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

The word “recruitment” has become something of a dirty word among Stoke fans in recent years. Following myriad catastrophes, it’s not really a surprise the transfer strategy employed by Stoke has come in for immense criticism from fans, media outlets and by far the saddest indictment, the playing squad. However, apportioning this blame is difficult … Continue reading How Stoke can fix their broken transfer strategy

While results haven’t picked up much since Nathan Jones took charge of the Potters, there were certainly positives to take from the latter period of an overall dismal campaign. Much was expected of the senior international players at the club this season, but it has been the younger generation who have caught the attention in … Continue reading Can Thibaud Verlinden shine in Jones’ diamond?

Boro fan and former Middlesbrough FC Press Officer Andrew Clarke answers our questions ahead of Stoke's trip to the Riverside Stadium... What have you made of Boro's season so far? We started like a house on fire. However, that was due to the fact we were miles fitter than everyone else after TP had the … Continue reading Quick Preview: Middlesbrough (A)

The latest in our series of Stoke moments that won't be recorded in the history books, that we loved all the same... We all know that Rory Delap was so much more than a throw-in. He was a fantastic player for Stoke City. Made to measure for Tony Pulis' side, Delap did every job asked … Continue reading Iconic Stoke Moments: Boaz Myhill puts it out for a corner

In this blog series, we look at Iconic Stoke Moments that have very little to do with footballing success, of which there are many. Stoke City playing in Europe seems a distant memory now. After the success of the 2010/11 FA Cup run, our reward was a place in the Europa League. Those European games … Continue reading Iconic Stoke Moments: The Yoav Ziv Red Card