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‘People think it was all set plays and throw-ins at Stoke. It wasn’t. Tony Pulis recruited a team of characters who were tough and hard to beat, but we could play’ Rory Delap on the Potters’ other side under Pulis

Never has a Premier League team had more cliches thrown their way than Tony Pulis’ vintage Stoke City of the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Whether it’s questioning Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo’s ability to perform on a cold, rainy night in the Potteries, or being written off as a team of agricultural bruisers and set-piece behemoths, Stoke fans of that era heard it all.

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Rory Delap on Stoke City’s other dimension

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Stoke's manager Tony Pulis (R) stands alongside assistant Peter Reid as he appeals to a linesman during the FA Cup 5th round match between Stoke City and Manchester City at the Britannia Stadium on February 24, 2010 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) Lionel Messi

Pulis in his Stoke City pomp (Image credit: Getty Images)

“The owner and the manager have to take a lot of credit, because Stoke were stuck in a rut in the Championship, but they made a decision to put money in without going stupid,” Delap tells FourFourTwo when asked what it was like to help Stoke cement their top flight status.

“Tony Pulis recruited a team of characters who would fight for everything and fit in with how Stoke wanted to be viewed – tough and hard to beat, but we could play.

Rory Delap scores an overhead kick for Southampton against Tottenham in March 2004.

There was more to Rory Delap than long throws (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Peter Crouch, Jermaine Pennant, James Beattie, Matty Etherington and Kenwyne Jones were all very good footballers. People think it was all set plays and throw-ins. It wasn’t.”

And talking of cliches, no chat about this era with former Republic of Ireland international Delap is complete without a mention of his bullet-like long throws, which regularly caused chaos in Premier League defences.

Once it became clear how dangerous a weapon this was, teams would often look for innovative ways to try and stop Delap in his tracks.

“West Ham and Burnley brought the advertising boards in,” Delap recalls. “We had towels to dry the ball, and teams would get ballboys to throw them into the stands.

“Hull put it out for a corner rather than a throw-in – by that stage we’d scored more goals from corners than throw-ins! Dean Windass was the funniest one, he started warming up in front of me and managed to get a yellow card!”

Peter Crouch celebrates a goal for Stoke City against West Ham in April 2018.

Peter Crouch in action for Stoke City (Image credit: Getty Images)

There was far more to Delap than his ability to hurl the ball into the mixer though, as the former Carlisle hopeful is quick to point out.

“I would never have played nearly 600 games if all I could do was throw it,” he adds. “I’ve never been one to praise myself, but I was 31 before people really started to ask me about the throw.

“I don’t know what I was good at before that, but I must have been good at something.”

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