Comment by Lou Macari

I BET some of Stoke City’s critics in the media were tutting and shaking their heads when an Andy Wilkinson second-half tackle got as many cheers as any of the goals in Saturday’s victory over Blackburn.

Stoke got so much criticism after the Blackburn win that I had to double check the paper to make sure they had really won the game 3-0.

There was plenty of stuff about Stoke’s long ball, physical approach, blah, blah, blah. There will probably be more of the same after tonight’s game at Wigan.

But Stoke fans were buzzing about Wilkinson winning a stooping first-half header in his own six-yard box, getting kicked in the head for his troubles – and then being patched up before going on to have a great game.

I don’t know Wilko that well, but can only admire the wholehearted approach he brings to every game.

Like other defenders, he will occasionally jump in with a rash tackle, but he gives everything for his hometown club each week. The Premier League would be better for having more players with that attitude.

Instead, we are told our showcase league would be better with fewer teams like Stoke and more sides who want to get the ball down and play.

Well, I had the misfortune to watch Portsmouth feeble efforts in their 5-0 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday.

Pompey stroked the ball about all right, the problem was it was at a snail’s pace at which I could still play.

I can see why they are rock bottom of the table. I’ve no idea whether their squad has the ability to be higher up, because they looked out of condition and didn’t seem to be able to last 90 minutes of football.

They are apparently a team “trying to play the game the right way”, but I’d sooner see a Stoke side with players who are prepared to charge around, get set pieces in the opposition penalty area and play at a bit of a tempo.

Okay, Portsmouth have got off-the-field problems, but I can’t help but wonder whether some of their players are using that as an excuse.

Players shouldn’t worry if their club has four or 44 owners in a season, they have still got to show more fight than Portsmouth managed at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Character doesn’t just mean defenders putting their head in where it hurts or winning tackles like Wilkinson.

Matthew Etherington isn’t going to out-muscle many, but he’s shown character in abundance to rebuild his career at Stoke after his much-publicised gambling problems.

He was thrown a lifeline by Tony Pulis and Stoke last year when he signed from West Ham, but the way he has taken it says a lot about the lad’s attitude.

He might well miss out on an England call-up and the World Cup, but he has already made a massive stride by playing so consistently for Stoke.

Hopefully, there will be more talk about who should be in the England squad, and less stuff about the massively over-hyped John Terry scandal.

Some people actually seem to believe England’s World Cup chances in South Africa will be affected by whether or not Terry is the captain.

Get a grip.

The main qualification for a captain is being able to say heads or tails at the coin toss.

Whether he wears a bit of fabric on his arm or not makes absolutely no difference to how Terry will play.

I know it might seem strange for me to say it doesn’t matter who is captain, because I had a great skipper at Stoke in Vince Overson.

But he would have been an excellent leader with or without the armband. The useful point of having the captain was so there was one player who could represent the rest of the squad, rather than having 18 of them queuing up at my door on a Monday.

Managers have enough to deal with, such as Ricardo Fuller being arrested over the weekend following an incident in a Hanley nightclub.

However, I don’t expect Tony Pulis or Stoke to be rushing to judgement on the striker.

It’s out of the manager’s hands while the police investigate and, let’s not forget, Fuller hasn’t been tried or convicted of anything.

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