Stoke(home)predictions

[AucklandRover]

I'm never sure what that means, Saxo. Of course, the manager bears some responsibility in every game.
Here, though, it's not obvious what else he could have done.
I thought the players continued the attempt to pick a way through the defence for too long, but - in a sense - it's a good fault, because they clearly have faith in the system
On the Telegraph site, some posters are arguing that we're much worse in this situation than other teams, but - in fact - we have picked up the same number of points at home as WBA, and more than two of the clubs above us.
Sometimes, people see what they want to see. There are lots of criticisms of Gallagher on that site, but I thought he was one of our best on the night. He won a lot of headers, turned his markers several times, and put in two very good crosses. I thought Armstrong and Rothwell were guilty of not anticipating the loose balls Gallagher created. In addition, Gallagher was clearly pushed over in the area. Yes - it was soft, but it would have been whistled up elsewhere on the pitch. Referees often bottle those situations.
Sometimes, when the early goal doesn't come, the opposition gain confidence. Stoke were very well-drilled and wasted time most successfully. (Only three minutes of extra time? Seriously?!)
In the last ten minutes, you could see Mowbray urging the players to get the ball forward more quickly, but Bell, in particular, cut back inside much too often. Even Tosin continued to play too many short passes.
Having said all that, you could see Travis's frustration at making such a mess of his golden opportunity right at the end.
Swansea apparently tried the same tactics at Fulham, but conceded in the fourth minute of injury-time! It will be interesting to see what they do on Saturday. They have a decent away-record, but don't score many, so we may witness more of the same!
(Incidentally, because Stoke's spending was mentioned in the commentary, I looked it up. Did you know they have spent 108 million pounds in the last three seasons? I was staggered!)