FAO Dreamkiller ..Stokes downfall started long ago...

[ferencpuskas]

the appointment of Mark Hughes began it . Poor nay, terrible, transfer dealings, the little fat git from us for one, the continuing  appointment of managers from the "Merry Go Round Gang" one of whom, Pardew sadly and disastrously for us, alighted at the Hawthorns, and the playing of players well past their best, has brought this famous old Club to where it is now. Dreamkiller, you and I talked about this, two seasons ago if you remember, I hope things improve for you. ferenc

[Borin' Baggie]

I don't think it was the appointment of Hughes, that was the right decision without a shadow of a doubt (as much of a nobhead that he is) the problem was not vetting his targets properly, letting him splunk too much money, giving him too much oversight and not getting rid of him quick enough. Pretty much the same as us with Pulis

[WWHO]

I don't think it was the appointment of Hughes, that was the right decision without a shadow of a doubt (as much of a nobhead that he is) the problem was not vetting his targets properly, letting him splunk too much money, giving him too much oversight and not getting rid of him quick enough. Pretty much the same as us with Pulis

That seems to be a regular problem at Stoke. I'm all for loyalty but their failure to sack Jones is borderline negligence.

[Dreamkiller]

Aye, I remember you saying at the start of the relegation season you thought we were in trouble, ferenc, and I said I didn't think we were.  

The general feeling on the Oatcake is that we sacked Pulis at the right time, but allowed Hughes to carry on for at least a season too long. 

For the first three years he could do no wrong, signing players cheaply, most of whom were excellent - Arnie, Bojan, Pieters, Muniesa, Ireland for a total of around £7m, plus swapping Kenwyn for Odemwingie which was a masterstroke.

Then Bojan got injured and was never the same, Muniesa (who was real class) could never get going before his hamstrings pinged every couple of games, Ireland turned into a sicknote and Odemwingies top flight career was ended when he did his knee in at the beginning of his second season with us.

Hughes still managed to build a side which gave both Manchester clubs a genuine footballing lesson within a two or three week period. Then suddenly it was like someone switched the lights off and from a team that looked good for challenging for a top 6 place, we became less than ordinary almost overnight. 

One year later we were pretty much reliant on Arnie and Shaqiri to get results. Once Arnie went, we were stuffed. I could drone on about what happened next, but it's boring, depressing (for me) and frankly makes little sense. 

Genuinely, I'm starting to think there's some sort of curse on us for the simple reason that nothing else seems remotely feasible. I mean we probably spent enough for us to comfortably challenge for Europe every season. Yet here we are, rooted to the bottom of the Championship with a squad that most Championship managers would kill for.

It doe make sense ferenc mate.

[denboy54693]

Aye, I remember you saying at the start of the relegation season you thought we were in trouble, ferenc, and I said I didn't think we were.  

The general feeling on the Oatcake is that we sacked Pulis at the right time, but allowed Hughes to carry on for at least a season too long. 

For the first three years he could do no wrong, signing players cheaply, most of whom were excellent - Arnie, Bojan, Pieters, Muniesa, Ireland for a total of around £7m, plus swapping Kenwyn for Odemwingie which was a masterstroke.

Then Bojan got injured and was never the same, Muniesa (who was real class) could never get going before his hamstrings pinged every couple of games, Ireland turned into a sicknote and Odemwingies top flight career was ended when he did his knee in at the beginning of his second season with us.

Hughes still managed to build a side which gave both Manchester clubs a genuine footballing lesson within a two or three week period. Then suddenly it was like someone switched the lights off and from a team that looked good for challenging for a top 6 place, we became less than ordinary almost overnight. 

One year later we were pretty much reliant on Arnie and Shaqiri to get results. Once Arnie went, we were stuffed. I could drone on about what happened next, but it's boring, depressing (for me) and frankly makes little sense. 

Genuinely, I'm starting to think there's some sort of curse on us for the simple reason that nothing else seems remotely feasible. I mean we probably spent enough for us to comfortably challenge for Europe every season. Yet here we are, rooted to the bottom of the Championship with a squad that most Championship managers would kill for.

It doe make sense ferenc mate.

Think you are paying for all those 6 points you took from us

[Sunshine]

DK seems like a ok fella but this is stoke we are talking about. Apart from the vile and the dingles it couldn't be happening to a more deserving club. They can't drop low enough for me.

[KratosBaggie]

DK seems like a ok fella but this is stoke we are talking about. Apart from the vile and the dingles it couldn't be happening to a more deserving club. They can't drop low enough for me.

Agreed, sorry DK!

[Dreamkiller]

DK seems like a ok fella but this is stoke we are talking about. Apart from the vile and the dingles it couldn't be happening to a more deserving club. They can't drop low enough for me.

Agreed, sorry DK!

Oi! Play nice you two.

[Mr vertical]

Cartwright was the beginning imo. He got most of the post Tony stuff wrong. My Stokie mates have fallen onto the Pulis bandwagon out of sheer desperation - there has to be a better way lads. Nobody has a clue what's going on.

[Dreamkiller]

Cartwright was the beginning imo. He got most of the post Tony stuff wrong. My Stokie mates have fallen onto the Pulis bandwagon out of sheer desperation - there has to be a better way lads. Nobody has a clue what's going on.

I don't really think anything's that black and white Mr V.

The signings up until Imbula around two and a half years after Pulis left were largely very good, certainly no worse than any other club. 

The picture also gets muddied partly because Cartwright's role at the club has never been clearly defined, and partly because it's believed that Hughes went to Coates over the heads of Cartwright and Scholes in order to land certain transfer targets that they (mostly Scholes) were blocking.

Imbula seems to have been signed on an £18m whim after a stand out performance against us in a friendly. This was at Hughes' insistance, as was Wimmer - there's a possibility that this tub of lard was purchased because Scholes and Hughes wanted to get one over on Pulis who was thought to want him for the Albion.

In short, I don't think having Cartwright at the club helped, but nor was he anywhere near the biggest problem. He's no loss, but I get the impression he's the sacrificial lamb to appease supporters who wanted him and Scholes gone. 

As for Pulis, from memory of a conversation we had a good while ago Mr V, weren't your Stokie mates mostly pro-Pulis anyway? The feeling that 'only Tony can save us' doesn't carry much weight when you look at his record in his last two jobs. We sacked him at the right time before he had the chance to take us down in the way he did to your club.