The win against Derby could have immense ramifications for Stoke City’s season, it was hair-raising stuff as the Potters managed to get a win against Derby County despite being down to ten men after Etebo’s red card. Could this win be the launchpad for Stoke City’s season or is it another false dawn.
There are matches in football that will be remembered for quite a long time, there is no doubt that Stoke’s win against Derby will live in the memory of Stoke City fans for a while. The Stoke City players on the pitch showed heart, determination and graft, it shows that they truly support Gary Rowett. The results haven’t been there for Stoke City this season, but the performances haven’t actually been bad, it seemed that Stoke just lacked that bit of heart to really hold on to convert performances into wins. Well, they certainly did that against Derby County, playing with ten men for seventy minutes is tough enough but to score with ten men after conceding after having been under the cosh for quite a long time is another thing.
There are quite a few Derby County fans grumbling about the fact that Stoke City wasn’t playing football, parked the bus and was average. With Stoke City down to ten men, they had to park the bus to try to secure the points but they also broke with purpose. When the going gets tough, you need to dig in and win ugly, it wasn’t pretty Stoke’s win but at the end of the day, its the results that matter. Just look at Jose Mourinho, he doesn’t play the most attractive football yet he has won more trophies than Guardiola.
Only time will tell if Stoke City have turned a corner, for the sake of Stoke City supporters I truly hope they have.