Stoke’s adventure continues

Wednesday, 15/02/2012

by Barry Landy, Shoot's Stoke City blogger

With European stalwarts in the form of Tottenham, Fulham and Celtic, falling by the Europa League wayside pre-Christmas, and Championship side Birmingham City too failing to progress beyond the group stage, this should be the time that Stoke City take centre stage in Europe.

They have slaved hard to earn the privilege, ten matches played and thousands of miles having been travelled to and from the outer reaches of Eastern Europe. That top billing has been snatched away from Tony Pulis' side however, the respective failings of the Premier League's top two in the Champions League meaning that most but not all eyes are now fixed on the Europa League engagements of Manchesters' United and City.

The scope for a scalp however means should Stoke City pull off one of the greatest result of their modern history against Valencia on Thursday the plaudits will rightly fall their way.

Pulis is a not a man to treat this competition lightly His team have engendered the underdog spirit of Fulham's run to the final two years ago, albeit in more clinical fashion.

The emphasis Stoke have put on the often derided tournament should be commended, especially as the Potters have gone some way to mirroring the achievements of Roy Hodgson's team, in a fraction of the time.

For all the talk of Stoke's sizeable squad, and it has grown in number and improved subsequently in quality over their four seasons in the top flight, Pulis has navigated Stoke's European adventure with largely the nucleus he deploys in the Premier League.

The top European appearance makers have been German international Robert Huth and club captain Ryan Shawcross, closely followed by other regulars. What Stoke lack in the incredible, they make up for with the dependable.

Even the inconsistent form in the aftermath of European exertions during the qualifying and group stages (three wins, one draw and four defeats) fails to deter from the enthusiasm the club and area as a whole have for the competition. Pulis' team bears such a solidity to it, that those results have to dat been ironed out. It takes more than a few long haul flights across the continent to blow this house down.

A recent run which has seen Stoke lose four games on the bounce will worry some, but league losses in a row in October and December led to a reaction. Four consecutive league wins followed.

Pulis' will hope that poor run of form, and Stoke's standing as unfashionable European novices will combine to lull their illustrious visitors into a false sense of security when Unai Emery's Lose Che arrive at the Britannia on Thursday.

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