just that fans believe the hype and have unrealistic expectations and some chairmen get sucked into that thought. mostly that sacking lord curbs was a silly idea.
Stoke fans have rarely given Charlton Athletic much thought throughout their existence. There is little to link the clubs in terms of geography or history. Yet the Addicks find themselves at the centre of a growing debate concerning the Potters’ direction, one that has sucked in supporters, local pundits and even Tony Pulis himself. Charlton have come to symbolise the small top flight club that gets ideas above its station. That was certainly the angle that Pulis was working in invoking their name in the local media before Saturday’s defeat at West Ham, citing the “moaning and groaning” of the crowd at the Valley and their “higher pretensions on what they should be achieving” as the reason why it “all caved in” for the London team, who now languish in League One. It was a broadside aimed at the growing murmurs of discontent audible at the Britannia Stadium in recent weeks.
The Charlton analogy is arguably a poor and misleading one. For a start, Alan Curbishley, whose exit from the Valley is credited with setting their decline in motion, was not hounded out of the club by ungrateful fans tired of mid-table finishes; rather, after 15 years at the same club, he felt stale and burned out and wanted first a rest and then a new challenge. It was Curbishley’s decision, and his alone, to leave. Moreover, changing manager is hardly an automatic recipe for disaster. Bolton and Blackburn are just two examples of clubs who survived the departures of long-serving managers, in Sam Allardyce and Mark Hughes respectively, without self-destructing. Pulis might therefore want to be careful in linking, however tacitly, his own destiny to that of the club.
Secondly, the invocation of Charlton misses the point regarding the source of supporters’ displeasure. Precious few Stoke fans believe the club should be pushing for a Champions’ League place. The dissatisfaction stems from a series of bizarre decisions that has brought about a dramatic downturn in performances. Before Christmas, Stoke were looking good, with flying wingers Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant impressing and Caribbean strike duo Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones developing an understanding. Elsewhere, Tuncay was enjoying the most influential spell of his Potters’ career. Fast forward two months however, and neither Fuller nor Jones are starting, and fitness and tactical issues have meant that both wingers rarely start the same game anymore. The sale of Tuncay has left the team short of cover for the wide men on whom Stoke rely almost exclusively in their attacking, both from dead balls and open play.
Consequently, Stoke have reverted to the negativity and one-dimensional play of their earliest Premier League days. They have lost their last six league away games, have not scored from open play in the league since early January, and are seemingly being inexorably dragged into a relegation fight from nowhere.
Far from demanding Europe, Stoke fans would prefer the manager to simply return to the team selection and tactics that had been working fine during the first half of the season, or at least explain what has prompted the changes. The Welshman has often talked of his “three year plan” to establish the club as a Premier League side. At the moment however, it is not clear if he has any plan at all.
nobody forced Curbishley out as the article goes on to say but the fact is that every club other than the big few spend each season on a precipice and it's inevitable that fans get frustrated and bored with the never ending battle to just finish mid table - There is no simple answer and to those who don't go to the ground, it's the easiest thing in the world to say fans are ungrateful but lets face it, we all just want entertainment and although the team is pants at the moment, it's arguably as entertaining as the last few years of prem football we had which turned plenty right off as well.
Saw Stoke at Arsenal the other week, horrible team and horrid manager who looks like a tit in that cap. All they did was kick people, hoof it and moan at the ref, 4th official, other players etc.
Comments
I've never liked him since his days at Gillingscum.
Monday 07 March 2011
Stoke fans have rarely given Charlton Athletic much thought throughout their existence. There is little to link the clubs in terms of geography or history. Yet the Addicks find themselves at the centre of a growing debate concerning the Potters’ direction, one that has sucked in supporters, local pundits and even Tony Pulis himself. Charlton have come to symbolise the small top flight club that gets ideas above its station. That was certainly the angle that Pulis was working in invoking their name in the local media before Saturday’s defeat at West Ham, citing the “moaning and groaning” of the crowd at the Valley and their “higher pretensions on what they should be achieving” as the reason why it “all caved in” for the London team, who now languish in League One. It was a broadside aimed at the growing murmurs of discontent audible at the Britannia Stadium in recent weeks.
The Charlton analogy is arguably a poor and misleading one. For a start, Alan Curbishley, whose exit from the Valley is credited with setting their decline in motion, was not hounded out of the club by ungrateful fans tired of mid-table finishes; rather, after 15 years at the same club, he felt stale and burned out and wanted first a rest and then a new challenge. It was Curbishley’s decision, and his alone, to leave. Moreover, changing manager is hardly an automatic recipe for disaster. Bolton and Blackburn are just two examples of clubs who survived the departures of long-serving managers, in Sam Allardyce and Mark Hughes respectively, without self-destructing. Pulis might therefore want to be careful in linking, however tacitly, his own destiny to that of the club.
Secondly, the invocation of Charlton misses the point regarding the source of supporters’ displeasure. Precious few Stoke fans believe the club should be pushing for a Champions’ League place. The dissatisfaction stems from a series of bizarre decisions that has brought about a dramatic downturn in performances. Before Christmas, Stoke were looking good, with flying wingers Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant impressing and Caribbean strike duo Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones developing an understanding. Elsewhere, Tuncay was enjoying the most influential spell of his Potters’ career. Fast forward two months however, and neither Fuller nor Jones are starting, and fitness and tactical issues have meant that both wingers rarely start the same game anymore. The sale of Tuncay has left the team short of cover for the wide men on whom Stoke rely almost exclusively in their attacking, both from dead balls and open play.
Consequently, Stoke have reverted to the negativity and one-dimensional play of their earliest Premier League days. They have lost their last six league away games, have not scored from open play in the league since early January, and are seemingly being inexorably dragged into a relegation fight from nowhere.
Far from demanding Europe, Stoke fans would prefer the manager to simply return to the team selection and tactics that had been working fine during the first half of the season, or at least explain what has prompted the changes. The Welshman has often talked of his “three year plan” to establish the club as a Premier League side. At the moment however, it is not clear if he has any plan at all.
Sadly we were once the model club everybody wanted to emulate, now we are the club that they point to as the warning
Hope they go down.