Tuesday 2 February 2010

Sunderland (a) Monday 1st February - Not one for the neutral!

Not one for the neutral. Not one for the purists. Not a great advert for the Premier League. There are any number of well worn cliches that can be attributed to this bore draw (oh, there's another one.) If you're a Stoke fan however, you would simply call it a fairly standard away performance.



This encounter was to be watched at home in glorious sky HD and naturally I invited a few friends around to share in my team's impending victory. Rather foolishly I was half expecting to witness a thrilling away performance that would put to bed and dispel the 'hoofball' label we have been unfavourably tagged with thus far during our top flight stint.


Alas after 94 minutes, I looked around the room at the barely conscious and slightly annoyed faces of my former friends and could do nothing but offer the most insincere of apologies for depriving them of an hour and half of their lives they will never get back. (I say insincere because I'm not THAT sorry, after all, they don't have to watch that week in week out!)




The starting line up once again saw Tone rotating his 'special' forwards Tuncay and Fuller, and playing one of them alongside Big Mama. This is a controversial subject for many Stoke fans, who still fail to see why Tony won't play Riccy and Tuncay up front together. I am slightly on the fence on the issue, as I can understand the need for a tall target man in some circumstances rather than two fast and skillful ones. The key thing to bare in mind however, is that the system Tony Pulis plays, his whole style of football, the style he's played his entire management career and has refined here at Stoke, revolves around having a player like big Mama on. When Mama isn't on, the system doesn't change, it just gets less effective. Obviously, there have been the odd exceptions to this rule, and no-one is in any doubt that Tuncay and Fuller COULD play together and be an effective partnership, but it is always going to be a rare occurrence under Tone and this isn't going to change any time soon.

Anyway, back to the 'action'.

We had a guilt edged chance to seize the advantage inside the first 2 or 3 minutes as a sublime Tuncay flick put Dean Whitehead through on goal. Maybe he was still getting warmed up, but his tame shot was hit straight at the keeper who easily palmed the effort away. Whitehead has improved significantly in recent weeks adding much needed bite in midfield and he possess a terrific engine late in the game. It's a shame he hasn't banged in a few more goals, but hopefully there are more to come.


The ex-Sunderland man was lucky to be on the pitch at all after a clash with Lee Cattermole, a player, much like Michael Brown, who seems determined to forge a reputation as a slightly less well known, but equally loathed Robbie Savage type figure. Loved by his own fans, seen as a dirty thug by most others. In this instance though, Whitehead was bang to rights. After a solid but unfortunately legitimate challenge from Cattermole, Whitehead had a moment of madness and kicked out petulantly at the Sunderland man's leg.



The ref was obviously feeling generous however and luckily for us only gave Dean a yellow card. Maybe our luck is finally changing? Whatever prompted this leniency from Howard Webb, may I be the first to say that it is a wondrous and brilliant thing to see in the modern game and he is a true credit to the Premier League. This brilliant refereeing was again demonstrated by Webb's willingness to let frivolous offences like Robert Huth cradling the ball in his own area go unpunished. Quite right too. Sure, some Sunderland fans may have been screaming blue murder for what they see as a cast iron penalty, but they must understand it's the only chance big Robert gets to practice his Basketball skills, and Mr Webb quite rightly didn't want to hinder the German's progress. Bravo Mr Webb.



As the game wore on and both teams managed to cancel each other out, the home fans at the Stadium of Light began to get impatient. Chances were extremely few and far between and Sunderland had only a Steed (does anyone else think his name is actually Steve and he's just trying to tart it up a bit?) Malbranque shot in the first half that stood out as a chance of note.


Sure enough, as the second half wore on, the odd boo began ringing out and groans of disbelief became a common occurrence. Frankly it was all too understandable as well. From an away team's point of view, a scrappy point on the road is definitely acceptable and against an established Premiership team like Sunderland, is nothing to be scoffed at. For a home team however, you expect a bit more drive and creativity. Tonight however, the mackems looked truly toothless and thoroughly uninspired going forward. Judging by many accounts, it has been this way for a while now. Their run of no win in ten games speaks for itself.


The home side persisted with playing a hopeful punt up the field to striker's Bent and Jones , a tactic that is rarely going to work against a solid Stoke defence renowned for its strength and power in the air. Yet it went on throughout the game, the ball was launched into the box and Shawcross and Huth headed it comfortably away. These poor tactics ensured Sunderland never really looked like scoring throughout the game and come the last ten minutes, my usual sense of impending doom was nowhere to be found. Stoke were as comfortable as they have been in any away game this season. Steve Bruce needs to turn things around, and soon, if he wants to keep the demanding mackems fans onside.



On the topic of Sunderland's attack, Steve Bruce recently taunted rival teams, Stoke amongst them, claiming they couldn't afford "£40 million Kenwyne Jones". £40 Million? If Bambi-on-Ice is worth £40 million, Fuller is worth £80 million, Mama is worth £20 million and I'm worth about £100,000. What planet is he on? I'd rather have any of the forwards we currently have than Jones, and the day he sells for £40 million is the day that not just football, but the universe as we know it, will implode and die a painful death.



Towards the end of the game Riccy went close after a typically powerful run on goal and Huth glanced a header wide from a well placed corner. It would have probably flattered Stoke if they did steal the win, but we definitely finished the stronger of the two sides. Nevertheless the match finished even and the home fans made their feelings clear with a chorus of boos at the whistle.



Despite being a fairly woeful match, it was definitely a decent point for Stoke and one closer to the magical 40 mark. Some away days are going to be like this, and we have to accept that thanks to our combative and dogged style, we are rarely going to go away from home and try and out play the opposition. For now, we stick to what we know and pick up the points where we can.

This Saturday thought we are at home to Blackburn . This is a game where we really HAVE to go for 3 points. Anything less must be seen as a great disappointment.



We have to expect a few of these scrappy games along the way, it's part and parcel of Premier League survival. Though I'm not sure my friends will be joining me for another Stoke away game any time soon.

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