Stoke City crashed out of the FA Cup at the first opportunity due to a 2-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the bet365 Stadium. A pathetic first half from Stoke gave the opportunity for Wolves to takes the lead through Helder Costa and, despite a second half fight, a Matt Doherty free kick took the game from out of the Potters’ reach. The Wolves’ ‘keeper, Carl Ikeme, was outstanding during the second half and kept his side in the game with his dazzling performance; however there’s no argument that, with the side Mark Hughes fielded, you would expect a higher level of performance from those donning red and white.
Hughes reverted back to a four-man defence following the departure of Mame Diouf to the African Cup of Nations, the remaining members of the back line kept their places. Joe Allen, Charlie Adam and Jonathan Walters were chosen to be rested, leaving space for Xherdan Shaqiri, Giannelli Imbula, Ibrahim Afellay and Bojan to be recalled to the starting eleven. The latter has been calling for his manager to give him more game time if he wants Bojan to stay at the club. This was a chance to stake his claim for the next few fixtures with injuries and international duty continuing to take it’s toll on the squad.
Here we are fresh off a, quite frankly, embarrassing 0-2 home defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers, let’s see how this went down in the Twitter world.
The afternoon for most Stoke fans doesn’t start at 3pm, when Crouch rolls the ball from the centre spot, for one of his few completed passes of the afternoon. Oh no, it all begins at bang on 2pm, where hopes of seeing, Bojan, Arnautovic and Shaqiri all playing together once more are usually dashed.
However, this time, Mark Hughes didn’t crush our dreams this week, this is how some of the fans reacted at 2pm this afternoon.
The words thousands of Stokie’s had on their lips this afternoon “Would love a cup run!” Well, Well…
Can't complain at that starting XI – looks ace. If it works then keep it going forward Sparky! Would love a cup run – up the Potters!
So, we have Bojan, Shaqiri and Arnautovic all starting infront of Imbula and Afellay, easy win and onto the next round then? Well, this is Stoke, and you should all know by now that we never make life easy for ourselves…
So half time rolled around, and that had Stoke fans thinking of how this could possibly get any worse, if it could. Well, this is Mark Hughes were talking about, it always gets worse.
Whether you like Bojan or not the recent breaking story and reaction from Hughes displays one thing and one thing only, a totally pathetic case of mismanagement. In February 2016 Bojan Krkic was handed a long term contract and in January 2017, 11 months later he looks set to leave the club. Irrelevant of your opinions about Bojan’s ability or Mark Hughes’, this is a categorical, unquestionable disaster. To award someone considered to be a key player a new contract and within 11 months have them locked out of the team and surplus to requirement is nothing short of disgraceful short-termism that is unacceptable in a Premier League side.
This is a worrying sign for everything that Hughes has attempted to turn Stoke City into. After completing his first year at the club Hughes sort to further the technical ability of the side, and what a way to do it. By bringing in an ex Barcelona player who had once been compared to Messi as he kept the likes of Henry and Ibrahimovic out of the Barcelona side for a measly 500,000 pounds what could go wrong? Fast forward two years and the side is regressing into one baring the marks of our former manager.
Stoke managed to secure their first double of the 2016/17 season at the first opportunity after beating Watford 2-0 at the bet365 Stadium on a cold Tuesday night. Ryan Shawcross volleyed his side into the lead at the end of an extremely uneventful first half and Peter Crouch tapped in from close range minutes into the second half. It was Stoke’s first win in six games and it sent them up to 11th in the Premier League, one point from 9th.
Mark Hughes once again surprised fans with some big name omissions to his starting eleven. He sent Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay back to the bench following the 4-2 loss at Stamford Bridge and brought in Marko Arnautovic back from suspension and Jon Walters back from a slight injury. Stars such as Bojan and Giannelli Imbula remained among the substitutes, however Wilfried Bony and Ramadan Sobhi had both left for the African Cup of Nations. It was to be Lee Grant’s final game as part of the loan spell that he secured to the Potters from Derby County in the Summer.
Having been a season ticket holder for I think 19 seasons and of all but two had a parking badge, I like many of the people who park at the ground, have probably spent more time staring at a fat man in a High Vis jacket waiting for him to lift a barrier than I have looking at loved ones. In all those seasons the parking has never improved. There are more people in High Vis jackets, and not all of them are overweight, which I suppose is a plus. But their actual purpose seems to be on a par with Kardashians.
As everyone should have realised by now Mark Hughes is very much set in his ways. He seems to lack the capability of thinking through a Plan B and his in-game management is mediocre at best. Therefore it is more crucial than it has ever been that as a club we get everything right the first time around, whilst conforming to Hughes’ values.
I for one am an avid supporter of the Hughes Out club, I have been since the end of last season and the entirety of this one. However, it is clear that Peter Coates is going to give the man who broke us into the top half more time. So with this is mind I’ve been trying to think of ways in which our team can start performing well again, whilst being realistic with what Mark Hughes is actually likely to do.
For Stoke City, 2016 has been an… interesting year, to say the least. We’ve gone through four goalkeepers, conceded four goals in a game more times than I dare count, broken our transfer record (again) and signed a young Egyptian winger and welcomed across his entire nation’s fanbase in the process. Let’s be frank, there have been years that have been filled with a higher amount of good memories than this; but Stoke have had good times and, with 2016 drawing to a close, it’s a perfect time to remember the very best. I know some of you will have different moments than those below: the semi-final at Anfield, Joselu’s chip, Mame Diouf at right-back or the deployment of Julien Ngoy. The chosen moments, and the order I have put them in, are based entirely on my opinion. It’d be great for you to all respond with your top ten on social media and see how they compare! So, let’s get stuck in.
Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and football managers losing their jobs. And it appears that for Mark Hughes the latter is an ever increasing likelihood. The year of 2016 has taken on a feel of sadness and disappointment for most and none more so than anyone who holds Stoke City FC close to their hearts. In the 37 league games of 2016 Stoke have acquired a woeful 42 points, conceding a whopping 64 goals in the process. The blame for the continued disappointing performances lays firmly at the feet of the Welshman in charge of the side, and it is unlikely to be long before he no longer holds the role.
Hughes has amassed one of the best (if not the best) mid table side in the league, yet the performance of the side still appears to be that of a relegation threatened side. This comes from an apparent lack of trust of the newly signed stars. Take last nights drubbing for example, old boys Whelan, Crouch and Walters held starting roles whilst the players signed to replace them (the likes of Bojan, Ramadan and Shaqiri) sat on the bench. The trait of dropping flair and foreign players for a domestic player is one that has plagued the Potters throughout 2016.
Stoke slipped back into their old habit of conceding four as they threw away the lead against an, in the end, dominant Liverpool side. Jon Walters did open the scoring very early on, but it gave Liverpool plenty of time to recover and they did so thanks to goals from Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino, an own goal from Giannelli Imbula and Daniel Sturridge. It was a match that was riddled with individual mistakes and lapses in concentration, however you couldn’t help feeling that Stoke’s efforts were lacking in the second half. It leaves Stoke 13th in the table and sends the Reds second.
Mark Hughes decided to leave out some of his biggest names from the Starting XI following the agonising draw to Leicester ten days prior. Despite scoring a penalty in his last game, Bojan was dropped to the bench in place of Peter Crouch in the only change. However, sitting next to the Spaniard were the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Wilfried Bony, Ramadan Sobhi and Ibrahim Afellay. It was the latter’s first appearance in the Stoke squad since his huge training ground injury almost a year ago. Marko Arnautovic sat his second of a three match ban.
With Southampton taking a trip to the bet365 on Wednesday we spoke to Chris from GeorgeWeahsCousin.com
Southampton seem to be having a really mixed bag of results this season any reason for this?
Yet another period of transition following yet another turbulent Summer. The biggest worry is goals, we sold our top scorers in the Summer and so far it’s hit us hard.
