On Saturday April 13th, 1963, a young centre forward sat in the home dressing room deep within the bowls of the Victoria Ground, the home of Stoke City. The Potters, under the managerial genius of Tony Waddington, were well on their way to winning the Second Division title and there was a genuine air of … Continue reading Stoke City Legends: John Ritchie
Best Result? Yes. Best performance? Well, it’s not as clear. I thought there was a really good question on the last WODPOD. It nicely reflects everything I have been trying to say about this season and it inspired me to have a closer look at the Swansea game. https://twitter.com/OatcakeEater/status/1180806727954030594?s=20 Gareth’s question, or at least my interpretation … Continue reading How Stoke won: Swansea, assessed.
It is said that the most valuable commodity in football is goals. It may be one of the most overused clichés in the game, yet it is one that is underpinned by a mixture of empirical evidence and common sense. Research has demonstrated that since the mid-1940s the number of goals scored in matches … Continue reading Stoke City Legends: Freddie Steele
The numbers don’t just say stick with Jones, they scream it. Ask any professional stats person, which I am in no way one of, and they will tell you that the rule of thumb is that you can control 50% of what goes on in a football match. This means the other 50% is up … Continue reading Things can only get better: Why Stoke should stick with Nathan Jones
(Editor's note: We are absolutely delighted to be hosting this new series from Martyn Cooke. Martyn is a Post Graduate Teaching Assistant at Manchester Metropolitan University and is a PhD student exploring the sporting history of Stoke-on-Trent. He's on twitter @cooke_martyn. In this series, Martyn uses his powers as a historian to profile the true … Continue reading Stoke City Legends: Eric Skeels
I really don't like the word 'content'. It feels like a cynical, throwaway word YouTubers use to talk about their job. "I'm a content creator", says a millionaire teenager who screams at a video game for a job. Good for you, but just say you make videos. 'Content' indeed. It's also such a mediocre way … Continue reading If only Stoke City FC had its fans’ creativity
Stoke have (had?) a problem. It was especially prevalent under Gary Rowett and presented significant problems to Nathan Jones in his first few months at the club. The problem was this: Stoke’s centre backs were not good enough passers to implement the possession-based style that both of the aforementioned managers attempted. It wasn’t that they … Continue reading Progressive Centre Backs, Stoke City, and Liam Lindsay
Memories and nostalgia are the lifeblood of a football fan. It tends to manifest during periods of hardship where immediate on-field footballing gratification is lacking and fans look for a reason to persist with their club. Just this season alone, we’ve witnessed the most successful English football club of all time, Manchester United, host a … Continue reading The double-edged sword of nostalgia
If you’re remotely clued into the Championship analytics world, you’ll have seen some truly excellent content looking into the full backs of the division. The two standouts have been the profiling every different fullback type in the league from Ram Srinivas and Matt Lawrence and a heap of radars from the always excellent Blades Analytics. … Continue reading The making of the Nathan Jones fullback
In a triple-swoop, Nathan Jones has made a more serious statement about his transfer policy than any amount of interviews ever could. In Lee Gregory, Nick Powell and Adam Davies, Jones has signalled the way forward for The Potters. Gone are the days of £10m gambles from the continent. Stoke are looking to be shrewd, … Continue reading Gregory, Powell and Davies: The Lowdown
