Stoke v SAFC Who are You?: ‘Arsenal hate us, we don’t care’

Jake wants answers ...


For this week’s
edition in what is proving an outstanding series of”Who are You?” interviews, Salut! Sunderland turned to James Whittaker*, one of Monsieur Salut’s fellow contributors at the ESPN Soccernet site**. Stoke City entries of past seasons gave him tough acts to follow. He rose to the challenge with a spirited riposte to M Wenger, a damning assessment of one of Stoke City’s Sunderland Old Boys and an unwelcome scoreline prediction …



Salut! Sunderland:
Stoke still cannot quite shake off the association with so-called “anti-football” and Arsenal fans seem especially contemptuous. How unfair do you find this and how much do you care?

It’s a sore subject for Stoke fans, more specifically around Arsenal (we know that our style is quite basic) I don’t particularly care what people think but when Wenger started his crusade, having lost a couple of times against us, people sadly stood up and listened, especially the Arsenal loving journos who see them as purveyors of the fine game. It was Wenger who started it all and following the Ramsey broken leg it only got worse as our reputation was dragged through the mud at any opportunity. Thankfully Arsenal have maintained their level of mediocrity despite ‘playing football how it should be’ and Chelsea’s triumphs against the likes of Barca, beating the Catalan giants with less than 30% possession almost turned the tables a bit on Arsene.

Have you detected significant change in Tony Pulis’s approach/style and, if so, how do you see it evolving further?

Absolutely. Things got pretty dire last season and a lot of people lost faith in the manager who refused to change his life long defensive approach to games. This season though has seen an overdue and entirely necessary shift in shape, attitude and performances as he is putting more importance on attack which is unheard of. The signing of players who are more comfortable on the ball such as Adam, Cameron and N’Zonzi are a big step in the right direction and slowly but surely we’ll see more of the same ilk join us and push us on even further.


How important has Crouch been, how much prospect does Owen have of playing more than the weeniest of bit parts and is Shawcross’s rehabilitation complete?

Crouch has done well, he adapted better than was expected to a very rigid system but it is largely down to his lack of pace and that of his striking partner that meant a rethink was required in the Summer. The new system gets players in and around him leaving him less isolated and so he will only get better. I don’t expect Owen to feature too heavily and if he does it will be from a wide/withdrawn position. As for Shawcross, he has been improving steadily over the years and has grown into a fine captain, he still has a lot to learn but there aren’t many better English centrebacks around.

Nowt to do with football (her dad once told me he supported Leeds after all) but if you like Kate Rusby and/or folk, you may enjoy reading about this brilliant concert attended by M Salut … http://www.salutlive.com/2012/10/kate-rusby-warmth-maturity-and-class.html


Your assessment of the Old Trafford game and your start to the season generally?

Whilst the score line said 4-2, our performance at Old Trafford illustrated such a huge change in mindset that I haven’t come across one fan who left with anything but on smile on their face. Away games have been murder in the past and given we have played Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United already, the fans have been happy for the most part and are looking forward to an easier set of fixtures now to get some points on the board.


The Sunderland Old Boys factor is less and less important. Who among them have been useful or better and who have been duds?

Delap was great for us when he signed and was integral to us getting and staying up. He isn’t involved in the match day squad anymore but is a great ambassador for the club and his charity work for the local Children’s Hospice is highly commendable. Jones I was happy with and whilst he had a few off days he was always a threat from a decent cross so the decision to drop him in favour of Crouch who many argue isn’t as good a fit to the system, was a bit of a surprise. Whitehead is much as you remember him, he’ll run all day and is enjoying a bit more freedom in the new shape when he features. As for Danny Collins, he and Woodgate were the worst defenders I have seen up at Stoke and I’ve seen some awful players!

Great stuff from Jake

Do you have any strong views on Sunderland – club, O’Neill, our fans, our region?

I’ve always enjoyed our games as we tend to fare quite well. I’ve got a good mate who is a Mackem and he is very loyal and down to earth and we always have a friendly rivalry. Sadly there also seem to be a lot of ‘internet’ fans who let you down, often visiting our forum speaking down to us with little in the ways of success to back it up. I’m not sure where this assumed rivalry has come from (perhaps your ‘rejects’ doing better for us?) but it’s a shame. As for O’Neill, I’ve always been a fan and in Johnson and Fletcher, you made two of the best signings in the window, you just need to kick on now.


Who are the best you’ve seen or wished you’d seen in Stoke colours and who should have been allowed nowhere them?


I’ve been lucky to have seen the likes of Stein and Thorne banging in the goals in the lower leagues and was heartbroken when we sold them to Chelsea and Cardiff (!) respectively. I’m sad that I never got to witness the likes of Matthews/Banks/Hudson but I wouldn’t swap those days at the Vic in the old third division for anything as it makes what’s happening now all the more unbelievable.


Any special memories – good, bad, amusing – of past Stoke/Sunderland encounters?

Nothing specific, though I remember going up to watch us on a Tuesday night in the Championship. I sat with my Mackem mate and looked over to the away end and there were no more than 50 Stoke fans all huddled together trying to share body heat, it was hilarious (and freezing!)

What will be the top four in order and who will go down?

Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Everton

Down (descending order): Norwich, QPR, Southampton



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And where will each of our clubs finish?

I think we will both hover around the top 10. I’d be delighted if we finished 10th, I think your lot will finish just below in 11th.


Did the success of the Olympics make you blase about the return of football or couldn’t you wait?

I couldn’t wait, it just made me more anxious for it’s return, especially with the non football people acting like it was the greatest sporting experience ever – we get that every week!!!


Has there been less cheating this season, which form annoys you most and how would you combat it?

I’ve seen a lot more cheating and I’m delighted our manager raised the issue and FIFA are commenting on it. Some of the dives are utterly shameful, Suarez and Ivanovic are two of the worst and I’m glad referees are starting to book people for it. In terms of banishing it, the refs need to stay vigilant and if they miss it and it’s caught on camera, a retrospective ban would soon cut it out.

Club vs country, who wins for you and why?

Club, every time. The club pays the player’s wage and it’s how we do on a Saturday and where we finish in May that matters, not a friendly against Macedonia.



Will you be at our game and what will be the score?

I will and I predict a 2-0 win. We’re playing really well and your boys seem to be struggling a bit of late finding their feet.


James Whittaker on James Whittaker:

I come from a long line of Stokies and on moving to Leeds when I was a boy, my dad refused to take me to see my local Championship winning side and instead took me down to see us play Luton and somehow, I never looked back. I remain an exile to the area but my love for the club never waned and after years in the wilderness am loving life in the Premier League and the fact I get to write about it too – click here to see James’s posts at the Espn site – is a huge bonus.

Interview: Colin Randall

8 thoughts on “Stoke v SAFC Who are You?: ‘Arsenal hate us, we don’t care’”

  1. I was never aware of any real SAFC-Stoke rivalry. Stoke has never been a pleasant place to visit thanks to a few of their fans who are stuck in the 70s, so we don’t really look forward to it. Last season was when it kicked off, after Huth’s silly foul on Meyler and Pulis subsequently accusing Meyler of feigning injury. That irritated a few people who’d heard Pulis going on about “We’re Stoke, we don’t moan”.
    I think he got a bit of a shock with the Europa league. It showed that he needed to change something in his squad and outlook if such campaigns are to be anything more than a token effort that does little other than cost the fans lots of money and forces the players to wear awful 3rd choice strips. They’ve looked a lot more varied in their play this season as a result.

  2. It seems the Arsenal fans are proving my point perfectly 🙂

    The fact that one such plastic fan waver accuses Stoke of diving – you simply couldn’t make it up!

    Also, why would we time waste against you when we make a habit of beating you at the Britannia?

    They’re a special bunch and it speaks volumes that they are so quick to find this article – a preview to the Stoke vs. Sunderland game – to vent their happy clapping spleens.

    It’s sad really, they must be upset at getting tanked at Norwich and in Europe whilst paying more than any other football fan in the country as any player who is half decent leaves as quick as they can…

  3. Arsenal fans don’t seem very keen on capital letters.
    Stoke look a much more fluid side than in the past . I thought Kightley took his goal well on Saturday.
    This will be a hard game for us and I wonder whether Pulis will revert to the tactics oft used against us in the past.
    Give me Stoke fans above the Montys and Ruperts any day.

  4. And the two posts of the above arse “fans” are the reason we stoke fans dislike them so much. They are obsessed with our “shitty little club” and every single stoke city Internet article article are littered with these morons, many by the way are from USA!!!. Get a life little boys there’s probably some little league game going in somewhere.

  5. i think its easy to see why people dislike stoke, its not just arsenal. many people dislike them they lack class and the football they play is some of the worst your likely to see anywhere in europe. when arsenal played them at the start of the season i remember the time wasting starting from the12th minute in, also they seem to think they are somewhat of a hard as nails blood and cuts team who can steam in to every challenge, but as soon as a stoke player is touched they dive around like mad (CROUCH) so its just down to the way they go about there business really..they just have no class from there players all the way to the fans and manager.

  6. If Arsenal are “mediocre”, then what in gods name does that make your sh*t kicker little club you bitter little 6 fingered Stoke mug.

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