Stoke City: Sidibe makes every strike count

GOALS from Mama Sidibe may be rare, but they aren't half deadly.

The big fella's strikes are collector's items not only because of their frequency – or lack of – but because of their value to the cause.

Stoke supporter and part-time statistician James Knowles has been kind enough to list all his goals for Stoke since arriving in the summer of 2005... and their influence on each game concerned.

All right, so we all know there are not too many goals to trawl through, but his homework on each and every goal soon highlights their value when he does score.

In the 22 games in which he has netted during his Stoke career, the club has won 17 and lost only two.

Even accounting for the obvious fact that a team is statistically more likely to win than lose when someone scores, this still represents a remarkable indication of Sidibe's impact on matches on those rare occasions when he does find the net.

And we all know his other considerable values, which very nearly guarantee him a start with or without any goal threat.

2005/2006

August 29: Stoke 3, Norwich 1 (Sidibe scores third to seal victory).

November 26: Sheff Wed 0, Stoke 2 (Demoted to the bench, Sidibe comes on at half-time to ensure all three points with the second goal).

December 9: Stoke 3, Leicester 2 (He scores a vital equaliser 15 minutes from the end before Sammy Bangoura seals victory).

January 2: Stoke 2, Leicester 2 (Having gone 2-0 down, Darel Russell halves the deficit before Sidibe heads home a corner to seal a point in the 73rd minute).

January 28: Stoke 2, Walsall 1 (On the stroke of half-time, Sidibe scores the opening goal to put Stoke on course for the fifth round of the FA Cup).

April 30: Brighton 1, Stoke 5 (Already 2-0 up thanks to Adam Rooney's brace, Sidibe makes sure there is no way back for the home side with a third just before the break).

Total: 7 Goals (Won 5, Drawn 1).

2006/2007

August 28: Stoke 1, Plymouth 1 (Sidibe puts Stoke into the lead five minutes before the break, but his goal is cancelled out by a late Barry Hayles equaliser).

November 28: Stoke 3, Cardiff 0 (In a crazy goal-laden five minutes, Sidibe wraps up the points to send 15,000 Stokies wild).

December 26: Stoke 1, Sheff Wed 2 (For once, a Sidibe goal is academic as former Stokie Deon Burton wipes out his equaliser).

December 30: Stoke 3, Leeds 1 (Sidibe heads home a Lee Hendrie corner to open the scoring).

January 20: Preston 3, Stoke 2 (Sidibe's effort is ruled to have crossed the line to send Stoke 2-0 up after just seven minutes, but somehow a second-half collapse results in a home win).

January 23: Burnley 0, Stoke 1 (Sidibe's impressive scoring run continues as he nets the only goal to put Stoke in a play-off position).

March 31: Stoke 4, Leicester 2 (With the game locked at 2-2, he puts Stoke into the lead with just 10 minutes left).

April 28: Stoke 3, Colchester 1 (In this make or break end-of-season game, Sidibe's goal comes hot on the heals of Darel Russell's opener as a 1-0 deficit is transformed into a 2-1 lead).

May 6: QPR 1, Stoke 1 (In the final game of the season and with Stoke needing a handsome victory to earn a play-off spot, the injured Sidibe remains on the field to aid Stoke's cause because all the substitutes have been used and limps into the area to sweep home an equaliser).

Total: 9 Goals (W5, D2, L2).

2007/2008

February 12: Stoke 3, Southampton 2 (Having waited nearly all season for his first goal, Sidibe towers above the Saints defence to head home Liam Lawrence's corner for a 3-0 lead).

March 11: Norwich 0, Stoke 1 (Just as hopes of promotion were beginning to run away, Sidibe flicks Delap's long throw into the back of the net to renew hope).

April 19: Stoke 2, Bristol City 1 (Surely Mama's finest hour. In a must-win game, Sidibe heads Stoke's opener before slotting home a one-on-one opportunity to seal a crucial victory).

2007/08 Total: 4 Goals (W3).

2008/2009

August 23: Stoke 3, Aston Villa 2 (The Delap/Sidibe routine works again as a deft header in the fourth minute of injury-time seals Stoke's first Premier League win.

September 23: Stoke 2, Reading 2 (Sidibe blasts Stoke into the lead in a tie they eventually won on penalties).

November 22: Stoke 1, West Bromwich Albion 0 (Sidibe superbly heads home Higginbotham's left-wing cross to leave the fans singing "We always beat West Brom.")

Total (so far): 3 Goals (W3).

TOTAL: 23 Goals (W17, D3, L2)