If you're a football purist then Stoke City won't be your cup of tea, but the negative wave of publicity that has followed the club's ultimately successful fight for Premier League survival has surprised me.
Maybe some of the games more scientific managers have suffered bruised egos having been on the receiving end of Stoke's more simple, yet effective style of play this season?
Last weekend I witnessed Stoke confirm what most of us were confident would be the case, as they won at Hull City to guarantee their top flight status.
Six months ago, while Stoke were going about their business (And Rory Delap's long throw aside slipping under the radar), the footballing world were lavishing praise on 'potential manager of the season' Phil Brown guiding his side to within grasp of Champions League qualification.
Now, along with West Brom, Hull are staring an immediate return to the Championship in the face - while Stoke City are the only promoted side assured of safety.
There didn't seem to be a great deal of difference in terms of quality when the two sides met at the KC Stadium, except that Stoke ground out the result they needed. Liam Lawrence's goal to seal the victory was as good as any you will see this season, as was much of Stoke City's play which on many occasions this season has gone either un-noticed or conveniently ignored.
Whether they will have enough quality to survive next season, with teams now knowing what to expect remains the key to Stoke City becoming a regular Premier League fixture.
Bolton achieved it under Sam Allardyce, who in 2006 was touted as a future England manager ... Tony Pulis to succeed Fabio Capello? Now there's a thought!
But as we enter the penultimate weekend of action, I'd like to join a minority of football observers outside of Stoke-on-Trent to congratulate Tony Pulis and David Kemp (as an Oxford United supporter that takes a lot of doing!) on their achievement.
Stoke have proven that whatever your footballing beliefs, if you have strategy and a system that players will buy into, you can succeed at the highest level.