Source: TheGuardian
Port Vale's Tom Pope: ‘As a target man you'd try to rough up John Stones’
Port Vale’s combative striker is no shrinking violet on or off the pitch and itching for an FA Cup battle against Manchester CityWhen it comes to swapping shirts at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening, Tom Pope is not exactly counting his chickens. “If the Man City players have had a look at what I’ve said, they’ll probably tell me to bugger off,” the Port Vale captain says, laughing, referring to his comments on social media after watching back England’s Nations League defeat by the Netherlands in June, when he described John Stones as “soft” and “a target man’s dream”, saying he would love to play against the defender every week because he would have a field day.Not for the first time Pope’s tweets catapulted him into the centre of a storm but six months on and before facing Manchester City in the FA Cup third round, the striker unapologetically stands by his words. Related: FA Cup third round: match previews Related: Bobby Madley’s plight symptomatic of social media shame culture | Max Rushden Continue reading......read full article
