[Luke_East_Baggie]

Decent game.

Talking with my mates about it, and there seems to be 2 camps.

The "Were playing awful this is horrendous camp" or the "great performance camp"

I find myself in the middle. It would of been interesting if the penalty had gone in - to see what TP would have done. It was a very strong defensive performance, expect to see Saido up top vs blues to keep him high on confidence..

Thought his interview afterwards was very good - he didn't say it was a great performance - he almost admitted we didn't create enough, and wants a couple of players in. Bang on. Some pace outwide (Surprised he hasn't looked at Varela - but maybe he doesn't track back enough) and another striker maybe and were laughing.

The home games will be interesting. If we are only playing for draws away, it will make the home games more important. Talking to a stoke fan at work and he reckons under Pulis they won about 8 times away in 5 seasons. (Portsmouth and Blackburn going down, Hull, Smash and Grab at Spurs, and 4 times vs the Albion) That was in 77 games (all rough figures out the air)

The amount of draws was fairly high though. Lets face it, Pulis does what he does. He has a formula that works and keeps us up there. Peace knows this and he (as a business man) isn't bothered about much else. Hopefully Pulis can find a couple of decent players and build in a blend of both, if not I think TP will be here for 2 years max, then we will be going for a Ronald Koeman style signing in manager and try to go for it and risk and push on..

[Stairs]

Talking with my mates about it, and there seems to be 2 camps.

The  "Were playing awful this is horrendous camp" or the "great performance camp"

I find myself in the middle.

So 3 camps

[drewks]

Talking with my mates about it, and there seems to be 2 camps.

The  "Were playing awful this is horrendous camp" or the "great performance camp"

I find myself in the middle.

So 3 camps  

[Tom_Wba]

The fans who aren't happy with how we got the result last night need to realize we are still in a relegation and this is in TP's mind the best way to get out of trouble and to be honest i completely agree, If we went there last night and had a real go there would of only been one result. I'm happy enough watching it and i'd expect things to change either when he's got all the players he wants or we are safe from relegation

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Just looking at Stoke's away record under Pulis now:

2008/09: 2 wins (us and Hull), 4 draws
2009/10: 4 wins (Spurs, Fulham, West Ham, Portsmouth), 8 draws
2010/11: 3 wins (us, Newcastle, Blackburn), 3 draws
2011/12: 4 wins (Everton, us, Blackburn, Wolves), 4 draws
2012/13: 2 wins (us and QPR), 8 draws

Then with Palace last season, they had a 100% defeat record on the road before Pulis joined, and he managed to give them 5 wins and 3 draws from 14 remaining away matches, which isn't a bad return at all.

[betterthanbaird]

Solid but uninspiring performance and a good away point, obviously great to be above Villa too.

Foster did well couple of stops and dealt with crosses very well.

Whole defence was solid and Lescott was particularly impressive (except the penalty) and Wisdom got forward well a couple of times.

Yacob was excellent and his stretching the rules to the limit is admirable on some levels. Gardner and Morrison were ok and Brunt seemed out of position.

Berahino struggled a bit at times but he isn't a winger so he would.

Anichebe actually did quite well holding the ball up but we need some pace and attacking intent if we want to play on the counter or play at all really.

I agree with whoever said they'd rather see Samaras than Ideye, he offers more imo.

The defence does seem to be turning a corner which is excellent and we will improve on that performance at least a bit with new signings.

[Lets-talk-about-Teix]

Have to admit I found that pretty painful viewing yesterday. It’s not as if we were at one of the top 4. Everton, have a good squad but are one of the worst defences in the league. For us not to manage a shot on target is pretty poor.

Having heard Pulis’s interview I’m glad he made a point of the ball retention. He’s aware of it and it needs addressing.

The main issue for me is progression. I can live with the style of football if we build on it for the future. At Stoke, there was no progression and they were playing the same way four years later (and finishing below us). Pulis won’t last that long here, with the fact that some are uncomfortable with it after a couple of games.

Then again at Palace, the style was direct and purposeful. I get the feeling Pulis is trying to emulate that but obviously lacks the quick wingers to do so. I’ll give him the time to do that and I hope he gets enough funds to. I just hope we don’t get too many days like yesterday.  

[Beefy 1965]

Talking with my mates about it, and there seems to be 2 camps.

The  "Were playing awful this is horrendous camp" or the "great performance camp"

I find myself in the middle.

So 3 camps  

Luke has always been a little camp

[BaggieMan]

TheBaggieMan,
Can you tell me the last time we did see exciting attacking football ? I can't remember any ?
Mind you I did see 11 Baggies players putting in a 100% shift last night and battling for every ball to get a massive point in a game we would have lost normally......
As I say give Pullis 3-4 new signings then judge the team.
Result wise you have to admit that is a great away point gained ?
Purists may not be happy but we are going to have to do what ever needs doing in the short term to stay in the prem. We go down and the last 10 years goes down the pan.
Plenty of teams in the championship who have gone down that route and I don't want us to be one more.

Burnley 4 - 0 springs to mind Squirrel.....

Leopards don't change their spots I'm afraid. We are in for boring hoof ball a la the old Sjoke City for sometime methinks.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

On the subject of exciting attacking football, we played a style not far off in the early months under Clarke (autumn 2012) which left us in the top 4, albeit briefly. We also played that style under RDM and in the first few months of Hodgson's reign, and to be quite honest, that was the most enjoyable to watch we've ever been in the Premier League. It wasn't the champagne total football stuff of Big Ron or Vic Buckingham, but the intent was definitely more attack-minded, the tempo high and the passing crisp and accurate (I still have fond memories of the winning goal we scored at the Stadium of Light in 2011, passing our way through the entire Sunderland team and then into the back of the net). It's a complete myth that staying in the Premier League and playing a decent, entertaining style are mutually exclusive; ask any Swansea fan.

For that reason, in the long-term, I don't want us to turn our backs on that style in favour of a weekly war of attrition. It would be a mistake. Other clubs are showing us the way: Southampton, West Ham and Swansea are proving that good football will push you higher up the table.

Obviously I appreciate and accept that in the short-term, with the players we've got at our disposal, we need to get those results however they come. We've sleepwalked into this situation after two years of stagnation, and we've regressed to the point where we may as well be a newly-promoted side just trying to survive and build all over again. But building requires a long-term plan, and to me, that long-term plan should place emphasis on a positive, attacking style.