I Love Stoke City

West Ham United have signed former Stoke city defender Faye. Senegal international Faye, 33, was informed by the Potters he would not be offered a new contract this summer.

He will arrive at Upton Park when his current deal expires at the end of this month.

Allardyce has signed Faye on two previous occasions, having taken him to Bolton and Newcastle.

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has said that the chances of them making it into FA Cup semi-final are boosted by the clash with Bolton Wanderers, according to the Free Football bets website.

Stoke beat West Ham in the quarter-finals last month and have the chance to finally reach the final of the FA Cup after coming short at the final hurdle on two previous occasions.

Pulis told reporters: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to get to the final of the FA Cup, the biggest cup competition in the world. They don’t come around very often so it’s a great chance for us as a football club to do that.”

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis revealed his delight at the support from the home crowd following his request prior to their 1-1 draw against West Brom.

Pulis had asked supporters to be “like they were in the first year and the second year” of the Potters’ current spell in the Premier League.

He told BBC Radio Stoke: “The crowd were fantastic but you’ve got to give them something to cheer about as well.

“They’re not going to watch a performance like that and accept that.”

He continued: “I understand that as much as anybody else. I’ve been here through the good times and the bad times so I know what to expect.

Sunderland had no denying reports that they have apparently have made a bid for Stoke city’s Ricardo Fuller. Stoke boss Tony Pulis said his club had received an offer from Steve Bruce’s side but a Sunderland spokeswoman told BBC Sport that was “nonsense”.

Sunderland did make an initial enquiry but that interest has been withdrawn.

Pulis said he had given permission for Fuller to speak to Sunderland but added: “It is not just Sunderland, other clubs are interested.”

Stoke city manager Tony Pulis has said that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are not a problem for his team. Striker Tuncay posted a video of his favourite goals on Facebook, which some media outlets believe was an effort to engineer a move away from the club.

“If they want to do it, that’s up to them,” Pulis told BBC Sport. “I can’t be leaning over telling them what they can and can’t do.

“It’s very, very difficult at times, but boys will be boys.”

Meanwhile, Stoke have been linked with moves for Corry Evans and Rodrigo Possebon in the January transfer window.

Tony Pulis has hailed the atmosphere that is currently there at Stoke city. Pulis saw his side move into eighth in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Blackburn on Boxing Day.

But the Potters boss says the club must not become complacent or move away from their roots.

“Our club is a community club and as long as it stays that way with everybody pulling and pushing together we’ll be ok,” he told BBC Radio Stoke.

Stoke have been linked with bids for Paul Konchesky and Diego Cavalieri in the January transfer window.

Tony Pulis says that his side could have won against Blackpool if they had taken their chances. Pulis admitted afterwards that he has never endured such wretched luck in a top-flight fixture, with there little more he could have asked of his players.

“Not in the Premier League. Since we got promoted I’ve never known us have so many chances,” he said.

“I think the first five corners today we won and they either cleared it or it hit Tom Huddlestone on the back of the head.

“We have had a goal disallowed, Aaron Lennon hit the woodwork three times and we have had people getting in the way of each other. It’s been one of those days.”

Stoke City keeper Asmir Begovic as rejected any transfer talks for now at least. Begovic, 23, became unsettled in August after the Potters rejected an offer from Chelsea for his services.

Asked about what might happen in January he told BBC Radio Stoke: “You’ll have to ask God, I’m very bad at predicting these things.

“I’m just going to enjoy the current games. I’m not even going to think about January now.”

Begovic missed the Carling Cup win over Shrewsbury in August shortly after Chelsea made their offer and reports at the time suggested he had refused to play for Stoke city. Since then he has displaced Thomas Sorensen as first-choice keeper.

Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross says that he is looking for improvement from himself and the team. Stoke City proved hard to break down last term but have so far failed to keep a clean sheet in their opening five Premier League matches and are languishing towards the bottom of the table.

Shawcross recognises that the back four need to do more as a unit, while he is also looking to improve personally. “I’m never happy – I want to be playing better every week,” said the 22-year-old.

“At the moment, it is just about getting consistent and hopefully we can get a few more clean sheets. “You could say we’re not performing very well because we haven’t got a clean sheet yet.”

Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has revealed that he is delighted with summer signings, and also admits that Eidur Gudjohnsen is a ‘fantastic player’. Pulis delved thoroughly into the market and managed to bring seven new faces to the Britannia Stadium, with four coming in on a busy deadline day, including former Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnson.

Despite securing two respectable Premier League finishes of 11th and 12th in their last two seasons, Pulis believes his side needed that extra quality to step up their game.

“If they work as hard as the rest of the players do, with that little bit of extra quality they have, you hope it will make us a better team,” said Pulis.

“Over the next 12 days Eidur will do a mini pre-season with Salif [Diao] and hopefully be ready for Aston Villa [on September 13].

“He is a fantastic player and will add that bit of extra quality we want.”

Pulis also signed Marc Wilson from Portsmouth and he believes he is also a good signing, despite Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson moving in the opposition direction as part of the deal.