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Post by numpty40 on Jun 1, 2014 21:03:12 GMT
It's probably been done before but I haven't seen it.
A near impossible question but who was the best signing that the club have ever made?
We talk about the current players like Shawcross and Whelan and from a few years ago Matthews (second time) and Banks.
What about the likes of Stein, Hudson, Fuller, Taggart and Shtanuik?
It would be interesting to see everyone's top 10.
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Post by geoff321 on Jun 1, 2014 21:25:18 GMT
Without any doubt, Matthews, it changed the clubs fortunes overnight.
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Post by march4 on Jun 1, 2014 21:31:09 GMT
Has to be the return of Stan.
The return of Huddy had a spectacular effect.
In modern times, Taggart transformed our fortunes from strugglers to a stable Championship team.
And the signing of Hendrie on loan made us start believing the Prem was a possibility.
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Post by Boothen on Jun 1, 2014 21:32:31 GMT
One of the best loans would have to be Grobbelaar, loved his comedy antics in front of the old Boothen End.
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Post by ParaPsych on Jun 1, 2014 21:43:49 GMT
SuperDave Rowson. His signing helped kick start our move up the leagues. You'll see we've hardly taken a backward step since we signed the great man.
Undeniable truth.
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Post by march4 on Jun 1, 2014 21:45:55 GMT
One of the best loans would have to be Grobbelaar, loved his comedy antics in front of the old Boothen End. How many games did he play for us? I remember a blinding save at Vale Park. |
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Post by Boothen on Jun 1, 2014 21:48:38 GMT
I think it was only about four or five.
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Post by march4 on Jun 1, 2014 21:51:49 GMT
I think it was only about four or five. He played in the game vs Blackpool where we hammered them and Sinclair scored a wonder goal to beat us 1-0. |
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Post by OnionBag on Jun 1, 2014 21:54:12 GMT
You'd have to say Crosley, Taggart, Beatie or Etherington recently, without them I doubt we would be where we are today. However personally I'd say Stein, just because he was the player who captured my heart as a 15 year old and will forever be my favourite player
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Post by cobhamstokey on Jun 1, 2014 21:54:59 GMT
Steino was a great buy.
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Post by silverdollar on Jun 1, 2014 21:56:19 GMT
The signing of John Ritchie from Kettering cannot be underestimated! His goal scoring skills had a profound affect on the Stoke City team.
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Post by admiral on Jun 1, 2014 22:03:29 GMT
You say an impossible question and that's quite right.
For different reasons, the return of Stan, the arrival of Hudson, Steino for basically nothing, Nigel Gleghorn (what a left foot) and (tin hat on) the acquisition of Jonathan Walters, maybe even the recent arrival of Arnie. Who knows really?
My sincere hope is that the best signing is yet to come this summer!
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Post by southcarolinastokie on Jun 1, 2014 22:04:56 GMT
My personal favourite is Hoekstra. Until recently I never thought I would see a guy do some of the things he did in a Stoke shirt in the flesh
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Post by roylandstoke on Jun 1, 2014 22:12:05 GMT
Alan Hudson.
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Post by geoff321 on Jun 1, 2014 22:12:58 GMT
In my view it's not an impossible question to answer. The return of Stan was the trigger for the clubs most successful period, no other player has managed to achieve that.
The OP doesn't ask who was the best signing you've seen since supporting Stoke, or who was a good signing, he asks who was the best ever signing.
It's almost certain that many of the big name players who signed for Stoke in the 1960's were as a direct result of the Matthews signing.
I cannot think of another player who comes anywhere near to Stan in this respect.
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Post by scfcno1fan on Jun 1, 2014 22:14:35 GMT
Agree with March 4.
Hendrie for me was a massive signing.
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hoopty
Youth Player
Posts: 431
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Post by hoopty on Jun 1, 2014 22:17:38 GMT
In the modern era it has to be Steino and Sheron. We made serious money on them when money was tight.
In terms of players I've loved watching the legend that is Ricardo Fuller needs a nod for the buttons we paid and the double signing of Shtaniuk and Hoekstra takes a lot of beating.
Big Stan none of us had heard about but he has to be the only guy who makes Huth look effeminate, and Hoekstra has the most skill I've ever seen wearing a Stoke shirt.
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Post by roylandstoke on Jun 1, 2014 22:43:22 GMT
Alan Hudson.
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Post by ladsinredandwhite on Jun 1, 2014 22:45:20 GMT
Ricardo Fuller, legendary antics, monster on the pitch.
SCFC LEGEND
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Post by Gifton on Jun 1, 2014 23:03:07 GMT
I wasn't around at the time but older relatives rate Shilton as the worst! They say we should have stuck with Farmer and used the money on Osgood.
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Post by roylandstoke on Jun 1, 2014 23:47:39 GMT
I wasn't around at the time but older relatives rate Shilton as the worst! They say we should have stuck with Farmer and used the money on Osgood. Shilton wanted the CBs to play higher up the pitch which didn't really suit Smith and Bloor who were much better with the ball infront of them. They were both slow on the turn. Shilton was not poor for us, however he did not really strengthen our defence as much as his fee should have done. We would have ben strong at the back with John Farmer. £300,000 bought a hell of alot of striker in the 70's. If Waddo had shown faith in Farmer and had bought Osgood ( or similar) we may have finished higher than 4th. If Banks hadn't crashed his car we could may have won a couple of league titles. We had a decent back 4 and the best midfield in the country. One extra striker could have compensated for the broken legs etc. that cost us the league. |
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Post by ukcstokie on Jun 2, 2014 0:04:58 GMT
I think it was only about four or five. He played in the game vs Blackpool where we hammered them and Sinclair scored a wonder goal to beat us 1-0. I remember that game. Just after he scored Sinclair came over to just in front of the paddock (can't remember if I was in the Boothen or Butler Street). We looked each other straight in the eye and then I just offloaded on him. He looked scared I'd have to say and just retreated. We deserved a win that day. |
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Post by potterpaul on Jun 2, 2014 3:20:26 GMT
For Value and achievement you couldn't have a thread like this without a honourable mention for Glen Whelan. Fuller, Delap and Shawcross have all helped pave the way to where we are now. Past players should include Stan, Hudson, Banks, Hurst. weve had our fair share of decent signings and there will be plenty in the future.
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Post by basingstokie on Jun 2, 2014 5:17:31 GMT
Surprised no one has mentioned Dave Brammer
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Post by Linx on Jun 2, 2014 5:34:39 GMT
It has to be Stan's second coming. Apart from the fillip he gave to matters on the pitch, the huge increase in crowd sizes gave the club a financial platform on which to build a promotion-winning side that stayed in the top flight for 15 years. Hudson, Ritchie, Stein et al all played their parts at various times but no other player had such a wide-ranging impact as Stan in the early 60s.
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Jun 2, 2014 5:40:58 GMT
Matthews (second time around) is by far the most significant signing of my lifetime. Imagine a signing which almost quadruples your home gate for his debut. We were really in the doldrums before Matthews came back, interest in the club was low and we were languishing in the second division. At a stroke, the crowd of (I think) 37,000 gave the people of North Staffs a glimpse of a better life for the club and promotion followed soon afterwards.
In the modern era, I rate Fuller's signing (for £100k rising to £500k) as the most significant. I think that signing gave us a glimpse of what the future might hold. For the first time in years (probably since Stein) we had a player who looked as though he would be totally at ease in the top flight - and so it proved a few years later.
Honourable mention to the signing of Crossley - that loan signing saved our season in my opinion.
EDIT: Ooops - it seems like Linx and I had the same thought at approximately the same time!
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Post by tqstokie on Jun 2, 2014 8:24:06 GMT
For me Matthews in the 60s, followed by Hudson but we have signed some great players. Some when past their very best like, Jimmy and Sammy McIlroy, Geoff Hurst, Howard Kendall, Dave Watson, Jackie Mudie, Dennis Wilshaw, Geoff Salmons, Vince Overson. A lot of these had a huge influence on how we played.
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Post by okeydokeystokie2 on Jun 2, 2014 9:52:02 GMT
Definitely Sir Stan in the early 60's.
In addition to the effect on the team's performance and crowds, the impact on the club's profile was immense. He gave the club almost global recognition.
I wonder if the centenary match v Real Madrid would have happened without him? Also his testimonial v The Rest of the World brought some of the best players in the world to the Victoria Ground.
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Post by boothenesque on Jun 2, 2014 10:30:42 GMT
Hudson for me. He was the reason I became a Stoke fan.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 10:32:07 GMT
In my lifetime 3 sprung to mind, Alan Hudson, Mark Stein and Ryan Shawcross. Hudson was calm personified and ran the show with quality I had not seen before. Stein was a massive signing at the time, I posted before he was awful on loan and I was far from convinced but what a striker he turned out to be for Stoke. Finally Ryan what can I say he's a colossus at the back and for me he's well on the way to legendary status just massive for us and is priceless to Stoke.
I have to give a mention to Bego too, he is without doubt the best keeper Stoke have had in modern times.
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