Stoke, 30 August 2009

Off, then, to Stoke once more. This isn't easy since I'm not well. Manflu. I get up five times in the night to take pills, to blow my nose and to cough so I don't wake Miss C, the tiny one, or the furry one.
The trick here is get out of bed and then back into it without disturbing your evening's companion. As fleet-footed as a mountain goat, as stealthy as a panther, I manage this magnificently every time as she sleeps soundly. She is truly lucky to have me. "You creaked a floorboard the fourth time you got up," she coos on waking. "But that wasn't as noisy as the second and third times. The first was just annoying, but the fifth wasn't bad until you coughed." As I say, truly lucky.
And, just when a nice easy trek up the M1 and M6 might be nice, the journey is a nightmare. Whenever I slide manfully into fifth gear, it's immediately back to first again and I'm undertaken by a platoon of coaches ferrying Arsenal supporters for the tea-time kick off. All that traffic. All those people. All those accidents. It'll be a bank holiday then. Bugger. However, a nation can breath easily since I made it in time to have some reasonably appealing lasagne.
Oddly there's hardly anyone I know reporting and having worn only a shirt and a lighter jacket, I'm wind-buffeted to the marrow at what, allegedly, is England's second highest ground (West Brom is first; Oldham is third, since you ask). I pump myself up with Day Nurse and hope for the best, almost - not to be confused with "actually" - relieved not to be over-burdened with words.
The match against Sunderland is hardly a sight for my sore eyes, but Dave Kitson wins it for Stoke with his first Premier League goal since leaving Reading last summer and they never look in grave danger.
This might just be me, but could it be that the expectation of winning is beginning to reduce the Britannia's cauldron-like atmosphere? I hope not, but human nature is human nature he said sagely. Either way, the result is fair since Sunderland are hollow in central defence, but I do like the look of their handy Albanian Lorik Cana. Afterwards, Steve Bruce is honest enough to admit his side's glaringly obvious problem and signs Michael Turner on Monday (ah, the moment Hull were relegated, they'll say in years to come on Humberside) I ask him when we'll see Steve Bruce's Sunderland but he doesn't really bite. Meanwhile, Pulis charges in, talks to some local radio types and charges out again. My Day Nurse is wearing off and it's time to go home.