Cheers mate. Fingers crossed but I really don't think we'll see any transfer activity at Stoke until August 31st!!
What the **** is wrong with all of you?!!!! Talk about crying before you're ****ing hurt!!! Upson is a good CB, not great, and maybe not what you were all wanting but come on! Give him a chance! He's a good player, and he's now a Stoke player. Who cares where he plays, CB or LB. If he does the job for us then who cares? If he does a bad job then fine BUT he's not hurt Stoke yet has he? He's not lost us a game! We all moaned about walters, look what happened. Alot of us moaned about Huth (another CB do we need him TP etc etc) and the same with Woodgate who we all praised when he played against Hadjuk! Give our new no 20 a chance. And for those who've said he's the reason West Ham went down how about people start thinking about the fact that there was a whole squad of players in that relegated team, not Upson on his own against the Premier League. And in fact, how many of those players have we wanted? Parker, Hitzlsperger, Cole? All players who were relegated and yet you give all the grief to that one player????? How about you give the credit where it's due and remember some of his good games? How about when they battered us 3-0 last March. We didn't score past them then did we? Last season was tough for them, and they got very very few results. But how can we blame that completely on Upson? Don't be ridiculous, and support the latest Potter!!!!
I said from the beginning that I believed Woodgate was a cracking deal as, when he was fit, he was one of the best centre halves in European football. Upson was a good player 3 years ago but now he is past it. I will get behind him, of course I will, but it doesn't mean I have to like this signing.
Sgt, yup re Woody, as you know that's also my opinion. Neo-Dave - do you HONESTLY think that this signing represents progress?? If so, can you please explain to this idiot.
I'll be happy enough with Upson as back up but only if we get the midfielders and strikers we need as well. I'd deffo be happy with Bentner and Palacios but would want another mid and striker aswell. I know.....I'm just a greedy B'stard.
Make that two idiots because, If Upson was ANY good. 1. Another Prem club would have snapped him up ages ago. 2. West Ham would not have sold him for nothing. 3. Cos I will give him the benefit until. 4. He goes belly up, re Ricky Fuller left him on his ass remember? 5. Just because he's ex England doesn't mean he's anything fantastic Dave. 6. He NEVER played for England. WHEN Ferdinand and Terry were BOTH fit. 7. IF he did, I have severe memory loss. 8. We don't NEED another C/half and WHY would T.P. play him at full back? 9. We DO NEED to improve the midfield. 10. I'm sick of waiting for a decent signing. Woodgate to his great credit did really well, let's bloody well hope that Upson does. Forever keeping the faith Dave, but if HE'S an improvement. TELL me this. WHY is Ryan not playing for England because he sure as hell gives me more confidence that when I've watched Upson. WAS good is exactlyWHY West Ham let him go. Feel better now, and first time he goes belly up, I will tell you I told you he would. Dave
Typical Pulis! Getting a player that you are other never going to use or play out of position! It's fukin embarrassing, his next 3 signings better be forward thinking footballers!
Neo-Dave, still waiting for what you think of this evolving deal or rather to quote Pulis: "A fantastic deal for this football club" By the way and I know I'm being a bit picky here, but why can't Pulis refer to Stoke City as Stoke City, rather than this (or the) football club - it seriously tees me off
He is a great signing - alright, I rarely question signings, I often trust too much in TP. But that's because he's always stuck to what he's said. 3 years, we'll push on. And I don't want him as first team - but to fill the shoes of the others when they are injured. This is the 4th year. I'm sick of the negative football, I'm sick of Delap being deployed on the wing when I think Soares is one of the better players we have anyway and I'm sick of signing CB's. I'm just as sick as you guys. This is progress. How do I know? Because 3 years ago if someone had mentioned Upson not one of you would have said he was ****, and you'd have been amazed at the signing. If it weren't for Huth being so good last season and Faye being so good in our first season all of us would question who should play next to Shawx this year. We've lost Faye, so we need a CB. We signed Woodgate - great signing BUT he's made of glass. So a BACK-UP CB of international quality would be fantastic. GUESS WHAT TP HAS SIGNED?! I'm fighting a losing battle here I know, and there are numerous times I have watched Upson play for England and said 'What the **** is Capello doing picking him?' But he's solid, proven and better than anything we have in reserve. AND we've signed him on a free. He's had several clubs to choose from and picked Stoke. In Huth we signed a player trying to get into the German International squad - in Upson we've signed a player who is already an international player. An international team which Fifa has ranked 4th in the world. Let's say he's 4th choice for england, who are 4th in the world. That means he is possibly the 16th best CB in the world. I'm not saying he is - but surely that is something to think about. Have I proved this is progress yet - or do you want more??? Now can we just get behind our new No 20?
Fair points Dave, I appreciate and respect your honest and well put argument, and yes, having an experienced guy like Upson as BACK UP is a step forward, but NOT actually evolving the team. Having said that mate, I will keep my head down and my powder dry until 31 August UNLESS Pulis signs another CB Dave
Yeah I'm with you neodave, although I think your maths is a bit out. I've never rated Upson even when he was an England regular but if he's free than I think that's pretty decent cover given we're going to be competing on four fronts this season. I think we need to all be more patient as Pulis has usually always come through in the end with really good signings. The signings he made in the first season (Faye, Beattie, Ethers...) kept us up and landing both Tuncay and Huth on deadline day as great as well. Pennant was a great signing for just over 2 mil and Jones is a massive improvement on Sidibe or Dave Kitson trying to be Sidibe. TP will come though in the end.
Crakin players! The only problem I see is that Huth and Upson are not full backs! We all saw what happened when Huth was at RB, he had the turning circle of the QE2 and was regularly skinned for pace! Not his fault, but when played out of position he looked ameauterish and we conceded goals! So the question is, are they back up, is TP going to play quality CB out f position?
