Maybe as Stoke fans we always think we're better than we are and maybe the fact is that however great this club is, and deserves to be, we are slipping down the slippery slope.
Lack of investment is starting to show and the only way Stoke are going to survive is to battle and battle hard for points. Stoke need 25 points, from 14 games equaling an average of 1.8 points per game. So far Stoke are averaging 0.8 and its not going to be easy to turn around. Odds of 1/6 on Stoke going down suggests that the bookies have already lost hope.
A club with a truly great herritage needs a Chairman who is a Stoke City supporter through and through and who can pump millions in with the business brain to make the whole thing profitable at the end of it.
Fact is we're stuck with a group of Icelandic businessmen. We can't blame them for not throwing millions in but maybe this shouldn't be the business that they're in if they only want returns on their investments. Relegation means that the icelandics have failed - a club with more debt than ever in the same Division as it started.
I would also like to comment on poor team selection and motivation, in my opinion, which is critical to our survival. My personal team against Forest would have been..
BANKS
RICHARDSON THOMAS HANDYSIDE HALL
GUDJONSON MARTEINSSON O'CONNOR HOEKSTRA
IWELUMO GREENACRE
RICHARDSON THOMAS HANDYSIDE HALL
GUDJONSON MARTEINSSON O'CONNOR HOEKSTRA
IWELUMO GREENACRE
My reasons for this tactic?
Iwelumo lets face it is the best we have to partner Greenacre, Mills still has a lot to prove though will be a valuable asset next season if we do go down. Playing Marteinsson in center back was a terrible move, he is so obviously more suited to a midfield / Defensive Midfield role. Gudjonson although ineffective when he came on is also the best crosser of the ball that we have (on par with Hoekstra) and I can't see us scoring without these creative players.
Its unfortunate that James O'Connor is the only one who seems to get in scoring positions except for Lewis Neal's excellent effort. James O'Connor can not shoot, end of story so why aren't our two strikers getting into positions and shooting. We need a much more dangerous set of strikers because you need strikers if you're going to win games. Mills although a good striker is unfortunatly no better than we already have.
Its too late now, a £1M signing from Brazil won't help Stoke's position. Its just a case of Battle for your lives. But why, in this case, do the players come out with such a negative attitude, how can they be up for the Chelsea game and play so well and then go and lose 6-0 to Forest? Do the Stoke players really want it, do the players just know that they will be in the starting eleven every saturday afternoon? Something needs to be done and quickly.
Here's to a successful survival campaign
Iwelumo lets face it is the best we have to partner Greenacre, Mills still has a lot to prove though will be a valuable asset next season if we do go down. Playing Marteinsson in center back was a terrible move, he is so obviously more suited to a midfield / Defensive Midfield role. Gudjonson although ineffective when he came on is also the best crosser of the ball that we have (on par with Hoekstra) and I can't see us scoring without these creative players.
Its unfortunate that James O'Connor is the only one who seems to get in scoring positions except for Lewis Neal's excellent effort. James O'Connor can not shoot, end of story so why aren't our two strikers getting into positions and shooting. We need a much more dangerous set of strikers because you need strikers if you're going to win games. Mills although a good striker is unfortunatly no better than we already have.
Its too late now, a £1M signing from Brazil won't help Stoke's position. Its just a case of Battle for your lives. But why, in this case, do the players come out with such a negative attitude, how can they be up for the Chelsea game and play so well and then go and lose 6-0 to Forest? Do the Stoke players really want it, do the players just know that they will be in the starting eleven every saturday afternoon? Something needs to be done and quickly.
Here's to a successful survival campaign