Stoke City supporter Mark Eltringham has his say on events at the Britannia Stadium

THE news that Stoke would be facing a Blackburn side led by Sam Allardyce this weekend, rather than Graeme Souness, has a certain inevitability.

In one of those coincidences that football throws up, Allardyce ended his tenure at Newcastle against Stoke and will start his new job against us. Presumably, he'll retain the memory of Stoke fans gleefully rubbing his nose in it and have the sound of 'sacked in the morning, you're getting sacked in the morning' still ringing in his ears.

However, the thing that struck me most is the team that Stoke have been most compared to so far this season has been Allardyce's Bolton. And the comparisons have usually not been made in a good way. Like that Bolton side, we are (take your pick or add your own) physical, organised, 'a big team', one-dimensional, dour and an affront to the aristocrats of the Premier League.

God knows we've had a lot of stick this year in the media based on this sort of stuff.

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