Stoke exceed expectations as they push for top half finish

Glenn Whelan celebrates his winner against Spurs

People have taken to Stoke like a bumble bee takes to honey. They arrived in the Premier League 18 months ago with the expectation that they wouldn’t be strong enough to stay in the division. Now, as a new decade is on the horizon, the Potters have done more than just keep their Premier League status.

Their direct style is typical of Northern sides; Bolton and Blackburn are easily comparable. A whole host of 6ft+ men make them extremely hard to break down and compete with, and with one of the county’s longest throwers of a Football in their ranks – Rory Delap – they’re also a force in the final 3rd. The likes of Abdoulaye Faye and Robert Huth provide excellent strength at the back, while James Beattie is a proven goalscorer up top.

It’s not rocket science to work out their secret then. One of the heroes of the Stoke side in recent years, in particular their key to survival last season, Ryan Shawcross is a perfect symbol of their style of play. A shaven-headed, 6′3″ centre-half from Manchester, Shawcross learnt his trade at United before being loaned out to the Midlands Club with a view to a permanent deal. In his first season at the Britannia Stadium, the season in which Stoke gained promotion from the Championship, Shawcross netted an impressive 7 goals from the back. His height is very dangerous from set-plays, in particular those Delap throws from either side.

Despite Stoke’s excellent start to the new campaign, manager Tony Pulis is refusing to get carried away and claims that he’s still concentrating on avoiding the drop. Stoke lie in 9th after 11 games, just one point behind Sunderland and only 3 off 4th place. A last-ditch win at White Hart Lane last weekend got people talking about a possible top 7 finish and therefore qualification into Europe. Chris Kamara, presenter of Goals on Sunday and much-loved pundit/commentator, admits that he backs them to clinch a Europa League spot too.

It’s a fact that the big teams find it very difficult to go to Stoke and get a result. They have arguably the best fan base in the Premier League in terms of passionate support. They make the Britannia a very hostile place to visit and make it very hard for visiting teams to play their Football. Arsenal and Liverpool found that out last season, and Manchester United almost slipped up earlier on this year as well.

A team like Arsenal, full of wonderful Footballers but not necessarily battlers, would be ideal prey for Stoke who would concentrate on kicking them off the pitch. Entirely fairly of course. That’s why teams will seldom take points from them at the Britannia. Home form will be crucial to determine Stoke’s season, as their away form can be very inconsistent, although pretty decent so far. They’ve lost only one on the road this season, that a 4-0 crushing at Anfield. Draws at Bolton, Birmingham, and Everton were followed by that impressive win against Spurs. However, last season’s form on the road suggests that there has to be caution about how they approach games against Hull and Blackburn away from home. They’d expect themselves to pick up points in these kind of games, yet can’t be too complacent.

So European contenders or mid-table solidity? Perhaps Europe is a bit of an ask at this stage. There are still better teams in the League who can do more than just battle. But they’re certainly heading in the right direction, and with the fans right behind them at the Britannia, who knows what may come about by the end of the season.

Hull off the mark & stalemate at St. Andrews

Question; Who's the most relieved man on the planet right now?
Answer; Mr. Philip Brown.
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The little-known name of Kamel Ghilas ensured Hull bagged their first points of the PL season, and giving Manager Phil Brown a reason to sigh very heavily. It was The Tigers’ first home win in the PL since December. The Hull faithful were to catch a glimpse of new American signing Jozy Altidore when he came off the bench to replace Caleb Folan in the 60th minute, and no doubt Jozy will have been ecstatic to play a pretty major part in Hull’s first win of the season.

A fairly dull first half saw chances for Bolton’s Johan Elmander, and Hull’s Stephen Hunt, as well as an effort from scorer Ghilas that brought a decent save out of Wanderers’ ‘keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The second half brought little more to enthrall the crowd. Elmander had another chance rather early on, but nothing came of it. Then, Altidore making his PL debut replacing Folan, set up Ghilas for the winner with a header over the Bolton defence that he smashed past Jaaskelainen. Altidore had a chance of his own a few minutes later, lobbing Jaaskelainen but placing the ball wide of the far post. Little else followed for either side, but a much needed win for Phil Brown’s men, who are now lifted out of the relagation zone at this very early stage in the season.

Further south, Birmingham and Stoke played out a bore draw at St. Andrews with Stoke ‘keeper Thomas Sorensen claiming man-of-the match. He kept out efforts from Gary O’Connor and Franck Queudrue amongst others, but watched his side fail to hit the back of the net at the other end. Both sides will be fairly content with a draw, although pre-match, both Alex McLeish and Tony Pulis probably viewed this as a should-win.

Spurs and Reds run riot

Tottenham continued their fantastic to start to the new season with a crushing win at the KC Stadium against Hull. After defeating Liverpool at White Hart Lane on the opening day of the campaign, Jermain Defoe helped himself to a hatrick, while Robbie Keane and Wilson Palacios added to the scoreline, as Spurs completed a 5-1 demolition of Phil Brown's men. Palacios' strike was his first for the Club since joining in January from Wigan. Hull's consolation strike came from new signing Stephen Hunt, but this'll be a bitter pill to swallow for Brown, who would have been hoping to put the opening day defeat to Chelsea behind him by at least securing a point from this game. Hull's next match is a 6-pointer against Bolton at the KC, a game Brown will be desperate to win.

As for Defoe, he seems to just get better and better. He made the strange, and unsuccessful move to Portsmouth last season to work with Harry Redknapp, but since moving back to the Lane, he's been on fire. Redknapp described his form as the best he'd ever seen from the little striker, who hit two goals last week for England against Holland, helping them recover from a 2 goal deficit to claim a draw. "He's been fantastic all pre-season", Harry remarked. "He's a fantastic striker and we've seen today just what he can offer". Spurs will be hoping that he can stay fully fit, and keep up his form - if he does that, they'll be major contenders to break into the top four.

Liverpool were amongst the goals as well this evening, hitting 4 past Stoke City, and keeping their first clean sheet of the season. Goals from Fernando Torres, Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt, and David N'gog made for an emphatic result, thoroughly deserved and needed after the defeat to Harry's men on Sunday. Still, there's a difference from beating Stoke 4-0 at a packed Anfield, from travelling to Old Trafford on a cold Sunday afternoon with 60,000 people up against you. But we'll see what occurs for Liverpool as the season pans out. No doubt Rafa Benitez will be delighted with the win, and with Manchester United surprisingly losing to Burnley tonight, will be pleased that the Red Devils haven't got away from them early in the season.

Liverpool's next match is a televised home game against Aston Villa, who haven't made a great start to the season, but they're always a threat. There is still grave concern over the depth of Liverpool's squad, but for this evening, all's good on the Red side of the Mersey. Well done boys!