v Stoke City (A) Match thread

[Boycie]

2 hours ago, reverendo de duivel said:

What fresh madness is this?

First we had the @Rample trample taking over the matchday thread, which I put down to inexperience.

Next we have a Sophie's choice of matchday threads, between a obscure African country, and a poster in @Pastinaak who seems unable to carry out the simplest transaction without causing a commotion.

I can only assume @David is spending the summer in a luxury beach cabin on the Playa del Kevin Clifton, and the WiFi signal is dodgy.

It's probably for the best if @Boycie takes command tbh, a sentence I thought I'd never type.

 

 

 

 

Did I tell you that you’re my favourite on here?

[europia]

6 hours ago, Squid said:

I feel like this is a game where Bogle's absence will show to be a huge factor in the final result. On our right hand side I feel as if we will be vulnerable. Max Lowe is good but its not his primary position.

I think Tom Ince will be a massive threat as per and they are gonna put their arses on the line for this. At home, for their first win of the season.

Lets prove to them we're not a pushover. COYR

Yes agreed. Seems odd that we don't have a right sided defender to step in as automatic cover for Bogle. 

[Parsnip]

2 hours ago, reverendo de duivel said:

and a poster in @Pastinaak who seems unable to carry out the simplest transaction without causing a commotion.

Don't get me started.

I've had two incidents with Cadburys Twirl multipacks this week (that I don't want to go in to too much online until I've consulted with my legal team). But to give you the lowdown - £1 for 5 x Twirls sounds like a great deal until you realise they're single finger twirls. And then you see another offer of £1 for 5 x twirls, you check that they're 2 finger twirls - only to find out later that they're a frigging inch shorter that normal twirls! Wtf?!?!

I've said too much already so I'll leave it. I'll update my special shopping thread when the time is right.

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

15 minutes ago, Pastinaak said:

Don't get me started.

I've had two incidents with Cadburys Twirl multipacks this week (that I don't want to go in to too much online until I've consulted with my legal team). But to give you the lowdown - £1 for 5 x Twirls sounds like a great deal until you realise they're single finger twirls. And then you see another offer of £1 for 5 x twirls, you check that they're 2 finger twirls - only to find out later that they're a frigging inch shorter that normal twirls! Wtf?!?!

I've said too much already so I'll leave it. I'll update my special shopping thread when the time is right.

I purchased some multi pack beef monster munch.  One had 5 in the packet.  Look at the gap's in this Toblerone,  I thought rumours of this kind of thing were just ramblings of warped mind's till I saw the proof. 

All this just to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas produced by Kenny Burns.  The bloke will just buy double. Why should we all suffer  ?

 

[Millenniumram]

I don’t like this new person doing the thread every game malarkey, we’ve set ourselves up for a 5-0 drubbing here! 

Anyway... stoke have had a pretty awful start to the season. They’ve conceded a fair amount of goals and their defence looks a bit leaky- but we must be aware that they haven’t been getting battered every week, it’s just isolated moments in games that have been killing them. In general, they’ve not actually been that bad apparently and have largely controlled affairs, and we know they’ve got players capable of pulling something out of nothing (Ince) so it’s not gonna be an easy match. As usual, tight and hard to call this match, but if we can go there and scrape a draw at this stage of the season it’d probably be a decent result, they could easily 1-0 us.

Team for me:

Roos

Lowe Keogh Clarke Malone

Evans

Knight Dowell

Paterson Waghorn Lawrence 

Obviously bogle being out is a problem, but it appears Lowe is the most suitable player we’ve got so he comes in, despite RB not being a natural role for him. Knight come in for Huddlestone to give more balance to the midfield and make us have a bit more nervy in there- this is assuming bielik isn’t fit to start again. Josefzoon has done nothing of note so far, so Paterson probably desrves to come in and establish himself.

Want to see everyone who was rested mid week come bak fit and firing on all cylinders. Hope to see some more of the possession game we’ve been trying to play, just be patient (that goes for the fans too!) and chances will come- though some more runners making movements beyond their back line wouldn’t go amiss to give us some options to hit in the box. Want to see us having energy in the press all over the pitch, particulary in our own half, and making sure to keep tight to our men and remain organised in defence to limited their options. As per usual, we need to be careful on crosses given our age old tendency to concede from them, so I hope we continue practicing defending them in training as we seem to be getting better, and Malone in particulary needs to position himself well.

[oomarkwright]

Think beerlick has to start after Tues. Drop huddz soz mate. Don't mind Evans or Knight with him. Waggers if his minds on it. Mazza after 70. 

They will play a diamond as it seemed to click on Tues. Yeh tough game. Take a point now. 

[erathirea]

13 hours ago, Pastinaak said:

One rogue, one legitimate. It's all about those 2 minutes.

And I would've got away with it too, if it wasnt for you meddling kids!

[Anag Ram]

For me it’s Roos, Lowe, Keogh, Clarke and Malone at the back.

Bielik has to sit in front with the two guys who have shown the greatest desire to get on the ball - Knight and Dowell.

Up front, it’s difficult as form has been patchy thus far. 

I’d be tempted to try Wagamama together with Lawrence. Makes sense to me to have the three squad members most likely to score.

[Edtheram]

14 hours ago, Jourdan said:

Of course, eventually Bielik will be the main man, and don’t get me wrong, I also fully expect him to start on Saturday.

But it all depends on Cocu’s approach - he might say to Huddlestone and Evans, the shirt’s yours until you give me a reason to take it from you.

We are unbeaten in all competitions, so how great will Cocu’s desire be to change things?

It’ll be interesting to see.

10 million changes a lot. Evans and Bielik will be here longer than Huddlestone.

[Ghost of Clough]

9 hours ago, europia said:

Yes agreed. Seems odd that we don't have a right sided defender to step in as automatic cover for Bogle. 

You mean like Wisdom, Anya, and even Holmes? Yeah, it's a shame we don't have a 5th choice to fill in for when 4 players who are capable of playing there are all injured at the same time

[Edtheram]

Stoke away is never an easy game but i am quietly confident in us getting a result. We now have a top coach and coaching staff managing the players, the difference from how we would of approached this game last year to this couldn't be further apart. Cocu will set us up to combat Stokes midfield diamond and have the lads up for an away day where they will be backed by a sell out away end. Vokes up top will be big for them especially at set pieces so its good that we have Clarke in there to deal with him. Ince is always a tricky player but if Lowe can get stuck into him then he may win the battle. Woods in midfield is a busy player as is Allen so we need players in there who can actually move and offer us something going forwards and back. Stoke are in poor form which has carried on from last year and we have only conceded one goal in 3 games (0 goals from open play). I back us to stay defensively tight and take our chances this week, 2-0 to the Rams.

My team....

                          Roos

Lowe        Keogh       Clarke       Malone

                 Evans        Bielik

 Jozefzoon        Dowell            Lawrence

                        Marriott

Bench: Hamer / Davies / Shinnie / Huddlestone / Paterson / Bennett / Waghorn.

Waghorn swapped out for Marriott, Stoke play with big physical CB's who get you roughed up, if we play the right way and get Jack running in behind he will open up space for the 3 behind as well as getting chances in front of goal. Marriott only needs one chance to score, Waggy looks like he needs 4 currently. Huddlestone drops out for Bielik, I've seen some posters mention playing 2 CM's instead of DM's but i think Cocu will stick with what worked at Huddersfield. We need mobility in the middle and after Bieliks dominant display on Tuesday and Evans looking reborn these 2 get the nod from me. Another dilemma could be GK, Roos has looked okay and made some good saves but Hamer did well the other night and made one very impressive reflex save. Biggest thing for this side this season is consistency, if we stay consistent we will do very well this season, I think we will win but id take a draw away from home. COYR

 

 

[Bubbles]

Knight Bielik, Evans in midfield, jobs a fish.

[erathirea]

13 hours ago, reverendo de duivel said:

What fresh madness is this?

First we had the @Rample trample taking over the matchday thread, which I put down to inexperience.

Next we have a Sophie's choice of matchday threads, between a obscure African country, and a poster in @Pastinaak who seems unable to carry out the simplest transaction without causing a commotion.

I can only assume @David is spending the summer in a luxury beach cabin on the Playa del Kevin Clifton, and the WiFi signal is dodgy.

It's probably for the best if @Boycie takes command tbh, a sentence I thought I'd never type.

 

 

 

 

Butchering Beyelleaks name, I can handle, but that's a colossal misspelling of mine ?

 

Anyway

 

Roos, 

Lowe, Keogh, Clarke, Malone

Beerleak

Shinnie Dowell

Paterson Waghorn Lawrence

 

Bench of Hamer, Evans, Buchanan, Bennett, Marriott, Knight

[brady1993]

11 hours ago, Pastinaak said:

Is the Bielik/Knight midfield partnership destined to be the beating heart of The Rams for the next few seasons?

I don't think it will be partnership but I could definately see those two taking 2 of 3 positions. And I think Sibley has the ability for the third spot eventually.

[Jimbo Ram]

3 hours ago, Anag Ram said:

For me it’s Roos, Lowe, Keogh, Clarke and Malone at the back.

Bielik has to sit in front with the two guys who have shown the greatest desire to get on the ball - Knight and Dowell.

Up front, it’s difficult as form has been patchy thus far. 

I’d be tempted to try Wagamama together with Lawrence. Makes sense to me to have the three squad members most likely to score.

Player short aren't we???

[Jimbo Ram]

25 minutes ago, erathirea said:

Butchering Beyelleaks name, I can handle, but that's a colossal misspelling of mine ?

 

Anyway

 

Roos, 

Lowe, Keogh, Clarke, Malone

Beerleak

Shinnie Dowell

Paterson Waghorn Lawrence

 

Bench of Hamer, Evans, Buchanan, Bennett, Marriott, Knight

Yes, think I would go with that....

[Anag Ram]

22 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Player short aren't we???

Wagamama is my shorthand for Waghorn and Marriott. 

[TibshelfRam]

Tough game, this one. Typically the kind of game (as has been alluded to already) that we screw up in - decent form for us, opponents can't win a game - only one way it can end, and it doesn't. If Cocu can crack this kind of fixture, then he might be onto something.

Interested to see how Stoke line up. They like a diamond in midfield but in recent games they've moved between a 4-4(diamond)-2 and a 3-3-2-1-1 diamond formation. Still intrigued to see how they get the best out of Ince as I've never been convinced by him as a number 10.

For us, it's a tough one to call. We've been so solid defensively, to the point where I've never been so relaxed as we just don't look like conceding. But we lack creativity - something that I think we need to address with a slight tweak in the system.

I'd go with:

--------------Roos

Lowe---Keogh--Clarke---Malone

--------------Bielik

-------Knight-------Dowell

Jozefzoon---------------Lawrence

-------------Waghorn

Why?

Bogle being out causes us problems. As I've said on other threats, our full backs are our main attacking outlet given that we play with inverted wingers and overlapping fullbacks. Lowe playing at RB is a concern as I think we lose so much of a threat. Therefore, we need to play a RW who will pin the touchline and provide width. I personally consider that to be where we might get the best of of Jozefzoon.

Bielik has to start after midweek. Evans and Huddlestone have looked good so far, but they aren't creative enough. I feel that Bielik has enough about him to provide defensive solidity on his own without the need for 2xDM. He can also be a creative base.

Playing Bielik allows us to play 2 ball playing midfielders. Longer term I'd like to see Holmes partner Dowell and play as a box to box player - but we aren't creating enough chances for now and Knight looked excellent midweek. He and Dowell could remedy this - we need 2 creative midfielders in there, in my opinion, to make us more fluid. With Bielik's protection behind, we are able to do this and get more bodies closer to Waghorn.

Waghorn has to start. I don't get the calls for Marriott in the system that Cocu so obviously wants to play. The system relies upon a backs to goal striker who can link the play and provide a physical presence and allow the wingers to play off him. Marriott isn't that man. If we can get more creativity from midfield, Waghorn will come into his own. Going forward, I think we'll click. I just think that we need an extra creator in there.

This all being said, I think that the team that Cocu picks will be:

Roos; Lowe, Keogh, Clarke, Malone; Huddlestone, Evans, Dowell; Jozefzoon, Waghorn, Lawrence.

I believe he will consider it too much for Bielik to play 2 games in 4 days - expect to see him in for Bristol City.

[Jimbo Ram]

1 hour ago, Anag Ram said:

Wagamama is my shorthand for Waghorn and Marriott. 

Oh....I see, I see, I get the picture......

[Ambitious]

Roos

Lowe                  Keogh                  Clarke                 Malone

Bielik

Knight                 Dowell

Lawrence

Waghorn                   Marriott

Lawrence and Waghorn need to be fluid to create a 4-3-3 at times, but I would get those players in the team for this weekend.