WHEN THE STOKE CITY SUPPORTERS invited Johan Boskamp to give them a wave earlier this season, the puzzled manager turned to Jan de Koning, his assistant, to say that their time appeared to be up. Boskamp had misinterpreted their affection, but now there is little love lost with some fans after a string of poor results, almost certainly influenced by the Dutchman’s bizarre feud with De Koning, his compatriot, and John Rudge, the director of football .
Boskamp was incensed that Rudge darted from the directors’ box to pass on tactical advice to him via De Koning during a match two months ago. A stubborn Boskamp has insisted that the board choose between him and his two colleagues — a decision that might have appeared straightforward after the team’s freefall from fifth place in the Coca-Cola Championship to relegation candidates in only six weeks. Boskamp now appears likely to leave when his contract expires in the summer, while the pessimistic atmosphere contributed to the low attendance of 8,834 on Saturday, when the Dutchman was grateful to another compatriot, Ed de Goey, for ensuring Stoke play in the FA Cup fifth round for the third time in 32 years.
Coming on as a substitute for Steve Simonsen for only his third match in nearly 15 months, the goalkeeper tipped over Alex Nicholls’s fierce drive in stoppage time. “The temperature was cold and you have to get your concentration straight away,” he said. “But after 23 years of doing this, you know what to do.”
Now 39, De Goey helped Chelsea to lift the trophy six years ago . He still lives in London, regularly training with Chelsea, initially the first team and now the reserves, while taking his Uefa coaching badges and helping Davey, his 10-year-old son, to follow in his footsteps. “Sometimes the gaffer wants me here for the week and sometimes I am there two weeks in a row,” he said. “It is still nice to be there and train with them. I still have got their respect. It would be nice going back to Stamford Bridge (in the next round), but they are not through yet.”
Luke Chadwick enlivened an otherwise monotonous encounter when the winger cut inside from the right and curled the ball into the corner of the net, adding to Mamady Sidibe’s strike into an empty goal before half-time. “It was a world-class finish and a world-class save that were the difference,” Paul Merson, the Walsall manager, said after Kevin James had scored their consolation goal.
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Stoke City (4-4-2): S Simonsen (sub: E de Goey, 59min) — M Broomes, C Hoefkens, M Duberry, L Buxton — L Chadwick, K Henry, D Brammer, P Sweeney — P Gallagher (sub: H Sigurdsson, 90), M Sidibe (sub: P Kopteff, 76). Substitutes not used: Junior, C Hill. Booked: Hoefkens
Walsall (4-4-2): A Oakes — C Pead, A Gerrard, C Westwood, D Fox — M Wright (sub: M Standing, 68), M Leary, G Smith, D McDermott (sub: A Nicholls, 52) — M Timm, K James. Substitutes not used: S Osborn, R Gilmartin, M Bradley. Booked: Leary
Referee: K Stroud