Stoke City at home match thread

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, old_eastender said:

We lost the midfield really; James slow, Williams poor, Weimann poor after coming on. Given Naismith weak defending has cost us the 1st and contributed to the 3rd, he should be in midfield instead - perhaps when Vyner fit.

Thought Weimann looked really sharp playing left forward, lots of good bits from him.

What was Naismith’s fault on their first, was a good header back-pedalling…unfortunately Leris got a lucky bounce off of Pring and then a wonder strike.

+++++

Their strikers took Naismith out, every long ball…no attempt to play the ball at all.  Ref missed it every time.

[REDOXO]

20 minutes ago, BigTone said:

You win some and you lose some. Move on.

Oh stop it Tone! 
 

There are some here who haven’t moved on from Lee Johnson!

[tin]

46 minutes ago, OddBallJim said:

As a ST holder, who struggles to make it to away games, the biggest frustration is that under NP we have still not been able to make AG a fortress. 
 

To those who get the pleasure of watching us win on the road I salute you. But FFS I am pissed off that we can’t make more of our games at AG.

 

I don’t think the Gate will ever be a fortress. The board wanted a watered down, prawn sandwich atmosphere and that’s what they’ve got IMO.

The atmosphere affects the players. Today it should’ve been bouncing after going 2-0 up and instead it was pretty passive as usual. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Just now, tin said:

I don’t think the Gate will ever be a fortress. The board wanted a watered down, prawn sandwich atmosphere and that’s what they’ve got IMO.

The atmosphere affects the players. Today it should’ve been bouncing after going 2-0 up and instead it was pretty passive as usual. 

Was oddly passive. That is on the fans somewhat really.

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, OddBallJim said:

This. Sorry but it is absolutely criminal we have lost this game. 

I need to look at the stats a bit more closely. But initial reflections on the game are that that Stoke were presented with 3 good chances, and scored all 3. 
 

Unacceptable is the word.

Think that’s it, they had two good chances, a worldie strike (their first)…and that’s about it.

One of those days….effing annoying.

This is from sofascore showing balance of play.  It’s not perfect but a good guide to our dominance.

City (green)

Stoke (blue)

[Barrs Court Red]

4 minutes ago, tin said:

I don’t think the Gate will ever be a fortress. The board wanted a watered down, prawn sandwich atmosphere and that’s what they’ve got IMO.

The atmosphere affects the players. Today it should’ve been bouncing after going 2-0 up and instead it was pretty passive as usual. 

To be fair, half the crowd disappearing for a pint 5 mins before ht, then coming out after kick off pretty much sums up where priorities are. 

[BigTone]

8 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Oh stop it Tone! 
 

There are some here who haven’t moved on from Lee Johnson!

I'm still with Benny Lenartson.

Famously said he would throw his hat into the crowd following every win. Cost him circa £6.50 all up i think.

Edited September 30, 2023 by BigTone

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, Andy082005 said:

Not quite sure how you think it’s rare

That was a typical Bristol City performance under Pearson. So weak  

To be 2-0 up against a team that are very average - and to lose 2-3 - is completely unacceptable . Mentally weak 

I really look forward to the day Pearson moves on . 

Is the conclusion that it’s down to being weak / having weak mentality?

It’s not like we crumbled, far from it.  We defended their winner poorly.

 

[pongo88]

9 minutes ago, tin said:

I don’t think the Gate will ever be a fortress. The board wanted a watered down, prawn sandwich atmosphere and that’s what they’ve got IMO.

The atmosphere affects the players. Today it should’ve been bouncing after going 2-0 up and instead it was pretty passive as usual. 

Don’t blame the fans for the player’s’ performance 

[tin]

7 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Was oddly passive. That is on the fans somewhat really.

It always is nowadays IMO. The old Gate was far better for atmosphere. 

Listening to Paul Barber, the Brighton CEO, in the week, he mentioned making the most of the atmosphere in the ground as a key consideration. The people running our club could not give less of a shit about that IMO. It’s all about treating us as customers. 

[Lew-T]

5 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

To be fair, half the crowd disappearing for a pint 5 mins before ht, then coming out after kick off pretty much sums up where priorities are. 

I thought the crowd was decent today. Noisy from the start, the goals helped obviously.

[tin]

1 minute ago, pongo88 said:

Don’t blame the fans for the player’s’ performance 

I didn’t, Wise Old Elf! 

[Barrs Court Red]

Just now, Lew-T said:

I thought the crowd was decent today. Noisy from the start, the goals helped obviously.

I will go along with that, it was decent. There’s time though when you feel the team could do with a lift and….where’s everyone going? 

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 minutes ago, tin said:

It always is nowadays IMO. The old Gate was far better for atmosphere. 

Listening to Paul Barber, the Brighton CEO, in the week, he mentioned making the most of the atmosphere in the ground as a key consideration. The people running our club could not give less of a shit about that IMO. It’s all about treating us as customers. 

When 2 up the team had done their bit, or laid a platform at least, the place should be bouncing a bit. Think the prawn sandwich brigade point a bit broadbrush and reductive but we don't help ourselves at a club level ie away fans allocation, need a bigger Safe Standing area etc.

Ironically when pegged back the atmosphere did improve but in bursts, noisy at times quite at others 2nd half. Were fans a bit complacent maybe?

If only they did treat as customers perhaps our erstwhile PA Announcer would be upgraded- worst of all worlds eh.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[BigTone]

1 minute ago, tin said:

It always is nowadays IMO. The old Gate was far better for atmosphere. 

Listening to Paul Barber, the Brighton CEO, in the week, he mentioned making the most of the atmosphere in the ground as a key consideration. The people running our club could not give less of a shit about that IMO. It’s all about treating us as customers. 

Brighton did well today

[Lew-T]

1 minute ago, Barrs Court Red said:

I will go along with that, it was decent. There’s time though when you feel the team could do with a lift and….where’s everyone going? 

Yeah get you

 

[exAtyeoMax]

10 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

To be fair, half the crowd disappearing for a pint 5 mins before ht, then coming out after kick off pretty much sums up where priorities are. 

The card terminals were down, weren’t working, in the concourse, so caused hold ups

[redkev]

14 minutes ago, tin said:

I don’t think the Gate will ever be a fortress. The board wanted a watered down, prawn sandwich atmosphere and that’s what they’ve got IMO.

The atmosphere affects the players. Today it should’ve been bouncing after going 2-0 up and instead it was pretty passive as usual. 

It’s a double edged sword really , we should be singing and dancing in the isles so to speak after going 2 up but after the last few years of piss poor home form the fans have no confidence that we can hang onto a lead no matter how well we play , even Plymouth when we were 3-1 up with only 15 mins left to play and being pretty much in control you could sense the edginess even then . 
tbf we have played worse than today and won 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Just now, redkev said:

It’s a double edged sword really , we should be singing and dancing in the isles so to speak after going 2 up but after the last few years of piss poor home form the fans have no confidence that we can hang onto a lead no matter how well we play , even Plymouth when we were 3-1 up with only 15 mins left to play and being pretty much in control you could sense the edginess even then . 
tbf we have played worse than today and won 

The nervousness transmits to the players.and I guess vice versa, double edged sword, vicious cycle etc.

[Dan Robin]

1 hour ago, collier said:

We conceded 3 goals in those 75 from a starting position of 2-0. We scored 0 goals in those 75 and conceded 3 from a low amount of attacking pressure from Stoke. I mean what do you consider to be classed as weak? We had about 7% more possession over 90 mins and 1 more shot on target over the 90, again this includes the 2-0 headstart. IMO we were weak because we lost at home to a side in terrible form from a massive winning position.

Stats (not all reliable I'd say) are one thing, watching how the teams play is another one.

How many times/minutes did Stoke really caused us trouble? I can think at last minutes of the first half, beginning of the second half, last minutes of the second half (and this "low amount of attacking threat" was partly our merit). All the rest, was Bristol City possession and chances/half chances created...so hardly an even game.

Did we play far better than them in the first half? Surely yes, and their out-of-nowhere eurogoal doesnt change it. In the second half, did the subs brought us back on top or were uneffective? Yes, the changes had a positive effect and we started dominating the game again.  We couldn't capitalize the superiority so you could say we were "wasteful" (a bit of a habit, I'd say) but I think "weak" is quite unfair and doesn't really reflect our performance, except - like I said - our defending for their two second-half goals.

Unfortunately sometimes the opposition team play quite badly/produces almost nothing but somehow find the net, whereas your team play far better but can't score enough: that's what happened today.

Clearly we could have done better...but personally despite the disappointment for the result, I see more positive than negatives today. It can sound weird, BUT...

Edited September 30, 2023 by Dan Robin

[Shuffle]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Thought Weimann looked really sharp playing left forward, lots of good bits from him.

What was Naismith’s fault on their first, was a good header back-pedalling…unfortunately Leris got a lucky bounce off of Pring and then a wonder strike.

+++++

Their strikers took Naismith out, every long ball…no attempt to play the ball at all.  Ref missed it every time.

I have no issue with Weimann coming on as a 10 or advanced 8 but not as a left sided attacker.  He did well to play in TGH when he took a ridiculous first time shot and worked hard to keep ball in play but struggling to think of anything else that stood out.  Flip side he hesitated in mix up with Max that could have been a pen and sat on the floor pleading for a foul that wasn’t as players from Stoke were pouring forward.  Still protesting with ref after Stoke winner.

Just watched third back & watch Naismith recovery run after missing header he just walks.  Prings header puts us under big pressure and again we don’t track runs and leave a tap in for their sub.  It came from their goal kick and was a shit show. 
 

What I’m puzzled over is how the hell do we get Memehti back firing as looked really good when signed.  At a time where money is tight we need to find a way to get our £1m signing on the grass. I know his decision making is suspect but he must feel lower than a snakes belly seeing Weimann/Bell in front of him. I’m not saying he deserves a start but seems not to be trusted.

[redkev]

1 minute ago, exAtyeoMax said:

The card terminals were down, weren’t working, in the concourse, so caused hold ups

 

6 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

When 2 up the team habe come their bit, or laid a platform at least a place should be blinding a bit. Think the prawn sandwich brigade point a bit broadnrush and reductive but we don't help ourselves.

Ironically when pegged back the atmosphere did improve but in bursts, noisy at times quite at others 2nd half. Were fans a bit complacent maybe?

4 or 5 years of piss poor form at home doesn’t help the cause of getting a good atmosphere mind 

[redkev]

2 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

The nervousness transmits to the players.and I guess vice versa, double edged sword, vicious cycle etc.

The minute they made it 2-1 my alarm bells were ringing , it’s just how it’s been for a while now 

[Slippin cider]

26 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Oh stop it Tone! 
 

There are some here who haven’t moved on from Lee Johnson!

Not for me ……in Johnson we trust! ….

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, redkev said:

The minute they made it 2-1 my alarm bells were ringing , it’s just how it’s been for a while now 

Yeah I get that. Even that notwithstanding we certainly didn't deserve the loss today, was infuriating really. Stoke's first goal was a great strike tbh but we threw that game away somewhat.

[Lew-T]

How good was Jason Knight again btw?

Immense.

[pongo88]

20 minutes ago, tin said:

I didn’t, Wise Old Elf! 

Did you know that The Wiser Older Elf is my twin brother? He works for Father Christmas at the north pole. He is "more clever" than the Wise Old Elf. He is an arctic elf.

[W-S-M Seagull]

Should we have had a penalty first half? Other end of the pitch to me and I've not seen it back.

[cidercity1987]

Just now, W-S-M Seagull said:

Should we have had a penalty first half? Other end of the pitch to me and I've not seen it back.

Clear and obvious penalty

[tin]

16 minutes ago, redkev said:

It’s a double edged sword really , we should be singing and dancing in the isles so to speak after going 2 up but after the last few years of piss poor home form the fans have no confidence that we can hang onto a lead no matter how well we play , even Plymouth when we were 3-1 up with only 15 mins left to play and being pretty much in control you could sense the edginess even then . 
tbf we have played worse than today and won 

Totally fair points, Kev.