Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WHERE THERE’S A WILL...
O’neill discovered Powell while watching Grigg – now he has another striker who is very much on fire!
Powell 21, 63, Fletcher
78 3 0 AS Northern Ireland manager, Michael O’neill quickly realised it was not just his international striker Will Grigg who was on fire when he watched Wigan.
While Grigg’s goalscoring deeds have been accompanied by a terrace chant, Nick Powell’s role was more understated as he attempted to get his career back on track following rejection from Manchester United.
But O’neill liked what he saw in the young forward who was on loan at the DW Stadium and was delighted to inherit him when he took charge of
Stoke.
And against the man who brought him to the Potteries – Luton manager Nathan
Jones – Powell
(right), with his two goals, proved that he is now on fire and helping propel Stoke towards the promotion play-off spots.
Jones only lasted 10 months at the bet365 Stadium before being sacked but at least left behind the player he signed from Wigan.
O’neill said: “I became familiar with Nick’s play when he was at Wigan. I was watching Will Grigg a lot for my national job. At the time Wigan were in League One and I used to think, ‘God, how is this lad playing in League One?’ “Things changed for him at Manchester United and he had two periods out on loan which weren’t particularly successful at Leicester and Hull.
“Then he had to rebuild himself at Wigan and he has come here. “I don’t think anyone who has worked with Nick will dispute the quality he has. But I think now he has a focus which he maybe didn’t have when he was younger. He’s a terrific athlete as well. “The pleasing thing for me is that he is understanding what his role is in the team a lot better. Maybe as you get older, and hopefully wiser, you might be a little less selfish in how you play.” Powell’s sweet double came thanks to unselfish work from Steven Fletcher and a fine leap which proceeded a crashing header.
Stoke’s satisfying afternoon was rounded off with a deserved goal
MATCH STATS
47% POSSESSION 53% 8 SHOTS ON TARGET 1 6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5 8 CORNERS 2 1 OFFSIDE 2 13 FOULS 11 0 CARDS 0 1 2 from Fletcher. “At 26, you definitely believe his best years are still ahead of him, added O’neill.
“He has shown better resilience and a better ability to deal with the disappointment of Manchester United. He has plenty of football left in him. We’re delighted to have him here.
“We have a good relationship. He’s a boy you have to try to get the best out of but what he is doing now is getting the best out of himself. He’s got great talent and it’s nice to see him going on to develop that.”
It all proved bittersweet for Jones who admitted he had been embarrassed by the “inept” showing of his side on his first return to the Potteries since his ignominious sacking.
He said: “We signed Nick Powell and wanted to work with him. My players were miles off the level of Nick Powell or anyone else. We looked weak and lost every battle.
“But there is no knee-jerk, no panic. We go again.”
STOKE: Gunn 6, Smith 6, Souttar 7, Batth 6, Norrington-davies 6, Allen 7, Thompson 6 (Clucas 64, 6), Brown 6 (Clarke 74, 6), Powell 8 (Mikel 64, 6), Tymon 6 (Mcclean 74), Fletcher 7 (Vokes 80)
LUTON: Sluga 7, Cranie 6 (Hylton 83), Rea 6, Bradley 6, Potts 6, Mpanzu 6 (Tunnicliffe 67, 6), Bree 6 (Morrell 67, 6), Dewsbury-hall 6, Cornick 7
(Moncur 83), Clark 8, Collins 6 (Adebayo 83)
CARDIFF
Moore 2 pen, Murphy PRESTON
46,
Pack
4 71, Harris 77 0
MICK MCCARTHY has changed the script at Cardiff from disaster movie to horror film – and Will Vaulks could not be happier.
The soaring Bluebirds can move into the play-off places if they win at Bournemouth on Wednesday – and make it six victories on the bounce.
That would signify a remarkable turnaround since Mccarthy replaced Neil Harris as manager. But Wales midfielder Vaulks insists it is down to a ‘director’s recut’ for a team that had lost the plot.
“I’ve always felt, ‘Why can’t we just embrace what Cardiff City is?’” said Vaulks after goals from Kieffer Moore, Josh Murphy, Marlon Pack and Mark Harris had flattened Preston.
“We are horrible to play against, we are physical, run further than other teams, we win our battles, but we also have quality now, too.
“The gaffer is by no means just a long-ball manager. It’s just whatever it takes to win a football game and that’s what people forget.
“With the quality we now have on top of that solid foundation, why do we need to change what Cardiff have done before? Not every football team should play out from the back.”
The Bluebirds are not route one when they attack through the likes of Murphy and Harry Wilson in support of striker Moore, who now has 14 goals this season, including six in his last seven games.
But with three centre-backs – Sean Morrison, Aden Flint and Curtis Nelson – who are more outhouse than arthouse, the theme is not complicated.
Cardiff have scored 13 goals in those five wins and conceded just two – a record maintained by Dillon Phillips’ two penalty saves inside two minutes to deny Paul Gallagher and Ched Evans.
“What we’ve done recently is just put ourselves into a position where we believe we should have been anyway,” added Vaulks.
“A win at Bournemouth would be fantastic. It would enable us to catch another team and maybe go above them on goal difference.”
Preston midfielder Alan Browne said: “We’re disappointed and embarrassed. There are ways to lose a game and that is not one of them.”
CARDIFF: Phillips 9, Morrison 7, Flint 6, Nelson 6, Ng 7, Vaulks 7, Pack 7, Bennett 7, Wilson 8 (Bacuna 69, 6), Murphy 7 (Ojo 60, 7), Moore 8 (Harris 77).
PRESTON: Iversen 6, Browne 5 (Rafferty 82), Storey 5 , Lindsay 6, Hughes 6, Cunningham 5, Whiteman 5 (Gallagher 61, 6), Johnson 6 (Gordon 61, 8), Molumby 6 (Potts 72), Evans 5, Riis 5 (Barkhuizen 46, 6).