Mark Robins 'taught something' as Bae Junho sends message to Stoke City faithful
Bae Junho caught the eye of Mark Robins particularly on the left flank as he put in perhaps his best performance of the season so far.
The 21-year-old playmaker came to the fore in the last half hour as Stoke came back from 1-0 down to secure a vital 3-1 win over Swansea. He won two free-kicks which led to goals, including one scored by himself – his first for the club since a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in March last year.
There was a star turn in a 6-1 win over Portsmouth back in October but it has been a stop-start campaign on the back of an exhausting debut year in England.
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He celebrated in a huge cocktail of relief and joy in front of the Boothen End and Robins did not begrudge him that.
“It’s been tough for everyone so why not,” said the manager. “It’s amazing when they work, when they’re free in their heads, when they work and the concentrate and they’re in the moment rather than thinking about other things – I don’t know where their heads go…
“Young players have got to be focused – I say young players particularly but… - they have to be ready for anything that happens on a football field.
“He was today, he was much, much better especially when he went on the left-hand side. On the left-hand side he came to life a bit more so that teaches me something. He was really, really good.
“But there were a lot of really decent performances, a lot more assured performances.”
Stoke passed the video record to Junho at full-time so he could send a message to supporters.
“Hello every Stoke City fan, I’m Junho,” he said. “I’m so happy today because I finally scored. Yeah, finally!
“I always wanted to score for the team and for the fans and then finally I score. I will try to do my best and score again. Please support us! Thank you.”
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