Stoke City at home match thread

[Numero Uno]

2 minutes ago, italian dave said:

And I think the alternative view raises questions about how they’re managed too. 

I’m not “anti” any City manager. But I’m f###ing angry after that pile of shite today. And bizarre comments in uncomfortable interviews don’t help. 

You have a right to be angry after that tbh. Today was a gift wrapped opportunity to get three points and give ourselves a little bit of breathing space and we totally blew it. Stoke we’re there for the taking and we went down with a whimper bar 15 minutes first half. Scott massively disappointed me today. These are the games to show what you’ve got, to make the difference if you are a Premier League player in all but name and the kid didn’t do it in any part of the pitch that mattered.

[Out of his pie crust]

Put us at 50/50 to stay up. Hopefully comes up heads

[Offside]

Yet another game where we contrived to lose against poor opposition without making them really work for it. Our defending for their goals was so soft. 

We were lacklustre for a lot of the game,  but once we got ahead we should have won. 

[Redrascal2]

14 minutes ago, bexhill reds said:

Get your point about young and upcoming managers, we recently had 2 of those, but it is a massive punt and at the time Pearson was appointed we perhaps needed an experienced head to calm things down and steady the ship. If we were going to change then it should have been at the start of the WC break, I’m not sure a change so soon to the start of the transfer window makes sense, there are obviously some plans made, for me he’s got this window and until the end of the season, unless form totally drops away and we go into free fall.

What is the saying about you keep doing the same thing and expect different results. How many times have we said a team were there for the taking or they were a poor team. But we still keep losing to these teams. If Pearson is not up to the job he should go. Why give him another window to keep producing the same rubbish.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Thought we performed significantly better vs Watford and Sheffield United at home.

Was it just me or did everything seem a bit flat today? Performance, the crowd. Vs Watford was genuinely quite impressed with both, we even scored first today and had little spells in 1st half. Ultimately though we were not good enough although perhaps still didn't deserve to lose.

[winsaw]

For me the biggest worry from today is the managers comments on radio Bristol after the game, he seams to have fallen out with a number of players as he said they are a number he can't trust, this is stopping him picking his best team, and cost us the came today as he wouldn't pick a fit center back , this is not good at all 

[redsquirrel]

1 minute ago, winsaw said:

For me the biggest worry from today is the managers comments on radio Bristol after the game, he seams to have fallen out with a number of players as he said they are a number he can't trust, this is stopping him picking his best team, and cost us the came today as he wouldn't pick a fit center back , this is not good at all 

why doesnt he start the ones he 'cant trust'  and hook them off after 15mins if they arent performing, players must have some sort of agreement in contract to play to their best ability, if they dont turn up,breach of contract and bin them out or dock wages

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 hours ago, Ska Junkie said:

Not a great deal to be positive about today NR.

I'm not one to ask for the Manager's head but strong questions need to be asked now. It was a terrible 'performance'.

We could be in trouble, sadly.

Terrible performance? Nah. 

Once again it was a performance that should have seen us take the 3 points. But yet again we lost. 

2 hours ago, Bazooka Joe said:

At that very moment Stoke knew they had won the game.

And our long-suffering fans knew it was time to head off home.

 

Bizarre cos we had one or two very good chances after he came on. 

[redysteadygo]

37 minutes ago, Dan Robin said:

They can say what they want, but the reality is that their teams have gained points also  from penalties, red cards, offside decisions, etc. whereas our team simply CAN'T.  Surely other teams make defensive mistakes too or fail to score, but our errors are more costly because we have to do more than others.

The players and Pearson's weaknesses are a different matter, and DON'T JUSTIFY referees behaviour and the constant decisions against us. 

39 minutes ago, Dan Robin said:

They can say what they want, but the reality is that their teams have gained points also  from penalties, red cards, offside decisions, etc. whereas our team simply CAN'T.  Surely other teams make defensive mistakes too or fail to score, but our errors are more costly because we have to do more than others.

The players and Pearson's weaknesses are a different matter, and DON'T JUSTIFY referees behaviour and the constant decisions against us. 

Only a naif/blind football supporter can think that this element is not having an impact on our results/table.

 

 

And school boy defending coupled with p*** poor distribution ( I counted 6 misplaced shortish passes and happened to look at my watch, 6 minutes played) doesn't have an impact?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ska Junkie]

7 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Terrible performance? Nah. 

All about opinions WSM, nothing wrong with differing views. I thought it was awful but totally respect your opinion.

[Dan Robin]

24 minutes ago, redysteadygo said:

And school boy defending coupled with p*** poor distribution ( I counted 6 misplaced shortish passes and happened to look at my watch, 6 minutes played) doesn't have an impact?

 

Obvously yes (a different matter = it has an impact too), but from some supporters comments/reactions it seems that refereeing is not part of a football match and doesn't count. It counts, especially if it remains unbalanced for a long period of time (more than 2 seasons), becoming even suspect.

Honestly ignoring this fact means being uninterested/superficial about something that is damaging the team and the club. It shouldn' be necessary to explain it...

Our team's inconsistency worries me, but thinking that Rotherham, Hull and co. will win/draw some matches thanks to penalties etc. whereas we won't have that possibility worry me too.

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Dan Robin

[Tim Monaghan]

I didn’t want to write this straight after the game, as I wanted to sit and reflect and not “knee jerk” into a reaction. Enough is enough for me now. I actually love Pearson, but I can’t keep defending the obvious. We are absolutely rubbish, and I don’t think we should be. IMO we’ve got a squad that is packed full of talent, but I’ve never been so bored of the football we play (maybe SOD and the last few games of the Holden reign). I can’t keep defending Pearson’s record either. Is it time for someone with fresh ideas? I think so, as it’s clearly not working with NP. I’d be sad to lose him, but we just look lost as a team and he’s had long enough now. 
 

Really didn’t want to post that, but it’s how I feel. I hope I’m wrong and he turns it around. 

[Jerseybean]

2 hours ago, Bas's perfect hattrick said:

We showed enough in parts of that match to stay up. But terrible defending again has let us down. Special mention for Pring, who had a decent match

And showed a glimpse of quality with his assist 

[Banjo Red]

3 minutes ago, Ghost Rider said:

I didn’t want to write this straight after the game, as I wanted to sit and reflect and not “knee jerk” into a reaction. Enough is enough for me now. I actually love Pearson, but I can’t keep defending the obvious. We are absolutely rubbish, and I don’t think we should be. IMO we’ve got a squad that is packed full of talent, but I’ve never been so bored of the football we play (maybe SOD and the last few games of the Holden reign). I can’t keep defending Pearson’s record either. Is it time for someone with fresh ideas? I think so, as it’s clearly not working with NP. I’d be sad to lose him, but we just look lost as a team and he’s had long enough now. 
 

Really didn’t want to post that, but it’s how I feel. I hope I’m wrong and he turns it around. 

Sadly I have to agree there has been no progression in the football being played. And publicly saying you can't trust certain players causes further issues within the camp.

[redsquirrel]

2 minutes ago, Banjo Red said:

Sadly I have to agree there has been no progression in the football being played. And publicly saying you can't trust certain players causes further issues within the camp.

if any manager said that about anyone,how could they possibly expect a player to start working his socks off knowing he isnt favoured

[Banjo Red]

Just now, redsquirrel said:

if any manager said that about anyone,how could they possibly expect a player to start working his socks off knowing he isnt favoured

Agreed

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

6 minutes ago, Ghost Rider said:

I didn’t want to write this straight after the game, as I wanted to sit and reflect and not “knee jerk” into a reaction. Enough is enough for me now. I actually love Pearson, but I can’t keep defending the obvious. We are absolutely rubbish, and I don’t think we should be. IMO we’ve got a squad that is packed full of talent, but I’ve never been so bored of the football we play (maybe SOD and the last few games of the Holden reign). I can’t keep defending Pearson’s record either. Is it time for someone with fresh ideas? I think so, as it’s clearly not working with NP. I’d be sad to lose him, but we just look lost as a team and he’s had long enough now. 
 

Really didn’t want to post that, but it’s how I feel. I hope I’m wrong and he turns it around. 

I understand where you're coming from and it's a decent reflection on our current state. Today we contrived to lose to a side that created SFA.. Its not as if we didn't have opportunities. We were unlucky with the move that ended with hitting the inside of the post but all other efforts were weak. How did Semenyo miss the free header from 6 yards in the second half. I think we'll stay up but it is liky to be touch and go. 

[bexhill reds]

31 minutes ago, Redrascal2 said:

What is the saying about you keep doing the same thing and expect different results. How many times have we said a team were there for the taking or they were a poor team. But we still keep losing to these teams. If Pearson is not up to the job he should go. Why give him another window to keep producing the same rubbish.

Because a new manager usually needs time to assess the team and bring in their own people. I suspect the club has already done all the planning and spoken to agents to determine interest / availability. 
 

There is a team in there as referenced by some of the performances this year, he has this window to resolve some of the issues, regardless of what you say about his tactics he had produced teams.

 

[Dr Balls]

1 hour ago, The Swan and Cemetery said:

Frustrating performance which think is broadly reflective of the season to date, ie frustrating rather than awful (or good). King will get blamed for the two goals, which is fair up to a point, but he was distinctly hindered, rather than helped, by his team mates, including Max who I think delivers quite a low percentage of saves from eminently saveable chances. If enough wages freed up, think a GK might be on NP’s priority list. Also think we need to get more clinical at creating good chances, we often get into good positions, but create half chances or no chances from those positions. 

With this system, I’d drop Weimann as playing him too far out of position for him to contribute effectively. And not sure he’s the ideal captain as seems to get frustrated with refs (admittedly today’s was awful), rather than try to win them over or understand what they like/don’t like. 

Overall, season to date, think we’ve seen both enough promise and enough weaknesses to think relegation is unlikely, but so is getting to the top half. Very few teams in this league are consistent, maybe only Burnley, and a lot of that is do with reasonably evenly matched teams, meaning results are often determined by an incident here or there, rather than total domination by one side or the other. Don’t really see that changing either positively or negatively for us.

Don’t drop Weimann, just don’t play him at right wing back where he is wasted. 
 

That’s one of my biggest gripes with Pearson. Too many players played out of position, in some forlorn hope that they will somehow pick up how to play there, instead of trying to forge a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. The latter is what I perceive good managers do, and that usually means playing players in their best positions, not trying to shoehorn them into some formation that doesn’t best suit the players you have.

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Dr Balls
Spelling

[robin_unreliant]

12 minutes ago, Ghost Rider said:

I didn’t want to write this straight after the game, as I wanted to sit and reflect and not “knee jerk” into a reaction. Enough is enough for me now. I actually love Pearson, but I can’t keep defending the obvious. We are absolutely rubbish, and I don’t think we should be. IMO we’ve got a squad that is packed full of talent, but I’ve never been so bored of the football we play (maybe SOD and the last few games of the Holden reign). I can’t keep defending Pearson’s record either. Is it time for someone with fresh ideas? I think so, as it’s clearly not working with NP. I’d be sad to lose him, but we just look lost as a team and he’s had long enough now. 
 

Really didn’t want to post that, but it’s how I feel. I hope I’m wrong and he turns it around. 

I was excited when NP took the job but am just starting to lose the faith. I think what concerns me most is that NP is always adamant that he isn't a coach. He says his strength is in man management and creating the right environment.

Saying he chooses people he can trust,for me, is not good man management. I accept I don't know Atkinson and Nige does. Maybe he believes this approach will work with him.

Whatever, the weaknesses to me appear to be about decision making and organisation. Putting players in their right positions who are comfortable there and instinctively know what they should do would surely help. He seems not to do this on a regular basis which is puzzling. No use motivating everyone if you then don't make best use of them.

If Nige's amazing man management skills are not what we need to sort these basic issues then maybe he is not the right man for this situation.

[hollydog]

2 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

100%. This club has needed new owners for some time 

How is SL to blame for the utter failure of our defence (whoever is selected) to do the basics week in and week out? He brought in an experienced manager who was also a highly regarded defender to address this problem (which has been an issue since we were printed) and has been let down. Down to the management team and players - not the owner.

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

100%. This club has needed new owners for some time 

What difference would a new owner make in the short to medium term- we couldn't spend anymore this season for a start. Say we are set to just about comply now, and can spend I dunno another £100k on strengthening this season to remain within FFP.

Well that would be applicable to a new owner too.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Roper]

Its time for NP to go .He does not inspire me as a fan and cannot see how he inspires the players. I also think some of the younger players may be intimidated by him .

[Super]

45 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

All about opinions WSM, nothing wrong with differing views. I thought it was awful but totally respect your opinion.

Even though he's wrong...

[GrahamC]

1 hour ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Thought we performed significantly better vs Watford and Sheffield United at home.

Was it just me or did everything seem a bit flat today? Performance, the crowd. Vs Watford was genuinely quite impressed with both, we even scored first today and had little spells in 1st half. Ultimately though we were not good enough although perhaps still didn't deserve to lose.

We did play better in those games, though I didn’t think we were worth a point today.

[GrahamC]

1 hour ago, headhunter said:

Is this not a poor indictment of Pearson managerial capability 88 games into his time as boss? The alternative view is that the players are a bunch of wasters just picking up a wage

Got anyone in mind with that comment?

I mean before he scored 22 goals in a season you used to say that Weimann just “ran around” so you must be thinking of some of them in particular?

James? King? Wells? Be interested to know.

[bcfc01]

15 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

Don’t drop Weimann, just don’t play him at right wing back where he is wasted. 
 

That’s one of my biggest gripes with Pearson. Too many players played out of position, in some forlorn hope that they will somehow pick up how to play there, instead of trying to forge a team that is greater than the sun of its parts. The latter is what I perceive good managers do, and that usually means playing players in their best positions, not trying to shoehorn them into some formation that doesn’t best suit the players you have.

 

100%

A midfielder at centre back and Weimann at wing back. We got away with it at Rotherham and possibly a couple of other games, but I'm fed up of seeing it. 

Absolutely no need for it and its to the detriment of the team.

About time he played his strongest team, not try to shoe horn certain players into the team. That means square pegs in square holes and dropping players he likes or "trusts" . If we play three at the back, select three f****** centre backs, if we have wing backs, then play f****** wing backs or at least players who can play wing back.  When things started going pear shaped, LJ used to bleat about players he can trust, that ended well and it looks like this might go the same way.

Just play the best players in their best positions ffs.

We have no option but to keep going with NP as getting rid is probably beyond the club financially. But he needs to up his game or we will be looking at a Bristol derby for the first time in decades.

 

 

[Rob k]

That was as bad as it gets today - we concede the worst goals and it’s not getting any better 

[Bristol Oil Services]

3 hours ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

I am always asked to name a new Manager so I'd like you to name a new owner please.

Ben Stokes

[Wrongagain]

Last season weimann scored for fun - this he is taking throw ins when he should be a receiving forward! This and other strange decisions is on NP’s head as is the reliance on his out of position old boys club - FFS as bad as we are playing now we could pass the gas on the way down - FFS try some man management Nigel, you of all people know how stupid some of your selections are! King was an ok stop gap defender but he is not and never was suited to that role - you talk about trust, how about you earn it?