Stoke continue impressive form
Posted on October 29, 2014
Stoke City continued their impressive home form after getting a 2-1 win over Swansea during the weekend. The victory, however, was marred by accusations by opposition manager Gary Monk that Stoke had cheated their way out of the match. He said that the penalty that was awarded for a foul on Victor Moses should have never been given. He has also accused the player, who is on loan from Chelsea till the end of the season, that he should be ashamed of cheating. Stoke manager Mark Hughes has come in defence of his player by saying that Monk was out of his depth.
He said that Monk should never make comments about his player. Swansea had made a fine start to the season, but their form has nosedived of late. The club has not won in the last three matches and the upcoming run-off fixtures do not seem to get any easier with matches against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool. Even though Swansea still remain in the top 10 of the table, pressure is increasing on manager Monk. He has done a stellar job since replacing Michael Laudrup towards the end of last season. Hughes says that the accusations by Monk were simply a case of a manager not being happy with the result.
“I heard him say that my player is a cheat, which is unacceptable in my view. He’s obviously upset. We have to come here 20 minutes after the game and speak about what’s gone on and sometimes you have to bite your tongue. Maybe that will come from experience. Challenges like that that Ryan’s made, I went into meetings with managers at the beginning of the year and referees were talking about it. I’m disappointed about it. It doesn’t take much in the box for someone running at pace,” said Hughes.