As always the Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has been a busy bunny in the transfer window. Having signed five players in the 2011 summer transfer window. Jonathan Woodgate from Tottenham, Matthew Upson from West Ham, Wilson Palacios from Tottenham, Cameron Jerome from Birmingham and Peter Crouch from Tottenham. Abdoulaye Faye was the only notable exit, leaving for West Ham whilst some reserve players went out on loan. I'm reviewing what has seemed to be an excellent summer of signings for Stoke.
Jonathan Woodgate - Ex Real Madrid Player
'Woody' has made an impressive start to his Stoke City career having looked solid in his 4 Stoke City appearances since signing on a free transfer from Tottenham on July 11th. Unfortunately for Woodgate he is competing for places with two of the Premiership's best defenders (Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross) and an England international in Matthew Upson. However in Stoke's opening 3 Premier League matches he has made an appearance in each, including a sterling defensive performance against title contenders Chelsea!
I am delighted that Jonathan Woodgate has put pen to paper with Stoke. Many have doubted the signing by rightly questioning the 30 year olds fitness but he will add to the depth of this superb Stoke City defence with his experience of playing for his country and his time at Real Madrid. Whether he can knock either Huth or Shawcross out of the team remains to be seen but with European games to cope with this season, this squad needed more strength in depth and Woodgate certainly offers this! Brilliant signing.
Matthew Upson - With His World Cup Goal
Bizarrely Stoke's second summer signing was another centre back, this time another England international Matthew Upson. The same Matthew Upson that had scored England's only goal in the knock-out rounds of the 2010 FIFA World Cup! Upson has played twice so far in his Stoke career, both against Swiss side FC Thun scoring one goal in process! An impressive start to his so far short time at the Britannia Stadium but Upson wasn't the most popular addition to the squad, lets not forget he was part of a side that finished bottom of the Premier League last season. However he is now part of a team that isn't known for conceding goals, a team that is moving up the footballing ladder and he is sure to be a popular player in the North Staffs in the not too distant future.
Stoke now have 9 defenders (including Marc Wilson). And although I'm delighted with the strength in depth the club now has in defence I fail to see what the manager's plans for Upson are. He's a good defender and with Europe, FA Cup, Carling Cup games to cater for it means that we now have an extra defender to cover for any injuries the defence gets. However my concern is that if Stoke needed to strengthen in one place it wouldn't be the defence, and despite the fact I'm a fan that rates Matthew Upson as a player I would much rather we brought in a spare winger than another spare defender. Good signing, but not perfect.
The first of three deadline day signings for The Potters. After a week of speculation the deal was finally completed and the Honduras international signed a 4 year deal for a believed fee of £6 million. Apparently part of a double deal with Peter Crouch, Palacios arrives with the advantage that he didn't play in any of Tottenham's Europa League qualification games meaning he isn't cup tied for Stoke's European adventure. Certainly a popular signing, Stoke fans were excited from the moment it was a rumour to the moment it was announced in the late hours of August 31st 2011. He will have to wait until September 10th to make his debut (that is of course if Pulis picks him ahead of Rory Delap) which is against Liverpool. Exciting times.
Like most fellow Stoke City supporters I am delighted with the signing of Wilson Palacios. The Potters have been crying out for a creative central midfielder since promotion to the Premier League and although Palacios is known as a holding midfielder he is certainly a step up from Dean Whitehead and Rory Delap. The kind of step up the club needed if it is to succeed in Europe and become a side regularly finishing in the top half of the league. Would of been happier if we'd signed a creative midfielder as well but still delighted with the signing. Excellent addition, good work!
Peter Crouch - Gives the team a little more height
Right at the end of what was a tense yet exciting transfer deadline day was the signing of England international Peter Crouch. Having signed for what is believed to be a record signing for Stoke, Crouch arrives with the advantage that like Palacios, he is not Europa League cup tied. So far in his career he has been capped 42 times for England, scoring 22 goals and appearing at two FIFA World Cups. He's certainly experienced and that is exactly what Stoke need this season with all those extra games to play. Only problems I can see is that one thing Stoke didn't need was extra height up front with Kenwyne Jones already and will Pulis play Crouch alongside him? Seems likely.
I have mixed feelings about the signing of Peter Crouch. On the one hand he is a very good player who has European and international experience but on the other hand he isn't the sort of player Stoke needed. The club needs a flair striker, another Tuncay but with the right mentality. Someone that offers the team something different. Crouch is another tall player to get on the end of the long throw, like we haven't got enough of that already. Having said that I'm really looking forward to seeing how Crouch fits in at the Britannia Stadium and we're sure to see many goals from him. Good signing I suppose.
I have mixed feelings about the signing of Peter Crouch. On the one hand he is a very good player who has European and international experience but on the other hand he isn't the sort of player Stoke needed. The club needs a flair striker, another Tuncay but with the right mentality. Someone that offers the team something different. Crouch is another tall player to get on the end of the long throw, like we haven't got enough of that already. Having said that I'm really looking forward to seeing how Crouch fits in at the Britannia Stadium and we're sure to see many goals from him. Good signing I suppose.
Cameron Jerome - Looks like Lemar
The last signing of the 2011 Summer transfer window was 25 year old Cameron Jerome. He's quick, works hard and is admired by Pulis but for a striker his scoring record is worrying having scored just 37 goals in 181 league appearances for Birmingham City. He's obviously the sort of player that fits in really well at clubs like Stoke and we all know how much Tony Pulis likes a hard worker. Lets also not forget that Pulis is known for getting the best out of his players, he has done with Walters, Jones, Pennant etc. and I'm sure Jerome is the next victim of superb man management from Tony.
Not a signing I am fully convinced with quality wise but Stoke needed strikers with only Jones and Walters being out and out strikers in the squad before Crouch and Jerome signed. Excellent player for the bench, not sure if he's good enough to make the jump to the first team but with Jones, Walters and Crouch ahead of him with Fuller to return from injury he's going to have to work very hard to have a chance at regular first team football, competition is good. So despite earlier on in the transfer window me being anti-Jerome now I'm feeling much more pleased knowing we have decent cover if one of the other strikers gets injured.
Transfer Window Overview
Yet again Stoke left it's fans waiting until the last moments of the window to make the needed signings. Obviously earlier on we saw Woodgate and Upson sign but what Stoke needed for the coming season is a creative midfielder, spare winger, depth up front and possibly a full back. We didn't get a creative midfielder but I'm more than satisfied with Wilson Palacios, certainly a player we needed to get us to the 'next level'. Nor did we get a spare winger, Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips were both linked but neither joined and this is risky considering both Etherington and Pennant are injury prone and sometimes need their rest. It took us until the last seconds to get the depth up front, but with Crouch and Jerome we now have it and with Fuller and Sidibe yet to return overall we have six strikers. Less importantly we didn't get another full back. We weren't in desperate need but it would of been good to give us more depth.
Weren't as many outgoings as incomings with Abdoulaye Faye being the only notable exit. He left for West Ham after being released by Stoke. I'm happy with his departure, he was a fantastic player in the 2008-09 season and rightfully won the player of the year award for his solid defensive performance. However in the latter stages of his Stoke career he became accident prone and injuries became regular. In the end we have replaced Faye with Matthew Upson and Jonathan Woodgate, something you can't help but be pleased about.
Transfer Window Rating - 8/10
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