Stoke City picked up their first win under head coach Narcis Pelach as Tom Cannon scored four in a 6-1 roasting of Portsmouth. Here are the talking points from the bet365 Stadium. The opposition helped – Portsmouth were a different beast to Middlesbrough – but even considering that, rarely has there been a bigger contrast between two consecutive matches nor between collective expectations and what transpired.
It was an angry mood long before full-time at the Riverside and if anyone had been asked then what chant would be sung in Narcis Pelach’s direction in the second-half on the Wednesday night, it probably wouldn’t have been, ‘Chicho, give us a wave.’ Stoke and the new head coach badly needed a performance that supporters could buy into, just a sense that the team could move in a positive direction in this new chapter, and they got an emphatic assault to the senses. Stoke were clinical, yes, but the mood was set when Ben Wilmot charged up the pitch in the opening minute and harrumphed a shot onto the crossbar.
Shots went in hell for leather and Stoke swarmed forwards like a team possessed. This was both relief and a statement. The future is evidently not going to just be passes between centre-backs.
Stoke were told what kind of striker they were getting in Tom Cannon when the beat half the Championship to sign him on loan but there hadn’t really been a sight of him until he rocked up against Portsmouth. The 21-year-old was always keen to break the defensive li.