Stoke City shown need for anti-Paul Lambert appointmentTalking points as Ryan Shawcross guides Stoke City to a long-awaited win in the Championship.
Stoke City found their first win since early November as Tom Cannon struck in injury time against Sunderland. It was a fine end to Ryan Shawcross’s first league game as caretaker manager and here are the talking points from the bet365 Stadium.
The anti-Paul Lambert approach.
Ryan Shawcross didn’t mention and almost certainly wasn’t thinking about Paul Lambert as he sat down for his post-match press conference after guiding Stoke to a much-needed and dramatic victory after nine winless games – but he hit on a key point about what this Stoke squad and everyone else around the club need right now.
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Just like in January 2018, the players and supporters could do with a lift. It’s not that Lambert was wrong to be frustrated or furious with aspects of what he found but in hindsight it didn’t do anyone any good to spend a lot of his time redrawing the fines list.
It can’t be mindless optimism, which would grate, but few would doubt that Lewis Koumas and Bae Junho, Andy Moran and Tom Cannon will be more influential if they are playing with smiles on their faces. It’s a box on the checklist for any prospective appointment.
“Football is funny,” said Shawcross. “Players are more resilient than you’d think. Especially at this club recently there has been a lot of change and they understand it, they were positive and you can lean on the more senior lads like Gibson, Enda and Frankie and you can get a feeling of what the squad needs.
“I thought that today they needed to be guided, they didn’t need someone to tell them where they’ve been going wrong. They needed positivity, they’re young. So that’s what I asked: can we positive, on the front foot? I said the main thing was that when you walk off the pitch, just be proud of your performance. That might be a loss, draw or win but be proud and the effort and application was there to be proud.”
A blueprint for Stoke home games.
Stoke had fewer shots and less possession but they won more headers and tackles than Sunderland.
But crucially, this game was about comparing Stoke from Sunday with Stoke from Thursday and this time they were keen to get balls in the box, get their better players involved, run hard and make sure their opponents knew they were in a game.
There was more urgency in everything than there had been at home in the last few weeks. They were more positive and forward thinking. We wrote after the Cardiff game that supporters demanded for pretty much the complete opposite what they got that day and this was a big step towards it.
Shawcross said: “I did an in-house interview pre-match and I was asked about Sunderland and I said they’re a good team, a young team… but straightaway in my mind I also thought, we’re at home and at home it’s a different mindset. It doesn’t matter who’s coming here, you can have a good go. If you have a good go, the fans will get behind you and that’s when it becomes a fortress. That’s what I was asking the players.”
Shawcross finds the volume button.
As predicted, give fans that and they’ll give players support by the bucket. There were waves of noise that built up by the way Stoke attacked in the second half and also in how they defended, because the home stands knew they needed help.
This was the loudest the stadium has been in a long time, particularly when Cannon got that goal. A hard-fought well-struck late winner in a tight game against a good team. Excellent. What’s not to like?
It’s the first time in 14 months that Stoke have won at home against a team in the top six, although they need to win more at home against teams from top, middle and bottom.
Tom Cannon reaches double figures
Congratulations to Tom Cannon for his 10th goal of the season.
This one was brilliantly taken after good work from him and Sam Gallagher just to get the ball on the edge of the Sunderland box. He is the first Stoke player to reach double figures before the turn of the year in a season since Ricardo Fuller (11) in 2007/08.
He is only on loan but whether he’s on loan or bought for £12 million, Stoke have found it so hard to find someone who regularly scores goals. The way he celebrat
