Why Tom Cannon ran to the dugout as Stoke City grant Narcis Pelach his wish

Why Tom Cannon ran to the dugout as Stoke City grant Narcis Pelach his wish

Queens Park Rangers vs. Stoke City talking points as the Potters depart Loftus Road with a piece of the action

On a fun afternoon at Loftus Road, when the game might have gone either way, Stoke City had to settle for a point

against Queens Park Rangers, a basement team, on Saturday. After Tom Cannon scored a fantastic goal from just

inside the penalty area to give Stoke the lead, they were held back when a corner deflected off Ben Gibson and past Viktor Johansson.

In a hectic second half, Cannon and QPR forward Alfie Lloyd both struck the post at either end, and both goalkeepers made incredible saves before the most controversial part, when Bae Junho dribbled past a few players

and put up a strong effort past Paul Nardi in the Hoops goal, only for referee Gavin Ward to pull.

Stoke have now lost just one of their last nine games since they beat Portsmouth 6-1, and are nestled in mid-table

and looking up ahead of the welcoming of Preston North End to the Potteries this week. Here are the talking points from west London…

Touching moment

After scoring the first goal, Cannon ran to the away dugout to celebrate with the team’s coaching staff, especially

fitness coach Joel Dawson, who recently lost his father. The Stoke team had intended to celebrate in the same

manner as Cannon in the event that someone scored, paying homage and demonstrating the unity Narcis Pelach has

been keen to emphasise.

Adding, “It shows we are together,” Pelach said. “We are a team and we care about one another. These are words that

are relatively simple to speak but can be challenging to understand. Togetherness must be established and

safeguarded for both starting and non-starting players.

“We had some bad news week – our fitness coach lost his father. We wanted to pay tribute to Joel and his family. We

said if anyone in the team scores, it would be nice to be with him. It’s just to show that we care about each other and

that, at the end, family is much more important than a football game. It was nice from Tom that we got everybody together.”

Sidibe chance

As previously said, Pelach, who is one of the Championship’s youngest head coaches, led a youthful team. Sol Sidibe,

who made his first start since the Spaniard’s hiring, was the youngest of them all.

Although Sidibe was exhausted in the second half, this was a positive enough performance and more proof of

Pelach’s willingness to trust the team’s younger stars, both academy products and players loaned from Premier

League clubs. It’s important to keep in mind that Sidibe is still only 17 years old.

Referee decision

Before Saturday afternoon, Gavin Ward wasn’t exactly the most popular player among Stoke fans, but he left the

ground with the slogans they had chanted at him still echoing in his ears. The jeers at the final whistle were directed

at the referees, who had abruptly stopped the chaos in the away end after Junho had put his shot into the bottom

corner, rather than the players.

It was truly unfortunate. Despite scoring what looked to be a real winner in real time, Pelach refused to blame the

referee for the Potters’ defeat and wasn’t being sucked into a post-match moan and grumble. He wants to win the

game on your terms and eliminate any room for excuses.

Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk/