Nathan Jones was back at Crawley Town last night with a Charlton Athletic side who he suggested were everything his old Stoke City were not in an infamous cup defeat.
Jones was one month away from the end of his time as Stoke manager when he lost a League Cup tie at League Two Crawley in September 2019. Sam Vokes's opener was cancelled out by Nathan Ferguson, Nathan Collins was controversially sent off on the hour mark and Vokes then hit the bar in the pouring rain at a shoot-out.
It was a performance that prompted a message from the Oatcake fanzine saying: "There's no level of embarrassment that this lot can't stoop to. Absolutely pathetic."
Jones was furious that night. He survived painful home defeats to Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield to then beat Swansea and Fulham but respite was short-lived and the axe swung after losses to Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall.
He moved back to Luton in time, then on to Southampton in the Premier League before joining Charlton in League One, where he as guided them up to fourth in the table thanks to a 2-1 win at Crawley, a performance that was the antithesis of what he saw from his Stoke side five-and-a-half years ago.
"We work on not just being a tippy tappy little side, we work out of possession, we see the value in both sides of the game, we have to move the ball quickly, we have to stretch play, we have to run in beyond, we have to test people all over the pitch and we do that," he said in his post-match interview.
"It's a group that is together, it's a group that is hard, it's a group that wants to achieve something and we're in a good moment. I'm proud of them because I've been with good teams who come to places like this and lose.
"Actually when I was Stoke manager I came here and lost in the cup and it pretty much cost me my job. The group I've got now is different and I'm really proud of that win, I really am."
He added: "We know what we do, we play a certain way and at times situations dictate what you have to do but we believe we've got good players, we believe we've got athleticism, we believe we've got players who know their roles."
Stoke have no survivors from that night. Collins has gone on to play in the Premier League, Liam Lindsay, Tyrese Campbell and Danny Batth are still in the Championship, Cameron Carter-Vickers has played more than 100 times for Celtic.
Stoke vs Crawley, September 2019: Federici, Smith, Lindsay (Etebo, 46), Collins, Batth, Ward, Woods, Cousins, Hogan (Carter-Vickers, 64), Vokes, Campbell (Duffy, 46). Not used: Davies, Powell, Sorensen, McJannet
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