The Stoke City Courier
Match14 May 2029
Stoke City are in real trouble now
Position 18, 26 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match12 May 2029
A hiding for Stoke City
Beaten 0‑3 by Fulham, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match12 May 2029
The wait goes on for Stoke City
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad14 May 2029
Stoke City count the cost of losing Lucas Connell
45 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom14 May 2029
Inquest at Stoke City
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout14 May 2029
Harry Thompson answers for it
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout14 May 2029
No hiding place for Sam Mather
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sam Mather, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 May 2029
Balázs Tóth is still paying for one afternoon at Stoke City
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Loan watch14 May 2029
7 goals on loan for Nathan Lowe
45 appearances at Bristol City and the goals keep coming. Stoke City are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
In brief
- Market The Sorba Thomas question follows Stoke City around
- The dugout Brian Madjo asks for a word with the manager
- Looking ahead Takehiro Tomiyasu faces his old club