Thursday, May 2, 2013

Stoke City: You can have a shy at Pulis, but he's a tough nut to crack - This is Staffordshire

NOT all the media made Stoke's press conference in time, meaning that by the end of the evening one reporter asked: "So, tell me again, what did Dave Kemp say about Kid Creole and the Coconuts?"

Erm, nothing. However, Stoke's assistant boss did compare Tony Pulis to a coconut, in the sense that managers are always in the firing line, much like on a fairground shy.

KEEN TO CARRY ON: Stoke manager Tony Pulis offers his hand to Norwich boss Chris Hughton after the match on Saturday. Inset: More tributes were paid to Stoke hero Paul Ware, both before the game and in the 42nd minute. Pictures: Phil Radcliffe

It was a fair point. In my experience though, these tough nuts are a lot harder to remove than you think. According to some in the media, Tony Pulis's P45 is already out of the drawer.

However, it's quite possible that the people who will actually make the decision, the Coates family, don't know what they will do yet.

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After the game, Pulis couldn't confirm whether he would still be in place next season although, let's be fair, which manager apart from Sir Alex Ferguson can say with any confidence when they will still be in a job?

Pulis did confirm he wants to stay at Stoke, and has strengthened his hand with a win on Saturday which almost certainly secures Premier League football for City for a sixth successive year.

A fortnight ago, when Stoke were given the run around at the Britannia Stadium by Aston Villa, Premier League safety looked a long way away indeed.

But they deserved their win at QPR last week and certainly deserved to win on Saturday against a Norwich side who were fortunate not to lose by more goals than Charlie Adam's 46th-minute strike.

He also said Stoke had been keen to get back to basics, and that too looked obvious as they were a more physical, determined and, to be fair, confident, side than when they were outfought and outplayed by Villa.

However, Adam was the worthy man of the match after an all-action performance, crowned by his third goal of the season.

It hasn't always been obvious where Adam would fit in at Stoke, having been used in 'the hole' behind the striker to limited effect.

He's back in the side on the right wing, but didn't let that restrict him as he showed moments after the break when he burst through the centre of the area to pounce on Peter Crouch's header and drill the ball past Mark Bunn.

In fact, it was an emotional day all round because the club paid a moving tribute to City hero Paul Ware by playing highlights of his time at Stoke on the giant screen before the game.

Norwich fans joined in the applause, as they did in the 42nd minute when fans again acclaimed the midfielder who has died, aged just 42.

A huge chorus of "There's only one Paul Ware" followed, with many fans doing their best to join in while still wiping away the tears.

Yesterday was 20 years since Ware and the rest of the Lou Macari class of 1992/93 won promotion from the third tier with a brand of entertaining, attacking football.

Those sorts of thrills haven't often been evident during the current campaign as only doomed QPR have scored fewer goals.

But Pulis has again steered City to safety and criticism should be tempered by the fact this is one relatively poor season out of seven since he returned to the club.

Okay, Stoke were the lowest scorers in the division last season, but Newcastle United's current woes suggest that Stoke's achievement in competing in the Europa League, while easily avoiding relegation last year has been underestimated.

Some changes to the squad will be required in the summer, whoever the manager. After all, the back-to-back wins against QPR and Norwich still make it only three wins from City's last 16 league games.

That's not the only question which remains unanswered. For starters, which fruit, or indeed nut, will TP be compared to next?

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