EPL Talk » Stoke City

The Premiership Will Hold No Fear For Burnley Fans

Paul Bestall — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:10:11 +0000

So less than 24 hours after Promotion to the Premiership and the usual round of tired cliches and articles about “brave little Burnley” are beginning to pop up on-line and in the press. Do they never learn, Do they know the football history attached to this club? Burnley fans will probably laugh in the face of these doom mongers and pessimists, they’re just glad that they still have a club to support and after you’ve faced that, you can cope with anything.

Back in the 1986-1987 season, The Football League had finally bowed to pressure and allowed relegation to the Football Conference for the first time. Previously, the side that finished last had to seek re-election from the rest of the League, a ludicrous situation, similar to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. The only amazing thing about that was that some clubs were actually removed from the League, giants such as Barrow, Workington and New Brighton.

Burnley went in to the final game of the season knowing that they could face relegation to the Conference if results went against them. As it was both Lincoln and Torquay failed to win and Burnley finished 3rd bottom, a lowest low for a side that had reached the Quarter Finals of the European Cup back in 1960-1961. This is a side that had won the First Division twice as well as the FA Cup and almost won the double in 1962, finishing runners up in the League and the F.A. Cup and only left the First Division back in 1976, ironically relegated with Sheffield United.

To face that possibility that a side that had played European Football could really find themselves out of the league within a generation must have been terrifying for the fans of the Clarets. To face that fact and to overcome it puts the fans of Burnley in an ideal position to deal with Premiership football and the pressures that come with it. They’re not scared of anything that the top tier can throw at them, after the rollercoaster history they’ve had in the last 25 years alone, next season will be a delight for Clarets fans.

This is a side that have been at the top end of English football before, in fact in the 1960’s, they were one of the big English teams, challenging for trophies and finishing in the top 10 5 times under the legendary Burnley manager Harry Potts. Oddly from 1967 until 1970 they finished 14th every season, back when the top division had 22 clubs.

Of course, next season will be a massive challenge for Burnley, but no more so than the one faced by Hull City and Stoke City this season and their exploits in this season’s Carling and F.A. Cup competitions will stand them in good stead. They have nothing to fear with promotion, the manager Owen Coyle has been earning plaudits all season with the expansive football his side plays and they’ll be looking forward to bloodying the noses of more estabilished Premiership sides next season.

By winning the Championship Play Off Final through Wade Elliott’s super strike, Burnley have become the 42nd side to play at least a season in the in Premiership now. As a founding member of the Football League, some would say it’s been overdue to see them return to the top flight after an absence of 32 years, but they’ve not gained promotion through sympathy, they’ve played their way up.

This is a side with history, both good and bad behind it, and they’ll be relishing next season more than most fans. The fact that they can play a bit too, will make it an interesting season at Turf Moor and good luck to them.

Liam Lawrence’s Timely Goals

Ethan Armstrong — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:01:19 +0000

Yes, yes: Football is a team sport and all that… but lately it feels like Liam Lawrence is keeping Stoke City clear of the drop all by himself. Two dazzling goals to secure key points for his side will standout as the highlights of Stoke’s late climb from the danger zone.

The first was a deft piece of in-the-box maneuvering 15 minutes from time in a tense match against Blackburn Rovers. Lawrence connected with James Beattie’s flick on. His first touch scooped the ball to the left, putting him inside the full back. His second touch was a left-footed strike past Paul Robinson. Britannia Stadium erupted after 75 minutes of deadlock.

In Stoke’s 2-1 victory over Hull on Saturday, Lawrence had a hand in the first goal, taking a 41st minute corner to create the chance for Ricardo Fuller, but it was his second, stunning goal that clinched another year in the Premiership for the Potters.

With 72 minutes gone, Fuller found Lawrence out wide right. With a defender in front of him and 25 yards to goal, many would have expected Lawrence to try to beat the defender to create a cross or at least run in and seek a more reasonable distance (and angle) to goal. But Lawrence saw his shot and launched it. The ball sailed into the left side of the net past Boaz Myhill. Stoke supporters checked their programmes to make sure Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard hadn’t snuck into the starting eleven.

The goal gave Stoke a two-nil lead, but it would later prove to be the match-winner after Andy Dawson took one back for Hull with a closing moments free-kick.

If your only knowledge of Stoke was these two fantastic goals, you might assume Liam Lawrence has been banging them in all year. But these beauties were his second and third goals of the season. Before the Rovers match on 18 April, Lawrence hadn’t scored since Stoke’s first home match, a 3-2 win over Villa on 23 August when Lawrence converted a penalty.

Lawrence was voted Stoke City Player of the Year in 2007/2008 when his 14 league goals helped with Stoke’s promotion campaign. Known as a scoring midfielder, his play was inspiring and influential. But in the Premier League the goals had not been coming for the 26-year-old midfielder. In fact, he only scored three during his last stint in the Prem as well when he came up with Sunderland in 2005/2006.

But Lawrence makes a good argument for quality over quantity. Or rather, timeliness over quantity.

Stoke have had decent form all season, but the lower half of the league table has been congested with many sides who had a good view at both relegation and safety as the season wound down. Liam’s lone goal in the match against Blackburn gave Stoke supporters hope they would pull above danger. But Stoke couldn’t cement their position in the subsequent losses against Fulham and West Ham.

Now, with his scorcher against Hull, Lawrence has given his club a sure place in the next EPL season.

Between scoring 15 goals in a season and getting relegated or scoring two pivotal goals to keep your club alive, there isn’t a striker in the world who would have trouble choosing which he’d prefer.

Lawrence’s scoring has been sparse. But the quality is boundless when he finds his moments.

Should Tony Pulis Be Manager Of The Year?

Josh Pedley — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:18:57 +0000

Stoke City’s victory at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday all but confirmed their place in the Premier League for a second season. After being written off by the media from the start and with bookmakers Paddy Power paying out on their relegation back in September, this is as an amazing achievement for Tony Pulis and his players. Yet they still don’t receive the credit they deserve.

Stoke came up with the reputation as a physical, long ball team and there is no doubt that they are capable of playing in such a style. But to suggest that is all they are would be to tarnish one of the great stories of this Premier League campaign.

Their survival has been based around their excellent home form. They have been formidable at the Britannia, taking the scalps of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City and holding title-chasing Liverpool to a 0-0 draw. However with just one victory on the road, which came last month away at West Brom, it has been vital that they have made the Britannia Stadium such a difficult ground to play at.

The ground’s location leaves it open to the elements and with 3 of the 4 corners not being filled in, the wind swirls through the ground making life hell for teams not used to the conditions. The home fans also play a huge part in the Britannia effect. The club has a hugely passionate following and the voracious roar created on match day is as intimating as you will find on these shores.

Of the 3 promoted teams it is Stoke and West Brom that have drawn the most comparison, due mainly to the difference in approach of the two managers, and the fact that both clubs have spent the best part of the season towards the bottom of the table.

It has often been portrayed as a battle between right (West Brom) and wrong (Stoke) and it’s admirable that Tony Mowbray wants his team to play in an attractive way. But this is a results business and it is a manager’s job to do the best for his club.

On Sunday Mowbray again talked up his side’s ability, despite having just been beaten 4-2 by Manchester City and rock bottom with just 24 points. He said: “We’re an easy target for people to say, ‘You’re doing it wrong’, but I disagree. We’re just a few ingredients away from being a very good Premier League team. We miss too many chances; we give too many soft goals away. Give us Rio Ferdinand at the back and Fernando Torres up front and I would suggest we would be top 10.”

He may be right, yet the same could be said for pretty much every team down at the bottom of the league. If Newcastle had a defender in the class of Ferdinand, or if Torres led the line for Middlesbrough instead of the hopeless Afonso Alves, then I’m sure both teams would be nowhere near the bottom three.

The fact is that Mowbray has deluded himself by thinking that because you can pass a team off the park in the Championship, you are equally capable of doing so in the Premier League. It was obvious as early as October when his side got beat 4-0 away at Old Trafford to Manchester United and 3-0 at home to Hull City in consecutive weeks that this approach would not work.

As the season has progressed Stoke’s style of play has evolved. Where there was previously no place for a talented passer of the ball like Glenn Whelan, Pulis has found a way to incorporate the Irishman in the centre of midfield without losing the competitive edge that has been so important and the inspired signings of Mathew Etherington and James Beattie have added a new dimension to a team previously labeled one-dimensional.

Tony Mowbray has shown enough promise to suggest he will develop into a good manager and the fact that his team will be relegated this season should not be used as evidence that he will not. After all, both Rafa Benetiz and Juande Ramos were relegated at the start of their managerial career.

However, as Pulis has shown, adaptability is just as important as style when competing at the highest level and keeping Stoke up should make him a major candidate for manager of the year. He won’t win it and he probably won’t care. It’s reward enough that his team will live to fight another year in the top tier of English football.

Bolton Wanderers Push For Two Tier Premiership

Paul Bestall — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:20:38 +0000

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside’s has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points. Gartside cites a wider audience with the addition of Scottish clubs, fresher players as 4 games a season would be cut from the league campaign and the old chestnut of benefiting the England national side. You know, the reason that the Premiership was set up for in the first place. The amount of International trophies that England have won since 1992 is simply staggering isn’t it?

Firstly, the addition of Rangers and Celtic to the Premier League has long been mooted as a situation of when rather than how but to get there they need the permission of the Scottish FA, The Football League, The Premier League and the biggest obstacle, UEFA. Now UEFA, when they’re not attacking the Premier League in thinly veiled xenophobic attacks, claim that no club should be able to play in a league outside their own country. That would be fine if the precedent wasn’t already in place.

With Platini being a Frenchmen, you’d think he’d know that his arguement is flawed, or can he not remember where Monaco is? What about Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay, Newport County and Methyr Tydfil, all members of the English pyramid system but all Welsh clubs. Technically, Barcelona, Espanyol and Valencia play in the Spanish League but are based in Catalonia and Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao represent the Basque region. UEFA may push the point but they’re argument is already flawed by the teams mentioned above.

To get the motion passed, 14 clubs need to vote in agreement on the proposal, which is where I think the issue may fall down. Can we honestly see The Premierships big four, plus Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City voting for less money? Whilst the games would reduce, so would the money, but then again, for teams that drop out of the Premiership or face the real possibility of relegation, would you rather get £30 million a year than the current two year parachute payments of £11.5 million that clubs currently get.

The other worrying issue is how would the remaining 14 places be decided? Would it be a straight situation of the top 14 sides out of the Championship? What if some of the larger sides miss out due to league position when the cut off is made. If it happened tomorrow there would be some famous names missing out again, but then again what about Leicester City and Leeds United?

When the Premier League began, way back in the 1992-1993 season, Notts County and Luton Town, both missed out due to relegation but had resigned their memberships from the Football League in 1991 when the plan was concluded. Ironically, neither has ever returned to the top tier since, Luton Town in fact have just been relegated out of the Football League, due to a draconian points deduction that didn’t penalise the perpetrators, just the club.

What would happen if clubs resigned their membership from the Football League, only to finish outside the 14 team cut off. Or worryingly, would the Premier League court the 14 biggest clubs not in the Premiership to make up the new league? What would happen to the Football League and the Football Conference? Why only have Rangers and Celtic, when you could argue Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen could therotically add more to the mix than Burnley?

That would be a worrying event, which could lead to a dangerous precedent. Why not simply block clubs from promotion if they weren’t “big” enough? If they didn’t sell enough merchandise or their viewing figures deemed not large enough. Would the Premier League finally become the monster that some people always feared it would and simply banish relegation from it and have caveats for promotion. When I first read about the proposal this morning, I was sure it would fail. Now, I’m not so sure, in football, nothing surprises me when money is involved.

Rafa Benitez Fallout and Wenger’s Reaction to Fourth Nil Draw

Johnathan Starling — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:04:28 +0000

The two big stories this weekend not related to Manchester United’s getting the first leg of the quadruple would have to be events that transpired at the Riverside and at the Emirates Stadium.

We’ll start with Liverpool because after such a great result midweek against Real Madrid, their loss at the Riverside defied belief. And the papers were quick to fill column inches with their own post match thoughts. Sam Wallace compares the Liverpool situation to that of Nigel Clough’s power struggle at Derby County. Personally I don’t see that much of a comparison as Rafa and Hicks for the moment appear to have formed a loose partnership. Piers Morgan heads down the character assassination route calling Rafa the most arrogant manager in the history of the Premier League. That’s just harsh. Patrick Barclay sneaks the line in his column about Rick Parry that Rafa is the one who has to answer for the results, not Parry himself. Don’t expect that anytime soon. This Independent column pretty much states what Rafa is confirming Sunday, the title race is all over.

It’s almost become a recording at the Emirates, a Premier League nil draw. The results are something that just baffle any mind and after the result against Roma midweek, you would think confidence would have reigned supreme against Fulham. However after Saturday’s result, all Wenger could come up with is “Maybe is is partly psychological. We are getting in good positions but not taking the chances.”

Maybe? Is that the best you could come up with? At this point it is completely psychological. When week in and week out your side can’t finish in front of goal, it becomes a mental thing. Wenger can praise your keeper all you want, and keep the faith in Arsenal’s stars, but you simply have to motivate your players to get goals. That is simply something Wenger hasn’t been able to do. Maybe Theo Walcott’s return to training can be the boost that Arsenal sorely need.

Other Stories
The other big result this weekend was Aston Villa blowing a two goal lead to Stoke City at home. That didn’t stop Tony Pulis hoping pre-match that Villa finished in the top four. Post match it was Martin O’Neill not happy at the arrogant and over confident nature Villa had after going two goals up.

In other Villa news, Martin O’Neill has responded to disgruntled Villa fans who decided to fly out to Moscow just to see the Aston Villa ‘c’ side lose to CSKA Moscow. His offer, dinner with himself and the players. I guess that works, but I was thinking more a reimbursement check for expenses after having to endure that game.

The cracks are starting to show at the KC Stadium. After Geovanni’s ridiculous antics after being subbed, Phil Brown gave him the verbal hair dryer treatment. I expect that one to get much more heated before it cools off.

Speaking of hair dryer treatments, Rio Ferdinand is still sacred of Sir Alex’s.

Tony Mowbray continues to say he will not stand down from his footballing philosophy. That’s even after another defeat.

Bolton fans probably aren’t happy after Gary Megson has agreed to a new rolling contract at the Reebok Stadium.

Florent Malouda says the lack of first team action could cause him to consider his Chelsea future. I say take a hike. You were a good player for France, but the English game is not your brand of football.

And finally, if the News of the World is to be believed (and I normally don’t unless they have the video to prove it), Manchester United is going to throw 200,000 a week at Cristiano Ronaldo to stay.

Just one more thing before I go. Has anyone noticed how many clubs are now within three points of the drop?