Stoke fans tapping their phone screens this evening will be doing so with the taste of disappointment in their mouth, after Wayne Rooney, scoring his 250th goal for Manchester United snatched a point in the Man United of old fashion. However, it is a result and performance for new signing that will please Saido Berahino who was unveiled to the crowd before the game today.
It was one of those results where you walk away feeling like you’ve just been hammered. Let’s gauge the reaction.
It is not hard to notice the similarities between the deal for Berahino and that of Odemwingie. Both have a somewhat unhappy relationship with West Brom, both are pacy, clinical attackers and both were Hughes’ go to man to rectify the sides style. Peter Odemwingie joined a Stoke side littered with Pulis’ players that Hughes had been brought in to replace. And that had only amassed 21 points from their first 19 games of the season. Berahino joins a Stoke side that had only amassed 21 points after 19 games and is littered with players from the previous regime.
The direct, pacy and clinical nature of Odemwingie entirely transformed the Stoke side in 2014. After signing in mid-January Odemwingie amassed 6 goals in 15 starts, making him the 3rd highest scorer in the side. The run the Potters went on after the Nigerians signing is quite remarkable: 8 wins, 4 draws, 4 losses. And there is near universal agreement in the hope that Berahino will provide the same positive effect, and thrust the side into the top half. Such a run would see the Potters reach around 57 points besting the record of 54 and putting Stoke in with a chance of 7th place.
This weekend sees Manchester United travel to the Potteries for the next fixture in the Premier League, the reverse game saw a form changing 1-1 draw.
José Mourinho’s side lie two points behind rivals, 5th placed, Manchester City. Following their 1-1 draw with Liverpool last week, Mourinho will be looking to take maximum points at the bet365 arena on Saturday.
The 1-1 draw was an occasion. The day we discovered what Grant could do, another Allen goal and the start of the end of Stoke’s early season slump. It also took a toll on Mourinho’s men, that started a drop in form and caused the Red Devils to lose 4-0 to Chelsea began a winless month.
An emphatic win at The Stadium of Light helped to ease the early elimination pain from the FA cup last weekend. Our consecutive league wins see us move into ninth position in the table, but how do the next run of fixtures shape up?
Manchester United- Saturday 21 Jan- Home
Mourinho’s men have finally found some momentum, going on a run of nine consecutive wins in all competitions. They will travel to Stoke the favourites and will be looking at the fixture as a good opportunity to extend their streak. As for Stoke, we showed that we can put up a fight against the high-fliers, taking the lead at Liverpool and scoring two goals at Stamford Bridge. If Hughes gets it right on the day, there is a chance we could get something from the game.
14/01/2017 – A day that will go down in the history books. Stoke City, finally got a Premier League win at the Stadium of light, having only picked up a possible 2 out of 24 previously.
Let’s take a look into how the tweeters of Stoke City reacted to the match.
Time to look into the individual performances at a surprisingly simple game despite the lack of optimism going into the game at the Stadium of Light…
Lee Grant : 7
Not a chance with the goal, made a couple of decent saves, clash with Indi when he spilt the ball could’ve ended worse but overall just your average goal keeper performance.
Glen Johnson : 8
Worked well with Shaqiri and a put a few threatening balls in towards Crouch, Larsson didn’t trouble him, solid performance.
On Saturday, we head north to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland. This week we have also spoken to Rory Fallow from the Roker Report to hear what Black Cat fans think of the match.
Well, it’s been a turbulent few weeks. The festive period is always a tough time for Stoke. We somehow face the several top sides during the fixture heavy two weeks. Along with the loss to Wolves has seen a clear divide between fans. Many will be looking to this game before coming to a decision about the future of the man causing these divisions, Mark Hughes.
The reverse fixture on the 15th October saw Stoke beat Sunderland 2-0, through a Joe Allen double. It was the start of a good period of form for us, with us winning 4 of the following 6 games.
Currently, we are picking up 0.9 points away from home this season. Which all-in-all is not a bad ratio to have however the league average is 1.1. Whereas, Sunderland are averaging 1.1 points per home game. This, in theory, makes up for a great spectacle this weekend. Their last win was against Watford on 17th December, it ended 1-0. However, Sunderland are coming to the game after holding Liverpool to a 2-2 draw, which is a great feat for any team, given Liverpool’s performances this season. But with them in 18th place, they will be battling to grab some points against, and let’s be honest, an out of form Stoke team.
A quick prediction from me, is that Mark will field a side that will try to grind out a result. The whole debate of ‘Flair vs Grinders’ will be seen this weekend. I think Whelan and Afellay deserve a game. And with Walters out for at least another week, Crouch will probably start. But what about Bojan? I think Hughes’ intentions for Bojan will be present on Saturday. If he isn’t played, we’ll see him signing with Middlesbrough before we play Man Utd next week. For me though, it’ll be 2-1 to Sunderland.
Here is Rory Fallow from Roker Report answering a few questions about the game and Sunderland.
Sunderland currently have 1 win in 6 games, do you think Moyes can pull you out of this rut against Stoke?
That stat doesn’t particularly worry me ahead of the game because our home form lately has been rather impressive. In our last five we’ve beaten Leicester, Watford & Hull, earned a draw against Liverpool and our only defeat was a narrow loss to Chelsea. It’s a different story away from the Stadium of Light but our displays on Wearside are where most fans are taking solace.
I think it’s a game we can win if put in the same kind of performance we did against Liverpool and hopefully we’ll have Victor Anichebe back as well, to give us some extra presence up front.
What Stoke player or area would you think Moyes will be looking to exploit on Saturday?
Our main threat obviously comes from Jermain Defoe so he’ll be looking to use his pace to try and get the better of Ryan Shawcross, while Anichebe will hopefully be on hand to cause Glenn Johnson some problems, as the big man tends to start on the left. Adnan Januzaj is looking dangerous at the minute too, so Moyes will be hoping he can cause your defence some problems when running with the ball at his feet.
Look out for Patrick van Aanholt’s runs from deep as well. Whoever starts on the right wing for Stoke will need to work hard to nullify the flying full back.
Which Stoke player worries you the most, if any given our recent form?
At the moment, it’s probably Peter Crouch! Seeing him and Defoe grabbing goals over the festive period made me feel like I was back in 2008. There’s a lot of attacking flair that worries me in your side to be honest though, with the likes of Arnautovic & Shaqiri in your ranks. It would be typical if Bardsley scored with one of his occasional piledrivers from long range too!
Sunderland have averaged 1.1 points a game at home this season, is this worrying at all for Black Cat fans?
I don’t know if people are exactly panicking actually. I don’t mean that most fans particularly confident either, I’d say the majority do think we’ll go down, but most of us just feel pretty apathetic. We’ve been in this situation so often now, we’re kind of used to it. So while we’re well aware of the awfulness of our situation, we’re bizarrely calm about it all.
What are Sunderland fans hoping will happen during this transfer window? Any players you are hoping Moyes will bring in, or and players you hope to offload?
Martin Bain (our Chief Executive) gave an interview about three weeks ago which confirmed we don’t have any money to spend this month. We’re up to our limit on FFP so any purchases will have to be funded by high earners leaving. The likely candidates to leave are Lamine Kone & Wahbi Khazri, who could put themselves in the shop window quite nicely at the African Cup of Nations.
I doubt we’ll sell Kone, as he’s a first team player so even if we replaced him, we won’t have exactly strengthened. Khazri isn’t playing though so I can see him departing, which will allow Moyes can bring in (at least one of) a central midfielder, another target man type striker and a centre half. I’m not expecting us to be that busy though and wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t sign anyone. The most I can see us doing is bringing in a loan player from abroad, as we still have a vacant space on that front.
Is there anyone in your side who is going under the radar and Stoke should be worried about?
Our main threats are the obvious ones, really. Defoe is the top boy and Anichebe has been a surprising revelation in most games, so we really need him to recover from a hamstring strain in time for Saturday. After those, Patrick van Aanholt is our next best attacker but there has been some solidity emerging at the back from his defensive colleagues.
Stoke fans will probably remember how much of a nightmare Papy Djilobodji had at The Bet 365 Stadium, earlier this season and that was indicative of first 10 games. Since the team’s fortunes have changed though, Papy has looked twice the player and is becoming a very reliable defender. The best way to sum up his turn around is that us fans went from praying he’d get picked for Senegal for AFCON to being delighted when he wasn’t called up.
Most importantly, do you think Sunderland will repeat their recurring form this year and save yourselves right at the end or climb the table before it becomes a problem?
Probably not. If we had some money to spend this month and we didn’t have list of injuries as long as Peter Crouch’s legs, then I’d be pretty confident due to our form since November. The lack of options will catch up with us I think though, especially since most teams around us will strengthen this month. If we do turn it around, it will be down to the sheer resilience of the
players we do have at our disposal and if they keep going like they have over the last 10 games or so, there’s always an outside chance. This is certainly the least confident I’ve felt about our chances in recent years but Sunderland never do things easily, so who knows.
This evening saw the under 18’s come up against Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup. The game took place at the bet365 stadium and was watched live by 1,500 people on Stoke’s Facebook. Tyrese Campbell stole the show scoring a hattrick, leading the Potters to a 4-1 victory, progressing to the 5th round with a home tie to Brighton or Cambridge.
The Potters set up in a 3-5-2 and had the best of the first half. Right-Wing-Back Tom Edwards was the early driving force, making the most of some excellent balls over the back of the Forest back line. It only took the under 18’s 5 minutes to open the scoring, as man of the moment Tyrese Campbell flashed past his man and beautifully placed the ball into the bottom corner.
The club have today announced that the 6ft7 striker Peter Crouch has signed a new deal at the club, extending his stay until at least the summer of 2018.
The target man splits opinions between Stoke fans, so lets see how the news went down with the fans.
Times as a Stoke fan are becoming increasingly turbulent. It appears you either love a certain set of players or despise them, you adore the manager or can’t wait to see the back of him. Having such strong opinions is not a bad thing for fans to hold, it displays a passion for the club and the anger is born out of a frustration of underachievement. Many sects are blaming the others sects for the problems the club is currently facing, but there is one man, at the root of all this, who appears to be outside of the current dialogue. This man is Mark Hughes, who for some reason unbeknownst to all appears dead set on ripping the club into factions.
The treatment of Imbula and Bojan by Hughes on Saturday post-match was frankly, in my own opinion, appalling. Do not confuse this with a defence of those two’s performance on Saturday, they were way below their best and very close to their worst, but this is something that could be said for near enough the entire squad who took part in the clash. But back to Hughes. To call out two players in the manner he did, in the most public of environments, is frankly not on. Irrelevant of how poor times had been in Pulis’ final season, a time when the club embarked on the losing run to end all losing runs, he would never put his players in the line of fire.
