Whose idea was the academy in the first place?? I stand to be corrected Smithers, but wasn't Pulis anti it? Has any graduate played more than a few games for OUR first team ? A tax write off job me thinks
I think the idea was club/board inspired, but the issue was Pulis wanted full control - training, style, type of players etc. You could see in the infancy the kick and rush style and the larger physical players starting to show through over what a standard academy would normally represent.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes will pay Serie A side Udinese £4.4m for Ghana midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, 24. (Daily Star)
Stoke have agreed a £12m deal with Inter for Xherdan Shaqiri. Ambitious move. Interesting to see if it's completed.
Just when N'zonzi looked happy at the Brit. Most underated midfielder in the PL in my unbiased opinion. PSG /Seville makes some sense, but Leicester
Whats this on Sky...£13.5 for Shaqari !!! Charlie Austin for less or a punt on Jordan Rhodes for £3 million
Now I remember...he tore Liverpool to shreds when they played his Swiss team in Europe. Sign him up. Liverpool first up.
Don't remember that... he left Basle after the 11-12 season... he was great against United that year though
The BBC has reported a quote from THE TIMES " Stoke have agreed £12m with Inter for Shaquiri , and have offered the player A 6 MONTHS DEAL." Can anyone explain the 6 months deal ?
Basle tore us to shreds without him! Very ambitious deal if true! Would've loved him at Liverpool before his awful time at Inter... would still be excited if we signed him. With Payet and Shaqiri we must be seeing the TV money really come into effect! Get this one done quick before Spurs' scouts check BBC sport! On the 6 month deal - Shaqiri has a lot of talent but was a bench player at Bayern and only scored 3 in 17 at Inter, not doing much... For the price he's a big risk for a club like Stoke where he'd be expected to be the star straight away and is likely paid 2/3 times your average.
Stoke are another side who impressed in 2014/15, securing their second successive top-10 finish under Mark Hughes and rounding off the campaign with a thumping 6-1 win at home to Liverpool. The Potters’ first big money addition of the summer arrived in the shape of a £5.75m deal for former Spain Under-21 international striker Joselu from Hannover 96. They have also completed the permanent signing of German defender Philipp Wollscheid after a loan spell last season and brought in Danish goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard from Midtylland. Will Stoke be the top Midlands club? In Jakob Haugaard – FC Midtyjlland, Undisclosed Phillipp Wollscheid – Bayer Leverkusen, Undisclosed Joselu – Hannover 96, £5.75m Out Robert Huth – Leicester City, Undisclosed Thomas Sorensen – Released Wilson Palacios – Released Andy Wilkinson – Released
Stoke City have moved for 39-year-old Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given - just when it seemed Middlesbrough were about to sign the former Newcastle player. (Evening Gazette)
One for the future I hear Banksy is back in training What happened to that young Danish (??) keeper we bought ?
Butland will obviously be our No1 keeper with Begovic likely to leave and Tommy being released. I'm assuming the young lad will be a development prospect and is not yet of standard to be a reserve keeper. I suppose Given would be a similar keeper to Tommy and has links with Hughes.
