Stoke have a reputation as a dirty team and rival fans often refer to them as a rugby club. They're hated across the league because of the reputation, there's a lot of people that would love to see them relegated. I'm not here to discuss whether that reputation is rightly deserved or unfair but the fact of the matter is it will cost them this season. It's a difficult thing to get rid of and Stoke won't erase this from memories anytime soon. It first came about under Tony Pulis but under the control of Mark Hughes the team hasn't moved away from these claims at all. The longer it goes on, the worse it will get and Stoke as a club will ultimately be punished. In the same way as certain players don't get given the benefit of the doubt over diving, Stoke won't be giving the benefit of the doubt over fouls. Hughes was frustrated over a dismissal in mid-week and it was questionable. How much of a factor did Stoke's reputation have in the red card? The difficulties this raises will especially cause concern away from home, an area Stoke already struggle in...
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
