Replacing Pulis at The Potters!

February 2012

No excuses No distractions

Sunderland 0 Stoke 1

An even game but it looked like Stoke would never convert 1 of the handful of clear cut chances that fell their way.
Dentinho scored the only goal of the game after 65 minutes in a rather drab match.

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Swansea 0 Stoke 4

Premiership whipping boys Swansea were the latest team to ship 4 goals against a rampant Stoke.
Another game with 4 individual scorers with the increasingly influential Eden Hazard opening the goal rush.
Dentinho, Babacar & Defederico completed the rout.

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Europa League 1st Knockout Round

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Sporting Lisbon were slight favourites with both the bookies and the media.
They were defending Europa League Winners after all.

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Sporting CP 0 Stoke 0

Both teams lined up in identical formations.
Stoke were the better team and created the better chances but could not grab what would could be a decisive away goal.

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Stoke 0 Sporting CP 1

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A break of only 5 days between the 2 legs with no game in between meant Stoke were fully prepared for the tie.
Annan was back from International duty for Stoke but Monzon was not deemed fit enough to start.
Stoke did everything but score. They injured Sporting's 2 most influential players in the 1st half and despite 26 shots on target bowed out with a bit of a whimper 1-0 on aggregate.

No excuses now in the pursuit of Champions League football as the only fixtures were now in the Premier League.

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Bolton 0 Stoke 3

Stoke bounced back in the league with a good 3-0 win at The Reebok against a typically robust physical performance from the home team who picked up 5 yellow cards.

Shawcross, Dentinho and Lucas secured the points.

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Other News

Spurs won the Carling Cup beating Birmingham 2-0 at Wembley.

Due to technical issues the 1st March league table was not made available but Stoke had hit the top of the Premier League though Spurs had 3 games in hand...
 
Breaking News

1st March 2011

Training was over for the day at Clayton Wood and Hammel decided to have a spot of lunch with the management team to discuss the challenges ahead to secure Champions League football.
Suddenly Hammel dashed out the door shouting at the top if his voice "what the ****"

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His company Audi was disappearing out the gate on the back of a truck.
He reached for his mobile to call security and realised there was no ring tone.
The phone had not rung all day and now the Manager knew why. There was no reception...

"Lend us a quid Brian I need to phone the Boss" he asked his Assistant.

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Brain Horton is notoriously tight but coughed up the readies.
Hammel used the pay phone and looked increasingly agitated and stressed.

"What do you mean the bank is calling in our overdraft? You gave me the money so I spent it.
We are top of the league and we might go into receivership? What the **** is going on..."

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The threat of receivership and a fine was a real possibility.
Hammel had overspent....

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Luckily, Barclays could see the potential in the club.
They were top after all.
Within their wage budget & with an increased capacity they were bailed out with a £44m loan...
Stoke's financial security was safe for now!!!

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March 2012

3 horse race

Stoke 1 Birmingham 1

Stoke had won their last 6 home league games and were confident of extending this run against beaten Carling Cup finalists Birmingham.
However, the Stoke squad seemed disinterested & lacking in focus & motivation against a resilient Birmingham team.
They took the lead against the run of player with a fine individual effort.
Stoke piled on the pressure 2nd half but Lucas was the only player to beat Ben Foster in the Birmingham goal.
2 points dropped.

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Fulham 1 Stoke 1

Another 2 points dropped but Fulham played well.
Another late equaliser proved Stoke's battling qualities but the goals had dried up and so had the clean sheets.

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Stoke 2 West Brom 1

March was not being kind to Stoke's prolific strike force and they were struggling to convert chances against much weaker opposition.
A dubious penalty award allowed Monzon to seal the points from 12 yards but Stoke were not playing well.
Was the off field problems affecting the players morale?

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Stoke 1 Spurs 1

The 1st of 2 league clashes with Spurs in less than 2 weeks.
At the start of March the Management had targeted this as a must win game.
However, Spurs had themselves been in erratic league form recently and their big lead with games in hand had gone.
Van der Vaart scored a screamer on the stroke of half time. 2 Keepers wouldn't have saved that shot.
It was hairdryer and tea cup throwing time and a much better 2nd half performance saw Lucas finish a tidy team move.
The points were shared which was a fair result.

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Bristol City 1 Stoke 3

The scoreline tells 1 story. The nail baiting reality is explained below.
Eden Hazard provided Stoke with a great start and we looked in total control for the 1st quarter of an hour.
Bristol City equalised with their only shot of the match after 18 and then repelled wave after wave of Stoke attacks.
The out of sorts Dentinho was chucked on with 10 minutes to go and repaid his Manager's face with 2 goals in the last 3 minutes.
This was a must win game with a tough April fixture list and the relief on Hammel's face at the end was evident.

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Spurs recent wretched form had seen them slip back in the race to retain their Premiership crown.
A 3 horse race was emerging with surprise packages Stoke & Everton battling hard with equally surprise packages Arsenal.
This was March surely Arsenal's season was over???

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Other News

Bristol City & Swansea were both relegated during the month.
They were surely the worst teams ever to play in the Premier League???

Hammel appeared to be wasting his time courting free transfer targets Schweinsteiger and Pato.
Scouts were wracking up the Easy Jet Air Miles watching them in action but Hammel's gushing media praise of the pair were falling on deaf ears.
 
April 2012

Stress & Success

Spurs 0 Stoke 2

April heralded a return to form with a clean sheet and victory against a quality Spurs side.
Maybe the return to milder weather had reinvigorated the Brazilian contingent as they all played superbly.
The stats showed an even game but Stoke looked in control and took their chances well.
Lucas continued his fine form with the opener as half time approached.
Ganso wrapped up the points and he needs to step up the number of goals he contributes.
This result effectively ended Spurs Championship chances.

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Everton 1 Stoke 0

3 days later another tough away game against Championship contenders Everton.
A hard fought ugly battle ensued and Stoke are a football team not cut out for the rough tough tactics of this particular opposition.

Big haired Belgian Felliani scored the only goal of the game after half an hour.
Yellow cards and injuries were the order of the day but this was a massive result for Everton and Hammel feared that finishing in the top 3 was now more realistic.
However, Arsenal themselves were not in good form and despite the defeat Stoke remained top.

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Stoke 3 Man United 0

The big rivals match was Stoke's 1st home game of the month.
Under fire Manager SAF was facing a touch line ban for his recent vocal outburst against any referee who wasn't Howard Webb.
A further revelation had been made that the entire Ferguson family had not bought a TV licence for 6 years as they continued their public feud with the BBC.

United were out of sorts on the pitch as well with little hope of being in the Champions League next season.
Stoke had effectively secured the points by half time with another brace from Dentinho.
A Carrick own goal just added to United's embarrassment...

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Stoke still top with 3 games to play.
Arsenal's game in hand was against Everton...

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Middlesbrough 0 Stoke 1

Relegation threatened Boro did not make things easy for The Potters.
Stoke battered them and even a minor injury to Dentinho did not stop the bombardment.
However, Stoke's accuracy was the only problem and 2 precious points seemed to be slipping away when Lucas broke away on 88 minutes to score and secure the points.

A massive win with the visit of Arsenal next Saturday.

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Stoke 3 Arsenal 1

Inexplicably, this game kicked off on Saturday at 3pm with no broadcaster choosing the potential title decider as worthy of live TV coverage.
Fix Up Sky Sports!

Arsenal were the more nervous team and Stoke looked and played like Champions.
Half time was a mere 3 minutes away when Lucas pooped up to open the scoring and send 30,000 Potters into dreamland.
Stoke's effectiveness from corners had diminished in the 2nd half of the season.
However, Shawcross was denied a goal by a deflection which doubled Stoke's advantage.

Arsenal attacked and looked dangerous and pulled a goal back on 77 from the prolific RVP.
Kadlec was thrown on to pep up Stoke's forward line and his Manager knew if he got a chance he would take it.
1 minute to go and the young Czech picked up the ball 40 yards from goal, ran the 1st 20 & smashed it home from the edge of the box.

The points were won.
All Stoke needed to do was avoid defeat against Blackburn next week & their 1st ever league championship would be theirs!!!

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Saturday 6th March 2012

Premier League Decider

Jeff Stelling presented live coverage from Ewood Park as Stoke attempted to secure the point that would guarantee the Premier League Title.

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Club legend Gordon Banks was a guest in the studio and was heard to quote "the titles in safe hands"

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Even 1970 World Cup adversary Pele was siding with Banks and he was visible in his support for Hammel's boys and his Brazilian youngsters.

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The odds were stacked in Stoke's favour as even a defeat would seal the crown as long as Arsenal didn't win by more than 4 goals.

3.20pm

Blackburn open the scoring at Ewood Park against a nervous Stoke team.
Emerton scoring a powerful shot.

3.32pm

Chamakh opens the scoring at The Emirates against relegated Boro.
Immediately, news filtered through from Ewood that a Kyle Walker own goal had doubled Blackburn's advantage. The irony of a Spurs player assisting their North London foe was not unnoticed.

3.39pm

Chamakh doubles the lead as excitement built as the score from Ewood Park was relayed around the ground.

3.44pm

3-0 and Arsenal were now top of the table on goal difference as Vermaelen made the points safe at The Emirates. It was now down to Stoke to recover the situation.

A minute the half time whistle blew and a shell shocked Stoke team made their way down the tunnel.
Could Hammel turn this situation around and instill confidence in his talented young team.

4.10pm

Hope at Ewood as Ganso smashed home a stunning 30 yard free kick to reduce the deficit.
5 minutes later there is pandemonium in the away end as Neymar equalises to out Stoke 1 point clear at the top.
Stoke looked rejuvenated and confidence and belief had returned.

Arsenal were now 4 up and cruising

4.30pm

PENALTY!! Dentinho smashes home from the spot to cap an amazing turn around.
Campeones! Campeones!

Arsenal 5-0!!

4.40pm

Blackburn equalise. With Arsenal's goal difference a Stoke defeat would give the title to Laudrup's men.

4.55pm

With the Stoke travelling army whistling furiously for the final whistle good work from Neymar to the left of the box allowed Lucas to tap home an injury time winner.
Surely this was it!!!

4.58pm

After a pulsating 2nd half the ref blew his whistle and Stoke had done it.
Champions in style by 3 points!!!

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Blackburn 3 Stoke 4 highlights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYBm0uvXJ7U
 
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Season Review

Champions

Stoke City

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FA Cup

Man United finished a terrible season by their high standards with a win over arch rivals Man City.

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Awards

Footballer of the Year - Steven Gerrard
Players Player - Ryan Shawcross
Young Player - Lucas
Top Scorer - Dentinho

Shock news emerged out of Old Trafford as Sir Alex Ferguson retired after 26 years at the helm.
He had been in charge longer than the entire Stoke 1st team had been alive!!!
 
Some Solid updates mate, KIU.....just updated my Palermo story
 
Transfer Coup!!!

There was expected to be little transfer activity inwards at The Britannia in the close season due to
a) the excellent young & improving squad assembled
b) the dicey financial situation with a £44m Overdraft converted to a loan to avoid bankruptcy last season.

Champions League revenue would help but Hammel had vowed to seek bargains over the summer.

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Interesting news came out of the San Siro over the early summer as terms could not be agreed with arguably their biggest star!
Hammel utilised every trick at his disposal to try and lure another Brazilian to Stoke.

July started and still the agent would not entertain a contract offer.

Suddenly, a ***** in the armour.
Pato would £110k per week with signing on fees in excess of £11m for him and his agent.
48 hours of negotiation followed and eventually a deal was done.
Pato would sign for Stoke for a reported £91,000 a week.

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6 days later and a work permit appeal successfully made Stoke had got their man after 7 months of tracking!

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Pato was delighted to link up with his fellow countrymen and form an attack with
Dentinho, Babacar, Kadlec, Neymar, Hazard and Lucas!!

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The news was warmly welcomed by Ganso and Hazard who had clauses in their contracts to match the highest earner and more than doubled their money as a result.

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Barclays were not happy and neither was Neymar by the look of it...

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I'm sorry, but I don't buy it tbh.

Just looked through it, winning a double? and paying out the amount of money you have, and there is no way Neymar or Pato XD would come to Stoke? And certaintly not on the wages you would realistically have to offer. Maybe you have a reasonable explanation but I would love to hear it.

Could you also upload a screen of your Game Status showing the amount of time the game has been saved?
 
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CJ said:
I'm sorry, but I don't buy it tbh.

Just looked through it, winning a double? and paying out the amount of money you have, and there is no way Neymar or Pato XD would come to Stoke? And certaintly not on the wages you would realistically have to offer. Maybe you have a reasonable explanation but I would love to hear it.

Could you also upload a screen of your Game Status showing the amount of time the game has been saved?
Click to expand...

Fair enough mate I did manage to win with Stoke in FM10 but took 5 years so I am a bit surprised as well...
I have set myself as an ex footballer coz I wanna enjoy the game and not have players moaning about me being too low reputation.
Stoke are financially sound with no debt at the start so I took advantage of monthly installments to buy good young players before they became expensive and joined other clubs.
That said I nearly bankrupt the club so need a good season in the Champions League this year!
I save monthly and normally take my time in the summer scouting regens manually so saved 33 times in total which I hope is acceptable.

The 1 "dodgy" thing I have noticed is 4 database changes on the save screen?!?! I have no idea what these are but if anyone knows how to check I will post too.
I have 2 edited databases
1) a Man City save where I was just buying English players
2) a sugardaddy Newcastle game for my godson as he wanted Ashley to be Abramovich

Maybe the 1st 1 was ticked when I started as I made Man City have top training facilities immediately.

I downloaded the tactic from here and have adapted around my players - the thread is above and it is a quality tactic. I made it sounder defensively without taking anything away from the attacking prowess.

My godson (aged 13) started a game with my tactic at Stoke as well and won the Premier League in the 1st season and Dentinho was the difference.

I got lucky in the cups with the draws as well.

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Fair enough then, all looks reasonably legit, no idea how Pato why would have gone to you but seeing as you've won trophies your rep would have increased and with him being free he's more open to negotiate.
 
Database Changes

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See above mate.
I must have had the Man City database enabled.
I made all their training facilities 20 as I was buying young English players and wanted them to develop.
So I actually made this game slightly harder lol...

I made a Ronaldo database after he retired as I was gonna do a story of him managing.
Otherwise it is the standard 11.2 patch.
 
CJ said:
Fair enough then, all looks reasonably legit, no idea how Pato why would have gone to you but seeing as you've won trophies your rep would have increased and with him being free he's more open to negotiate.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
I tried to sign him in January and him and Schweinsteiger just laughed at me!!
Schweinsteiger re-signed with Bayern in March and I just kept an eye on him to see if he signed.
By the end of June he hadn't and he only started talking to me on July 5th as he was now a free agent rather than leaving on a Bosman.
I am amazed to get him too and he looks pretty **** fine in pre-season!!!!
 
Tactical Discussion

With the players at my disposal should I stick with my tried and trusted tactic with a DM, 2 CM, 2 Inside Forward and a Striker or something more attacking?

I am trying the following in pre-season

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Ignore Cairney up front I just took screenshots with the players in their positions from the last game.
 
New Kits

Stoke today launched a new range of kits manufactured by Nike rather than Adidas.
Britannia Building Society could no longer afford to sponsor both the kit and the stadium so new 1 year deal was agreed to be sponsored by Red Bull.
After finally winning the World Championship in Formula 1 they wanted to be associated with a team pushing for honours domestically and in Europe!!

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Pre-Season

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A busy pre-season had been organised by Assistant Brian Horton.
The 1st 3 games saw Stoke experimenting with more attacking formations to explore the attacking options available.

21 goals in those 3 games seemed to vindicate this experimentation.

A truly horrific defensive display away to Portsmouth saw Stoke quickly 3 down but rallied to grab an ill deserved draw.

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Barcelona 0 Stoke 2

The highest profile friendly saw Stoke travel to the Camp Nou to take on a surprisingly defensive Barca team.
An impressive display saw Dentinho take a chance before half time to open the scoring.
Babacar replaced the prolific Brazilian on the hour and immediately doubled the advantage with a powerful finish.
This was a real statement of intent for the season ahead.

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6 wins and a draw with plenty of goals scored was a great start to the season ahead.
 
Community Shield

The Community Shield clashed with the 2012 London Olympics and Stoke's young squad was badly depleted with 7 call ups.
Man United under new Manager Steve Bruce had lost 4 players themselves.

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Formations

Ramalho was called up as Right Back otherwise a strong Squad faced Man United

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Man United 2 Stoke 0

Stoke lost the Community Shield for the 2nd successive season after a strong pre-season showing.
An injury to Dentinho was a major blow for the remainder of the month as he would be absent for 3 weeks.
2 quick fore goals after 20 & 24 minutes from Vertonghen and Piatti sealed the victory.
The whole Stoke defence underperformed with Monzon especially poor.

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