Author: Rob Doolan
Promotion Tales: Stoke City’s Premier League Journey
Until the weekend, the bottom three places in this season’s Premier League were occupied by the three promoted clubs from last season and there is little doubt that negotiating the chasm is a perilous business with the financial and sporting learning curve proving too much for many. This week, we present five case studies of teams promoted to the competition after a considerable gap or, in some cases, for …
Unexpected Rivalries 7: Stoke City and Cardiff City
Last month saw Cardiff triumph in the Premier League’s first South Wales derby. Tonight, the artists formerly known as The Bluebirds will reacquaint themselves with another old foe — yet their grudge with Stoke City, which stretches back to the two clubs’ dark days in the third tier, has its roots not in geography but in betrayal, bitterness, and one enigmatic man’s backside…
Pitching up in the Valleys …
Buenos Dà¬az: Oxford and the Third Best Manager in the World
Firoz Kassam was in a quandary in November 2004. Of all the managers he’d appointed since buying Oxford United for £1 five years previously, the latest, Graham Rix, was arguably the worst. Since his arrival in March that year, Rix had managed to torpedo the side’s promotion campaign, guiding a team in the play-off places when he took over to a ninth place finish. Then, despite bringing in numerous …
Life Without Tony Pulis
After a somewhat disappointing 1-0 defeat at Carrow Road on Saturday, Stoke City’s slightly listless start to 2012-13 has continued with many neutral observers wondering whether the zenith of what the club can achieve - symbolised by last year’s creditable foray into European competition - is now behind them. Still, the mood at the Britannia today bears little relation to an occasion in the past when a certain Welshman was …