Stoke City Football Club

• Nickname:Potters
• Founded:1863
• Manager:Tony Pulis

• Ground:Britannia Stadium
• Capacity:28218

Coates defends Potters' approach

11 Oct 2010 - 10:20:55

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Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has angrily hit back at Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy for suggesting that the Potters have an overly-physical approach to the game.

Murphy accused City, Blackburn Rovers and Wolves of being over-zealous with their tackling, a view which clearly infuriated Coates.

He told The Sentinel: "There's a lot of nonsense talked about this. We don't condone bad tackles, nor I think do other clubs.

"We are a strong team, we are competitive and we are fair. That is as it should be."

Of Andy Wilkinson's booking for a late challenge on Cottagers forward Moussa Dembele last month, Coates added: "It was a poor late tackle and we were disappointed with Andy. He was reprimanded by our coaching staff and we apologised.

"Danny Murphy, by the way, got booked for aggressive behaviour in that game. It does make you wonder about players opening their mouths about incidents, because these things happen.

"He himself is a pretty competitive player.

"I bothered to look at his record and he's got three red cards and 65 yellows, so he's not a shrinking violet."