Tuncay convinces Pulis he has turned over a new leaf
Stoke 2 Bolton
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Your support makes all the difference.Tony Pulis will find out soon enough whether Tuncay Sanli's current form is a victory for his man-management or merely part of some wider self-promotion by the temperamental Turk, but for the moment he seems happy to believe the former.
Tuncay's relationship with the Stoke manager since his £5m move from Middlesbrough 17 months ago has been turbulent to say the least. Three times last season he flounced off to the dressing rooms after being substituted. This season, left out altogether, he stormed out of Bolton's Reebok Stadium even before kick-off in October, ordering a taxi back to Staffordshire.
So it was perhaps with something to prove that he was man of the match against Bolton on Saturday, delivering the corner from which Stoke went ahead through Danny Higginbotham's scrambled effort and the pass that led Zat Knight to trip Matthew Etherington, who converted the resulting penalty.
Coming so soon after the "10 best goals" compilation Tuncay posted on a social networking site last week, it was an eye-catching performance open to more cynical interpretation, but Pulis would only eulogise. "Tunny has all the tools in the box and he's shown them today," he said. "Sometimes it is difficult for players to come into this group and understand how hard they work but I think he understands the ethos of the team now."
Substitutes:
Stoke Whelan (Wilson, 71), Walters (Jones, 81), Pugh (Etherington, 88). Unused Sorensen (gk), Collins, Faye, Pennant.
Bolton Moreno (Muamba, 66), Petrov (Taylor, 66), Cohen (Holden, 83). Unused Bogdan (gk), Alonso, Blake.
Booked: Bolton Knight, Muamba.
Man of the match Sanli.
Referee M Oliver (Northumberland).
Att 26,809.
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