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Just a few seasons ago they were getting thumped 3-0 at Loftus Road and now they are in the FA Cup Final and 8th in the Premiership so did they totally change their Championship promotion side to survive in the Premiership? The first year in the Premiership they finished 12th but we're closer in points to Fulham in 7th than Newcastle who were relegated but who played in the Championship side and who played in the Premiership team?
Top 10 most performance in the Championship for Stoke City in 07/08:
Rory Delap – Performances 44
Richard Cresswell - Performances 43
Ricardo Fuller – Performances 42
Liam Lawrence – Performances 41
Ryan Shawcross - Performances 41
Steve Simonsen - Performances 36
Mamady Sidibe - Performances 35
Leon Cort - Performances 33
Carl Dickinson – Performances 27
John Eustace – Performances 26
Top 10 most performance in the Premiership for Stoke City in 08/09:
Thomas Sorensen - Performances 36
Abdoulaye Faye – Performances 36
Ricardo Fuller – Performances 34
Rory Delap – Performances 34
Richard Creswell – Performances 30
Ryan Shawcross – Performances 29
Danny Higginbotham – Performances 28
Glenn Whelan – Performances 26 (Played 14 times for Stoke in 07/08)
Andy Wilkinson – Performances 22 (Played 23 times for Stoke in 07/08)
Mamady Sidibe – Performances 22
The players in bold appear either in both lists or because they played a significant amount of games during Stoke's final season in the Championship.
Of course they spent money on the likes of Etherington, Kitson, Beattie and the likes of Faye, Sorensen and Higginbotham but Kitson failed to score for them that season, Beattie scored 4 fewer than Fuller and Etherington failed to score and made just 3 goals in a dozen matches so didn't have as big an impact as he does for them today.
Today their squad has transformed but what I'm trying to say is that the season after they won promotion the team that kept them up was predominantly made up of the successful team from the season before. So if we don't spend big it doesn't necessarily mean we will do a Burnley or possibly a Blackpool it could mean Warnock is trying to keep the spirit and the togetherness of this current squad. Yes it needs strengthening as none of our strikers are as good as Fuller or Beattie were but the core is already in place and over time it can be changed and improved on.
What is more important is the faith shown in Tony Pullis. Love him or hate him he went into the Premiership without any prior experience at that level and has kept a team up three years in a row and next season they'll be playing European football. We might not like their style of football but as a blueprint for success it wouldn't be a bad one for QPR to follow. I'm not saying that we shouldn't invest but too many successful teams go up and remove all of the players that got them there in the first place. The same players who would have been confident and on form replaced often with so called 'better' players.
Anyway, enough of my gibberish I hope you find it quite a useful thread next time you want to argue one way or another for splashing the cash or sticking with (the majority) of what we've already got.
Top 10 most performance in the Championship for Stoke City in 07/08:
Rory Delap – Performances 44
Richard Cresswell - Performances 43
Ricardo Fuller – Performances 42
Liam Lawrence – Performances 41
Ryan Shawcross - Performances 41
Steve Simonsen - Performances 36
Mamady Sidibe - Performances 35
Leon Cort - Performances 33
Carl Dickinson – Performances 27
John Eustace – Performances 26
Top 10 most performance in the Premiership for Stoke City in 08/09:
Thomas Sorensen - Performances 36
Abdoulaye Faye – Performances 36
Ricardo Fuller – Performances 34
Rory Delap – Performances 34
Richard Creswell – Performances 30
Ryan Shawcross – Performances 29
Danny Higginbotham – Performances 28
Glenn Whelan – Performances 26 (Played 14 times for Stoke in 07/08)
Andy Wilkinson – Performances 22 (Played 23 times for Stoke in 07/08)
Mamady Sidibe – Performances 22
The players in bold appear either in both lists or because they played a significant amount of games during Stoke's final season in the Championship.
Of course they spent money on the likes of Etherington, Kitson, Beattie and the likes of Faye, Sorensen and Higginbotham but Kitson failed to score for them that season, Beattie scored 4 fewer than Fuller and Etherington failed to score and made just 3 goals in a dozen matches so didn't have as big an impact as he does for them today.
Today their squad has transformed but what I'm trying to say is that the season after they won promotion the team that kept them up was predominantly made up of the successful team from the season before. So if we don't spend big it doesn't necessarily mean we will do a Burnley or possibly a Blackpool it could mean Warnock is trying to keep the spirit and the togetherness of this current squad. Yes it needs strengthening as none of our strikers are as good as Fuller or Beattie were but the core is already in place and over time it can be changed and improved on.
What is more important is the faith shown in Tony Pullis. Love him or hate him he went into the Premiership without any prior experience at that level and has kept a team up three years in a row and next season they'll be playing European football. We might not like their style of football but as a blueprint for success it wouldn't be a bad one for QPR to follow. I'm not saying that we shouldn't invest but too many successful teams go up and remove all of the players that got them there in the first place. The same players who would have been confident and on form replaced often with so called 'better' players.
Anyway, enough of my gibberish I hope you find it quite a useful thread next time you want to argue one way or another for splashing the cash or sticking with (the majority) of what we've already got.
But I bet I hate Stoke even more then you hermitage
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