Replacing Pulis at The Potters!

Premier League Review

A run of 1 defeats in the next 11 games was a real sign of progress from a young Stoke team.
This led to a highest position of 6th place and an outside possibility of qualification for the Champions League.
A shocking late season run meant that was the highest position achieved and led to an eventual 9th place finish which was respectable rather than exceptional.
A serious injury to Detinho in February ended his season and was a real shame as he had just started the form that led to a £13m January move.

Highlights

In terms of results:
5/2/2011 1-1 away draw against Spurs
23/2/2011 1-1 draw home to Man United with a reserve team (more to follow)
7/3/2011 3-0 away win v Villa
Plus end of season recovery against Man City & Birmingham.

Promised the board a respectable mid-table finish at the start of the season amended to a top half finish in January so both targets achieved :)

Finances remained in the black despite the aggressive spending on squad & facility improvement

Improvement in staff quality & youth recruitment.

Gudjohnsens goal of the season

Stadium Expansion for 2011

March Young Player of the Month Awards (clean sweep)

New £40k per week manager contract :D

Concerns

15/1/2011 6-0 away defeat against the Champions - absolutely battered.
19/3/2011 start of a 7 game winless run and an initial 6 game scoreless streak. Injuries, fatigue & other more positive distractions were not an excuse for this relegation form and will not be tolerated next season.

Bigger clubs sniffing around my wonderkids

Dodo's shocking attitude
 
Carling Cup Review

Semi Final

After beating Chelsea away in the 5th round hopes were high for the 1st leg of the semi.
Fate had been kind drawing Stoke against lower league opposition in the form of Forest and the away leg being 1st.

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The strongest Stoke team was chosen by the Manager.

Kenwynne Jones was the match winner with a fine double.
He rose aggressively to powerfully head in the opener from Ganso's corner on 7 minutes.
On 23 he stroked home from 8 yards after good work from Kadlec cutting in from the left.
Stoke were rarely threatened thereafter and were in a strong position to progress to the final at Wembley in February.

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Youngsters, reserves and new signings were entrusted with securing Stoke's Wembley dream in the 2nd leg of the Carling Cup.

Detinho opened the scoring with a crisp shot from the edge of the box latching onto a Cairney pass.
Blackstock netted a consolation with 13 minutes to go.

Stoke never looked in danger throughout the tie, were by far the better team and wel deserved their Wembley final.

Carling Cup Final 27th February 2011

Stoke City 2 Blackburn Rovers 1

Inclement weather at a wet and windy Wembley greeted the 2 teams and fans alike.
Stoke were slight favourites for the final between 2 teams steeped in history but without any real recent success.

Both teams lined up identical formations but different mentalities with Stoke in the midst of a stunning run of form.

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In the 4th minute Ganso, who was displaying his best form in the cups, played a ball through to compatriot Lucas who drilled a powerful shot past Robinson to open the scoring.
Fantastic - Stoke deservedly led 1-0

Dead Ball specialist Monzon doubled the lead with a fine free kick from the edge of the box and send the Stoke fans, players and Manager delirious with delight!!

Midway through the 2nd half wonderkid Phil Jones pulled a goal back through a deflected 20 yard shot.
Despite Stoke's inexperience they held out the remaining 25 minutes to secure the Carling Cup & European qualification for next season!

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FA Cup Review

By the time Stoke had lifted their 1st major trophy for nearly 40 years in the Carling Cup another cup run was progressing nicely.

3rd round

Stoke 1 Sheffield United 0

Detinho's 1st start netted the winning goal on 13th minutes. Stoke failed to make their advantage pay but were into the hat for the 4th round drawn by workaholic brummie Adrian Chiles.

4th round

Huddersfield 0 Stoke 3

Highly regarded keeper Smithies could do nothing to keep a bouyant Stoke at bay as they were brushed aside 3-0.
Gudjohnsen, Shawcross and unknown Brazilian signing Crivellaro who cost £35k in January wrapped up the victory for a strong Stoke side.

5th Round

Stoke 5 Blackburn 2

Stoke warmed up for their impending Carling Cup final by smashing Blackburn 5-2 at The Britannia.

Dentinho & Rever gave Stoke a 2 goal lead prior to Samba pulling a goal back after half an hour.
Stoke led 4-1 at half time with further goals from Monzon & Gudjohnsen.
A goal apiece in the 2nd half from Kalinic and Shawcross led to the 5-2 victory.
The gloss was taken off the victory by a season ending hamstring tear for striker Dentinho!!

6th Round

Stoke 3 Bolton 0

Recently crowned Carling Cup champions and increasingly renowned cup specialists Stoke secured another Wembley appearance by brushing Bolton aside.

Stoke totally dominated the game and 1 goal each from the front 3 Lucas, Kadlec and substitute Jones (on for the injured Gudjohnsen) sealed the win.

League leaders Spurs surprisingly lost at home to Sunderland and Wolves lost a home thriller at home to League 1 Leicester.

This meant that the semi finalists who could look forward to a Wembley trip were:
Sunderland
Leicester
Forest
Stoke

Stoke were immediately installed as clear favourites to lift the trophy for the 1st time ever!!

Draw

An all premiership clash ensured a non-Premiership team would make the final

Stoke v Sunderland would take place on the Saturday.

Semi Final

Stoke 2 Sunderland 1

Another day of rain resulting in Stoke glory.

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Higginbottom made a rare start at left back in place of Monzon as Dodo injured.
Gudjohnsen favoured over Jones up front.

Stoke were the better team in a tight, goalless 1st half and were disappointed not to be leading.
The players appeared to have left their defensive skills back in the dressing room as Frazier Campbell took advantage of space down the right to secure the space to cross dangerously for Darren Bent to tap in ahead of the despairing Kyle Walker.
The goal of the game was Gudjohnsen's equaliser who converted well from Lucas run and pull back to the edge of the box. Game on!
The game looked to be heading to extra time before Cairney broke into the box and following a lucky ricochet substitute Jones netted in the 89th minute to send Stoke through to their 2nd domestic final of the year.

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FA CUP Final

Stoke 2 Leicester 0

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Back to Wembley for Stoke to meet League 1 Underdogs Leicester.
Hammel stated that his players were confident of securing a historic cup double assisted by the lack of pressure in having secured the chance of European qualification through Carling Cup success.

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Gudjohnsen was preferred to Cairney in midfield for his experience allowing Jones to play upfront.
Otherwise it was business as usual for the rest of the Stoke squad in a familiar looking line up.

Stoke's quality was shown in the 21st minute as Jones played the ball out to Kadlec on the left who returned the pass for Jones to slot in and provide Stoke the lead.

The winning and best goal was smashed in from the edge of the back by the impressive Kadlec to secure Stoke's 2nd trophy of the season and emulate Hammel's idol Jose Mourinho's achievement in his last season at Chelsea by securing a cup double.

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Off Season & Pre Season

A highly successful debut season for the rookie manager exceeding everybody's expectations
including his own.
Stoke finished the season in the black financially and with an increased ground of 5,000 seats at a cost of £6m planned.

Player of the Season

Ryan Shawcross

Top Scorer

Kenwynne Jones scored 13 goals in 29 appearances just pipping Lucas who scored 12.

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Other news

A thrilling title race went down to the wire with 5 teams in contention in the final day of the season although Liverpool needed an amazing sequence of events to lift their 1st title in 20 years.

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A last day victory for Spurs secured a 1st championship for "wheeler dealer" Harry Redknapp.
Man United could only draw and a disastrous final defeat for Chelsea meant that they slipped to 5th and would join Stoke and big spending Man City in the Europa League.
Ancoletti was immediately sacked and Chelsea joined Valencia and Athletico Madrid in the race to procure Stoke's talented young Manager. ;)

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Harry Redknapp was named Manager of the Year for a 2nd successive season.

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Man City and Chelsea had been joined by Stoke as the Premierships big spenders but none would experience Champions League football in the coming season.

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Stoke's South American scout recommended an available Bosman signing to bolster Stoke's Euro push for 2011/2012 and Matias Federico would join in late August from Corinthians.

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Transfers

6 senior players were coming to the end of their contracts and with age against them and big contracts being requested they were allowed to leave.

Temperamental **** Dodo was shown the exit door to Crystal Palace after he threw his toys out of his pram when Arsenal's cheeky £1m bid was declined.

A quality of player not available last summer were suddenly attracted to Stoke with the lure of European football for the season ahead.

Scouts were working overtime generating match reports & recommending potential new signings.

Kyle Walker was retained for a further season on loan from Champions Spurs.
Aforementioned Bosman signings arrived in the squad on 1st July.

August brought dramatic developments.

Eden Hazard had recovered from a hip injury to pass a medical to join Stoke from Lille for £17m on a 4 year contract. The highly regarded wonderkid winger could fill a variety of positions and would provide Kadlec with real competition for the left wing berth.

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Babcar joined from Fiorentina for a similar sum on a 4 year contract as well. The powerful striker was seen as a direct replacement and improvement over Kenwynne Jones who was attracting interest from clubs.

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At the time of writing, deals were in the pipeline for 2 other exciting players.
Thorgan Hazard was being linked with a £4m move to Stoke to link up with older brother Eden.
Lastly, the big one! Neymar was being attracted to finally join a year after his protracted transfer had fallen through.

Players being linked with the exit door included:
Jones, Huth, Arismendi, Whitehead, Etherington & Davies.
 
Community Shield

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Sunday 7th August 2011

Stoke 1 Spurs 2

The annual pre-season curtain raiser saw Premiership Champions Spurs take on Double Cup Winers Stoke.

Both teams had an identical pre-season record with only 1 defeat each in their finally pre-season friendlies.

Spurs had strengthened their squad with 5 new players costing a total of £19.5m over the summer.
Stoke only had 1 debutant in their starting line up.
Rising English midfielder Jack Wilshere had joined on a season long loan deal for £775,000.
He took his place next to Ganso in the midfield.

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Spurs had stuck with the players who had won them the league in a defensive 4-4-1-1 formation.

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Stoke fans were left wondering how they had witnessed their 1st defeat in 4 Wembley appearances as chance after chance was squandered.
Dentinho was singled out as having massively underperformed and there were concerns regarding his ability on the biggest of stages.

Kaboul powerfully shrugged off Rever to head home a Van der Vaart set piece after half an hour.
Rever atoned for his lack of defensive duties by equalising early in the 2nd half nodding home a Wilshere corner.
Soon after, a surging Pavlychenko run to the edge of the box created space for Van der Vaart to finish smartly from 20 yards.

Chance after chance fell Stoke's way but, despite the 21 shots, were unable to convert these into 1 clear cut opportunity.

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Hammel was disappointed with the result but took positives from the performance against the best team in England.
 
August 2011

Villa 2 Stoke 4

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Kyle Walker back at right back was the only change from the unlucky loss at Wembley.
Dentinho took onboard the criticism and led the line up front.
It didn't like Stoke's day as they hit the woodwork twice in the 1st half.
However 3 quick goals led to a 3-0 lead.
Wilshere having an impressive league debut.

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Stoke 4 Sturm Gratz 0

Despite changes Stoke simply too strong in the Europa League 4th Qualifying Tie.
Monzon from the spot, another brace from Dentinho and a goal from impressive Tom Cairney all but guaranteed qualification.

Stoke 2 Chelsea 0

Unchanged line up in the league and although Stoke left it late they never looked like losing as they played a Chelsea team suffering a few injuries.
Shawcross played a deft 1-2 with Wilshere to set up the 1st after a corner had been partially cleared.
Wilshere secured the points with a 20 yard free kick bent round the wall beating Cech at the near post.
An impressive display and result.
Neymar came on to replace the injured Kadlec on the left in the 1st half and was impressive.

Sturm Graz 2 Stoke 2

Babacar made his full debut and equalised on 8 minutes.
Galeano scored from a set piece.
Not a great result but did not matter.
Stoke through to the Group Stages.

Wolves 0 Stoke 3

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The Boys from Brazil secured a great 3-0 away win against local rivals Wolves.
The fans were ecstatic with the performance & result and was so was the Manager.
Wilshere was integral in setting up 2 of the 3 goals and was settling in well at his new home.

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Goal of the Month

Ganso opener against Wolves.

YouTube - Wolves vs Stoke - Ganso Goal 22nd minute

Month Review

Undefeated sitting 2nd in the league behind Arsenal on goal difference is a positive start.

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Stoke's good start to the season was recognised with the players getting rewarded in the player of the month awards.

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September & October 2011

Progress Being Made

A tough run of fixtures awaited Hammel's men as Autumn started.

Stoke 3 Liverpool 1

Stoke showed that you do not need to create the most chances or have the most possession as they recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory.
Dentinho continued his fine early season form since his Community Shield shocker with another brace.
Shawcross headed home another well worked set piece.
Kuyt's looping header the only reply.

Feyenoord 3 Stoke 2

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A warm welcome from the Junior Feyenoord fans awaited Stoke's opening game in the Europa League.

All looked well as Stoke led 1-0 at half time.
However, recent summer signing Yannis Tafer ripped Stoke apart with a stunning hat-trick resulting in Hammel revealing he may have underestimated his Dutch counterparts.

Man City 1 Stoke 0

A poor game against Big Money Man City who had not registered a win so far this season.
Vidal scored a 25 yard screamer just after half an hour and that was it.
Stoke's 1st defeat of the season.

Fulham 1 Stoke 2 - Carling Cup 3rd Round

Hammel demanded a response after 2 defeats on the bounce as Stoke opened their defence of the Carling Cup.
Not a brilliant performance with a 1st goal for Eden Hazard and an 88th minute winner for the increasingly impressive Tom Cairney.

Stoke 2 Sunderland 0

Bent & Gyan were tipped to cause Stoke's defence problems but a clean sheet for Stoke's defence was gained as the threat was nullified.
Babacar replaced Dentinho up front due to a minor injury for the Leagues top scorer.
It was Kadlec however who opened the scoring and Shawcross confirmed his threat from set pieces with a goal after 75 minutes to secure the points.

Stoke 2 Dynamo Kyiv 2

A viscous foul by Brazilan Centre Back Rever on the stroke of half time was the major talking point, leaving his team mates in the lurch.

Lucas had given the home side the lead with a powerful run & shot.
However, Stoke never got the 2 goal lead they needed to make the game safe and a home draw meant that Stoke were bottom of Group F.

West Ham 1 Stoke 1

Stoke were left to rue their wasted chances in front of goal as an unlucky deflection by the unfortunate Shawcross in the 81st minute resulted in a share of the points.

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The International Break followed which was not kind to Stoke's October chances.

Annan, Kyle Walker, Wilshere & Thorgan Hazard were all injured playing for their countries at various levels.

Stoke 4 Swansea 1

Influential playmaker Ganso was injured after 20 minutes to add to the growing injury list.
A tepid 1st half display had Hammel throwing tea cups and using his under practiced hairdryer technique on his underperforming youngsters.

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The 2nd half was much improved with goals from Babacar, Lucas and Eden Hazard securing the points.

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Stoke 3 Kalmar FF 0

Little was known about these opponents demonstrated by a wafer thin scouting report from Assistant Horton.
A strong team was therefore required and a 3-0 win was secured.
Kadlec got man of the match for 2 stunning goals.

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Stoke 3 West Ham 2 - Carling Cup 4th Round

Despite two thirds possession West Ham were knocked out of the Carling Cup as Stoke's growing Cup reputation was enhanced.
Shawcross is rapidly becoming unplayable from all set pieces and scored from a corner and free kick respectively.
The relief on Neymar's face when he netted his 1st goal for his new club was evident.
Despite encouragement from his Manager, he had gone in excess of 10 hours without a goal.

View attachment 141532

Stoke 0 Bolton 1

A record Premiership attendance in the newly extended Britannia Stadium saw an unexpected home defeat.
Babcar was unlucky to hit the post twice and as the home side pushed for a winner a Bolton counter attack punished a team aiming for 2nd place.

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Review

Injuries disrupted Hammel's preferred line ups but Stoke still found themselves an encouraging 3rd in the League with a game in hand.

Double Manager of the Year Harry Redknapp had been lured away from Spurs by Oil Rich Man City. Harry admitting defeat in his daily commute from Sandbanks to North London and would be looking for a mansion in Cheshires affluent areas.

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November 2011

Undefeated

An undefeated November appeared good but Europa League qualification to the knock out stages had not been guaranteed. The Potters faced a gruelling away trip to Kyiv in December to secure progress in the competition.

Kalmarr FF 2 Stoke 4

Group F whipping boys made a spirited come back from 3 down but had left themselves to much to do.

Stoke 3 Fulham 0

A stunning 2nd hat-trick of the season for Kadlec playing in his favoured poacher role.
He had already taken home a match ball in his last International appearance for the Czech Senior Team.

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West Brom 1 Stoke 3

A surprisingly tetchy game between 2 teams renowned for their attractive football ;)
10 yellow cards, 5 apiece but in the end no sending offs.
Hammel was "happy that his boys had got stuck in"
Neymar, Kadlec again & Shawcross secured the points. Shawcross was like a magnet to the ball as soon as it left Cairney's left foot recently.

Birmingham 0 Stoke 1

Another 3 points gained in the West Midlands in as many games.
Dentinho scored a stunning goal, after picking up the ball from Hazard midway inside his own half he ran 80 yards to slot home.

Stoke 0 Everton 0

Disappointing bore draw against The Toffees especially as Everton played the 2nd half with 10 men. They defended deep and well and Stoke missed the chance to extend their advantage in 2nd place in the League.

Stoke 1 Feyenoord 1

Feyenoord proved to be difficult opponents again. A victory would have secured Stoke's passage into the Knock Out stages but will now have to get a result in Kyiv.
Disappointing...

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Review

November was a month of Manager's feeling the pressure as Blackburn sacked Allardyce, Villa made Houillier pay for a poor start to the season. Moyes was the latest Manager to feel the full force of Abramovich's impatience at Chelsea as he clung onto his job.
Even SAF was not safe from the axe as Manchester United expressed their displeasure at a mediocre start to the season.

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Hammel was delighted to be awarded the Manager of the Month Award.
It was once again a clean sweep for Stoke in the Young Player of the Month.

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December

A difficult month loomed with a series of tricky away fixtures to contemplate.

Man United 1 Stoke 2

The big one for all concerned at Stoke.
Hammel's Boys heaped more pressure on SAF with a fantastic away victory.

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The game started badly with a missed Monzon penalty and a nasty injury to Kadlec who was out until the New Year.
However, top scorers Dentinho & Shawcross secured the points. Stoke were able to hit the woodwork 3 times in total and still return down the M6 with 3 points.

Birmingham 1 Stoke 1 AET 5-4 on Penalties - Carling Cup QF

Stoke were brought crashing down to earth and relinquished their hold on the Carling Cup.
Lucas was the unlucky player to miss his spot kick after a hard fought draw.
Shawcross thought he had won the game after 110 minutes but a tired Stoke allowed McFadden to equalise straight after.
Amazingly, this was Hammel's 1st domestic cup defeat.

Stoke 2 Bristol City 0

Stoke were able to bounce back in the League against Premiership whipping boys Bristol City who are still without a win all season.
Etherington made his 1st start of the season & opened the scoring with a break away goal.
The midfield saw the Hazard brothers playing alongside each other.
Dentinho secured the points on the hour.

Dynamo Kyiv 0 Stoke 2

A long midweek flight to the Ukraine followed with Stoke needing a point to secure passage to the next round.
With half the Stoke team originating from South America how would they cope with the blizzard conditions and -6c temperature?
The answer was very well as a 2-0 victory sealed top spot in the group.
Neymar was robbed of a rare goal by a despairing lunge by the unpronounceable defender resulting in an own goal.
Jack Wilshere doubled the lead.
Stoke were again able to miss a penalty and not let it effect the outcome.

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Stoke 3 Middlesbrough 0

The fixture list had been kind with a relatively easy home fixture next against relegation battlers Boro.
Lucas opened the scoring after 4 minutes from the right wing.
2 late goals from Rever replacing Shawcross and Babacar replacing Dentinho secured the victory.

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Not every Stoke fan was full of Christmas cheer for the Boxing Day Away trip to The Emirates for the top of the table clash.

Wenger was shocked to meet a Manager who had a younger squad than he did as he took advantage of the Winter Break in Seville to meet up with some old friends!!

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Arsenal 3 Stoke 2

A stunning hat-trick from RVP brought some Christmas cheer to The Emirates and condemned Stoke to their 3rd defeat of the season.
Stoke were convinced they had done enough to win after going 2-1 up with less than 15 minutes to go.

Dentinho and a Sagna own goal had given Stole 1-0 and 2-1 leads but RVP had other ideas and Arsenal went top as a result.

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Happy New Year from Stamford Bridge as struggling Chelsea welcomed life long fan Hammel back to the club where he still owned a season ticket for those rare days off.

Chelsea 2 Stoke 2

It was a measure of the progress Stoke had made in the last 18 months that this was a disappointing scoreline for the away team.
Drogba saved a point with a smart swivel and finish following a half cleared corner on 92 minutes!!! :'(
The game however confirmed that Babacar's difficult start to the season seemed to be improving as the Coaching staff worked on finding the right position for him.

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Still 2nd in the table at the turn of the year is very encouraging although Spurs have many games in hand.
Injuries to the entire midfield have led to far more rotation than normal and led to chances for players such as Arismendi, Thorgan Hazard and Babacar.
 
The Oatcake

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Long standing Stoke Fanzine, bizarrely named "The Oatcake" ran a brief interview for it's January edition.

Are you pleased with the progress shown this season?

Absolutely, the aim of the season was to challenge for the Top 4 and if the established team struggled then to take advantage of that & dream of that Champions League place.

Is this team ready for that next step?

Yep, Hansen was talking bollocks when he said you can't win anything with kids. Look at what we achieved last season.

Who has been your Player of the Season so far?

Ryan Shawcross, I am delighted with his performance as Captain, He is a monster in the air in both penalty areas and leads by example as club captain. His recent awards show how highly regarded he is now globally.

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Dentinho has also been top notch after a difficult 1st 6 months with injury lack of form.
It can't be long until he wins his 1st International Cap.

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Will there be any signings this transfer window?

Apart from deals we have already done for 2 exciting defensive prospects we are not looking to add to the squad.
The bank have been very supportive in our ambitious transfer plans and, for now, we don't want to extend our overdraft.

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Do you think we can win the Europa League?

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Well we got a tough draw against the holders Sporting Lisbon. At least the home leg is second so the night of the 21st February will be a special night...
 
just read it start to finish brilliant story im now a follower ;)
 
farman95 said:
just read it start to finish brilliant story im now a follower ;)
Click to expand...

Hi Mate.
Thanks for that :D
Glad you are enjoying it as much as I am.
Finances taking a bit of a battering but otherwise all going according to plan...
 
whens the next update mate?

and could you post your tactics, cause on a bad run of form and need a decent set what are you using?
 
miggo97 said:
whens the next update mate?

and could you post your tactics, cause on a bad run of form and need a decent set what are you using?
Click to expand...

Hi mate. Just up in Blackpool so back later!
I can upload later. I used a tactic from here. Bozini I think?
I have then tweaked it playing a DM and making the CB defend more.
I play a complete forward/target man with 2 inside forwards
Give you more info when I get home

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f109/pretty-crazy-fm-season-t58668.html
 
Last edited:
January 2012

Stoke 2 Villa 0

The 1st game of the year saw a comfortable home victory.
2 goals either side of half time from the prolific Dentinho and the not at all prolific Kyle Walker was enough.

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Barnet 1 Stoke 2 FA Cup 3rd Round

The romance of the cup saw Keith, Ian and Andy travel to North London to film another lousy advert for ITV.
The Cup Holders made some changes but was still a strong team that fell behind to a shock Barnet opener.
Hazard and a rare Defederico appearance & goal ensured workaholic Brummie Adrian Chiles would present the 4th round draw with Stoke's name still in the hat!

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Liverpool 3 Stoke 2

An epic game with Liverpool dominating the game and attacking Stoke's goal non-stop.
Stoke couldn't cope with the pace and movement from a resurgent Torres and Gerrard & Aquilani capitilised on this to score the opening 2 goals.

Stoke however raised their game after the initial shock and Dentinho grabbed a brace as they attacked more and more during the game.

Hammel had settled for a point when a break away counter attack allowed Torres to smash home the winner in the 92nd minute...

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Stoke 4 Man City 0

Stoke put behind the disappointment of defeat in Liverpool with a terrific 4 goal thumping of Money Bags City.
Dentinho won the penalty which he converted on 9. Cairney and Wilshere increased the lead and Dentinho wrapped up an emphatic win on the final whistle against 10 man City.

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Forest 2 Stoke 1 FA Cup 4th Round

2012 seemed to have heralded a period of inconsistency which had to be eradicated of Stoke were to continue their progress.
A defeat in the 4th Round was not expected and the squad were locked in the dressing room for an hour after the match.
This left the battle for Champions League qualification as the domestic challenge left.

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Stoke 4 West Ham 1

Stoke were saving their best form for the league in January with another 4 goals in a whirlwind 1st half.
4 different scorers with the improving Neymar troubling the back of the net for a change.

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2nd in the league to Arsenal at the end of the month and securing Champions League football the sole priority for the rest of the season.

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Transfer Round Up

Despite some stretched finances Stoke Board allowed 16 year old Defender Peter Wiltshire to join from Bristol City for £1.3m. A strong centre back in the Shawcross mould.
A lack of goalkeeping strength saw £2.4m change hands to Almeira in exchange for Brazilian Goalkeeper Diego Alves.
This would be the last transfer activity for the foreseeable future...
 
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