Can anyone explain why City put up with Balotelli? I really can't see the talent that overrides the petulance/trouble he causes. Mancini had no hesitancy on letting Adam Johnson go (a player I rate as the best English winger in the PL), for his lifestyle, so why the latitude to Balotelli?

One of my most hated fixtures of the season today. Robert Huth should have already been sent off and we're only 30 mins in. Kightly done 'a Shelvey' on one of ours yet only gets a yellow. Lovely.

Most sources put his fee for joining Citeh as undisclosed. I did find an old Sky Sports page that had the fee as 6 million pounds. His transfer fee when he joined Sunderland was 10m.

Balotelli was signed for 22m Euro. His indiscretions are a lot more public and there'll be few in football who don't know what a headcase he is. I think Citeh would get rid, just as they would have got rid of Tevez, but they simply won't put themselves in a position of having to justify a huge loss on a player when the player has obvious value on the pitch.

With Adrian Mutu, Chelsea took a hit of 22m Euro when they sacked him for a failed drug test. I think that was Mourinho's decision, and Mourinho was powerful at the club at the time. I'm not sure that Mancini and/or Citeh's board want to have to report to the Sheikh why he's taking a huge hit on a player.

Until Citeh get someone to take Balotelli off their hands at a reasonable fee, he'll stay at Citeh.

Oh no, the big bad Stoke players tackle a bit hard do they

Tackle? If you call leaving your studs in on somebody's chest a tackle, I suppose you're right. When the same player who left his studs in then slides through the back of your player, late, with his studs showing, he really shouldn't be on the pitch.

Stoke are complete and utter scum, their manager is vermin and they epitomise what's wrong with football.

Everyone knows the type of football you'll be facing against Stoke.

Since they've come up again they've taken 1 point off Man United, 2 points off Chelsea, 11 against Liverpool, 9 against Arsenal (and knocked them out of the FA Cup).

Now, who do you think bitches about Stoke the most?

Roddy, if I searched 100 years up and down the land and talked to every football fan in the areas I searched I'd be hard pressed to find 1 as clueless biased and plain thick as you. Well done !!!

Yes, Stoke have found an effective way of gaining enough points to maintain their Premier League status, but has any side in the last 20 years ever found a more ugly way of doing it?

People on here may wish to defend them, that's fair enough, but would you seriously pay to watch it??

The fact that 4 years in, they still do that tedious long throw nonsense, tells you all you need to know about the coaching and tactical brain of Tony Pulis.

And yet he's taken another point from Liverpool today.

ballsdot.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com ... rezgif.gif That's why you don't get many pens, Luis.

ballsdot.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com ... rezgif.gif That's why you don't get many pens, Luis.

Don't disagree that its effective, I said that in my post, but is it watchable??

Personally, I'd shut my curtains on it if they were playing in my back garden.

Ridiculous!