For years, the acid test for any player new to the Premier League was simple.
'Can they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?'
Eleven words that perfectly encapsulate some of the bias, a large majority of it unfair, surrounding one of the top flight's most fascinating clubs in recent years. Stoke City were promoted to the Premier League in 2008, ending a 23-year absence from the top table of English football.
What would follow would be a 10-year stay largely punching above their weight, as they clinched three top-half finishes, reached an FA Cup final and even qualified for Europe.
Glenn Whelan was there for the vast majority of that decade, spending nine-and-a-half years in the Potteries and earning the tag of 'Mr Consistent' for his solid if not quite spectacular performances in the engine room.
When looking back over the club's decade in the Premier League, one of the biggest gripes Whelan and many of his former teammates have is the perceived style of play. Many opposition fans labelled the team's style under Tony Pulis as 'long-ball' and that they relied too heavily on Rory Delap's juggernaut throws.
Whelan, still playing at 38 and having just helped Bristol Rovers to promotion into League One, says that would be to ignore some of the good football the team were capable of playing and which ensured they were not in a relegation fight in nine of those ten seasons.
Speaking to Mirror Football , he said: "People always go on about Tony's perceived playing style and it was tough at times because it was pretty long-ball and also we had Rory's throw-ins. But there were certain times where we did play some good stuff.
"We got the ball down and played, but we'll never get the credit for that because people just associate us with hitting the long ball or Rory's long throws. If we were under a bit of pressure we could perhaps get out of trouble with Rory's long throw.
"But I felt a bit sorry for him because everyone just remembers Rory for the long throw. But he was actually a very good player and had more than just the throw-in.
"It got to a stage in the Premier League where the manager had this certain tactic and not many teams were prepared for it. We used it pretty successfully. If you have that as a weapon, then why not use it?"
'Pulis-ball' is another phrase that entered the English football lexicon with undoubtedly negative connotations attached to it. But Whelan says critics fail to recognise what Stoke achieved during those years. One of their biggest strengths was their home form, with the Britannia Stadium becoming a fortress and the scene of many an upset against the big guns.
"At the Britannia, we used to watch teams come off the bus and straight away you'd think 'they don't fancy it today'," Whelan said.
"Especially in my time there, at home our record against the top four or top six was ridiculous. But I remember our first Premier League game, we got battered away by Bolton. There was rumours that the bookmakers had already paid out on us going down - after one game!
"What we always had at Stoke was a decent dressing room. That helped us, for sure, that year. We comfortably stayed up with about four or five games that first year. The manager and the owners had a vision. There was no real expectations from the fans. Each window better quality players came in and settled really quick."
After three seasons of secure mid-table finishes, Stoke qualified for the Europa League in the 2010-11 campaign after reaching the FA Cup final. Despite defeat to Whelan's old club Man City at Wembley, the Potters had earned a route into Europe. And that threw up plenty of adventures for the club.
"That's why you play football - to play in these kind of competitions," Whelan says, remembering those European Thursday nights.
"It was great. We had to go into the early rounds so we had some great trips to some countries. I remember Besiktas away. We got there a couple of days beforehand and even then there was a party atmosphere around the hotel two or three days before.
"Besiktas fans thought it was perhaps a way of maybe scaring us but if they could have videoed us, we were laughing in the hotel thinking 'this is crazy. We're just little old Stoke! There was about 2,000 or 3,000 fans outside trying to rev us up and we were just lapping it up. We loved it and got out the group. It was just a pity our league form dipped as we maybe could have gone further in the competition otherwise."
After their European excursions the club then changed direction with Pulis replaced by fellow Welshman Mark Hughes. Despite posting three consecutive ninth-placed finishes, Whelan believes the latter days of Hughes' stewardship saw too many rash changes.
Whelan was one of a handful of long-serving players to leave in the summer of 2017 - he was sold to Championship side Aston Villa - and what would follow the season after was relegation.
He adds: "I think what happened at Stoke that year was letting go of many of the solid foundations that had been there years.
"Myself, Phil Bardsley, Jon Walters - we all knew the club, loved the club but were all allowed to leave at the same time. It's easy for me to say now but if you go back, then I don't think Stoke would let that many players go at the same time. I didn't want to leave. I was more than happy to stay but a deal was accepted behind my back from Aston Villa.
"I had another year left on my contract but I wasn't going to hang around where I'm not wanted. The only thing that disappointed me was nobody really spoke to me from the club. If someone had said beforehand 'this is the way we're going' then I would have shook their hand and that would have been that. That's the type of guy I am.
"I just think to do it all at the same time without having a backup - there's a right way of doing it but the turnover was too big and results showed that."
Despite the sour taste left by the manner of his departure, Whelan has nothing but good wishes for his old club.
The Potters, now under Michael O'Neill have yet to finish above 14th in the second tier since relegation four seasons ago. But the midfielder, who turned out more than 330 times for Stoke, hopes they can soon get back to creating more Premier League memories.
"It's a fantastic club and I loved my time there. More than anything, we had a good group away from the training ground. We socialised together and stuck together, rather than just turning up for training and going home. We achieved so much that it's nice to look back on.
"I'm sure one day someone will get it right there again."
