Stoke City: Potters are favourites at Hull on merit, says old boy Smith

I SEE some of the bookies are making Stoke favourites to win at Hull on Sunday.

Now that may be a comment on Hull right now, but I'd also like to think it says something about Stoke City.

Perhaps we are getting the respect we deserve at long last – and rightly so after last season and the first quarter of this one.

But we know Stoke must justify such high billing in front of the TV cameras up at Hull on Sunday.

The spotlight will be all on Hull, and Phil Brown in particular, and I know that will suit Tony Pulis down to the ground.

I suspect Phil already knows his fate as Hull manager – win lose or draw this weekend – after having had discussions about his future with the new hierarchy up there.

Whatever you say about him, he deserves credit for getting Hull into the Premier League and then, by hook or by crook, keeping them up. His style of management isn't everyone's cup of tea – not least ticking his players off in front of their own fans last Boxing Day – but ultimately you live and die by results.

Results are also determined by your signings, of course, and I don't think there's a single Stoke fan who would swap their squad for Hull's.

Whether it be bad luck or bad judgement, Hull clearly haven't got their money's worth out of several players.

Anthony Gardner and Jimmy Bullard are two obvious examples of players failing to deliver because of fitness problems. Hull have also taken Seyi Olofinjana and Ibrahima Sonko from Stoke, which says a lot for the respective strengths of the clubs.

I've got some sympathy with Hull because I've no doubt they've had to spend over the odds on occasions to get players to move to a remote part of the world.

Geovanni will be a big loss to them through suspension this weekend, because he's one of the few flair players they've got who can change a game with a flash of magic.

They lack goals as a team and so it wouldn't surprise me to see Brown replace that lost flair by bringing in Nick Barmby.

I tried to sign him for Sunderland when he left school many moons ago, but unfortunately he ended up at Tottenham.

Nick must be older than me by now, but he's still got a trick or two and could be a natural replacement for Geovanni.

The Brazilian's dismissal at Burnley last Saturday summed up Hull's misfortune. Every major decision seemed to go against them. I just hope that bad luck doesn't balance out in their favour against Stoke.

Stoke should go there with plenty of confidence, despite losing that 2-0 lead over Wolves last Saturday, because of Hull's current form, their manager's predicament and the fact the home team's players aren't up to the same standard as Stoke's.

And any team that can win at Tottenham must fancy their chances of getting a result almost anywhere.

I was at a wedding in South Africa during that fabulous win at White Hart Lane and was popping in and out to get the score.

I would have gladly settled for 0-0, so was delighted when that late winner went in.

The only pity was that I missed it because I got caught by all the speeches.

I think you can bank on at least one change in the Stoke line-up this weekend now that Robert Huth is available after suspension.

That will be hard on Andy Wilkinson, but Tony Pulis isn't Stoke manager to win any popularity contests.

He will look at Huth's experience and physical presence before plumping for the big German.