I Love Stoke City

The Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has said that he is extremely delighted that the defender Ryan Shawcross has signed a new deal with the club.

The former Manchester United man recently extended his stay at the club by five more years after signing a new deal that will make him the best paid player at the club. Peter Crouch is currently the highest paid player due to his wages of £ 45,000 per week, which will now be matched by the contract of Ryan Shawcross. Shawcross has been one of the main reasons for the incredible defensive record Stoke have this season.

The defender arrived for just £ 1 million from Manchester United a few seasons ago, but he has made tremendous progress during his time at the Britannia stadium. The 25-year-old recently made his debut for the England national team, which has led to speculation that top clubs like United and Chelsea will be interested in him. Pulis has said that it is a great way to start the new year by agreeing a new deal with the captain of the club. Shawcross has formed a formidable partnership with Robert Huth at the back this season. The club has one of the best defensive records in the Premier league this season.

“It’s a great way to start the new year, signing the captain of this club who has been a fantastic acquisition. He’s grown with this club every step of the way and also gone on to play for England. It has been difficult and taken a while because the club wanted him to sign a long-term contract, so it has to be right,” said Pulis. “The manager is probably the main reason I’m where I am. I’ve been here for five years and he’s been great,” said the defender.

The Fulham manager Martin Jol decided to criticise the Stoke City team after the recent 1-0 defeat by saying that the Potters were extremely dirty in the match. Stoke City have a reputation for playing physical football that has also helped them stay in the Premier league after four years following the promotion from the Championship.

Their brand of football has not won the lot of plaudits and it was the case once again after the match against Fulham. Fulham were defeated 1-0 in this away match for the Londoners. Despite being coming into the match on the back of a good run of form, Fulham were unable to cope with the physical presence of Stoke City.

After the match, Martin Jol said that the opposition were extremely physical and dirty. His counterpart Tony Pulis, though, has said that his team has not dirty and they were just working hard to ensure that they did not lose the match. After struggling during the early part of the season to get the results, Stoke City have picked up a few wins in recent matches that have enabled them to climb up to the top of the table. The former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam scored the winner in the match.

“I’m really disappointed we haven’t won the game by more goals. I think even looking at the first half and the chances; Robert Huth has missed a header from a corner Charlie Adam has had one he should score and Ryan Shawcross hits the bar when he is basically under the goal. I don’t think they were bullied out of it, I think if you have a look at [Dimitar] Berbatov and a few of the others they are competitive enough, they can look after themselves,” said Pulis after the match, which gave them the second victory in three matches.

The defender of Stoke City, Andy Wilkinson, has said that Manchester United shouldn’t make the mistake of taking his time lightly in the upcoming match. Stoke City will take on the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Stoke City team wasn’t able to perform well in the last season and had finished at no. 14 in the points table. But, the team has performed decently in the current season so far. The Potters have lost only one match out of the seven matches that they have played in the ongoing Premier League. They have won one match and the rest five matches have finished without any result. The Stoke team currently has eight points and it is placed at no. 12 in the points table.

Talking to the reporters ahead of the Saturday’s clash, Wilkinson said, “Manchester United is undoubtedly a very strong team and they will be playing on their home ground. So, it will certainly not be an easy task to gather all the three points in that match. But, if we keep playing with the same kind of form that we have shown in the tournament so far, there is no reason why we can’t pull off an upset at Old Trafford.”

Wilkinson has not played for Stoke City in the last three matches. He had elbowed Marion Balotelli in the match against Manchester City and that’s why, he was banned for three matches. The defender will make a comeback against Manchester United. When asked about that, Wilkinson said, “It’s great that the ban period is over now and I will feature for my team in Saturday’s match. It’s a big game for us and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully, we would do well at Old Trafford.”

The Stoke city manager Tony Pulis has said that he is the extremely disappointed not to have helped Stoke city win their first match against Liverpool at Anfield for 49 years.

The record held by Liverpool of being unbeaten against Stoke city in the league for more than 49 years is the longest standing unbeaten record in all of English football. Stoke city have come extremely close to ending this record in the last few years. This time around, Tony Pulis was looking to bring an end to this record once and for all. However, Stoke city were able to manage only a 0-0 draw with Liverpool during the weekend.

It has been a slow start for Stoke city this campaign after they have been able to get just one victory in the seven matches they have played. Many teams would be extremely happy to come away from Anfield with a point, but Tony Pulis has made no secret of the fact that he wants to bring that record to an end. Despite not getting the three points, Tony Pulis has revealed that he was satisfied with the performance of his team. Stoke will now be facing Manchester United away from home after the international break.

“We’re pleased. We’ve had three draws [at Anfield] in the five years that we’ve been in the Premier League so we haven’t done too bad. That’s our third clean sheet I think but we just can’t get that win we’d love. The first 20-25 minutes I thought we had the best chances and the best of the game and then they came into it and second half we had to defend resolutely but still looked dangerous on the break,” said Tony Pulis to Sky Sports. Stoke city are currently 12th in the Premier league table.

The Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has said that he is ready to return to the United States next season for the pre-season training after he said that there has been a significant difference in the mentality of the squad after the conclusion of the pre-season.

Stoke City usually had a pre-season camp in England, but this season has been different. Stoke city were coming on the back of their debut European campaign after having made successful strides in the Europa league last season. Even though they will not be playing in Europe this season, Tony Pulis has said that he will be looking at bringing his players back to the United States. The real Stoke City fixtures start on August 18th.

Stoke city recently completed the US pre-season tour after the 1-1 draw with Kansas. Even though the temperatures are extremely high, Tony Pulis has said that there was a remarkable change in the mentality of the players after such a different pre-season camp. He has said that he will be looking at all the opportunities to return to the United States next season. Despite the heat, he has also said that the players have become extremely fit and ready for the new season. The club will be playing against Reading on the opening day of the new season.

“It’s been a terrific trip for us, and the people we have worked with in Columbus, Orlando and Kansas have been absolutely magnificent. They have really embraced the football club and the players. The whole experience has been first-class for us. The travelling has been difficult and the weather extreme, but it has been a good test for the players. And I think you have seen out on the pitch that we have got stronger as the week has gone by,” said Tony Pulis after the conclusion of the pre-season camp.

Stoke city player Danny Higginbotham has said that he is not sure whether he will be at the Britannia stadium at the start of the new season. The 33-year-old has not been in the long-term plans of manager Tony Pulis in the last few months.

This has seen him spend the last five months on loan at Nottingham Forest. It is not yet whether Tony Pulis will want to retain him prior to the start of the season. As a result, Danny Higginbotham has said that he is not sure whether he will be playing for Stoke city come the start of the new season.

Given the fact that there is no decision made on his future right now, Danny Higginbotham has said that the best things you can do at the moment is to work hard in order to get fit for the start of the new season. This would at least provide him with an alternative if he decides to leave the club. The 33-year-old will find no shortage of offers if he decides to leave due to the fact that he has extensive experience of playing in the football league. The knee ligament injury suffered recently has made the task of returning to full fitness extremely important for the 33-year-old.

“I don’t know [about the future], it’s completely up to the manager. He’s made some very good decisions over the years. Whatever his plans are for myself I’ll accept it. I’m glad to be back. I had a stop-start season last year, which didn’t really get started until January last year. It’s been a very frustrating last year and a half for me since I had my injury. The most important thing for me is to have a good pre-season and get myself as fit as possible,” said Higginbotham.

This was a game where Sweden supposedly stood no chance of winning (and thus qualifying) and only a bizarre set of results on the night would be enough to deny France progression to the quarter finals. Little did we know.

France’s best moves early on came from Ribery on the left who was giving right back Andreas Granqvist a torrid night but few clear cut opportunities were to come France’s way as the Swedes held strong.

Instead, Sweden had the best chances through Ola Toivonen who had clipped a post on 12 minutes before then putting a decent headed chance over the bar. Some lazy runs into an offside position squandered some decent positional play as the half wore on.

Scoreless at half-time the game didn’t look like it would burst into life, but suddenly Sweden conjured a goal from nothing on 54 minutes thanks to a vintage piece of Zlatan Ibrahimovic magic. As the ball swung in from the left, the AC Milan striker swivelled and hammered an unstoppable volley past Lloris, potentially the goal of Euro 2012 so far.

Sweden’s captain had been a little subdued up this point but his strike saw his side take a well deserved lead. For a time, France were a little flat and were restricted to long range efforts. When they did advance into the penalty area, the Sweden backline held firm.

However, Arsenal target Olivier Giroud was introduced on 83 minutes and should have scored with his first touch as a corner from the left found him unmarked. But he connected poorly and it sailed wide.

France still looked the more likely to add to the goal tally but as injury time approached, Sweden countered and with the defence stretched, Seb Larsson settled the game with a fine volley.

The 2-0 defeat sees France sheepishly progress in second place in Group D where they now meet Spain in the quarter finals.

An poor French performance here means they are 4.25 to win that game in 90 minutes while Spain are favourites at 1.80. Laurent Blanc’s side were third favourites at one point to win the trophy but have now slipped to sixth in the betting and can be found at odds of 11.00 to repeat their success of 2000.

Stoke city manager Tony Pulis has revealed that he would immediately jump at the opportunity to sign former Manchester United striker Michael Owen, who is now available on a free transfer.

Michael Owen was released by Manchester United after just three seasons at Old Trafford. However, many consider that the former England striker still has the ability to play at the top level.

His record at Manchester United in the three seasons is a testament to this fact after he has an impeccable scoring record even when coming from the bench. Sir Alex Ferguson decided not to offer the former Liverpool striker a new contract due to the concerns over his age and injuries.

Michael Owen has not played for Manchester United since the turn of the year. Yet, Tony Pulis sees Michael Owen is the perfect foil for the club next season. The 32-year-old former England international will be available on a free transfer, but his wages could prove to be a potential problem.

Michael Owen has already revealed that he is not willing to drop down the divisions cannot get regular first-team football because he believes he can cut it at the top level still. He is yet to sign a new contract with another club.

“We tried to find out what he was doing a couple of years ago but nothing came of it – and it was a couple of years ago. Everyone knows Michael’s pedigree and the fact he has performed with such distinction at the highest level for club and country. We are monitoring him, but along with about 400 other players to be honest, so it’s a case of waiting to see what happens,” Pulis told The Sentinel. Stoke finished the season in the 14th position and will be looking to improve on the same.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that fans should be a lot more respectable for the opposition managers and players following the criticism he and his players received after the Stoke city match.

Arsenal took on Stoke city during the weekend looking to cement their third position in the table.

Only three matches remained in the season for Arsenal and the competitors like Newcastle were fast closing upon them. Hence, Arsene Wenger wanted the maximum points from the match against Stoke city, but they could only draw the match 1-1. During the match, Arsene Wenger and Arsenal player Aaron Ramsey were subjected to a lot of criticism from the fans.

Wenger said after the match that he feels that the criticism was unwarranted and that fans should behave a lot better. Aaron Ramsey was booed by the Stoke city fans due to his involvement in the Ryan Shawcross incident a few years ago.

Wenger said that Ramsey had nothing to deserve the criticism from the fans. Stoke city manager Tony Pulis, however, said that he had nothing to complain about the Ramsey situation, but called for better respect for the managers. He said that he himself had been in such a situation numerous times before.

“I think one day football will have to tackle that. It’s easy to sit in the stand and insult people. It’s the easiest sport in the world. I’m not responsible for the way people behave in the stands. If you want to stop that, it’s easy to stop. You can isolate every single face. I don’t think you can be especially proud to boo Aaron Ramsey, I don’t see what he has done wrong,” said Wenger after the match. Robin van Persie equalised for Arsenal after Peter Crouch had earlier given the lead for Stoke City.

Stoke City defender Danny Higginbotham has said that he is uncertain about the future with the Premier league club after returning at the end of his loan spell with Nottingham Forest.

Danny Higginbotham was one of the first-team regulars at Stoke City only a few seasons ago, but he has fallen down out of favour in recent seasons.

As a result, Stoke City decided to loan him out until the end of the season in order to provide him with regular football. The defender joined the Championship team Nottingham Forest in the January transfer window and made six appearances for the club.

Now, the Championship season has almost reached its finale, which has led to the loan spell of Danny Higginbotham expiring. After returning to the club, the defender said that he is extremely unsure about his future with the club given that he has only one year left on his current contract.

The 33-year-old has missed a lot of action for Stoke City in the last few seasons mainly due to injury. He was even not involved in the squad that took on Manchester City in the FA Cup final last season. He would be 34 by the time his contract comes to an end, which has prompted questions regarding his future.

“I’ve got a year left here and you just don’t know what will happen. You want to be playing, but ultimately that’s something that will be decided for me. I’d love to stay but if you’re not playing it can be frustrating.”

Not playing has also cost Danny any hopes he had of a place in the European Championshps, with the latest euro 2012 odds giving him almost no chance of making it into the final squad.

“Your career is soon over and you want to play in as many games as you can while you can. In the short term I’ll train with the rest of the lads this season to keep my fitness up,” Higginbotham told The Sentinel.