I Love Stoke City

Stoke City sustained a 3-0 loss at Stamford Bridge in their latest Premier League match and as the match concluded Mark Hughes expressed his disappointment in how his players performed during their match against Chelsea.

“I was disappointed in what we produced. In recent weeks we’ve been a lot better than that. You have to come to places such as Stamford Bridge and make sure you put in a good performance as a team’’

“In the end we weren’t able to ask enough questions of a good Chelsea team who, on the day, didn’t really have to get out of second or third gear to take the game away from us. We needed to make a better fist of it than we did. That’s the disappointment from our point of view. We need to get back to where we have been in the last few weeks. We’ve still got things we need to achieve this year. We’ve got five games to go and we still have the opportunity to do that’’. Hughes said.

Stoke has matches against Newcastle United, Cardiff City, Tottenham, Fulham and West Bromwich left before the Premier League comes to a conclusion and they are aiming to finish the season by securing a top 10 finish.

A top 10 finish is a goal which is on every player’s mind of Stoke City however everybody in the club are waiting for news revolving the condition of Charlie Adam after he suffered a training ground collision and had to be rushed to the hospital.

The accident is not expected to be too serious but it still remains unclear whether the recent incident will force the Scottish midfielder on staying out of Stoke City’s upcoming matches of the Premier League.

Since Stoke City earned their promotion to the Premier League in 2008, the highest spot they have finished to secure was in the 2009-10 season when they got into the 11th spot.

Stoke City’s last few league matches have seen them claiming victories against West Ham United, Arsenal and Manchester United as they are trying to earn a higher spot in the Premier League and according to the Irish defender of the squad, Marc Wilson he says that the team is focused on accomplishing it.

Wilson said: “The manager, staff and all the guys have been saying we want to keep this run going until the end of the season. We have eight games left. All the lads are focused on picking up as many points as we can, and we want to finish in the top 10.”

The positive season that Stoke City is enjoying is proof that Mark Hughes appointment as the head coach of the team was a good decision by the staff members of the club.
Peter Odemwingie made his way from Cardiff City to Stoke City during the January transfer window and he is thankful that Mark Hughes has given him the chance to play on the main team for the last couple of matches.

‘’When a player lacks confidence it’s a huge difference. When I came, they gave me the chance to play 90 minutes. When you have the backing, the players believe in you, it makes a whole difference’’.

“You’re not playing, thinking, ‘they might sub me now’, and I feel relaxed. Things are going well for me. You’re still nervous sometimes because it’s a new club and I want to do a lot because they gave me that opportunity in January. But with time and goals, I will feel more at home and just play my football.” The 32 years old forward, Peter Odemwingie said.

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has stated that he is surprised by the good form Arsenal have shown this season. After long been considered as a team incapable of winning a major title, Arsenal have finally managed to put together a title challenge this campaign.

The last Premier league title that they won was back in 2004, but this Arsenal team is in contention with Chelsea and Manchester City for the title. Mark Hughes, who came close to winning the league title with Manchester City a few years ago, says that this good run of form has been unexpected from Arsenal.

His Stoke team take on Arsenal at the Britannia stadium this weekend. Many expected Arsenal’s title challenge to fall off even before the season reached Christmas. However, they have just one point separating them from table leaders Chelsea, although the trip to Britannia stadium will be a huge test for the gunners. They have failed to win in the last two visits there, while Arsenal have got just one win in the last seven trips to the Britannia.

Stoke have several reasons to perform well and get a win themselves. They are just three points above the relegation zone in the 15th place. Hughes will want to end the season comfortably without any relegation fears.

“It has been surprising I think. It would be fair to say I didn’t expect them to maintain it. They have always been an outstanding team and they have great ability within their ranks, but I just felt maybe they wouldn’t have the ability to sustain a challenge. I think there are possibly stronger challengers, stronger teams that could take it away from them. I think everybody anticipates that it is going to be really close this year and is likely to go to the last weekend,” said Hughes.

Mark Hughes of Stoke City has managed to sign Manchester City’s John Guidetti on a loan until the end of the season, or at least that is what reports are claiming to have happened. Guidetti has impressed many clubs and coaches with his performances outside of Manchester City.

The 21 years old player managed to score 20 goals in 23 appearances for the Eredivisie side Feyenoord. Guidetti suffered from a number of injuries and illness that have kept him unable to play on the pitch for a few weeks but he is now believed to be back on full fitness.

Peter Crouch and Kenwyne Jones are on the long term plans of Mark Hughes as he said that he has no intention of selling either of the players in this transfer window. Jones was being linked with a move to Cardiff City.

“We have good attacking players like Jon Walters and Marko Arnautovic. But for out-and-out strikers we only have two, Crouch and Kenwyne Jones. So for us to even contemplate them going out is not the way we are thinking at the moment. There is no way I will weaken the group by allowing players to go.” Hughes said.

Hughes does not want to weaken his squad by selling some of his players but he does have plans on making a move for the 34 years old Croatian Ivica Olic who will be out of contract in the summer giving the opportunity for Hughes to make a move for the veteran striker.

Olic has represented Croatia having made 89 caps and scoring 16 goals for his national team. Stoke are willing to wait until what decision Olic makes with Wolfsburg if he wants to extend his contract with the club or join the Premier League.

Stoke City’s expectations of signing United States forward Juan Agudelo seem to be totally over after Juan was refused a work permit. The twenty year old footballer had been anticipated to join during the transfer window in January, the time when his contract with Major League Soccer team New England Revolution ran out. In August, he signed up a pre-contract deal with the Potters.

On Wednesday, after attending a hearing in London with manager Mark Hughes, Stoke City chief executive Tony Scholes told that they were highly disappointed that the panel rejected their appeal. Regrettably, under the regulations of the appeal panel system, they were handed no account why the application was denied and so could only assume as to the reasons why they have not been successful.

He added that the standards by which the panel must make work permit covering decisions are quite well established and they have been in place for few years and in spite of recent discussion in the news, that measures were not altered.
Therefore they were left amazed that their application for work permit for Agudelo has been denied when one compares his ability and talent to footballers who have been allowed a work permit on appeal in the past.

Agudelo, born in Colombia, represented United States at both under-20 as well as under-17. In the year 2010, he made his debut for the national team against South Africa. In that match, he scored the only goal of the game.

Stoke city managed to progress into the next round of the Capital One cup after beating Tranmere Rovers in the third round of the competition.

Despite this tough away fixture, Stoke managed to come out with a 2-0 victory. This led to the praise from manager Mark Hughes, who was also especially happy with the performance from midfielder Stephen Ireland. The Republic of Ireland midfielder was brought to the club only recently on a loan deal from Aston Villa. Since he is out of contract at the end of the season, it is widely expected that Stoke will sign him on a permanent basis.

Coming on the back of two tough matches against Manchester city and Arsenal, Stoke were looking to regain their confidence with the victory. They could only manage a 0-0 draw with city, while suffering a 3-1 defeat against Arsenal during the weekend. Stoke have been trying to change the style of football under Hughes, who was appointed in the summer as the replacement for Tony Pulis. This paid off with brilliant results against Tranmere Rovers, as the club were excellent in all departments. This led to the manager even saying that Stoke can win this competition this season.

In the last few years, less favoured teams have won this competition because the big clubs do not care about it anymore.

“It is a good competition for me – it has been as a player and I’ve done okay as a manager, getting to a couple of semi-finals. It would be nice this year to go one step further if we can, and it is certainly within our capabilities. A lot of Premier League sides are playing each other in this round, so that will take a number of teams out of the equation,” said Hughes after the match.

Stoke City are one of the several teams currently having chosen the United States as the destination for their pre-season tour.

Under the management of Mark Hughes, the club will be looking to make the transition into attacking and attractive football in the coming season. Even though Stoke have not been hugely active in the transfer window, they have brought in some names as per the recommendation of Hughes. The manager has revealed that he has even more opportunity to sign quality players during the period he spends in the United States.

Hughes has recalled how the United States has become the new hotbed of young and attractive talent, who have flourished in the Premier league in the last few years. Players like Clint Dempsey and Brad Friedel have proved over the years that the United States has a lot of good footballers. Hughes may have said that he is extremely happy with the squad he has at his disposal, but he wants to keep an eye out on the attractive talent during his brief stay in the United States.

Erik Pieters and Marc Muniesa have been the major signings for Stoke City in this transfer window so far. The two players have been brought in from PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona respectively.

“You are always looking for players wherever you play, and if you’re facing players you haven’t faced before it would be silly not to take notes. I have worked with the likes of Clint Dempsey at Fulham who was great for me because he scored goals and played with a great work ethic. I would have no qualms working with American players. There’s a desire in them to be the best they can be. They work to progress and be the best they can be and I’ve seen that in my players in the past,” said Hughes.

Tony Pulis was recently sacked as the Stoke City manager after seven years in charge at the club, but he has said in a statement that he understands the reason for losing his job.

Pulis is one of the few British managers to have never been relegated in his career. He took charge of Stoke City when they were a Championship club. He has not only managed to get them into the Premier league, but he has also managed to secure their status in the top division as well. However, there have been several criticisms of the manager, who largely resorts to long ball football.

Stoke City fans have so far been extremely patient with their manager despite the long ball football. However, the team has been extremely poor over the last couple of seasons – despite spending a lot of money on the transfer window. This has led to a lot of agitations from the fans, who have demanded at least good football from the team. A very poor 2013 saw Stoke win only three matches in 19 fixtures, which left them in danger of relegation for most of the campaign.

Chairman Peter Coates has said that this was the right time to change.

“Peter, his family and I have enjoyed every inch of the journey. He has been truly a fantastic man to work with. Although I am disappointed, I do understand what he means when he says the board feels a need to take the club in a different direction. In leaving, I am very proud of what we have all achieved. My immediate staff lead by David Kemp, my backroom staff and all the training ground staff have been absolutely wonderful,” said the former manager in a statement. Stoke have developed their facilities to great extent since coming to the Premier league.

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If you have a more casual interest in sports, or are operating on a tighter budget, you may prefer to combine sports and betting by playing a sports themed slot machine games. Slots have always been the most popular of all casino games, because they are easy for novice gamblers to grasp, and cheap to play, while offering a good chance of a payout. Therefore playing one of the many sporting themed ones can prove a much simpler and more affordable way of mixing the two things, while also giving you a great chance of winning money.

The Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has been able to make the club into an established Premier league outfit in the last few years. They have been consistently increasing their spending in the transfer window in order to reflect on their five-year status in the Premier league.

Despite this, the manager Pulis has said that staying in the Premier league still remains a top priority for the club. The TV revenue for the Premier league clubs will be increasing significantly in the forthcoming season. The clubs can look forward to receiving around £ 70 million just from TV money alone next season.

This is an incredible amount of money and it is worth fighting for according to the manager Pulis. He has said that Stoke City need to achieve the 40 point psychological safety barrier as soon as possible. The club currently are on 30 points, with many predicting that they could finish in the European places this season. Stoke City have had an incredible defensive home record this season. Very few teams have been able to leave the Britannia stadium with all three points. Due to the fact that TV money will constitute around 70% of the club’s revenue, Pulis believes that the club should focus on Premier league survival first and foremost.

“We’re on 30 points and need to get to the safety target of 40 points as quickly as we can because it’s a massive season this year. TV money is going up something like 72 per cent. We are not in the same class as Arsenal so must work 10 times harder. I’m proud of where we are and what we’ve achieved,” said the Stoke City manager, who led the club into the Europa league last season. However, they failed to qualify for this competition this season.