Delighted with the result against Stoke and hope it lifts morale and enables us to play without fear. Great time to play Stoke after their Europa Cup game in Kiev. A nightmare of a trip and they must have been exhausted and in no real condition to compete properly.
I did like what Tony Pullis said when he was asked if it effected them. 4 miners have just died in Wales, and my players earn more in 1 week than they would earn in 1 year, we have been a success, and this is the price you pay for success, more games and more travel, I wil never use traveling as an excuse or European competition, we should be able to handle it (or words to that effect anyway). but it was nice to hear, rather than moaning about too many games/too much travel.
There's a lot good about Pulis, even though I didn't like the football Stoke used to play. This is good common sense talking. In reality, the trip probably did take something out of them, but that doesn't take anything away from the way Sunderland set about it.
