Welcome to the shadowplay (1 Viewer)

[ceetee]

You are absolutely correct. We should either go and enjoy it or just shut up about it.
Actually you are wrong on one point _ we are already back where we belong.

 

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[Grendel]

External voice here, feel free to ignore if you want. Back in 2000 Stoke were penniless, in the third tier and renting the then Britannia Stadium. As a lad I watched my team lift the Micky Mouse trophy at the old Wembley. Having been too young to watch us win a 'proper' top tier trophy at Wembley I lapped up the whole cup final experience and Stoke vs Bristol City was the highest attendance at Wembley all season, Mickey Mouse competition or not. So, for gods sake, go and enjoy yourselves and take your kids. It's miserable down in the lower leagues, so grab your brighter moments while you can. It may be decades before you are back where you belong, as it was for us. Make hay while the sun shines.

The difference though, as with Southampton, the club was re emerging from those dark days. It would have been the same when this club were last close to the final of this competition.

Now though it's very different. It's like a man on death row being offered his favourite meal the night before execution. It's less palatable.

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

External voice here, feel free to ignore if you want. Back in 2000 Stoke were penniless, in the third tier and renting the then Britannia Stadium. As a lad I watched my team lift the Micky Mouse trophy at the old Wembley. Having been too young to watch us win a 'proper' top tier trophy at Wembley I lapped up the whole cup final experience and Stoke vs Bristol City was the highest attendance at Wembley all season, Mickey Mouse competition or not. So, for gods sake, go and enjoy yourselves and take your kids. It's miserable down in the lower leagues, so grab your brighter moments while you can. It may be decades before you are back where you belong, as it was for us. Make hay while the sun shines.

Kenilworth Stokie, did you ever feel so despondent with the team, not the club, that you ever thought why the hell do I bother.
It seems it's the fans ,and yet again to get 8000 watching 11 gutless ,disinterested cowards try and play football wearing your clubs proud colours is magnificent, it's the fans who this season have made the effort and next season when we are playing Forest bloody Green how do the fans stay motivated.
Did you ever feel in your dark days the thought of Stoke playing Grimsby simply was too much of an ask.
Do you look back on those days with fondness , or with contempt

 

[Kenilworth_Stokies]

After 15 years of under achievement and downward spiral, who wouldn't feel like giving up? We'd dropped out of the old top flight like a stone in '85 and despite every year thinking we'd be getting back to the big time we contrived to get worse until we found ourselves in the third tier. Twice. Meanwhile plucky no hopers Port Vale were going from strength to strength in the second tier, only narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

After a while of bogey teams like Grimsby or Walsall giving you a stuffing, wondering whether you'll ever make a cash signing again, managerial luminaries like Brian Little and Chris Kamara, watching the likes of Kyle Stillborn strut his stuff on the field, and defeats to non leaguers like Nuneaton in the cup, you do start questioning why you bother. Is your team cursed? Did you do something wrong in a former life?

Nonetheless, when you do finally get your act together it'll leave you with some great memories, like topping the Div 3 table for most of the season under Lou Macari in a league packed with most of the Midlands teams besides yourselves and Villa really did for us.

But by God did it seem like an eternity without any glimmer of hope for a while there....

 

[win9nut]

My problem is that I've lost hope. Unless some sugar daddy comes in, I don't see how we are ever going to get back to the big time.

I'm looking at the final thinking about going and enjoying myself, then looking forward to next season and the season after and the season after thinking what the fuck else have we got to look forward to?

Cold Tuesday nights in November playing Dagenham & Redbridge or the like doesn't really appeal to me at all.

SISU better sell up quickly while we're not at the bottom of the cycle...

Sorry for depressing everyone.