After having been reducing to a flapping and floundering wreck in the Anfield penalty area, David De Gea is likely to have spent much of Sunday in a darkened room shaking at the prospect of being confronted with any of the further tall, muscle bound players the Premier League has to offer. But a twisted ankle suffered by Anders Lindegaard means that Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to be left with no option but to force the young Spaniard to confront his demons in his sides clash with Stoke the evening.

After having been reducing to a flapping and floundering wreck in the Anfield penalty area, David De Gea is likely to have spent much of Sunday in a darkened room shaking at the prospect of being confronted with any of the further tall, muscle bound players the Premier League has to offer. But a twisted ankle suffered by Anders Lindegaard means that Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to be left with no option but to force the young Spaniard to confront his demons in his sides clash with Stoke the evening.

The beast from the North East

Prologue: Salvador, up in northern Brazil, is so unlike Rio and Sao Paulo, the rest of the country refers to Bahiaians rudely as "slow". As I trudged through the late afternoon sun looking for the Newcastle Man Utd game, it struck me that the heat may have something to do with it.

THFC1882 welcomes another guest writer on board. This time it's Glen Bocking. Glen is an Essex boy but now lives in Stoke so is handily placed to attend this game. Glen's first Spurs memories are the '91 FA Cup semi and final! Great start to his Spurs watching!

A plethora of streaks came to an end in today's Premier League action as Arsenal and reigning champions Manchester United were held to home draws while under-pressure Chelsea finally won at Stamford Bridge after back-to-back defeats in recent weeks.

In reality, though, the trend of streaks coming to an end started at Britannia, when Stoke City ended a four-match slide with a 3-1 home win over the struggling Blackburn Rovers courtesy of goals from Rory Delap, Glenn Whelan, and Peter Crouch.

And their funniest recent tweet 1. Jamie Redknapp LiterallyJamie "To cheer Dad up, we've bought him some new golf clubs. His old clubs have now gone into administration" 2. Tony Pulis Tony_Pulis "Remember that Friends episode when joey & chandler became bracelet buddies?well Rory Delap is in for a surprise when he comes [.

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What a great sight! Watching Tony Pubis 'kick off' because of our defenders using their (Stoke's) tricks, er, tactics at throw ins. Namely, taking time to dry the ball with the towels provided for Rory Delap's thunderbolts. He must have thought double drat when Ryan Taylor actually produced some howitzers of his own; nice one [.

A second-half brace from Luis Suarez sent Liverpool through to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup with a 2-1 win over Stoke.
Both managers named strong teams, and a crowd of just short of 25,000 at the Britannia Stadium were rewarded with a first half full of chances that ended with Kenwyne Jones heading in the opening goal after Jon Walters had robbed Sebastian Coates.

Stoke City 1-2 Liverpool | Carling Cup fourth-round match report

Luis Suárez answered some of his critics with the two goals that took Liverpool into the Carling Cup quarter-finals. A goal down at the interval, the visitors were indebted to their Uruguayan striker for masterminding their recovery almost single-handedly, dispelling in the process the myth that he does not convert enough chances to be regarded a clinical finisher.

By Alan Duffy

Stoke City 2-0 Fulham Premier League 15 October 2011

After an utterly dismal first half, this game came to life (ish) in the second-half, with the home side eventually securing a deserved 2-0 win.

The Cottagers are usually rubbish on the road, so cranky Dutch boss Martin Jol won't be too disappointed with the result.

Republic of Ireland duo Jonathan Walters and Rory Delap scored late goals as Stoke beat Fulham 2-0 today.

Scott Heavey/Getty Images (Bleacher Report) Liverpool were dealt a harsh blow when they failed to convert 24 shots on goal and a dominating 73 percent possession.
Jamie Carragher was caught off balance and out of position, which resulted in Jonathan Walters receiving a penalty that he converted.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images (Bleacher Report) Rory Delap has been a thorn in the side of multiple EPL clubs over the past seasons. It is well documented how much Arsene Wenger despises the player's long throw ability.
However, Liverpool have the fortunate advantage of making a trip to the Britannia Stadium this weekend without having to come up against the Potters' not-so-secret weapon.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images (Bleacher Report) Rory Delap has been a thorn in the side of multiple EPL clubs over the past seasons. It is well documented how much Arsene Wenger despises the player's long throw ability.
However, Liverpool have the fortunate advantage of making a trip to the Britannia Stadium this weekend without having to come up against the Potters' not-so-secret weapon.

Michael Regan/Getty Images(Bleacher Report) Liverpool new boy Stewart Downing has been quoted recently by the Daily Mirror as having tipped his new club for a strong top four push as the Reds aim to return to UEFA Champions League football next season.
The £20 million wide man has so far enjoyed a great start with the club as they sit in third place on seven points after the first month of action in the Barclays Premier League.

The top team in the Group E, Besiktas will try to win their second match against Stoke City, after beating Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv with 5-1 score.
Besiktas coach Carlos Carvalhal told his players to be on their guard against the threat of Stoke striker Peter Crouch.

by Adam Bate

It was no surprise to hear Jon Champion use the term "Neanderthal" to describe the Stoke City experience on ESPN at the weekend. After all, this is a club that seems pre-occupied with the notion of evolution.

This time last year, the man often seen as the personification of Stoke's direct approach launched not a throw-in but a defence of his club's style.

by Adam Bate

It was no surprise to hear Jon Champion use the term "Neanderthal" to describe the Stoke experience on ESPN at the weekend. After all, when it comes to Stoke City, everyone seems to be pre-occupied with the notion of evolution.

This time last year, the man often seen as the personification of Stoke's direct approach launched not a throw-in but a defence of his club's style.

By Alan Duffy

Stoke City 1-1 Manchester United Premier League September 24

Manchester United saw their perfect start to the new Premier League campaign come to an end after a very difficult encounter with Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

With Wayne Rooney sidelined with a hamstring injury, Antonio Valencia filling in at right-back for Jonny Evans, who limped out of the pre-match warm-up, and Michael Owen coming on for the injured Javier Hernandez after just 11 minutes, it just wasn't going to be United's day.

Liverpool Manager Kenny Dalglish wanted and got to see a refereeing official after Saturday's defeat to Stoke, a game in which Jamie Carragher was adjudged to have given away a penalty against Jon Walters(he did) and also when two clear penalties were disallowed by the ref when Rory Delap and Mattew Upson hand-balled in the box.

Liverpool Manager wanted and got to see a refereeing official after Saturday's defeat to Stoke, a game in which Jamie Carragher was adjudged to have given away a penalty against Jon Walters(he did) and also when two clear penalties were disallowed by the ref when Rory Delap and Mattew Upson hand-balled in the box.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis has admitted Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty in their win over the Reds.
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish was left fuming with a number of decisions that went against his side at the Britannia Stadium and is considering making a formal complaint to manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board Mike Riley about the standard of refereeing.

Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool to banish the memory of their 1-0 defeat at Stoke City when they travel to Tottenham next Sunday.
The Reds' unbeaten start to the season was ended in controversial fashion at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Referee Mark Clattenburg awarded Stoke a dubious penalty when Carragher was harshly adjudged to have brought down Jon Walters.

Familiar faces will be reunited when Stoke welcome Liverpool to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, with Peter Crouch and Craig Bellamy both set for their respective debuts.
Former Reds striker Crouch became Tony Pulis' record signing on transfer deadline day after leaving Tottenham in a £10million deal and he is expected to start this weekend.

Familiar faces will be reunited when Stoke welcome Liverpool to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, with Peter Crouch and Craig Bellamy both set for their respective debuts.
Former Reds striker Crouch became Tony Pulis' record signing on transfer deadline day after leaving Tottenham in a £10million deal and he is expected to start this weekend.

Liverpool hasn't won at the Britannia Stadium in the Premier League and they will be in for another tough game at Stoke on Saturday.
Tony Pulis has done some great business in the transfer market and it's been a real show of ambition by Stoke.
They've brought in the likes of Peter Crouch, Matthew Upton, Jonathan Woodgate and Cameron Jerome and look set for a good season.

Arsene Wenger was recently in Switzerland with a host of other top European managers to discuss the future of the game. Other attendees at the UEFA conference included Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Andre Villas-Boas. A ccording to the Metro Ajax coach Frank De Boer revealed a controversial proposal put forward by the Arsenal [.

With statistics from last season suggesting the extent of Manchester United's aerial threat – scoring more headers than any other team – it's a shame they haven't moved for potential Barcelona-conqueror and Stoke City hurler Rory Delap in the summer window. But they've got the next best thing – a man who also compliments those in his team with a good head.

By Chris Wright

Flares? Shamless play-acting? Neo-Nazism? It truly was a European night at the Britannia yesterday evening, with Stoke securing themselves a narrow first-leg lead in their Europa League third-round qualifying tie with Hajduk Split courtesy of a Jonathan Walters header.

By Chris Wright

Flares? Shamless play-acting? Neo-Nazism? It truly was a European night at the Britannia yesterday evening, with Stoke securing themselves a narrow first-leg lead in their Europa League third-round qualifying tie with Hajduk Split courtesy of a Jonathan Walters header.

I've written about my various soccer (and other sports)-related travels both here on the blog and in other forums as well. I've also written about the dilemma that faces me as a native of Philadelphia who was living in DC when MLS started (without a Philadelphia team in the mix) and have been with DC United from the start.

By Hari Bajwa (twitter.com/no_hooligans)

If you're one of the few rising stars that's fortunate enough to be offered a professional contract, upon signing, it'll no doubt be drummed into you that a career in football is a very short one. One minute you're posing for uncomfortable shots with the gaffer as you sign as a 17 year old, the next, you're in your mid 30s and being subbed off with 5 minutes to go in your farewell appearance.

Last tango in Paris (Saint-Germain) is a post from: Just Football

by Chris Woolfrey

On Saturday 30 April 2011 I watched my first game of live football in another country. Paris Saint-Germain, whose squad includes the talented Nenê but in terms of "tourism-football" boasts veteran French midfielders Ludovic Giuly and Claude Makélelé, beat mid-table Valenciennes comfortably, keeping up their tradition of being good-for-their-league-but-not-really-good-enough, keeping up a slim (at the time of writing Ed) chance of winning the title in Ligue 1.

As footballing weeks go, this one has been a bit like finding out John Terry is your biological father and that your conception was captured on Ashley Cole's camera phone and the footage sold to the News of the World. In fact, the last two months has been like some kind of maudlin Clockwork Orange style scenario where we've all been strapped to our chairs, our eyelids held open by rusty hooks as we're played repetitive footage of Rory Delap's long throws, Harry Redknapp's twitching nutsack of a face and Phil Brown singing Perry Como covers to your Nan.

Everybody knows where Stoke are going to be dangerous tomorrow and Spurs' defence will have many players to keep an eye out for. It's not just Rory Delap's long throws that cause problems and in Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant, the Potters have two players capable in sending over deadly accurate set pieces.

Seriousness versus frivolity. Aesthetics versus the dour practicality of not having the money to be able to spend on the very best players in the world. It has felt this season as if there is a new schism opening up in football. It now feels as if there is a type of football that is artistically, technically and, dare we say it, morally superior to all others.

By Chris Wright

Presenting the Saudi Arabian Rory Delap...

Whereas Al Ittifaq's Abdul Al Traidi got his 'flip throw' spot on, it's perhaps worth remembering that it's a particularly easy skill to balls-up, often with disastrous results...

Video via 101GG.

What if Rory Delap did gymnastics? This player in the quarter finals of the Crown Prince Cup in Saudi Arabia decided to create a bit of a stir for himself by unleashing his somersault throw-in. The commentator seems impressed, but since he lost possession it was all a waste of effort really. Of course, it [.

Since Wayne Rooney's ridiculous goal against Man City on the weekend, there has been a huge debate to whether it was the best overhead goal that we have seen. I've got 4 for you beautiful people to choose from, or if your favourite one isn't on the list, vote other and then comment below with the goal you pick above these 4 beauty's.