Interview With A Stoke Fan

1) So how is the general feeling at Stoke, good season so far?

We’re rolling along very nicely and happily ignoring anything anyone else says about our style of football!

2) I would imagine everyone is happy with Tony Pulis as boss? What did you make of the James Beattie fall out and were you surprised no one bought him in January?

There has always been an element that hasn’t liked his style of play but, not surprisingly, they’re keeping very quiet at the moment as you can’t fault his results which is what everyone will ultimately judge him on. The shower incident has certainly ended Beatt’s career at Stoke as far as the manager is concerned. He was lined up to go to Fulham in Jan, but he wanted more cash than he was on at Stoke!

3) What is the maximum you could expect from Stoke, Premiership safety, top ten or are the ambitions up for Europe?

We’re just happy that we’ve almost stopped looking over our shoulder at the relegation zone. A win against Villa and we’re as good as safe – if we’re not already. I wouldn’t want us to get into Europe this season – just to beat last season’s 45 points will be success enough for now.

4) Who in your team should Villa fear the most?

Hard to say as many are either injured or suspended. Fuller, Tuncay and Delap are the obvious ones but Fuller and Delap may not be fit.

5) Who do you fear most in the Villa side?

We don’t fear anyone when we’re at the Brit. Bring ’em on!

6) If you could choose one of our players for the Potteries, who would it be and why?

We can always find a small corner for a decent striker like Agbonlahor

7) What is your opinion on Aston Villa and Martin O’Neill? Is this going to be yet another season when the Villa failed to live up to their potential?

You’ve been threatening to break into the top four since O’Neill joined but never quite got there and this season looks like a repeat performance. Still, you’ve got some games in hand, you were unlucky not to get more out of the CC Final and you’re still in the FA Cup, so the season’s not over yet.

8) What is up with your away form with just 1 win?

I think you’ll find it’s 2 away wins and that’s more than 6 other teams. We’ve more away draws (7) than anyone else in the league and we’ve only had 5 defeats on our travels. All in all, a far better away performance than last season.

9) Go on then, lets have your prediction, last time at Villa Park it was 1-0 to Villa, you predicting a reverse this time?

Absolutely! But I’ll give you a goal: 2-1 to the mighty Potters.

With thanks to Chris at www.stoke.vitalfootball.co.uk