| 2001-2002-The Season How I saw it | ||
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Results (Starting 2002)
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Pre-Season is always a time to believe that this is going to be your year, despite the fact that you failed miserably the season before-which in our case, we did once too often. New players arrive and the deadwood of the side is sold, and in our case, the fans had every right to be optimistic. Gudjon didn't waste any time in the transfer market in pre-season, purchasing highly rated Belarussian Centre Back Sergei Shtaniuk, experienced Grimsby defender Peter Handyside, Aberdeen midfielder and right back David Rowson and, the most exciting of them all, Ajax and former Dutch international Peter Hoekstra, who played in Hollands 4-1 mauling at Wembly in Euro 96. Perhaps this was going to be our year....finally? Pre-season came and went, and despite the impressive signings, it was obvious to most Stoke supporters the lack of a decent striker to partner prolific Peter Thorne. This was to be one of our main downfalls throughout the season. We started the season on the back foot, losing 1-0 away at QPR, although we were unfortunate to have a Peter Thorne goal ruled out. We bounced back to winning ways with 2 back to back wins against Northampton and then Cambridge. We were impressive against Tranmere next, but they had 3 shots on goal and scored 2, coming away with a very fortunate 2-1 win. What came next disheartened a lot of Stoke fans. Cardiff had been reported to have bid £1.3 million for Peter Thorne, which the board had rejected, but it soon came clear that Cardiff were going to come back with an improved offer of £1.7million, which the board had said they would accept. Stoke drew 1-1 with Huddersfield that week, ironic that Thorney would score his last ever goal for the club in the last minute to gain the point. Our hopes of him staying were dashed when it was revealed that Thorne had joined Cardiff for £1.7million, to join up with former Potter Graham "Greedy Bastard" Kavanagh, who had joined them for £1million. That weekend, Stoke played second division favorites Reading, and some Stokies feared the worst. How wrong could they have been. We were treated to one of the best games in the last decade, with Peter Hoekstra sensational, the 2-0 scoreline flattered Reading as it could so easily have been 5 or 6-0. We were defeated by Brighton 1-0 the following Tuesday, but then went on a 10 match unbeaten run in the league, beating Brentford and Bristol City in the process. The unthinkable happened next though. We faced Wigan on a high, with a chance to go top of the league, but were thrashed 6-1 in a result that I still find hard to believe today. 6 bloody 1! We progressed to the 3rd round of the FA Cup after dispatching Lewes and Halifax to face Premiership Everton. Sandwiched inbetween was a 8 match unbeaten run in the league, which had seen us go top of the second division. Added to this were the arrivals of highly rated striker Souleymane Oulare and Icelandic international Petur Marteinsson. The future looked bright. Then, injuries started to become a joke for us. Player after player went down with broken feet, and Souleymane nearly died after having a blood clot in his lungs. It wasn't players that weren't vital as well, it was the backbone of the team such as Peter Handyside and Brynjar Gunnarsson. They had become a joke. Everton beat us 1-0 in the FA Cup, and our injuries attempted to rip our season apart. Our inconsistency grew, good results against Cambridge 5-0 were overshadowed by bad ones such as Bournemouth and Port Fail. March came and we were still in with a shout of the top two spots. Arnar Gunnlaugsson and Deon Burton arrived to bolster our prospects, and the play offs looked a certainty. An impressive win against Brighton infront of the television cameras 3-1 put us firmly back in there. Bad results against Oldham and Wycombe doomed us to the play offs again, despite winning our last 6 home matches, although some rather unconvincing. Our last game of the season saw us draw 1-1 to an inexperienced Bristol City side, and our final position was 5th. Our opponents as fate would have it, were Cardiff who had finished 4th. Would Thorney and Kavanagh come back to haunt us? The first leg began and we were very unlucky to lose 2-1, with goals from Earnshaw and Fortune-West for Cardiff sealing their win. Deon Burton gave us all to play for in the second leg, after coming on and scoring a good goal. The second leg, now this was Stoke at our very best. I've never been this proud of a Stoke team, the pundits weren't giving us a chance, but how we fought, battled and won was amazing. From the beginning of this match, it was evident that we meant business, we didn't give Cardiff a chance, with Sergei and Handyside being immense at the back. Every player deserves EVERY bit of praise they can get for this, what a team, what a performance. Heroes. To score in the last minute, Super James, was something I will never forget. It still get the hairs on the back of my neck standing up now! Extra time, free kick to us on the edge of the box. O'Connor hits it, deflection GOAAAAALLLL!!!!! The deflection coming off Souleymane Oulares arse, only his second appearance for the Potters after knocking on deaths door. It was like the script had been wrote the minute he went down with such an horrific illness. Brentford it was in the final, and again the team were heroes. 30,000+ fans took over Cardiff for the day, in a venue that was breathtaking, goals from Ben Burgess own goal and Deon Burton giving us the historic victory. (To read more on the day, click on the Millennium Stadium report). We were back where we belong! Little did we realise that it was going to be Gudjon Thordarsons last match in charge. And so, that was the season. Eventful? Bloody hell yes. Good? At times no, but how it finished made the lads heroes, and rightly so. My Player of the Season-Sergei Shtaniuk- Mr. Consistent Special mentions to people like Wayne Thomas after doing brilliantly at right back-considering he is a natural centre back anyway, Peter Handyside-Bloody Brilliant Peter! Clive Clarke improved even more, Chris Iwelumo for coming on leaps and bounds. Everyone who put on the famous red and white shirt last season (well, perhaps bar Allan Smart!) deserves our full praise. Well Done lads and thanks for getting us back where we belong. GOOAAARRRNNN STOKE!
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