I was about to say...posted it in the Urso thread, but what's the average number of injuries per team per season? Is it 11-12 like what we have right now? Something is very, very wrong.
I like it because a) Pulis is an ex Bournemouth player and manager and 2) stoke are the kind of team that will come to play. Not fanny around.
I'm sure how they feel is directly correlated to how much they are getting paid to be here. Look, I like soccer, or I wouldn't be here. The fact is, apart from Peter Crouch (are we really going to market this game around a 8'4" goofball with a history of HOT girlfriends?), I don't think I could mention a single other player on this team. There are certain teams that have marketability built in. Hot and Sexy: MUFC, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea Attractive: Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle Still Attractive (in a late night buzzed sort of way): Aston Villa, Fulham, even Bolton Beer Goggles: The rest For me, I think it's ok to be excited that we are pulling in an EPL team, and one that was solidly in the PL, but I think we need to be honest with ourselves. Stoke are one of the fatter girls at the party. And they've always been chunky. They're not simply plump versions of their former hot selves (Villa, Bolton), but they are, have always been, and for the foreseeable future, always will be "that hot girl's fat friend."
Meh. I would have preferred Schalke (and I'm not even a Schalke fan). Philly ain't that far away from us and they are playing there.
Crouch should be making England's Euro Championship squad, in which case it's pretty doubtful he'll be with the team in July anyhow. They'll have to market around Jones & Fuller (the "CONCACAF Connection"), provided either are even still at the club, that is.
Crew vs. Stoke City should be a great match. I would much rather see this sort of team than some Russian oil enriched team of "superstars"! The "superstars" probably wouldn't play against us anyways. I am past worrying about the Crew FO being able to put more butts in the seats for these friendlies. The bottom line is that the FO does not know how to market soccer, period. Stoke has plenty of good players; Crouch, Pennant, Delap, Shawcross, Palacios, Jones, ....I will take my seat and enjoy the match, happy to see a BPL team live in Columbus.
Just a couple of fun facts for you........One of Stoke's owners also owns Orlando City Soccer in the USL. He is trying to get an MLS back into Florida. Tony Pulis's son Anthony plays for Orlando.
Also...John Rooney plays for Orlando as well. Rooney and Pulis play midfield. We love signing midfielders so look for an offer soon!!!!
Stoke City played in Ohio in the 1960s as the Cleveland Stokers. So you can market the Cleveland vs. Columbus thing if they were smart and explained the history of the club's roots in Ohio. I have no idea how many Stoke fans there are in Ohio, but they're all coming out of the woodwork on the Oatcake (Stoke's forum). Looks like there's a possibility of at least some sort of organized support showing up. Plus, Stoke travel well (if the jaunt into Europe was any indication) and the fans are loud (and have a proper distaste for Arsenal). Don't discount the Potters quite yet.
hey guys! stoke fan here i see you are basing us on our league position, which has been effected by playing in europe this season and we got to the last 30 so it is a lot of games. we have played basically two seasons now, so we have dropped places towards the end of the season as our players ar knackered anyway, we re only 2 points or so behind liverpool. also newcastle? they are similar in ability to us (ulthough we did beat them 4-0 last season ) i dont want you to play your reserve side. i think it will be a big win for stoke if you do that. and sorry but this is a game we think we should be winning anyway. i mean, we are competing to get into the top 8 of the premierleague! this season has been a good season early on though. 1-1 v man utd, 1-0 v liverpool, 1-1 v man city, 2-1 v tottenham, 0-0 v chelsea, 2-1 v arsenal are just of the few good results we have had this season. i also see you are trying to sign chris birchal? the former english division 4 player? anyway... i'll be back on to chat with you all in about... 7 hours about the game and all things stoke and columbus crew i leave you with a rendition of delilah at our recent draw v man city and our fa cup semi final victory v bolton... enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lhPIZql9wSk
Yeah, well, while we are getting our testicles out and putting them on the table for comparison Yeah, luckily only spanning one season (just).
Yeah, dude, all of us here are well familiar with Stoke - which is why some of us are well disappointed.
Yes exactly. Stoke fans, organization, prestige and beer is not up to Newcastle. Not by a long shot. All I was saying is that this is about the level of EPL team that comes to play us. Of course there are about 30 to 50 clubs that would further the Crew brand (and I would rather see) but frankly I am happy that any EPL team comes to visit Columbus. Stoke is still ahead about 500 other clubs in my mind so they aren't bad.
im back! although we dont have as bigger following as newcastle (probably because they were winning the league less than a generation ago) our fans crap on them quality not quantity im really looking forward to playing you guys in the summer! i wish i could come over but it's impossible at the minute. i just love it when we play teams we havnt played before.
As long as they're not like those douche bags from West Ham, right? Its EPL. I'm pleased with any of them coming here.
Now that security has been uber-tightened, I wonder if (how?) the situation would be different. I'm not saying I want them back though.
no you're not as long as we dont get cigarette lighters thrown like us in besiktas everything will be ok