Are we going on the pitch Dad?

There is something quite unique about mid week football matches that separate them from the usual feeling you get on a Saturday. Perhaps it's the fact that you are either at work or School all day and the sense of reward after a hard day is to go straight down to the match. I was 11 years old when Stoke City played Plymouth Argyle at the Victoria Ground in the Division 2 winning season of 1992/1993.

These were exciting times for any young football fan but this game was extra special as it meant there would be the possibility of going on to the pitch at the end of the game. It was the final home game of the season with Stoke just needing a victory to claim the title so the excitement levels were off the scale. We went to the game early so my dad and his friends could go to the pub for a few drinks and we would go to Lonsdale Street newsagent to buy a bag of cola cubes to maintain our stratospheric sugar levels and head into the ground before the masses.

I was a season ticket holder in the Butler Street stand and loved every minute of it as we were able to perch on the railings that used to separate that particular area with the disabled section of the ground. This vantage point had its own benefits as we were that close to the pitch we could shout at the players whilst they were warming up to come over and chat to us.

As you can imagine we were all awestruck when left back Lee Sandford came over to show us his new boots. I had my season ticket stuffed up my coat sleeve for him to sign and we firmly believed that our pre match team talk far surpassed anything that the manager could say. This was a magical year for many a supporter but for a child it was almost dreamlike, from our executive spot we could watch the whole game and take in the atmosphere. We could see to our left the sea of people in the Boothen End, the lights that hung from the roof illuminating their ecstatic faces and the sheer sense that we would be crowned champions.

All it took was a single goal from Nigel Gleghorn to send a happy 11 year old boy and 20,000 stokies onto the pitch singing the famous Queen song 'We are the Champions'. That is the overriding memory I have of that game, the sense that we could go on to the pitch and stand in the goal mouth, celebrate with my friends and stay up way past our bedtimes because it meant that Stoke City had won the league and let’s be honest, it was our team talk that won us that game but don't tell anyone.

Why Stoke City miss James Beattie

The reason why Stoke City lost to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday was not due to poor refereeing decisions or the fact that Eidur Gudjohnsen had the strength of a Viking to knock Abdoulaye Faye off his feet but the real problem is we don’t have a goal scorer in our team.
The stats show for themselves Stoke have scored only 29 goals in the league this season and our leading marksman is Matthew Etherington with just 6 goals in all cup competitions and he plays in midfield.
The current side sit in 11th place in the best league in the world and this is a superb achievement especially when you look at how few goals we have scored this season. This statistic proves that scoring bucket loads of goals is not all that important but things can change very quickly.
The problem is that Stoke do create chances and they do have opportunities to beat teams and to be fair they are not all set pieces and throw ins. On Saturday Ricardo Fuller missed from 5 yards when it was harder to miss then Mama Sidibe unfortunately slipped at a crucial stage and lost his footing when he should have slotted the ball past Gomes. These are chances in the Premier League that strikers thrive off.
In the best league in the world you don’t get two bites of the cherry you get one and Stoke didn’t take their chances at the weekend.
Last season James Beattie scored 6 goals in 13 appearances which undoubtedly helped the potters avoid relegation with relative ease after his January transfer window move from Sheffield United. There were games in the season where chances were few and far between and this is where Beattie was worth his corn. The home game against Bolton was a prime example. In the game Beattie was played through on goal and smashed the ball past the Bolton goalkeeper which set up the potters for a comfortable win. The perfect example was the 1-0 victory over Manchester City where Etherington’s superb cross was met by Beattie arching his neck like a bull to power home a true centre forwards headed goal to win the game.
Stoke are currently not scoring the kind of goals from open play that we were at the back end of last season and this is down to the fact that we don’t currently have a proven goal scorer in our side.
Yes Ricardo Fuller is our best striker but he isn’t scoring enough this season, Mama Sidibe will never be a goal scorer, Tuncay is not in my opinion an out and out centre forward and Dave Kitson who showed so much promise at times doesn’t seem to be able to adapt to the style of football we play.
The problem with James Beattie though is that he has put his personality before his game, his attitude has not sat well with the management staff and this sadly has been the case this season. He now seems to have burned all his bridges at the club this week by asking for an internal investigation into his treatment by the manager since 'Partygate' and so will move on in the summer.
A fully fit and happy James Beattie would have put both those chances we squandered away last Saturday and Stoke would have won the game regardless of what the referee did.
The team have performed superbly all season and deserve every ounce of praise for their work ethic and ability to become one of the hardest teams to play against in the league.
Aston Villa were delighted with a point at the Brit and the Tottenham players looked like they had secured the 4th Champions League spot with their celebrations at the end. If we are to push on and finish higher up the table than last season then we need to get a striker in who doesn't need several attempts on goal to score. These players don’t come cheap but if anyone can find one it’s Tony Pulis. Chequebook needed Mr Coates please

A Stamford Bridge too far..

'We'll be with you every step along the way' quite possibly is the only line you could use to describe this wonderful season and the togetherness every Stoke fan will feel towards their players right now.

Stoke City are fast becoming everyone's favourite second team, they play with passion that would make the most staunch of purists slide down off their high horse and admire. I watched the game yesterday and the first 20 minutes should have yielded at least one goal, if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of Obi Mikel then Dean Whitehead would have certainly scored or if Tuncay hadn’t taken a heavy touch or if we hadn’t wasted countless set pieces then we could argue but in all fairness, Chelsea are a very very good side.

There is no shame in being knocked out of this glorious competition by a team that boasts the footballing riches that they do. The difference between Chelsea and Man City was that the blues actually fought hard and demonstrated why they will go on to either claim the Premier League or the F.A Cup. They could even take both because Carlo Ancelotti has been quoted as saying 'I am a lucky manager' and against Stoke I think he earned that bit of luck.

Chelsea were impressive once they started to deal with Delap's missiles and they were spared anxiety by the potters not testing the petrified Hilario. It was always going to be one man that would get the home side going. It wasn’t Didier Drogba because he was more interested in rolling around on the ground like a dog enjoying having his belly rubbed. It was Frank Lampard with a trademark shot from the edge of the box that took an unfortunate and let's be honest 'lucky' deflection to send Sorensen the wrong way.

I respect everything that Chelsea did and have no gripes with their play at all but one incident did really get my goat and that is the egotistical idiot that is John Terry. It wasn’t enough for him to shave his head into a Mohawk or it wasn't enough for him to have 'John Terry Legend' banners around the ground, no he had to upstage his team by pulling his captain’s armband down in a childish justification of his own self importance.

Stoke City are 11th in the Premier League, reached the quarter finals of a major competition and now go on to play Burnley in the league where a win will put them on 37 points and clearly put some daylight between themselves and any nagging relegation worries. Tony Pulis will look on at this cup run like a proud father does when his child plays well and gets to stay up late but it's a school night and the players have to get their heads down because it’s back to the league now.

Stamford Bridge was a step too far, we just didn’t have the legs for it and for the 3,000 travelling Stoke fans who returned to the city in the middle of the night they will remember that the players who wore the red and white have done it with pride and respectability.

'We'll be with you every step along the way'