Fanhouse UK Football - stoke-city

Burnley v Stoke Preview: Brian Laws Calls for Calm as Tension Mounts

Jeremy Cross — 2010-03-09T06:35:00-05:00

by Jeremy Cross

Filed under: Burnley, Stoke City, Match Previews

PREMIER LEAGUE: TURF MOOR, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010. KICK OFF: 1945 GMT

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Chelsea 2 Stoke City 0: John Terry Tees up Wembley Meeting with Villa

Ian Winrow — 2010-03-07T11:00:00-05:00

by Ian Winrow

Filed under: Chelsea, Stoke City, FA Cup, Match Reports

Chelsea set up an FA Cup semi-final meeting with Aston Villa after goals from Frank Lampard and John Terry completed a comfortable victory for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Lampard put the holders in control in the 35th minute when his 20-yard drive was diverted past Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen via a fortunate deflection off City defender Abdoulaye Faye.

Terry - who was reminded of his recent off-field problems throughout the game by the travelling fans - made the tie secure in the 68th minute when he too benefited from a deflection, this time off Stoke full back Andy Wilkinson, when he headed past Sorensen from Lampard's corner.

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FA Cup: Chelsea - Stoke City Minute-By-Minute Commentary

Ciaran Baynes — 2010-03-07T10:23:00-05:00

by Ciaran Baynes

Filed under: Chelsea, Stoke City, FA Cup, Min-By-Min Reports

Minute-by-minute commentary from Stamford Bridge.

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Chelsea v Stoke City Preview: No Crisis at the Bridge, Says Ray Wilkins

Ian Winrow — 2010-03-06T04:25:00-05:00

by Ian Winrow

Filed under: Chelsea, Stoke City, FA Cup, Match Previews

FA CUP: STAMFORD BRIDGE, SUNDAY MARCH 7, 2010. KICK-OFF: 1600 GMT

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Premier League Rankings

Ian Whittell — 2010-03-04T07:42:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Filed under: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Birmingham, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Portsmouth, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Ham, Wigan, Wolverhampton, FanHouse Rankings

Welcome back to our regular look at who's hot and who's not in the world's best football competition.

It was a typical weekend at the office for the Premier League, what with jilted lovers taking it out on their torturers; x-rated injuries; a team re-entering the title race and even the distraction of a Wembley final thrown into the mix for good measure.

Manchester United beating Villa in the Carling Cup does not factor into our FanHouse Rankings but everything else does which probably explains why there is a new No. 1, a new No. 20 and plenty of movement in between.

FanHouse UK has used the latest, most in-depth objective statistical data, balanced with the purely subjective views of our expert staff, to come up with the answers.

All this - and much more - is revealed below ...

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Remember When... Stoke Stunned Chelsea in a Classic Cup Encounter

John Wardle — 2010-03-04T06:22:00-05:00

by John Wardle

Filed under: Remember When..., Chelsea, Stoke City, Carling Cup

Stoke City against Chelsea, an important cup-tie in London and a long-throw goal that proves vital...we could yet be talking about this Sunday's FA Cup encounter at Stamford Bridge.

But this was Wembley in 1972. A murky March day that Stoke will never forget because this was the day when the club won their first trophy.

Apart from the importance of a Rory Delap-style throw, the teams' League Cup Final encounter also threw up other comparisons with the current teams.

Thirty-eight years ago, it was artists v artisans, with Chelsea's stylish, strutting stars featuring self-styled King's Road Swingers such as Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson, who had lifted the FA Cup and the Uefa Cup in the previous two seasons.

They were matched against a far less glamorous Stoke team that included solid professionals in the likes of Denis Smith, Mike Pejic and John Ritchie alongside the experience of George Eastham and Peter Dobing.

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Aaron Ramsey's Injury Could Prove To Have Galvanizing Effect On Arsenal

Ian Ridley — 2010-03-02T08:08:00-05:00

by Ian Ridley

Filed under: Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Stoke City

After that horrific injury to Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal had around half-an-hour of football to play at Stoke City. They could turn out to be the most important 30 minutes of the Gunners' season. In fact, they could turn out to be the most important 30 minutes of Arsenal's recent history.

It was almost two years ago to the day when Eduardo suffered the similar frightening lower leg break at Birmingham City. The immediate reaction of the Arsenal players then was akin to that mix of sickness and sadness on the faces of Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen.

That is where the similarity ends, however. Those two seasons ago, Arsenal surrendered a winning position at St Andrew's and soon they were faltering in the Premier League title race, the stuffing seemingly knocked out of team and club.

Last weekend, they set aside their own feelings and their sympathy for Ramsey - and it must have been vast because that of the neutral was huge - and paid him the best possible tribute. From merely a drawing position, they went on to score twice and win the game.

"This group is so strong and so united, that if you give us one more reason to fight, we will win," said Arsene Wenger. "We will do it for Aaron."

The criticism of Wenger's latest side is that they have lacked a toughness, mentally and physically, at those moments when the going gets tough. It is not just Manchester United and Chelsea who have exploited it this season but such as, in the recent past, Bolton Wanderers and Stoke, who had already beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup this season.

And when you see players like Tomas Rosicky, Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin and Denilson weaving their fragile patterns, dancing intricately, you can see what people mean. In the past, Wenger's teams had a presence, from the Tony Adams-led team he inherited, to the Patrick Vieira-captained side he developed. Even Dennis Bergkamp showed he would not be bullied. Remember those days when every red card would bring an analysis of Wenger's methods at Highbury?

Now, you would want an Emirates season ticket to watch the current side, but were you an opposing manager, you would realise that your best chance of stopping them - as well as crowding Fabregas to cut off his passing angles - is to tackle swift and early so as to stop them building confidence and movements.

Wenger, or the sports psychologist that he has been known to use, must surely be using those criticisms as motivation, using that half hour at the Britannia Stadium as example of the development in this group of players and what they should be capable of after their grim experience.

Many sports psychologists now use neuro-linguistic programming, which involves sportsmen and women closing their eyes to visualise their best, their strongest moments and recalling the feelings. They then store them in the mind's eye ready to access them for those moments in contests when they need extra reserves of resilience.

Arsenal now have quite some memory bank. They also have a number of other significant factors going for them as the title endgame approaches.

They have considerable public sympathy for a start, allied to referees who may now subconsciously - they are human, after all, despite some popular belief - be swayed by the debate that Arsenal's talents deserve more protection and that English football can be too brutal.

They also have the easiest run-in of the three major contenders. Going into the weekend, they trail Chelsea by just three points and Manchester United by two. With the leaders involved in the FA Cup - against Stoke - Arsenal could even see a chance to be top of the table by Saturday teatime on goal difference by beating Burnley comprehensively at the Emirates ahead of United taking on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

After that, Arsenal's next three games are away to Hull, at home to West Ham and away to Birmingham City. Then, while Manchester United are at home to Chelsea on Saturday April 3rd, Arsenal are at home to Wolves.

It is a mouth-watering opportunity but one you would have felt sure Arsenal would spurn, as they have done in recent seasons in all competitions when stress levels were high and their character and temperament were being severely tested. A new admiration has grown, however. And it only took half an hour.

Aaron Ramsey's season is over, so sadly, and we can only hope that those silky ball-playing skills are undiminished by trepidation when he does return. Almost thanks to him, however, Arsenal's season is very much alive. He can contribute no more but it may prove that, while his appearances have been limited, his contribution has been immense.

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Ryan Shawcross Receives Support in Surprise Call from Alex Ferguson

John Percy — 2010-03-02T03:00:00-05:00

by John Percy

Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City, England, World Cup 2010

It proved to be a tumultuous weekend for Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross, with his unfortunate part in the horror injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey swiftly followed by his first international call-up to England.

Shawcross is still struggling to come to terms with the aftermath of Saturday's nightmare events at the Britannia Stadium, when his mistimed challenge left Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey facing at least six months on the sidelines after breaking the tibia and fibula in his right leg.

But the 22-year-old's misery was eased by a surprise phone call - from none other than his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Manchester United manager Ferguson broke away from his celebrations at Wembley, following the 2-1 win over Aston Villa, to console the centre-half and tell him that Ramsey's pain should not take the shine off earning recognition from Fabio Capello.

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England's Mr Versatile James Milner Would Gladly Bridge the Gap in Defence

David Yuill — 2010-03-01T13:06:00-05:00

by David Yuill

Filed under: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester City, Stoke City, England, World Cup 2010

At the start of the current Premier League season, any self-respecting bookmaker would presumably have given long odds on Aston Villa's midfield player James Milner entering the final weeks of the campaign as, potentially, England's starting left-back for the South Africa World Cup.

Today, that possibility moved a step closer. Milner, one of the pleasant surprise stories of the current season, is ready, willing and able to step into the breach left by injury to first-choice Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge's much-publicised decision to rule himself out of contention due to the John Terry affair.

Tomorrow's Wembley friendly with Egypt could well present Milner, 24, with an opportunity to audition for the role and, given his performances in a number of roles for Villa this season, it would not surprise if he excels, particularly given the low quality of the opposition.

"If asked to play there, I will do the best I can," said Milner, who played in that position previously against Belarus. "My best position is attacking centre-midfield or wide, but if asked to play there I will do it my best. I've got about 15 minutes experience there and that's for England. It's not a bad place to start.

"I'm happy to be with the squad wherever that means I'm playing. There's lots of good quality players and competition is healthy for the squad. I want to keep playing as well as I can and hope to push my way into the squad, stay there and look to a place in the starting eleven."

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Glenn Whelan's Thoughts Are With Aaron Ramsey - and Ryan Shawcross

Ian Whittell — 2010-03-01T08:31:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City

Glenn Whelan, the Stoke midfielder who was first on the scene following Aaron Ramsey's appalling injury on Saturday, has given his own harrowing account of events at the Britannia Stadium.

Arsenal's brilliant young Welsh international faces a grueling comeback from fractures to his tibia and fibula, an injury which is expected to sideline him for eight months after the much-publicised foul by Ryan Shawcross.

Whelan's best wishes for Ramsey echo those of the general football community following the injury but, as the dust settles this week on the sad incident, some consideration should be given to Shawcross.

Arsene Wenger, clearly upset by the injury, stopped just short of accusing the new England squad member of having deliberately set out to maim Ramsey.

But there was an under-current in his comments about Arsenal being targetted by opponents and his players singled out for strong-arm tactics, certainly enough of an under-current to imply that he held Shawcross responsible for the injury.

Of course, Shawcross' foul was bad and deserving of a red but, had Wenger taken time to study video replays before making his post-match comments, he would have agreed with practically every other pundit who studied the footage and cleared the Stoke defender of any malicious or deliberate intent.

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Scant Evidence to Back Up Arsene Wenger's 'No Coincidence' Claim

Jon West — 2010-03-01T06:40:00-05:00

by Jon West

Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City

Arsene Wenger was adamant: the horrific injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey at Stoke was further proof that opponents deliberately target his players. In the Frenchman's eyes, this was merely the latest incident in which an Arsenal players' careers had been placed in jeopardy.

Two years ago Eduardo's leg was shattered by a mistimed challenge by Martin Taylor, then of Birmingham. Before that it was Abou Diaby whose ankle was shattered against Sunderland in 2006.

And last season Wenger accused Stoke of deliberately trying to injure opponents when the Gunners ended up losing at the Britannia Stadium.

The Ramsey incident mirrored the Eduardo injury in a number of ways, the most striking of which was the number of people prepared to declare afterwards that there had been no malice in the challenge. Indeed, Ryan Shawcross, the man who had made it, had been visibly upset on the pitch, leaving it in tears.

That, however, cut no ice with Wenger. "Spare me about how nice Shawcross is - it happened with Eduardo," he said. "It is the third player we have lost to tackles that are not acceptable.

"I am just shocked because that is not football for me. It is not what I like in the game. If you have to live with that, I refuse to do that.

"For a boy at 19 years old to be kicked out of a game like that, it is beyond words. I cannot even enjoy the win. All the questions I get in press conferences about how we don't fancy the physical side of it, that's the result.

"We know what we are expecting, a battle everywhere, but we have now lost three players to horrendous tackles and I refuse to believe it's always coincidence.

"I don't believe it when you are hit as many times as we are. I just believe in what I see and when you see a player getting injured like that it's not acceptable."

As always, Wenger makes his point with clarity, passion and precision and it does seem likely that managers do tell their players before games to get tackles in early to stop the Gunners' trademark passing game.

But deliberately hurting them? That simply cannot be proved. It was a similar story in 2006 when Jose Mourinho accused Stephen Hunt, then of Reading, of deliberately breaking Petr Cech's skull.

Wenger and Mourinho are both world class managers partly because they are so ready to fight for their players with strong words after games but the Frenchman's forthright views also have left him open to accusations of double standards.

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Stoke 1 Arsenal 3: Gunners' Victory Overshadowed By Aaron Ramsey Injury

Neil Johnston — 2010-02-27T14:44:00-05:00

by Neil Johnston

Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City, Match Reports

Arsenal's title ambitions remain alive after a 3-1 win at Stoke on Saturday in a match overshadowed by an horrific broken leg to Arsenal teenager Aaron Ramsey.

The highly rated 19-year-old Wales international was taken to hospital after a 65th-minute challenge by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross which earned the defender a red card. Ramsey's injury was deemed so horrific that television programmers refused to show replays of the incident.

Shawcross was clearly distraught as he left the pitch in tears, the incident reviving memories of the incident involving Arsenal's Eduardo, who suffered a dislocated and fractured ankle after a challenge by Birmingham's Martin Taylor two years ago.

Stoke had taken the lead courtesy of Danny Pugh's first Premier League goal before Nicklas Bendtner headed an equaliser.

Cesc Fabregas put Arsenal ahead from the penalty spot in stoppage time after Pugh had handled inside his area before Thomas Vermaelen wrapped up the points with a third goal.

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Stoke City - Arsenal Minute-By-Minute Report

Howard Swains — 2010-02-27T14:42:00-05:00

by Howard Swains

Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City, Min-By-Min Reports

Minute-by-minute commentary from the Britannia Stadium.

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Stoke v Arsenal Preview: Ricardo Fuller Backed to Upset Gunners Again

Neil Johnston — 2010-02-26T11:04:00-05:00

by Neil Johnston

Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City, Match Previews

PREMIER LEAGUE: BRITANNIA STADIUM, SATURDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2010. KICK-OFF: 1730 GMT

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Premier League Rankings

Ian Whittell — 2010-02-26T02:45:00-05:00

by Ian Whittell

Welcome back to our regular look at who's hot and who's not in the world's best football competition.

There is a new No. 1 in the Rankings this week following another unpredictable round of results in what has been the most unpredictable title race for years. Meanwhile, somebody forgot to tell Manchester City and Liverpool that the race for fourth place is meant to be one of the most exciting in Premier League history.

And both factors have had a major impact on the Rankings.

FanHouse UK has used the latest, most in-depth objective statistical data, balanced with the purely subjective views of our expert staff, to come up with the answers.

All this - and much more - is revealed below ...

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Stoke 3 Manchester City 1 (AET): Another Set-back for Roberto Mancini

Graham Chase — 2010-02-24T17:21:00-05:00

by Graham Chase

Filed under: Manchester City, Stoke City, FA Cup, Match Reports

Extra-time goals from Ryan Shawcross and Tuncay guided Stoke to a victory over 10-man Manchester City and set up a quarter final with Chelsea.

Stoke sub Dave Kitson looked to have settled a dire fifth round tie with his late strike but Craig Bellamy levelled two mnutes later only for Emmanuel Adebayor to be shown a red card for throwing an arm at Shawcross.

The hosts piled forward in the added period and pulled ahead when Shawcross glanced in from Rory Delap's long throw before Tuncay added a third with a fine solo effort.

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Infamy, Infamy... Why Every Manager Needs a Pet Conspiracy Theory

Mark Watson — 2010-02-23T13:46:00-05:00

by Mark Watson

Filed under: Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Stoke City

Stoke's Tony Pulis is not a typical Premier League manager. In this modern era we've become used to urbane foreign bosses who wear tailored overcoats, conduct team-talks in nine different languages and rotate their squads so regularly you're lucky if you see the same team play twice in a season.

Pulis speaks in a flat Welsh accent, seems incapable of taking off his baseball cap and leads a team that earns most of its points via glancing headers from throw-ins. Arsene Wenger might remonstrate with a fourth official by quoting Proust; Pulis, this week, protested against a sending-off by spitting out his gum.

But when he met scarf-modelling Roberto Mancini's Man City, Pulis showed he has one of the core skills that unite Premier League managers: a conspiracy theory about referees.

After Stoke had been denied a last-minute winner, scored by bundling a set-piece over the line in a piece of tactical cunning impossible to anticipate, Pulis told press that this was 'the kind of decision smaller clubs never get'.

He went on to imply that referee Alan Wiley's failure to send off Patrick Vieira was, again, down to City's status as a Big Four side (although that status is going to be hard to claim until City do actually finish in the top four). In doing this, Pulis joined a long line of managers who have muttered darkly about the 'real' reasons for controversial decisions.

If a decision goes in favour of a big team, it's because they psyched out the ref. If it goes against a big team, it's because the ref was scared of seeming to favour them. No-one gets a penalty against Manchester United, according to everyone except Sir Alex, who claims United never get a penalty against anyone else. No one gets a penalty in front of the Kop. Arsenal players never get sent off. On top of all this, of course, the whole of football is an ongoing conspiracy against Neil Warnock.

If even half of these conspiracy theories are correct, it's a wonder referees can keep track of whom they are biased against. They must have a huge chart tacked up in the Referees' Association so they can work out whom they're supposed to be cheating out of the points this week. Either that or maybe, just maybe, referees are honest men doing a job which is pretty much impossible.

Every time you see a replay at actual speed, it's startling how quickly it happens. You've just about got time to say: 'how did the referee miss this?' before you've missed it yourself. Now imagine you're exhausted from running up and down after men half your age while 40,000 people scream that you're not fit to referee and opine, in song, as to the circumstances of your upbringing. Also, unlike everyone else, you're barely getting paid.

In these conditions managers are flattering themselves if they think referees can be bothered to discriminate against them. Refs have got their work cut out just to remember which team is playing which way, let alone trying to hijack the game for obscure reasons of their own.

And if you are a referee erring on the side of one team or the other - which I admit is possible - surely it makes more sense to give the benefit of the doubt to smaller, ropier clubs. At Old Trafford it must be pretty easy to sneak away down one of the many tunnels into the bowels of the vast stadium and away to safety. At Fratton Park, if you failed to award Pompey a penalty you'd be very unlikely to survive the experience.

Frankly it's time for managers to stop making out they're hard done by. Referees can often be incompetent, sometimes even stupid, but they're just too busy to do anything underhand.

If the big four keep finishing at the top of the league it's probably because they have the most money and the best players. Of course, you could argue that, in itself, is because of an enormous conspiracy. But that's another story.

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Stoke v Man City Preview: Gareth Barry is Geared Up for a Tough Battle

Neil Johnston — 2010-02-23T11:19:00-05:00

by Neil Johnston

Filed under: Manchester City, Stoke City, FA Cup, Match Previews

FA CUP: BRITANNIA STADIUM, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2010. KICK-OFF: 1945 GMT

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England Call for Ryan Shawcross Would Prove a Point to Alex Ferguson

John Percy — 2010-02-22T05:25:00-05:00

by John Percy

Filed under: Manchester United, Stoke City, World Cup 2010

Ryan Shawcross, who has already displayed an acute sense of timing in his burgeoning career, is hoping that a rare lapse does not endanger his burning ambition to break into Fabio Capello's World Cup squad.

After emerging as one of the most highly-rated young defenders in the country, Shawcross fluffed an audition in front of Capello two weeks ago when he made an appalling error in the FA Cup tie against Manchester City.

The mistakes that Shawcross has made this season can be counted on the fingers of one hand but it was certainly an unfortunate time to make that one as he wasted a chance to impress Capello.

However, FanHouse believes that blunder should not affect his chances, for Shawcross is one player who fully deserves an opportunity against Egypt next month.

Bolton's Gary Cahill, who has been repeatedly chosen ahead of Shawcross in the past, is still struggling with a blood clot in his arm, but that should be deemed irrelevant in any case.

There really should be nothing preventing Shawcross from earning his first international call-up.

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Portsmouth 1 Stoke City 2: Salif Diao's Late Strike Adds to Pompey's Woes

Ian Winrow — 2010-02-20T12:33:00-05:00

by Ian Winrow

Filed under: Portsmouth, Stoke City, Match Reports

Salif Diao added to Portsmouth's misery with an added time winner that secured a fortunate victory for ten-man Stoke in a game that could turn out to be Pompey's final fixture at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth face a winding-up order in the High Court on March 1st but the club's players appeared unaffected by the financial plight when they established a first half lead through Frederic Piquionne.

Robert Huth levelled for the visitors five minutes into the second half but the advantage appeared to lie with Pompey when Stoke full back Andy Wilkinson collected a second yellow card in the 73rd minute.

But the game swung dramatically two minutes into added time when Diao converted Ricardo Fuller's cross.

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