[themaclad]

[align=center]What better way to work off the half a ton of food you've eaten the day before, go to the ground nesstling on the mountain slopes near the A500/A50 in that most wonderous of cities on the planet, Stoke, luckily at this time of year it is mostly dark so you will miss the beauty of the Potteries
They have started the season well, although appear to have it a patchy bit of form, first time I went to the Bet 365 was a Boxing Day 1998 won 1-0 Michael Jackson was blowing a gale that day

https://www.stokecityfc.com/

MANAGER

Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of EFL Championship club Stoke City. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League with Manchester United, Norwich City and Leicester City.

Robins began his career with Manchester United. During this period, he scored a goal against Nottingham Forest in a 1989–90 FA Cup tie that has subsequently been credited with "saving" manager Alex Ferguson's job at Old Trafford. After spending time with Norwich and Leicester, Robins went on to play for Reading, Manchester City, Walsall, Rotherham United, Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday in the Football League. Robins also played across Europe during spells with Copenhagen, Ourense, and Panionios before finishing his career with Burton Albion in the Conference National.

In 2007, he became manager of Rotherham United, and joined Barnsley in the same capacity in 2009, before leaving in 2011, following differences between him and the board. In 2012, he became manager of Coventry City until 2013 when he joined Huddersfield Town. Robins left Huddersfield Town in 2014 by mutual agreement. A few months later he became manager of Scunthorpe United before leaving in 2016.

In March 2017, Robins rejoined Coventry City and a few months later won the EFL Trophy. In the 2017–18 season, Robins won the EFL League Two play-offs with the Sky Blues and were promoted to League One. After a solid eighth placed finish in League One in the 2018–19 season, Robins led Coventry to promotion to the EFL Championship as League One Champions in the 2019–20 season. He followed that up by guiding Coventry to a respectable 16th placed finish in the Championship in the 2020–21 season, and further improved upon this with a 12th placed finish in the 2021–22 season. In the 2022–23 season, Robins led Coventry to a fifth place finish in the Championship, qualifying for promotion play-offs. Coventry City met Luton Town at Wembley in the final, where they ultimately lost on penalties. In the 2023–24 season saw Robins lead Coventry to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1987, where they lost to his former club Manchester United. Robins left Coventry in November 2024 and later was appointed manager of Stoke City in January 2025.


Attribution Timmy 96

Form



Stats Fotmob

STOKE 3 PNE 13

Sorba Thomas 8 goals 6 assists having a more than decent season

AI overview

Team Form and Context
Preston North End is currently in better form, sitting higher in the league table (5th vs 8th for Stoke) and are on an unbeaten run of five league matches with two wins and three draws. They have one of the best defensive records in the league.
Stoke City are in a challenging period, having lost four of their last five Championship matches. However, they possess a strong home record this season, which is expected to be a key factor in the AI's prediction for a home victory.
The match will be played at the bet365 Stadium and is expected to attract one of Stoke's highest crowds of the season.


Stoke culture

Christ Church is an Anglican church in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is the parish church of Goldenhill and Tunstall; the combined parish, which is an Anglo-Catholic parish, was created in 2010.[1] It is a Grade II listed building.[2]



Attributed to Attic Tapestry