half, it will be interesting to see if tonight we can start to build a bit of concentration, confidence and consistency. I lost count of how many times Curtis Fleming used the word ‘consistency’ in his press-match presser. In fact I reckon when NP asked him to do the presser he added see if you can make a point about a decent 45 minutes being just that and stress it is something we need to build on. Curtis then contrived to communicate by continually and consistently chatting about being consistent!

Matty James, George Tanner and Andy King are all unavailable so the squad is likely to be unchanged, although NP may make some tweaks to the starting line-up.

 

Would you mind telling your Aussie mate Bill............to take a prawn off the Barbie, and stuff it right up his *******.   

[Davefevs]

48 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I know 3-5-2 worked well Saturday but- yes it's tempting to tinker and yet break it- but 4-3-3 could keep the 3 v 3 in CM and pin back/overload on their wingbacks. Then again don't change the setup from a good match, which Saturday was.

I know Martin is a key part of how we play but wonder if for some games when all fit etc, Weimann central, Semenyo wide right and O'Dowda wide left could be one option. There's a certain symmetry to that albeit not perfect. On balance probably best to stick with this but I still have some reservations about 3-5-2.

It’s fine balancing up the 3v3 in CM, but then your big decision is how do your front 3 press press either their back 3 or their back 5?  On the flip how do your back 4 mark their 2.

Basically you have imbalances / pros and cons depending how you decide to handle it, which leads me to….

22 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

'Players lose you games, not tactics.

Amen Brother Phillipé. I think of it as something like 70% players / 30% tactics / formation.

My pics are just detailing potential match scenarios and trying to explain why sometimes we go long, or don’t play passing football from the back that so many want.

[PHILINFRANCE]

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Amen Brother Phillipé. I think of it as something like 70% players / 30% tactics / formation.

My pics are just detailing potential match scenarios and trying to explain why sometimes we go long, or don’t play passing football from the back that so many want.

To clarify, just in case any clarification is needed, the point of my post was not to criticise your diagrams or tactical explanations, far from it, but, rather, was simply to highlight, in what I hoped was an amusing manner, the fact that the City team in your diagram only had ten players.

I could have simply posted 'Do you think we might do better with eleven players?', but I thought I would add some sarcasm and, very much tongue in cheek, make reference to Brian Clough's quote about tactics.

   

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

It’s fine balancing up the 3v3 in CM, but then your big decision is how do your front 3 press press either their back 3 or their back 5?  On the flip how do your back 4 mark their 2.

Basically you have imbalances / pros and cons depending how you decide to handle it, which leads me to….

Amen Brother Phillipé. I think of it as something like 70% players / 30% tactics / formation.

My pics are just detailing potential match scenarios and trying to explain why sometimes we go long, or don’t play passing football from the back that so many want.

I personally think 4-3-3 can be the perfect modern formation. Can be used both offensively, or tiki taka wise and then of course more pragmatically- see Cardiff under Warnock for the latter. I have a personal preference/leaning towards a fair amount of possession probably influences my thinking.

3 vs 3 in CM. Yes good point...my thinking was 2 CBs pick up 2 strikers from a defensive POV, 2 v 2...You can perhaps pin back their back 3 into a back 5 because full backs and wingers/wide men combine to overload 2 v 1...of course a problem then is 1 striker vs 3 CBs but that too can create an issue for a defensive side, spare men etc.. Ideally the wide men would be of the modern types who can drift in and out rather than conventional wingers- 3-5-2 vs that shape could cause the 3-5-2 side a lot of issues IMO. Also forgot to add if pinned back, a huge outlet- perhaps the key outlet is lost and maybe CBs need to come across to help cover- thereby unbalancing them centrally.

Overlapping CBs- in a 3-5-2/3-4-3- very unusual but that too can counteract the being pinned back and unbalanced etc.

Edited November 24, 2021 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

26 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

To clarify, just in case any clarification is needed, the point of my post was not to criticise your diagrams or tactical explanations, far from it, but, rather, was simply to highlight, in what I hoped was an amusing manner, the fact that the City team in your diagram only had ten players.

I could have simply posted 'Do you think we might do better with eleven players?', but I thought I would add some sarcasm and, very much tongue in cheek, make reference to Brian Clough's quote about tactics.

   

I noticed that earlier and went to edit it with the right picture, but OTIB went down.  Bloody Bakinson - gone hiding again!

 

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I noticed that earlier and went to edit it with the right picture, but OTIB went down.  Bloody Bakinson - gone hiding again!

 

I've studied this very carefully and I think the ball is coloured black and in the right hand side penalty area with an arrow pointed in its general location. After seasons of trying to understand stats- I'm finally getting there.

 

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

I've studied this very carefully and I think the ball is coloured black and in the right hand side penalty area with an arrow pointed in its general location. After seasons of trying to understand stats- I'm finally getting there.

 

@ExiledAjax has provided feedback on how he wants me to colour-in my blobs

[Marina's Rolls Royce]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

@ExiledAjax has provided feedback on how he wants me to colour-in my blobs

If I'd known you did requests.........

[ExiledAjax]

8 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

If I'd known you did requests.........

No, no, Dave does special requests only. They have to be related to his blobs.

[Norn Iron]

4 hours ago, Simon bristol said:

My mrs is a stokie, not far from longton tesco, and i split my time between there and bristol…. Im dreading this game,,, i just cant see anyway we will win, which gives her plenty of opportunity for giving me grief!

Blurton? We lived there for a few years. Our son was born in Stoke. I've done my best to make him a City fan. To avoid being bullied at Primary school over here in Norn Iron, he started to support the local team ie Man Utd..

Several chats later, he said he'd follow his birthplace team of Stoke.

The last time we played at the Bet 365 with a crowd allowed in, he was sitting with Stoke friends. I was in the away end. We won. Was I feeling the slightest bit sorry for him? Was I 'eck!

4 hours ago, ralphindevon said:

That difficult time of the season for me with myself in the home end and my wife in the away end.

For matrimonial peace a draw is always a good result. A thrashing by one team doesn’t lead to arguments but a narrow, maybe underserved win by either team will lead to a difficult journey back down the M5………but if it was in our favour I’d take it

COYR

I suppose the wife scenario is different from having a Stokie son!

 

See you all at Bet 365 for the Good Friday return fixture! Accommodation already sorted.  

[marmite]

Genuinely asking for a friend.  Can you buy tickets at the ground tonight , home tickets obvs. 

[DownendStokie]

7 minutes ago, Norn Iron said:

Blurton? We lived there for a few years. Our son was born in Stoke. I've done my best to make him a City fan. To avoid being bullied at Primary school over here in Norn Iron, he started to support the local team ie Man Utd..

Several chats later, he said he'd follow his birthplace team of Stoke.

The last time we played at the Bet 365 with a crowd allowed in, he was sitting with Stoke friends. I was in the away end. We won. Was I feeling the slightest bit sorry for him? Was I 'eck!

I suppose the wife scenario is different from having a Stokie son!

 

See you all at Bet 365 for the Good Friday return fixture! Accommodation already sorted.  

More Meir than Blurton.

I have a mate from school coming over from Bath for the game. He's been bringing up his 15yo son up on rugby until now but his son has decided he wants to be a Stoke fan so it’s his first game tonight.

[ExiledAjax]

5 minutes ago, marmite said:

Genuinely asking for a friend.  Can you buy tickets at the ground tonight , home tickets obvs. 

Not 100% sure if this means online or at the ground, but the match preview article says the following.

"Tickets remain on sale for Wednesday evening's fixture in BS3 with tickets available to purchase up until kick-off (7.45pm)"

https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/mansionbet-match-preview-stoke-city-h/

Ticket FAQS on the OS says: "Tickets cannot be purchased at the ground during the week but can be purchased on a matchday at the matchday ticket office subject to availability"

To me this is a yes, but if you want to be 100% certain then you or your friend could try calling – 0117 963 0600 option 1

 

[weepywall]

17 minutes ago, marmite said:

Genuinely asking for a friend.  Can you buy tickets at the ground tonight , home tickets obvs. 

Yes.

[Slippin cider]

Is it on the red button? 

[petehinton]

5 hours ago, TomF said:

That Stoke game in 2008 still hurts.  I think it was the TV game at 5pm and we'd stood in the away end delirious with how the 3pm results had gone.  2nd place was there on a plate for whoever won the game.   First half we simply didn't deal with Ameobi.  Second half we threw everything at them and probably should have come home with a point.

Still hate Stoke for the 'we'll never play you again' chats at full time.  Tossers. 

Would’ve finished 2nd if we’d have won that game and had the same results either side iirc

[Norn Iron]

9 minutes ago, Slippin cider said:

Is it on the red button? 

Sky Sports proper channel.

[Son of Fred]

6 hours ago, Finley_Smith10 said:

Would like to see this today;

Bentley

Kalas Atkinson Baker

Scott Williams Massengo Odowda

Semenyo Wells Weimann

 

What I think he’ll do;

Bentley 

Vyner Kalas Baker

Scott Bakinson Massengo Odowda

Weimann Martin Benarous

                        Bentley 

    Kalas.        Atkinson         Baker.

Scott. Williams. Massengo. O'dowda.

       Weimann.               Benarous

                          Wells.

 

[DaveF]

I expect the only change to be Massengo in for Benarous. 

[Davefevs]

Would not surprise me that if there were no niggles from Saturday if he went unchanged.

If you were looking to make changes:

Bakinson - either James or Massengo

Benarous - Massengo

Martin - either Wells or Semenyo

Saturday was something to build from, assuming same 18 we suddenly looked stronger.

[Simon bristol]

41 minutes ago, DownendStokie said:

More Meir than Blurton.

I have a mate from school coming over from Bath for the game. He's been bringing up his 15yo son up on rugby until now but his son has decided he wants to be a Stoke fan so it’s his first game tonight.

My other half is lightwood, bit closer to tesco than mier. Well i suspect the 15 year old will get to see a few goals for his team later!

[pongo88]

1 hour ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

I've studied this very carefully and I think the ball is coloured black and in the right hand side penalty area with an arrow pointed in its general location. After seasons of trying to understand stats- I'm finally getting there.

 

I assume the arrows indicate the direction of the wind? It seems to swirl around in random directions 

[Garland-sweden]

Think and hope for a win. Last game showed something good and think we can build on that. COD to score again would be nice. 2-1 City COYR

[robin_unreliant]

Are we gonna play Williams three times in a week? Much as I want him to play I hope they don't put too much pressure on him and he ends up injured again. If James might be back by the weekend I guess we could plan to rest him then. 

[ExiledAjax]

10 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I'm not at the game so is it ONLY on Sky Sports?

RobinsTV never shows the games that get selected for main Sky channels.

It might be available if you look around a bit, but Sky will be the only official/legal way to watch.

[Will Rollason]

16 minutes ago, TomF said:

Wouldn’t surprise me if Massengo starts and Williams on bench.  We’ve surely got to manage him slightly as won’t be fully match fit 

We're already getting a bit reliant on him and what he brings. 

How's Matty James doing is he match fit?

[ExiledAjax]

Red v Green. Just like @Davefevs blobs.

Any colourblind fans that have problems tonight, please DM me or if you're on twitter then let the Clubs know and include the Colour Blind Awareness Organisation. 

@colourblindorg

 

Edited November 24, 2021 by ExiledAjax

[Davefevs]

46 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

I'm not at the game so is it ONLY on Sky Sports?

As it’s televised, I’m sure it’ll make it onto a stream somewhere!

[GlastonburyRed]

Unchanged

[Henry]

Unchanged

Just now, GlastonburyRed said:

Unchanged

[Lanterne Rouge]

Is Surridge suspended or did he appeal his (admittedly harsh) red from Saturday?

[Crackers Corner]

2 minutes ago, TomF said:

Would maybe liked to have seen Wells in for Martin at least but maybe we’ve got that for last 30 if we’re still in the game. 

I thought martin looked decent Saturday but wells does need a run of games

[ashton_fan]

1 hour ago, ExiledAjax said:

RobinsTV never shows the games that get selected for main Sky channels.

It might be available if you look around a bit, but Sky will be the only official/legal way to watch.

You can get a sky day pass on NowTV for a tenner if you have access to the app on your TV, IE same cost as Robins tv

[Ivorguy]

Great to be unchanged so as a level of consistency can hopefully be built.

COYR