Who controls the money at Stoke Coates Football Club ? I believe it is Denise. Who humours her father by occasionely allowing him a few quid to spend , her motive being to keep the fans onside. But serious money ? NO CHANCE. SCFC is just another money making opportunity for her. And the adage that you have to invest in order to accumulate is strictly for the punters. She looks at the bottom line and decides on the best way to maximise that - WITH THE MINIMUM RISK. At the moment she clearly sees the £'s gained through the sale of Bego. and Zonz. and the detriment of the squad , as a price worth paying. She is not fan as we are fans , she does not care if we lose matches , just so long as we are able to stay in the top flight. And she has clearly made MH aware that that is his main responsibility.
Chelsea are favourites to secure the services of goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, according to Sky sources. The 27-year-old is into the final 12 months of his contract and is understood to have talked with manager Mark Hughes and chief executive Tony Scholes over his future with the club not wanting to see their keeper leave. We understand that on Friday that Stoke rejected a bid from Aston Villa for Begovic. But on Sunday, Sky sources say that Chelsea now head the queue for the Bosnia-Herzegovina international, although there remains "lots of interest" from other clubs. The Stamford Bridge club will be keen to acquire back-up for Thibaut Courtois with Petr Cech on the verge of completing a move to Arsenal. Begovic signed for Stoke from Portsmouth in 2010 and quickly established himself as the club's first choice, but he was left out of a number of Premier League games at the end of last season - something boss Hughes admitted the keeper did not take kindly to. Jack Butland, the England U21s keeper, was preferred ahead of him and Sky sources understand that should Begovic leave, Butland will become their No 1. If Begovic stays, Butland will be allowed to leave the Britannia on loan. Born in the former Yugoslavia, Begovic moved to Canada with his family at 10 years old. He played youth football in Germany for FC Kirchhausen and became a Canada U20 international before his senior international debut with Bosnia. Begovic moved to Portsmouth in 2005 and had loan spells with Yeovil, Bournemouth and Ipswich. I cant believe he will leave us to sit on the bench!
Stoke are sizing up teenage Romanian prospects Ronaldo Deaconu and Marian Draghiceanu as they continue to try to bolster their older youth teams. (The Sentinel)
YUP...that's ambition for you. Re him being left out of the team, call me an old dinosaur....if you must, but I beleive that football teams have a moral obligation to their 'paying through the nose supporters' to field the best team that they can...OK if you have a squad the size of Chelsea/the Manchesters etc, with internationals on the bench. We don't have that luxury. Hughes out
6m is derisory IMO. They have just pocketed 11m from Arsenal for Petr Cech who, though an excellent keeper, is older than Bego. Why is it that the clubs with money expect to land players from 'smaller' clubs for a lot less than their value. 8m minimum for me and would hope for 10m.
The thing that gets me is why was he on the bench with Butland in goal,? Is he after more money? Is he getting too big for his boots? something must have been said or done.
I suppose it's down to the fact that with him being in the last 12 months of his contract, his value is diminishing. He could stay and walk for nothing in 12 months.
.....as opposed to the naked flying head-butt? Anyway, not sure on this one. I do like him and he's a lefty but the wrong age for me, we need to be buying in the mid-late 20's, not 30+ Stoke are the latest team to show interest in £7m West Ham winger Stewart Downing, 30, along with Newcastle, Leicester, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. (Sun - subscription required)
Club Release List (Who do you fancy?) Arsenal Abou Diaby, Jack Jebb, Oluwasemilogo Adesewo Ajayi, Austin Lipman, Ryo Miyaichi, Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, Josh Vickers Aston Villa Darren Bent, Graham Burke, Alfie Crooks, Christopher Herd, Craig Hill, Bradley Lewis, Isaac Nehemie, Daniel O'Brien, Enda Stevens, Thomas Strain, Ron Vlaar, Courtney Wildin Burnley Cameron Howieson, Steven Reid, Ross Wallace Chelsea Didier Drogba Crystal Palace Foluwashola Ameobi, Michael Chambers, Kyle De Silva, Stephen Dobbie, Owen Garvan, Brede Hangeland, Lewis Price, Peter Ramage, Ghassimu Sow, Jerome Thomas Everton Antolin Alcaraz, Sylvain Distin, George Green, Curtis Langton, John Lundstram, Ben McLaughlin Hull City Joseph Cracknell, Leon Dawson, Joseph Dudgeon, Maynor Figueroa, Stephen Harper, John Mahon, Jonathan Margetts, Eoghan McCawl, Paul McShane, Mark Oxley, Liam Rosenior, Yannick Sagbo, Sam Topliss Leicester Zoumana Bakayogo, Marcel Barrington, Adam Dawson, Paul Gallagher, Kieran Kennedy, Conrad Logan, Herve Pepe-Ngoma, Louis Rowley, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Matthew Upson Liverpool Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Brad Jones, Jordan Lussey, Marc Pelosi Manchester City Adam Drury, John Guidetti, Frank Lampard, Greg Leigh, Dominic Oduro, Micah Richards Manchester United Ben Amos, Tom Cleverley, Callum Evans, Ryan McConnell, Thomas Thorpe Newcastle Jak Alnwick, Adam Campbell, Jonas Gutierrez, Remie Streete, Ryan Taylor QPR Bruno Andrade, Joey Barton, Richard Dunne, Rio Ferdinand, Jordan Gibbons, Karl Henry, Aaron Lennox, Brian Murphy, Jamie Sendles-White, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Bobby Zamora Southampton Artur Boruc, Cody Cropper, Jos Hooiveld, Christopher Johns, Omar Rowe, Jake Sinclair Stoke City Oluwatomisin Adeloye, James Alabi, Samuel Coulson, Alexander Grant, Wilson Palacios, Robbie Parry, Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson, Thomas Sorensen, Adam Thomas, Charlie Ward, Elliot Wheeler, Andrew Wilkinson Sunderland Wes Brown, Peter Burke, Andrew Cartright, Joel Dixon, Thomas McNamee, Anthony Reveillere Swansea Thomas Atyeo, David Cornell, Ruaridhri Donnelly, Corey Francis, Giancarlo Gallifuoco, Joseph Jones, Kurtis March, Curtis Obeng, Gareth Owen, Scott Tancock, Alan Tate, Gerhard Tremmel Tottenham Jordan Archer, Cristian Ceballos, Brad Friedel, Bongani Khumalo, Aaron McEneff, Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Miles West Brom Wesley Atkinson, Chris Baird, Aaron Birch, Jason Davidson, Bradley Garmston, Alexander Jones, Gareth McAuley, Youssouf Mulumbu, Mani O'Sullivan West Ham Kieran Bywater, Carlton Cole, Anderson De Carvalho, Guy Demel, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Sean Maguire, Paul McCallum, Daniel Potts
Micah Richards...oh hang on! Who are that lot we are releasing? Never heard of 70% of them.graduates of our much vaunted academy
