Stoke City fans showed their emotion and I think it's a good thing
Captain Ben Gibson hopes the scale of noise in an eye-opening home draw with Cardiff is a wake-up call about the standards expected at Stoke City.
Stoke are winless in seven after Gibson rescued a point in injury time at the bet365 Stadium against struggling Cardiff, when home supporters had made the mood clear to players about the calibre of performance.
“The fans showing their emotion at the end I think is a good thing,” said Gibson, who joined from Norwich as a free agent in the summer.
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“It’s an honest reflection and I think they’re absolutely right. It shows when there is that noise the size of the football club and what it expects because they should expect better and it should be better. I’m sure we will get it better.”
Stoke had taken an early lead through Andrew Moran but were 2-1 down mid-way through the second half after Anwar El-Ghazi was free to score a tap-in and an unfortunate Gibson own goal put the visitors ahead.
But it was Gibson who got the leveller for Stoke, charging onto a free-kick from Lynden Gooch for his third goal of the season.
He said in an interview for the club website: “We’ve obviously been on a poor run of late and we have to turn that, we know that. The disappointing today was the whole performance more than the result. It was an opportunity for us to win a game of football match. Even though we’ve lost games recently we’ve played better. Today was not good enough. Not acceptable to a man, me included.
“But I’ve just said to the boys in there, we have two options. When you’re in a bad run of form and there’s a bit of noise – and fans are right to show their emotions at the end because that was a really poor performance – you sink or swim, as an individual and as a squad.
“We’ve got a lot of young players who are experiencing something like this for the first time. It’s a time when you have to stick together. There’s only one way you work your way out of it and that’s winning football matches. That’s what we need to do, that’s clear. Then all of that changes and it can change quickly.
“You have to work hard, be demanding from yourself, go home and look in the mirror and think could you have done more, what could you have done better? We have to improve.”
Stoke have become stuck in the Championship bottom half heading into the festive period, with pressure growing on head coach Narcis Pelach to find a way to win games and pick up points to haul them in the right direction.
Gibson, when asked what the team had been missing, said: “I think a bit of know-how at times. I know we’re a young squad but we can’t keep saying that. Young players have to become men, fast. They have to learn now, fast, on the job. And the men that are out there have to do more and lead by example. That includes me. I have to do more. I have to play better for them, play better for myself, play better for the club.
“It starts with me more than anyone, I’m the captain, it’s my job to lead them and I have to do better for number one.
“As a team and as a squad we have to find a way of managing moments better, being more clinical at the other end so we’re not just 1-0 up but it could be 2-0 or 3-0. We had a couple of transitions which didn’t turn into anything but could have been good chances. We also have to be less naïve, which I think we’ve been in the last couple of games especially in the last minute as we’ve conceded two late goals.
“A lot of the lads are learning on the job and there are things we can all do better, including myself. There is only one way we can put it right, hard work, reviewing it and finding a way to win football matches.”
Pelach pointed to Stoke needing to be significantly better in terms of winning duels and second balls and Gibson wasn’t taking much relief from getting a draw either.
The defender said: “The result is one thing, the performance is another. The performance was really poor and that’s the real disappointing thing. I’m obviously emotion here because we’ve just finished the game and we’re really, really disappointed. We’ll feel differently on Monday when we review it from a tactical point of view, taking the emotion out of it and seeing what we could have done better.
“But there’s no one that should come here and outbattle us and that’s what it felt like. Everyone to a man has to go home, address it, look at themselves before they point a finger at anyone else and find a way to turn this around. Football changes fast. (Not long ago) we were on a decent-ish run when with fine margins or a bit of luck the other way we could have turned draws into wins and been flying. Now it’s the opposite and we have to show character, get more out of each other whatever it takes. Whether that’s saying a few words between us or more than that, the key is that we stick together and find a way through it.”
One positive was the return to fitness of Sam Gallagher, who has been out with a hamstring injury since October, and Bosun Lawal, who made his debut from the bench after being ordered to rest when a medical flagged up a back problem in August.
Gibson said: “Gally has been a massive loss. You can see the impact today. He gives us a different way of playing. We haven’t had him all season except for the two games we did when we scored six goals and drew the other game. I think that’s really clear without putting too much pressure on him! We need the big man, we need him to stay fit. He was a big summer signing as well. Bosun looks really good as well.
“We welcome them back with open arms and we look forward to them having a big impact, without putting too much pressure on them.
“But the ones who have been playing, including myself, need to get better out of each other.”
