I Love Stoke City

CROUCH CONFIDENT IN EUROPE

Posted on February 20, 2012

Stoke City striker Peter Crouch has said that he is extremely confident of their ability to hurt Valencia when the two sides meet in the Europa league.

Stoke City have qualified for Europe for the first time, and even better is the fact that they have qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament.

Stoke City will be facing Valencia in the round of 32. Manchester city and Manchester United are the other two teams from England left in the competition. The former Tottenham striker Peter Crouch has become a first team regular for Stoke City this season. He has spoken with confidence about Stoke City’s ability to hurt Valencia when the two sides face each other shortly.

Valencia are currently in the third position in the la Liga. However, this will not stop Stoke City from trying their best against Valencia according to Peter Crouch. Even though Stoke City do not have the threat of relegation as of now, they are still close to the relegation zone. Stoke City manager Tony Pulis will want to make sure that the first clear threat of relegation before progressing in Europe. Striker Peter Crouch, however, is a player who believes that Stoke City can make good progress in the Europa league this season.

“It’s going to be incredibly tough, we know that – but Valencia don’t hold any fears for us. We have already met some top European sides at the Britannia Stadium this season and done well in all of them, beating Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, while also giving a good account of ourselves in draws with Chelsea and Manchester United,” Peter Crouch said in an interview given just before the match against Valencia. Peter Crouch is one of the experienced members of the squad when it comes to European experience.

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HUTH LOSES APPEAL

Posted on February 17, 2012  in Stoke

Stoke City defender Robert Huth will now be missing again for Stoke city after having lost his appeal against the red card issued in a match against Sunderland recently.

Robert Huth was sent off in the match against Sunderland during the weekend. It was a decision that was highly controversial because of the fact that Sunderland were able to take advantage of the 10 man Stoke city to power themselves to a victory in the end.

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis was extremely critical after the match of the refereeing decisions, which saw his side lose their home match.

Robert Huth was dismissed early in the first half after his lunge on the Sunderland player David Meyler. The referee deemed it to be a worthy of a red card. Red cards are now being issued quite normally for players going in with 2 foot off the ground.

It has become a serious issue in the Premier league nowadays, especially after the injury to Arsenal striker Eduardo a few years ago. David Meyler made a meal of the challenge and it seems to have persuaded the referee to give a red card, although the replays have since shown that the former Chelsea defender did not actually make any significant contact with David Meyler.

“An independent regulatory commission has today dismissed the claim of wrongful dismissal of Stoke City’s Robert Huth. The defender will serve a three-match suspension with immediate effect following his red card for serious foul play in the game with Sunderland on February 4,” read an FA statement on the official website.

As a result of this suspension, Robert Huth will be unavailable for the matches against Fulham and Swansea in the Premier league and also the match against Crawley town in the fifth round of the FA Cup. His suspension has affected Stoke’s latest Premier League betting odds, with their chances of netting European football next season drifting out to 10/1.

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