SORRYSTOKE STUCKIN TERMINAL DECLINE
FANS IN DESPAIR AS LUCKLESS CLUB REMAIN ROCK BOTTOM
PAUL takes a quick glance at his watch and lets out a heavy sigh. ‘A season or two ago, this place would have been rammed by now,’ he says. ‘But people won’t pay it now.’ We are in the pub opposite Stoke City’s ground. It is three hours before kick- off and he offers a passionate defence of manager Nathan Jones, who finds himself under immense pressure.
It was in 1900-01 that Stoke last had only a single point to show from their opening six games. Even Ron Hulme, a 96-year- old supporter who was honoured before kick-off on Saturday, has never seen a start this bad.
There is no desire to reflect on the ‘flash in the pan’ experience of the knockout stages of the Europa League under Tony Pulis. Nor the flair and finesse in the early years under Mark Hughes.
It is all scant consolation right now with relegation from the Premier League etched on the brain like an unwanted tattoo.
Bottom of the Championship, Jones has three league wins from his last 29 games with Luton and Stoke. Coincidentally, it was Bristol City who ensured his predecessor at Stoke, Gary Rowett, was sacked.
There is a growing sense history may well repeat itself if game seven shows no signs of improvement. ‘He needs to be given time and he needs to do it his way,’ says Paul, who has been following Stoke for more than 30 years. ‘There are fans here who are more critical because Premier League is all they have known. The next five games are huge. He needs seven points or I fear for him.’
The home fans who meet to chat over a pre-match drink are subdued. Those who came up from Bristol to back Lee Johnson’s visitors arrive with co- ordinated fancy dress and a spring in their step.
It is obvious which side sits fifth and which is bottom. A divided beer garden becomes a see-saw of emotion.
Jones, who grew up in a mining village in the Rhondda Valley in Wales, is under no illusion how
far down the hole he is right now. The vote of confidence from the board — so often a sign that a manager’s time is up — arrived from chairman Peter Coates this week. Stoke fans forums are awash with threads as to who could replace Jones.
The international break allowed plenty of time to plan, hit the reset button and start the season from scratch. For 12 minutes on Saturday, Paul, and many of those around him, will have been forgiven for rubbing their eyes in amazement. Inside four minutes, Bruno Martins Indi teed up Sam Clucas on the edge of the visitors’ penalty area and Stoke were ahead, swarming over a Bristol City side that looked like they had turned up at the wrong house party.
But this is Stoke in 2019. Moments of joy are quickly followed by moments of madness and then moments of misery.
Joe Allen, the captain and an experienced Wales international, flew in with two feet off the ground to catch Josh Brownhill. It is a straight red and with 78 minutes left, Stoke are floundering.
Despite leading, there are numerous fans simply waiting for the inevitable defeat. A header from Famara Diedhiou and an own goal from Tom Edwards seal it in the end. Beaten, again.
All Jones, a devout Christian, can do is look to the sky as if to ask, ‘ Why? Why is nothing changing?’
Stoke were the better side here but remain winless. Alarmingly for fans, Jones is beginning to get used to disappointment and defeat.
‘ It’s not frustrating, it’s just normal now,’ he says, visibly deflated. And yet fans’ anger at the end was largely directed away from Jones. The problems, it seems to them, run far deeper than management. ‘I am starting to think there is something really wrong with this club, seriously some sort of curse,’ jokes Paul.
‘We could have Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their prime and we would still have no luck.’