Morning all.
Some good news to kick off with about Bacary Sagna:
I love Arsenal, I love playing for Arsenal, I love my team. Arsenal is the most followed team in France and I remember I used to watch them when I was in France so it was a pleasure to play for them, so why leave?
It’s great here. It was like a dream when I joined the club because I used to follow Arsenal when I was in France and then I had the opportunity to join them and it’s a pleasure to play for the team.
If those comments are recent and real then it’s great news. Just get on and sign up Bacary!
Onto today….
A beautiful sunny morning but a horrid place to go to…
In fact Stoke City are right up there in my top 3/4 clubs of whom I have nothing but disdain for!
Stoke City away has to be one of the toughest places to go in our Premier League calendar. They are dirty cheats strong physically both on and off the ball our players to show all the steel they have within and let football win the day.
Stoke are doing reasonably well with their results and maybe sitting in 15th place fails to reflect the problems they are causing opponents this season.
Manchester City huffed and puffed their way to to a 1-0 victory at The Etihad last weekend, Stoke were victorious over Manchester United at home and in between times, they drew with both Southampton and Swansea.
So it’s not going to be easy.
Tomas Rosicky:
[I‘m expecting] a typical game when you go to Stoke. It’s always very similar – they are a very physical side, very aggressive and it’s a very tough place to go.
All the away games are pretty similar so we need to be really well prepared [for a] physical and aggressive style of play. We need to match them in those attributes and, if we do that, we can be successful.
Then of course there will be the usual hostilities from the home fans, all directed at Aaron Ramsey of course but he won’t even be there. That wont bother Tomas though:
For me, [the crowd at the Britannia] doesn’t matter at all. The atmosphere in the stadiums here in England is great anywhere you go, so that side doesn’t bother me at all.
I’m quite surprised this fixture hasn’t been moved for television, after all they like all that kind of stuff! Maybe Manchester United are playing Fulham and Sky Sports think an upset is on the cards. Nah, surely Fulham would win that?
Thomas Vermaelen returns to the squad after injury and Mesut Ozil is expected to return as well and if thinks it’s been tough so far, this will really open his eyes. Ryo Miyaich might be included too as he was snapped by the photographer during yesterdays training session.
Anyway, the players have all had a two day break from training so they should be well and truly rested and raring to go.
Arsene Wenger says:
March is the month. If we are close at the end of March we will know much more.
Let’s kick it off with three points…
Our record up there isn’t particularly good but if we want to be in the race for the league at the end of May, we really need to win today.
COYRRG’s…
Referee for today is Mike Jones. He was born and bred just 39 miles away from Stoke, in Chester
Just saying…
Let’s hope he chose to support Wrexham or Crewe when he was young…..
We are going to mordor, surely.
Morning ma’am.
Morning Ch
Rico, if Bac isn’t leaving, why has he not signed or is it the Feo situation all over again?
Stoke are bottom of the Fair Play League with 58 yellow cards and 3 Reds.
And they have conceded the most fouls in the PL.
No idea Chills, money and contract length is probably behind it but he’s just making sure the fans know he wants to stay…
I’m sure the club will bend in the end and no doubt they’ll meet half way as they know how much it will cost to sign a new quality replacement.
Unless of course AW believes in Carl Jenkinson…
To unrelated matters, read uefa will do all in its power to defend sanctions against clubs on the wrong side of FFP. I’ll be keen to see how it’ll all go.
…and their fans are going on about our 100 red cards in 17 years.
I think Sagna should stay for ze next 2 years as, 1st year as first choice while alternating with CJ in the 2nd.
He could definately stay on after that as a back-up CB/RB.
Stoke….bunch of thugs.
We will simpluoutplay the prikks.
Morning all.
Morning Scot. It’ll be really good to outplay them. It seems they’ve taken a few scalps this season, cska chelsea, red mancs. Actually remove the red mancs, they’re mid-table.
I think we all will Chills… re uefa
Morning Scott, couldn’t agree more…
Boring Boring Chelsea
Good read…
Standing next to Chips awaiting our train to Stoke…
Coyg
Filthy Filthy Stoke RFU
Hi guys.
I will not blame the Ipad for my poor spelling today.
The 12 beers though 🙂
Cos we’re gooners. Anyway, with the way we’re going, we may not need the assistance of FFP, Rico.
Morning Ginge, on your way to the game when I won’t even be able to watch on tv? That’s cheating. Missed you the other day. Howdy?
Morning All
Morning Rico, a nice post to set us up for an afternoon of 19th Century Potteries Rugby Football…
Jenkinson is just right for this kind of game, he is tall, quick, physical and doesn’t let the tough side of the game affect him…
Not sure about starting Ozil tbh. I’d tend to have him on the bench.
Flamini, yes, Arteta, yes (if fit), Rosicky, yes, TV, yes, Sanogo, defo yes, Miyaichi, yes from the bench, would scare their pedestrian defence shitless…
COYFRRG
Morning Kev, thanks…
I wouldn’t start Ozil either, this is not his kind of game.
Thanks Ts, nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon?? 😉
Maybe you’d like to write tomorrow post on your Stoke experience? 🙂
🙂 Scott…
Chills, if all the players who we think might go in the summer, go and they get replaced properly we might…. 😉
Tall, quick, physical and doesn’t let the tough side of the game affect him…Sanogo?
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Sanogo start…
Rico, not Ozil’s type of game you say? Two assists off set-pieces don’t think so.
Having read we bid substantially for Draxler, I’m hopeful.
Re Sanogo, he looks ready Rico, who’d have thunk it?
I meant because of the way Stoke play, they’ll be all out to batter him..
Not ready in my eyes, Sanogo is very raw and has a way to go before he’s ready imo, but I wouldn’t be surprised if AW played him today.
International matches on Wednesday and then Everton next weekend, Bayern after that…
Tough month ahead, a season defining one I’d say….
I think you’ll find MO11 is a big boy. He should be able to take care of himself or Flamini could threaten to blind the thugs.
Sanogo has good movements. Confidence when taking shots can only come through playing more.
What about Sagna at left-back?
Rico, those were interesting quotes from Bacary, they kinda reminded me of the kinda things RVP used to say…
Perish the thought… 😉
Sagna at Lb is a good call Kev..
Agree re Sagna’s comments, all a plan to keep the fans in the picture and blame the club for his departure…
We’ll see soon enough just how much he loves the club…
Lovely Post, Rico. thanks, and good morning. 🙂
I particularly liked the ‘They are dirty cheats’ so true, altho the ‘strike thru’ made it even better! 🙂
Morning Hb, thank you….
I detest them with a passion…
Hey Bacary, put ze pen where your mouth is!
Help me out guys, I was watching this game and the defender got a second yellow after making a professional foul,will he get a one or two game ban?
One I think Ben.
Hey Bac, put ze pen where your mouth is!
You been eating too much cucumber chills?
Yep Rico, two yellows equates to a one match ban, in normal circumstances…
An International Break, what a wonderful addition to our overloaded football calendar, thank heavens Gibbs was left out…
Wonder if Podolski will get a game today?
Na, can’t stand almost tasteless fruits. Btw, the double post is the fault of wordpress. It kept telling me no comment, type a comment.
Thought so Kev, thanks.
Is Gibbs fit?
The Poldi conundrum. It’ll be good if he starts, though at the expense of either one of Santi, Mozart or Ozil.
Arsenal have reportedly put plans to unveil boss Arsene Wenger’s new contract on hold.
The Gunners wanted to reveal the contract at the Frenchman’s 1,000th match in charge later this month.
But according to The Sun, Emirates insiders have become increasingly concerned by Wenger’s refusal to commit himself to the £160,000-a-week contract agreed in principle last year.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis said in January: “Arsene will be extending with us and, at the right time, we will announce that.”
Yet behind the scenes, there are said to be growing fears that Britain’s longest-serving manager could yet walk away when his current deal expires at the end of the season.
Wenger, 64, has always maintained he will only sign a new deal when he is certain his team can win honours again.
He was enraged by Jose Mourinho’s “specialist in failure” jibe and knows those accusations will be hurled at him once more if Arsenal fail to end their nine-year trophy drought after topping the Premier League table for four months.
The Frenchman joined in October 1996 and his 1,000th match will be at Chelsea on March 22 – unless Arsenal draw next week’s FA Cup tie, in which case it will be at Goodison Park on March 18 or 19.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsene-wenger-new-contract-arsenal-3194857#ixzz2uiKa8idf
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
Rico, not sure about Gibbs’ fitness, I’m sure I did read that he was in the squad…
Maybe, at a push, he could play today, although I personally wouldn’t think it wise to risk him…
Ditto Kev, if any kind of doubt with him and Nacho, leave them out..
Hopefully one of them is 100% fit though….
Catch up in a bit….
howdy folks…….when is the game? am all fired up. lets smash dem cave men on their home turf. am going for a hard fought 2.1 win. COYFGS.
where is everybody?
What an awful lineup…
Team in full: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Rosicky, Wilshere, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud,
Subs: Fabianski, Vermaelen, Flamini, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo, Gnabry
Hi goonster, ko in half an hour..
What a dump?
Nice police escort… With his tactical prediction.lol
hiya ginge and rico…..thought gibbo was injured???
Seems not goonster…
Ts, did you see my earlier? 😉
Ha ha ha, Ginge, how do you like shitty Staffordshire?!!!
A dump you say, hmm, not sure that I would be so complimentary…
A open sewer kinda describes it better for me…
The cesspit of the Midlands maybe?
Rico, that’s a line-up that should be able, to ‘put it’s foot in’….
A euphemism for giving a kick as well as being able to take one…
Hi Stan, how’s it going Stateside?
Yes Kev but it’s going to be a laboured affair 🙁
Even the Arsenal bench has a muscular look about it…
Rico, a game at Stoke Open Sewer, is never about football, so you pick a team that can stand up to a physical confrontation.
A 1-0 for the football team over the rugby team will suffice for me.
COYFRRG
Good point Kev. 🙂
1-0 will do me too..
COYRRG’s!!!!
any streams?
Good Afternoon Lady, Sir, Gentlemen and Ladies.
How are the white Elves doing against the Orcs of Mordor?
Just began seeing the game now.
almost 30 mins in not a shot yet 🙁
30 minutes and our first attempt directly on goal. We are giving as much as we are getting regarding petty and niggling fouls, but we need to give fluency to our attack because we are performing in fits and starts.
No streams for me Woody, not on my shiny new laptop 😉
Afternoon Devil…
What I fail to grasp is that Stoke are disciplined in their back four, yet ours is not that much disciplined and it is a good thing that their attack is not direct and fast like the dippers’ because they would have murdered us.
afternoon Rico.
I take it we are not playing well then Devil?
we have offered nothing going forward, the Ox and Ozil needed imo
We are playing ok. Not that very good like last week. But game is 50/50.
Its when we go into the attacking third that we are in fits and starts
Possession 50%
Corners 3 to the Orcs’ 2
Shots we 4 to Stoke’s 1
On target. We 1 Orcs )
Oh and an interesting stat……….we have committed more fouls than them. LOL
Hiya Coach, more fouls you say, ha, the worm has turned.
0-0 at half-time is ok…
The rugby team will eventually run out of steam.
They’ll use up the majority of their tactics, you know, rucks, mauls, line-outs, etc…
Their key players, the stand-off and outside-centre will run out of ideas, and then on comes Ozil and Gnabry and AOC to confuse them as Afsenal will begin to play Association Football…
Simples 😉
howdy kev and dev….we need to step it up. where is the urgency? hey what is the score between the chavs and fulham?
hey housers, stoke city always manages to reduce the contest to a physical fight rather than a game of football. I feel arsenal should not forget that at the end of the day, this is a football game and not just judo.
Hiya Kev.
I agree with what you say regarding the 2nd half.
My wish is for Ozil to come on and score the winner.
Maybe the plan is to hold them for 85 mins and then unleash the real attack force 😆
Yusuf, you have to earn the right to play football against certain teams in England…
Most referees in England are quite happy to watch violence triumph over technique, so our players will not enjoy protection from Mr Jones today…
Therefore we have to ‘front up’ to the usual Stoke RFU intimidation…
It’s not pretty, but the ‘ends justify the means’
Rico, that looks like a plan…. 😀
Rico you are wrong, subs always arrive at 69 mins!
This game doesn’t sound likely to make game 1 on MotD!
So…………
we are used to the Orcs roughing us up. Now we do it to them more than they are doing to us.
We are used to them peppering us with corners and set pieces. Now we have more corners than them.
What in the world is happening? 😉
AW’s favourite lotto number is 69
Now I wonder why he likes it so much!!!
major let off for Arsenal… crouch miss…
Chavs 1-0 up
🙂 Kev…
Forgive me Wavy, I forgot the regimented timing for subs…
Gazprom winning at Fulham was always on the cards.
No suprise there Coach…
Fulham are pathetic when facing Gazprom…
this game has 0-0 written all over it.
1-0 to the max.
Ozil to come on. Wonder who will make way?
TR07 I think
It’s dull…
We don’t really look threatening at all.
What I don’t understand is the refusal to get men in the box. I get that our game is based on movement and late runs in the the box, but away from home we need more people to take that gamble.
Podolski makes way for Ozil now.
Chelsea 2-0
ozil on for pod, i hope he can change are game as imo stoke look the more likely atm…
Gazprom 2-0 up now
We create decent crossing chances, but then you see a goalkeeper and 3 defenders against just Giroud.
Crazy…
There ya go, Fulham, gutless
Charlie Adam is an evil little git – as the ref missed it he should clearly get done for that.
The ball had gone and he landed, intentionally on Girouds leg.
I bet we don’t get to see that on MOTD – they normally cover over these things when its us
oh and guess what, Adams being taken off – his manager knows he shold be sent off, so get him off before he does anything else…
pen to stoke..
jeez!!
1-0 stoke
Well thats the league gone…
Let’s hope we can hold on to 4th
unless we dramatically up are tempo, the game is over. imo
what a load of bull.
talk about bad luck.
now we must pepper them.
Yeah I’m not sure we would have got that decision. His hand was in the air long before the ball moved towards it.
Does that mean he’s blocking?
For me you balance by holding your arms out – its a tough one
sanogo on for jack
we need to open the wings. we are playing in their hands by staying narrow.
The ref from down the road has done his job. What a fecking disgrace
close
Subs 66 (I was wrong, sorry)
Goal to Stoke 76
Fukced 86!
4th by close of play?
Man U win CL
We play Thursday football next yr….wow!
No tempo, No pace, No urgency (until 80th min) only ourselves to blame imo, we haven’t turned up. 🙁 fight for 3rd/4th now.
Looks like me and Adam are gonna get our wish of a couple of Thursday night beanos to Dinamo Gulag and NKVD Sebastopol…. 🙁
You are right Kel
we did not turn up
yep
stoke have conceded in their last 14 prem games and we can’t score against them!
1 win in 10 is it? and we can’t beat them
what a miss!!!
He had to hit the target surely
The wheels are well and truly off… lets hope southampton do us a favour.
Imagine if we’d shown some ambition in January and splashed out on a proper striker?!?! Ffs losing to those fucktards!!
Maybe they should pay Yaya £300,000 that might improve his finishing!
Awful result…
Pretty awful display from what I’ve heard…
Have friends over for dinner so I’m off for the day.
Catch up tomorrow..
Bye all…
We were never going to win the league, but there were 3 big decisions today and all went against us.
Before the penalty there should have been two Stoke players sent off for blatant stamps when the ball was no where near.
Thats a deliberate attempt to hurt/injure a fellow professional and should not be accepted.
Let’s see if the mystery panel have got all balls and deal with them accordingly.
Hopefully we’ll still get fourth this year.
Kev. I think so too. It’s all too close at the top and our fixtures are awful….
Cheated out of a draw. Sad thing is, do we really deserve more after our January Inactivity? We needed to replace Walcotts pace and supplement Giroud. Chickens coming home.
if spurs win tomorrow, thats 6pts between us, the game at WHL is now a psychological play off for 4th….
That’s all we can do Lee, imagine!
arsenal now need sherwood and moyes to play their parts in making sure that arsenal plays champions league next season. it was bound to happen, what with millions in the bank!
Very disappointing result, Kosi’s handball was very unfortunite but it hit his hand so it was hand ball. Its about time all officials say handball when ball hits hand, and are as quick as this referee to point it out, after all the game is called football for a reason. I felt that Arsenal today were held by Stoke quite easily we knew it would be physical and we knew Stoke would rough us up. We have in all honesty no players that can play against a physical side our chances were very rare and what chances there were, was rushed in fright. Our Midfield in these type of games cannot compete with tough hard men we always shy away from 50 50 balls and we usually bale out in the arial battle. We did go forward from start to finish but our players had no teeth in the middle of the park or up front. Yes Stoke were lucky with the penalty but Arsenal never ever looked like scoring and Stoke got the breakthrough, Many will moan about Stokes up and unders and the way they brutally play, but today with the referees permision it worked for them.
The worst ref performance since Newcastle 4-4
Rico,I saw your earlier…
my train is not until after 7.
Kev,you are spot on mate…even the police think Stoke is shite…
I have been to ,Morecombe,Blackburn and Bolton but Stoke is something else.
Well 4th again…
Steve,I think we competed physically but there was no one willing to do what Ramsey does from midfield…
We played the ball side to side but without pace they had too much time to regroup…
Why AW has dropped Bendtner is beyond me…
He is our only super sub…
Taking off Rosicky was wrong too imo…
deflated………
How did we lose that!
Evening all.
I can stomach a defeat to Manure.
I can stomach a defeat to the chavs.
I can stomach a defeat to the dippers.
I can stomach a defeat to shitty
Because they are big clubs atm.
But I cannot stomach a loss to Stoke
Neither to Villa.
Or the spuds.
They are little clubs. And we should be able to roll them over.
Today’s loss will have various repercussions.
1) We will not win the league.
2) We might struggle to finish even 4th.
3) This will mean that various players might refuse to join us.
4) Some of the players will surely leave now. I feel that Koscielny will go if a top team like Barca or Bayern come calling.
5) AW will have to rebuild a team, not add a a couple of superstars who could have kicked us to greatness.
Atm I am very much deflated. I do not know why I am with my head down. Even after the dippers’ loss 1-5 I did not feel down as much as today. After all it was only 3 points.
Today’s loss was a massive one.
It will have long term ramifications. Mark my words.
Evening Ginge, I see you have sampled the great city of Stoke, you are a glutton for punishment mate. I see where your coming from when you mention Ramsey as i did think of him while watching. The only thing about Ramsey is his ability to stay fit, i know he started well but burn out was inevitable for him. Sadely we have a few in that position that can look quite good when fit but are fragile players Diaby who shold be called Balsa Man as he looks tough but sadly has a very soft insides. Wilshere loves the ground and Santi is like one of them kids toys with a round bottom that goes over easily but gets back up . I see where your coming from with Bendtner and i must say Sanogo has not had an easy start playing against the European Champions for his first full game debut and then against Stoke. I noticed that Sanogo’s first touch was met with two strong charges to his back, but give the lad credit he stayed on his legs, i don’t envy your journey back with a shit result.
Steve….you should add that he was in the right place.
Sorry mates.
but those of you who bash Sanogo do not know what they are talking about.
I agree that he is not yet ready.
but the lad has to start somewhere and sometime.
the worst thing we can do is bash him for hitting it in row Z
Steve,unfortunately you are right i am definitely a glutton for punishment…3rd time to Stoke and I always wonder why….
To me this team was ran to the ground in December and typically did not add to the squad…
Giroud was plating like he was performing a ballet… And JW well you said it all…
Time will tell Ginge, although i thought Sanogo would and could become a very good player i hadn’t realised that he had an injury background, and fcuk me we have rnough of them now but as you say he takes up some good position but so far his shooting is shit,
of course Jack loves the ground.
He is all the time wriggling on it since he hogs the ball so much that its easy to foul him.
Funny Devil how a bad result brings the worst out of us. But usually after a loss we have a little flurry. 🙂
Aw is going if we go trophyless imo
Watching Liverpool at Southampton winning 2.0 and wishing that we had offered 42.5 mill for Suarez
Not exactly Steve. If you go back to the 5-1 loss I was not at all down about it. I was not spouting the worst in me.
But today yes. Because today we should have strived to win it. Not loose it or draw it. BUT WIN IT.
Today our team was outwitted by a dim manager, who together with dimwitted players came up with a simple dimwitted plan which outwitted an invincible manager.
I understand what your saying Dev, and the anger is in me as well, We can say Wenger should have brought, and maybe he should but if we hadn’t had the amount of injuries and the length of time of them we wouldn’t have had to have brought.
3 key players Ramsey Diaby and Walcott in one season we will have lost 2 players in every game
fair play to liverpool, great performance, pace, tempo & movement, everything we lack atm.
tsgh, if wenger goes who do we bring in, Van gaal? kloop?
klopp?
It’s amazing that we’re discussing a performance that we’ve seen time and time again year after year after year yet Wenger does the exact same thing and expects a different result… Ain’t happening. He picks the wrong players in the wrong formation and we wonder why we can’t beat shit like Stoke….!
Hand on heart, Are any of you really surprised….?
We have fucked up the last three years in the transfer window and yet the team excelled beyond what we expected but the wheels were always going to fall off if we didn’t strengthen from a position of power in Jan and yet again we failed dismally.
Wenger tactics or lack of as the case may be are a constant annoyance to me and yet it’s the same old same old….! How can a man that had such teams serve up a team with zero speed width and attacking options…?
Oh well March 1st and our season is over, the league run was fine while it lasted CL is a done deal and he’ll prob rest players for the FA Cup thinking he can get a fairy tale result in Munich… Dream on.
Reality kicks in yet again and it’s a bitch…!
exactly how i feel wath, i honestly never believed we could win the league anyhow, but it was nice being in contention, it would take a minor miracle to win it now, 10 games to go 6 wins should get us 4th imo,
well im off for a beer later.
Kel,frank Rijkaard for me…
I have been to a few away games and had some bad defeats… Blackburn 4-3 comes to mind…
But it looks like fans currently dont believe anymore…
Shame really…
just about to get home…
I will save my next expense for away match game for a family holiday…
I didn’t watch the game and I only know the score at an hour ago. I think was a ver poor performance.
The League was lost,
Forget the Champions League, it was always a pipe dream.
The EPL, frankly this team has overachived.
3rd would represent a great league season to me.
Now the FACup is a different matter.
Get past Everton and we could actually win the bloody thing!
Wath, I feel your pain mate…
Well that was painful.
Looks like we will need to beat City at home, draw with Chelsea away, beat the scum away and hope the results when they meet each other suit what we need.
Wenger really needs to get pace and width in this team. He has the players but that means dropping players like Cazorla, Wilshere and Giroud.
Yesterday needed Flamini with Arteta or save Arteta for Bayern as Flamini probably would’ve helped Wilshere’s game.
just never arrived at the game and we sat and watched it fall away – lets hope this month doesn’t destroy everything again. The pressure is mounting and as I said three weeks back, its about the teams below us now more than those above. Still think we’re ok for the normal fourth place finish but hardly the promised improvement it is, assuming that’s where it ends? The new managers are bedding in now and grinding out results… horse bolted already? Hope not.
There is nothing i can add about the debacle…..we were shit.
Can i ask what the hell is Jack offering us??
We simply play worse when he is on the pitch.
I have touched on this a few times in the last 12 months, and believe i am right.
Morning Oz.
Good Morning Fellow Doomers.
Yesterday there was only one reason for our abysmal failure. We played three number 10’s and thus were too narrow. It also meant we had no runners who COULD GET BEHIND THE FREAKING ORC DEFENCE.
The day Theo went off our hopes for the league were stretchered with him. Because he was the only one with speed who could trouble opposing defences.
We never lost a game when Per and Kosi played together the full game. It was mentioned and bloody hell……..it is crumbling down more than quicksand.
Why not play the OX and/or Gnabry behind Giroud? Ollie thrives when his wingers get behind the defenders and then pull back crosses and passes outside the six yard box.
Why keep on playing Jack when it would have been better to play Flamini instead?
How the hell Flamini did not play against the Orcs? He would have loved a scrap.
i have to agree Scott – he was so ordinary but had plenty of mates – we so lack that special player, dare i say like RVP who can just create something out of nothing. Giroud works hard but top top class he is not and if trophies are your goal, you need those match winners on days like yesterday. Actually thought Stoke were very comfortable most of the game…
Morning all watched the highlights again this morning, and watched frame by frame of Kosielneys hand ball shout. from ten yards a player gets the benefit of the doubt when he is in a wall covering his privates, but a player that is only inches away with absolutely no chance of geting out of the way and the ref made an intant decision to give a penalty. Granted ball hit hand but the Stoke player fully intended to run straight at Kosi and floor him which he did linesman didn’t think it was handball never raised a flag at all in my opinion the ref was waiting for any chance to give Stoke the breakthrough. He saw the handball but missed the stamp, now Adam will probably recieve a couple of games ban but who does that help.
Devil, morning mate.
I reckon we are missing Ramsey more than Theo.
The players around Aaron all lost some form when he stopped playing…..he offers options, where others simply are not.
Why are we so sluggish, so often?
Morning Scott.
yesterday no one ran behind the defenders for 90 minutes.
And we had our first shot on the 30th minute.
Movement off the ball, or lack of it, Devil….my pet hate with this group 🙂
fair call from you both – we seem to have slowed this side down to walking pace now surely it is obvious?
It is, Oz, but it happens in fits and starts, and i can’t see anything that sets it off.
We will struggle for fourth again. Same old shit different year.
Its been mentioned many times mate – is it down to preparation? We often seem so ‘not ready’ – most times in fairness we get over it against the lessor clubs, yesterday we didn’t
Lewis – Spuds are all over the place again this year, it would be a real surprise to see us not finish fourth surely?
mind you, they beat Cardif and then us and the shit officially hits the fan i guess
Oz, it can not, or should not, be down to preparation.
i know but don’t you just feel at times we’re just not up for it? Not an issue with the bigger games, having said that we need to start beating these top clubs as well this month otherwise its another stat we won’t want come end of season
I can not work out why 11 man competing at this level need motivating.
They are grown men.
They surely know the importance of these games.
Morning all…
New post up now…