Stoke vs Norwich - Matchday Thread - 16/03/24

Shaun14

Shaun14

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Stoke welcome Norwich to the Bet 365 stadium this coming Saturday for a 3pm kick off.

Norwich are sitting in 6th place with a play off spot very much within their reach. They’ll be up for the points with teams right behind them ready to leapfrog if they drop points.

Stoke have picked up 6 points in three games with the only loss coming away at Leeds. We have looked a completely different outfit since we played Cardiff and there’s no reason why the team can’t pick up points this Saturday if they continue in the way they have been playing.
We will most certainly miss Burger with his suspension kicking in, but it’s a good sight to see some retuning and in for contention like Ryan Mmaee who has been back in training. If his attitude can match his talent he could be a massive player for Stoke.

Although on paper we won’t be favourites, I still have hopes we could pick up some points here. I think a point would be a really good result considering both our league positions, so I’m going for a 2-2 draw.
 
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Well this won’t be easy by any means and we will certainly be the underdogs but weren’t we the underdogs at Preston and won ? Underdogs at Leeds and deserved a point ? Norwich will be confident and that could be their downfall. If every single Stoke player does his job and stays switched on for the entirety of the game we are in with a chance of taking something. The question is will they ?

Controlling the midfield will be critical.
Burger is out so that means a spot for Pearson or Thompson. Thompson does have a tendency to drift a little (although in his natural position this may not happen as much) and Pearson can explode at any moment. You can guarantee Norwich will have a few digs at him so he really does need to stay calm and focused, which as we know, isn’t really him.

Defensively we don’t have a lot to choose from so it’s up to Schu to decide if we go with McNally and Rose or whether to play Wilmot aswell as a three as we did effectively against Preston, with Gooch and Hoever either side.

Up top it’s likely to be Ennis flanked by Junho and Manhoef again but who knows. This manager is not the most predictable as we have seen so far.

I’d take a point right now but I really do think we can get more so I’m going for a Stoke victory with Ryan Mmaee coming off the bench to net the winner in the second half and instantly turn from villain to hero.

2-1 Stoke 👍
 
I think even if we stay up SS will lose his job , today is on him , high defensive line and totally gutless and naive performance, if we do go down then definitely he has to go
 
Outwitted in midfield first half and Pearson going off didn’t help the cause. As much as I like the manager he should have changed the shape earlier to combat their movement and domination in the middle.

Too many players had a bad game today and none more so than Campbell. Totally useless, doesn’t want to be here and clearly doesn’t want to pick up an injury before any summer move. I wouldn’t play him again. Waste of a shirt.

To be fair, Norwich were good. Plenty of movement and good runs in the middle, utilised their width really well, quality finishing and they were onside for their first incase anyone thinks otherwise. We were well beaten today.

The only bright spot is that all results went in our favour, another week ticks by and we aren’t in the bottom three again, other than that it’s a very poor show today.
 
Humphrey Syphon said:
Outwitted in midfield first half and Pearson going off didn’t help the cause. As much as I like the manager he should have changed the shape earlier to combat their movement and domination in the middle.

Too many players had a bad game today and none more so than Campbell. Totally useless, doesn’t want to be here and clearly doesn’t want to pick up an injury before any summer move. I wouldn’t play him again. Waste of a shirt.

To be fair, Norwich were good. Plenty of movement and good runs in the middle, utilised their width really well, quality finishing and they were onside for their first incase anyone thinks otherwise. We were well beaten today.

The only bright spot is that all results went in our favour, another week ticks by and we aren’t in the bottom three again, other than that it’s a very poor show today.
Click to expand...
SS said that’s the worst performance of any team he’s been involved with , we need a total rebuild from top to bottom in the summer
 
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