Marked for Jonathan Cunningham
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2034
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Kaye Furo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Lewi Richards falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
The manager makes an example of Jack Currie
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market16 Oct 2034
The Seedy Jatta story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Seedy Jatta signs something — a contract at Stoke City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Oct 2034
Mpho Padime knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stoke City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Oct 2034
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad16 Oct 2034
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Stoke City lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Loan watch16 Oct 2034
Paul Reverson’s loan is measured in nothing happening
5 clean sheets from 9 appearances at Watford. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Oct 2034
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad9 Oct 2034
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match7 Oct 2034
No end in sight to Stoke City's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Stoke City has to find a result from somewhere.
Market9 Oct 2034
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Stoke City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Kaye Furo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings9 Oct 2034
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad9 Oct 2034
A row about effort at Stoke City
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lewi Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Oct 2034
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Oct 2034
Francesco Folino is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Oct 2034
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stoke City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market2 Oct 2034
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Market2 Oct 2034
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Stoke City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match30 Sep 2034
5 matches without a win for Stoke City
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Stoke City are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Oct 2034
Kaye Furo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Oct 2034
The manager makes an example of Seedy Jatta
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad2 Oct 2034
Words at Stoke City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jack Currie is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout2 Oct 2034
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Market2 Oct 2034
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Sep 2034
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout25 Sep 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stoke City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match23 Sep 2034
4 matches without a win for Stoke City
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Stoke City are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Sep 2034
Lorenzo Palmisani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match23 Sep 2034
4 matches without a goal for Stoke City
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings25 Sep 2034
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad25 Sep 2034
A row about effort at Stoke City
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lewi Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Sep 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Refat, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Sep 2034
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stoke City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Sep 2034
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stoke City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout18 Sep 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stoke City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Lorenzo Palmisani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings18 Sep 2034
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Words at Stoke City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewi Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match16 Sep 2034
The goals have deserted Stoke City
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Stoke City can tell you which week it ends in.
Match16 Sep 2034
0‑1 to Bournemouth, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout18 Sep 2034
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout18 Sep 2034
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Sep 2034
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stoke City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Sep 2034
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market11 Sep 2034
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Stoke City heard it as anything else.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Sepp van den Berg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Sep 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Folino, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Jack Currie falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad11 Sep 2034
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout11 Sep 2034
Francesco Folino is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Boardroom11 Sep 2034
The numbers do not look good at Stoke City
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Sep 2034
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stoke City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match2 Sep 2034
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 19 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Match2 Sep 2034
0‑3 against Tottenham, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom4 Sep 2034
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $416.8K of what Stoke City paid for Mattia Buniotto is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market4 Sep 2034
James Crole hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stoke City can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom4 Sep 2034
Deadline passes with 40 signed and 31 gone
That is the business done at Stoke City until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market4 Sep 2034
Seedy Jatta wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Stoke City hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Sepp van den Berg and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2034
Whatever happens, Stoke City do not lose
19 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match26 Aug 2034
20 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad28 Aug 2034
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stoke City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market28 Aug 2034
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stoke City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout28 Aug 2034
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market28 Aug 2034
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Stoke City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Aug 2034
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Kaye Furo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stoke City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Aug 2034
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 18 matches without defeat is a foundation Stoke City did not have in the autumn.
Match19 Aug 2034
Stoke City make home a hard place to visit
19 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad21 Aug 2034
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stoke City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings21 Aug 2034
Age has not caught Phil Foden yet — 8.24
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2034
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Everton have kept their man, and Stoke City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Aug 2034
Kaye Furo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Aug 2034
Words at Stoke City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seedy Jatta is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom21 Aug 2034
17 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Aug 2034
83 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stoke City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2034
The clubs have shaken hands with Everton; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market14 Aug 2034
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Stoke City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Aug 2034
The offer from Port Vale for Mattia Buniotto was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad14 Aug 2034
Sepp van den Berg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Aug 2034
A row about effort at Stoke City
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lewi Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2034
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stevenage have kept their man, and Stoke City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Aug 2034
The name of Joseph Cowan has come up in conversations Stoke City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market14 Aug 2034
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stoke City, another week without a signature from Christ Tapé.