Carling Cup / Ralph Ellis / 02 December 2008 / Leave a comment

Tony Pulis has been very shrewd in allowing Rory Delap's throw-ins to disguise the fact that Stoke City are a talented footballing side, says Ralph Ellis.

Tony Pulis has been remarkably clever so far this season - and not just at taking the long throw to its ultimate extreme. A man who is a relative novice at handling the goldfish bowl media demands of the Premier League has played the publicity game brilliantly. Instead of getting hurt and offended by hearing his team accused of playing football from the stone age, he's actually encouraged the belief that the Britannia Stadium is a football Jurassic Park.

It's actually a bit of a myth that his Stoke team never try to pass or play, but from the moment Match of the Day first discovered Rory Delap's long throw-ins, they have been labelled the ultimate long ball side. And nearly half-way through their first season among the big boys nobody, but nobody, looks forward to a trip to play them. Their reputation has grown to the point where critics ignore what they see and write about what they expected.

For instance, West Brom's boss Tony Mowbray labelled them "dross" and preached about the need to encourage silky passing football. But he never mentioned the string of quality passes Stoke put together in the build up to Mama Sidibe's winning header.

Pulis has had his secret rumbled today, though, by Paul Jewell - who is just as canny at the media game. Jewell takes Derby to the Britannia for tonight's Carling Cup quarter-final and has a very different assessment of Stoke's strengths.

"Their secret weapon isn't Rory Delap's throw - it's that they can play," he says. "Tony has been quite happy for people to say how horrible Stoke are to play against because teams are frightened before they get there. There is nothing wrong with a team being physical - the best teams in the world know how to mix it. But I don't think they are given enough credit. Tony has some very good players."

Betting on Carling Cup ties always carries a health warning. Until you see the teams you never know whether you are backing a Premier League side or their reserves or youth team. But Stoke at [1.8] to see off Derby looks a pretty safe prospect if only because Pulis knows the value of keeping up the legend about how good his team are at home.

So far they've been able to give their front line players a rest against the likes of Cheltenham, Reading and Rotherham. Tonight most of them - particularly including Delap - are likely to play. "This is a rare opportunity for Stoke to reach a semi-final of a major competition and I don't want to let it go," he says in this morning's papers. And while he might normally fib about his team's dinosaur tactics, this time he's telling the truth.

Derby, still sorting themselves out after their own Premier League debacle, got rolled over 3-0 by Burnley at the weekend and aren't likely to be strong enough to stand up to whatever comes at them - whether it's the route one stuff or the ball on the floor.

Five things you might not know about Tony Pulis

1. He was born in Newport, South Wales, as one of six children. His dad was a steelworker

2. He joined Bristol Rovers as a combative midfield player and passed all his coaching badges at the age of 21 while recovering from injury

3. His first management job was at Bournemouth where he and wife Debs still keep their family home. "I like going back there because nobody cares about me," he says

4. In nearly 17 years as a manager with six clubs he has never been relegated

5. The last time he was manager of Stoke he was sacked by the club's Icelandic owners for refusing to buy foreign players he hadn't seen.