Interview with a Stoke-on-Trent "Stokie"
Introducing Ian Bolye..........part 2
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If you could give Pulis some advice, what would you say?
I wouldn’t waste my breath. I can’t think of anyone less likely to listen to advice.
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What did you make of Tuncay? Were we right in selling him or should we have kept him?
I was excited by the signing of Tuncay and believe he could have become a Stoke legend.
One day I would love to find out why TP wanted him to fail at Stoke City.
We were right to sell him while he still had some resale value.
I think we ripped the confidence from him and ruined him as a player.
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Why aren’t we seeing Ricardo Fuller so much these days? Has he fallen out with Pulis?
I don’t know what to believe about Fuller’s relationship with TP
I think his current form is poor and that’s reason enough for him not to be an automatic first choice.
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Which players of the current squad do you think should move on in the summer, and who would you like to see (realistically) in the red and white strips?
Collins, Mama, Diao, Davies, Soares, Tong, are amongst some of the players I’d be happy to see leave the club. Much as I love Rikki, I think it’s for the best that he moved on too.
Realistically, I’m more concerned that we may lose some of the better players that we already have on board and hope to still see Matty, Pennant, Shawcross, Huth, Begovic (along with Sorrensen if possible).
I would have loved to see a physically fit Demba Ba type of striker or a Scott Parker type midfielder but I don’t know how easy it will be to attract one of these players to Stoke.
Pallacios from Spurs would be nice but I don’t see it happening.
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Stoke have now reached the FA cup semi-final but the league form/position is a little worrying. How do you see the rest of the season developing? Are we in danger of going down?
Looking at the fixtures we have in front of us and some of those that other clubs have, I don’t honestly see us getting relegated. The FA cup involvement may even be a good thing. The players need something to give them some much needed self belief.
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Have you heard of any plans to build-in the corners of The Britannia, do you think the club should do this, therefore, enlarging the capacity?
Not heard of any plans.
I would love to see at least one more corner filled in and have always thought that it should incorporate some specialised facilities for the disabled so that they don’t feel excluded yet can enjoy better/unobstructed views of the game.
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Which player do you think will be player of the year this year?
I think it should be Robert Huth
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What about on the goalkeeping front; which keeper should be our number 1? What do the majority of Stokies think?
Begovic looks to be our best keeper. Whether or not we can keep him is another matter and hopefully we can extend Sorrenson’s contract and keep him at Stoke City in case Asmir leaves.
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If the worst came to the worst and we went down, do you think we would we would bounce back as Newcastle did, or would we just become another championship side?
I’m a born pessimist, so wouldn’t be confident about a quick return.
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And finally, are you surprised that Stoke have such an interest in Sweden and what do you know about Sweden?
I do know about Stoke having these fan bases in Northern Europe but aren’t so clear on what kind of numbers there are in comparison to other clubs (Not Man United obviously, I realise that Sweden must have its share of shameless, glory hunters too)
I must be honest and say I don’t know much about Sweden apart from this reputation for having some of the most beautiful women in the world…..
I really must visit your country one day :o)
Thanks a lot Ian for your answers.................very interesting
