I think some in here may have to eat their words this time next year. Not saying he's going to transform them into world beaters but you watch, he will do well.
Hmm...
See, I can see him doing a 'decent' job. By which I mean I think he'll keep them up with reasonable comfort (more so than this season, but no different to what Pulis managed every other season).
I don't think he's an utterly horrendous manager, I just think he's as close to Tony Pulis as you could find.
He's an angry, ungracious Welshman who moans about referees and whose teams are fucking vile shitehouses. The football he plays is frankly no different to what Pulis was playing when he took them to the FA Cup final with Etherington and Pennant. They'll play nothing 'sexier' than Pulis at his most 'progressive'. They probably won't sink to the depths of Pulis at his worst, but it's still not a huge move away in football terms.
Their whole plan seems to bank on him finding another Dembele (or Kompany or Zabaleta). A Samba or McCarthy is far more likely.
Honestly, I think they'll end up exactly like his Blackburn teams. They'll be safe in mid table, horrible to play against, not as horrible to watch as Pulis' teams but hardly worth celebrating. ... Although I fully expect a season of Stoke fans jumping up and down to point out how the quality of football there will have improved.
Arsed.
The problem is, unless you've got some sort of dynasty to continue or a tradition to maintain, usually you want a new manager to instil a bit of hope in you. You want to be able to get behind something and be excited about the type of football you're going to play. Stoke haven't done that... They've brought in a marginally more subtle, "palatable" version of their current knuckle dragging neanderthal.
There's no fucking joy in this.
I always thought of Stoke fans as Pulis' own personal Volksstrum, every week spending their money, shuffling along dutifully to their death, or whatever it is that having a Stoke season ticket is.
Hughes' appointment is like someone has rolled up to the Reichstag of the Long Ball in a US tank, only for Goebels to pop his head out to greet the slavish fucking Descent looking twats that populate the Britannia.
Not that Hughes is Goebels really. ... Just shit. And another moaning Welsh arse compensating for what we all assume is tiny fucking manhood, with up and at 'em displays of blood and thunder, kick the shit out of them, pat Robbie Savage on the back and blue rinse your hair instead of donning a chav grandads headwear, football.
Fuck that. LET'S GET STUCK IN EARLY DOORS