Stoke City’s illness-hit next generation misses chance to impress Mark Robins
Illness-hit Stoke City missed a chance to impress Mark Robins as they crashed out of the FA Youth Cup with a disappointing home defeat to West Bromwich Albion.
There are some highly-rated players in this group – plus Freddie Anderson, the 18-year-old centre-half who was in Miami rather than the Potteries after being summoned to a training camp with United States under-20s.
There were glimpses of potential, moments of skill and passing from Sol Sidibe, inviting crosses and a long-range free-kick onto the crossbar from 16-year-old left-back Laurence Giani, some excellent recovery defending from Pijus Otebayo and charges out from the back by Jaden Dixon.
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But this was definitely not Stoke’s night and, unfortunately, the best thing to come out of it was probably the fact diehard supporters won’t have to make a trip to Bournemouth or Norwich in the next round. The cup gods have not been kind with draws this season. In fact, it hasn’t been their week. Striker Lewis Bailey has been in his sick bed for five days, for instance, but was determined to try to play.
Stoke were undone twice in the first half by poor defending. Firstly, everybody switched off except Alfie Maughan when a loopy Albion pass forward seemed to be drifting out of play – but Maughan kept it in and cut back for unmarked Donte Ranger to slam in for the opener. The second came just before the break when Stoke couldn’t properly clear a corner and the ball was hooked back in for Divine Onyemachi – who had not long replaced injured Ranger – to hammer in.
Stoke played higher up the pitch in the second half but couldn’t threaten Albion enough and their task to get back into the game was made all the more difficult when Dixon was sent off for tugging back Onyemachi. Urgh. A game that already seemed all-but over was given the death rites and Stoke looked desperately disappointed – and shattered.
Under-18s boss Dave Hibbert said: “We never really got going to be honest. There were a couple of moments early on and we might have had a penalty at 0-0 and moments like that can change the game – but then to concede the two goals in the manner we did in the first half made it an uphill task. I’ve seen in the Youth Cup before that the occasion gets the better of them and they don’t really show their true potential and that’s the disappointing thing for them as individuals.
“It has been a difficult build-up. We haven’t had a game for three-and-a-half weeks (following a postponement at the weekend) and we looked nowhere near our energetic selves. We’ve had a lot of illness in the camp. There was a lad we couldn’t even put on as a sub in the end. It’s not been easy but I’m not going to make excuses. We wanted to show more than what we did and then when you go down to 10 men with 30 minutes to go it’s very difficult.”
Stoke are getting a reputation for nurturing defenders at the moment so the goals they conceded here will sting.
Hibbert said: “It was just switching off and thinking the ball was running out of play when it didn’t. It’s a cliché but it was schoolboy stuff and they have to make decisions better. To then concede just before half-time from a set-piece, which was something we’d targeted before the game, was obviously very disappointed.”
There wasn’t the kind of threat that Stoke expected at the other end either.
“We’ve had Lewis on loan at Nantwich,” said Hibbert. “He’s only 16 and we’ve converted him as a striker. He’s a project and he’s going to take time – and he’s been really quite ill over the last few days. Fair play to him for showing the desire and hunger to get out there. He’s a young boy and to show he’s desperate to play.”
The overwhelming feeling was that, all things considered and especially with a new first team manager to try to make take notice, players didn’t do themselves justice.
Hibbert said: “That’s what I’ve said in the changing room. There’s a way to lose. If you play to your full potential and fall on the wrong side of a game then fair enough but we didn’t show that. That’s the disappointment. We built it up and wanted to show the energy, fight and hunger we demand at this club. We wanted to show it in abundance but unfortunately we didn’t do it.
“Players have only trained once together yesterday because they’ve come from the 21s or first team so it was probably never going to look perfect. Now some will go back to the first team and 21s. We prioritise individual development here because it’s about pushing boys at the right time. So they’ll go back to their individual programmes and they’ll know they have to show a bit more fight and a bit more resilience and that bit more quality that we expect.”
