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Post by Mr Chairman on Sept 2, 2017 0:02:24 GMT
8/10
STOKE IS BETTER ALL OVER THE PITCH. At least 8 of the 11 starters are better, and Hughes made as many changes as he could without going to far (like he has said about his time at QPR).
We now have top defense, and I believe we will prove to have a strong, if not potent attack - time will tell. We've shipped older players and made room for youth to thrive.
Keeper: Jack is back and healthy - though loved the fairytale story last year Back 3: Zouma (MVP so far), BMI locked down, Ryan now looking healthy, Wimmer excellent signing Midfield: Fletch (will be team MVP),Attack: Jesse, Choupo-Moting (far more exciting that anything we had) and Shaq has adapted to PL and will shine this year.
Only Allen, Diouf, Pieters aren't improved, but you can argue Pieters has already shown that last year's performances are behind him
We were very solid away at Everton (everyone's pick for top 6), fantastic against the Arse at home, and drew against a tough West Brom away. This team will be fighting for 7th/8th come year end; we will have some major scalps, and we will beat the teams below us consistently. This is a massive improvement from last year - quality all over the pitch.
I am not a betting man, but Stoke seem poised to materially exceed expectations based on this board. I'd put 20 down on top 8.
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Post by 3putts on Sept 2, 2017 0:08:58 GMT
8/10 STOKE IS BETTER ALL OVER THE PITCH. At least 8 of the 11 starters are better, and Hughes made as many changes as he could without going to far (like he has said about his time at QPR). We now have top defense, and I believe we will prove to have a strong, if not potent attack - time will tell. We've shipped older players and made room for youth to thrive. Keeper: Jack is back and healthy - though loved the fairytale story last year Back 3: Zouma (MVP so far), BMI locked down, Ryan now looking healthy, Wimmer excellent signing Midfield: Fletch (will be team MVP),Attack: Jesse, Choupo-Moting (far more exciting that anything we had) and Shaq has adapted to PL and will shine this year. Only Allen, Diouf, Pieters aren't improved, but you can argue Pieters has already shown that last year's performances are behind him We were very solid away at Everton (everyone's pick for top 6), fantastic against the Arse at home, and drew against a tough West Brom away. This team will be fighting for 7th/8th come year end; we will have some major scalps, and we will beat the teams below us consistently. This is a massive improvement from last year - quality all over the pitch. I am not a betting man, but Stoke seem poised to materially exceed expectations based on this board. I'd put 20 down on top 8. Mvp what Iis this shit?
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Post by kustokie on Sept 2, 2017 0:33:56 GMT
8/10 STOKE IS BETTER ALL OVER THE PITCH. At least 8 of the 11 starters are better, and Hughes made as many changes as he could without going to far (like he has said about his time at QPR). We now have top defense, and I believe we will prove to have a strong, if not potent attack - time will tell. We've shipped older players and made room for youth to thrive. Keeper: Jack is back and healthy - though loved the fairytale story last year Back 3: Zouma (MVP so far), BMI locked down, Ryan now looking healthy, Wimmer excellent signing Midfield: Fletch (will be team MVP),Attack: Jesse, Choupo-Moting (far more exciting that anything we had) and Shaq has adapted to PL and will shine this year. Only Allen, Diouf, Pieters aren't improved, but you can argue Pieters has already shown that last year's performances are behind him We were very solid away at Everton (everyone's pick for top 6), fantastic against the Arse at home, and drew against a tough West Brom away. This team will be fighting for 7th/8th come year end; we will have some major scalps, and we will beat the teams below us consistently. This is a massive improvement from last year - quality all over the pitch. I am not a betting man, but Stoke seem poised to materially exceed expectations based on this board. I'd put 20 down on top 8. Mvp what Iis this shit? Same shit Aas MOTM. Numbnuts.
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Post by Mr Chairman on Sept 2, 2017 0:57:41 GMT
Same shit Aas MOTM. Numbnuts. Such kind words. Much appreciated. All the best to you and yours.
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Post by juiceandbits on Sept 2, 2017 8:35:12 GMT
It's been a good window for me - so maybe a 7 - but as others have said the centre mid is a real worry. Getting overrun in midfield last season didn't help us along to the way to those 4-0s. Were two injuries away from an Adam and Cameron midfield ... Cameron wasn't the reason we were overrun, though. Not but Charlie didn't help at all because he basically can't run. Having in back in will mean we'll struggle.
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Post by pottersrule on Sept 2, 2017 9:08:33 GMT
*incomings* Wimmer Indi Fletcher Tymon Jese (loan) Eric Zouma (loan) *Outgoings* Bojan (loan) Imbula (loan) Muni (loan) Wolly Arni Walters Bards Telford (loan) Sweeney (loan) Whelan Joselu + got rid of a lot of the old guard. + big reduction in wages. + Fletcher already looks a terrific signing + some great CBs on the books + Zouma looks great could be utilised in CM + Good loans for Telford and Sweeney. + Taken the age of the squad down. + Chance for Sobhi, Edwards, Tymon, Verlinden and NGoy to shine. + Balanced the books. + Indi a snip + Squad has quality over quantity. - We will still have the same problems at the start of next season with the loss of Zouma and Jese and the return of Imbula and Bojan. - The window has a feeling of trying to do things on the cheap. - Our midfield has no depth. An injury and we're down to Adam and Cameron. - We don't have a goalscorer. - No proper wing backs. - A lot of gambles and risks that might / might not pay off in attack. So to summarise. I think it'll be binary football all the way. Some great defenders but no real goals in the side. Some good buys but lots of issues (WBs, CFs and CM) not addressed. It's a 6/10 from me. A bit unfair to say lots of issues not addressed. We know we were after more players but couldn't get them.
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Sept 2, 2017 11:55:13 GMT
*incomings* Wimmer Indi Fletcher Tymon Jese (loan) Eric Zouma (loan) *Outgoings* Bojan (loan) Imbula (loan) Muni (loan) Wolly Arni Walters Bards Telford (loan) Sweeney (loan) Whelan Joselu + got rid of a lot of the old guard. + big reduction in wages. + Fletcher already looks a terrific signing + some great CBs on the books + Zouma looks great could be utilised in CM + Good loans for Telford and Sweeney. + Taken the age of the squad down. + Chance for Sobhi, Edwards, Tymon, Verlinden and NGoy to shine. + Balanced the books. + Indi a snip + Squad has quality over quantity. - We will still have the same problems at the start of next season with the loss of Zouma and Jese and the return of Imbula and Bojan. - The window has a feeling of trying to do things on the cheap. - Our midfield has no depth. An injury and we're down to Adam and Cameron. - We don't have a goalscorer. - No proper wing backs. - A lot of gambles and risks that might / might not pay off in attack. So to summarise. I think it'll be binary football all the way. Some great defenders but no real goals in the side. Some good buys but lots of issues (WBs, CFs and CM) not addressed. It's a 6/10 from me. A bit unfair to say lots of issues not addressed. We know we were after more players but couldn't get them. We could get them we just chose not to pay the going rate , thats the risk we have taken if we finish comfortably then its arguable a good decision if we walk the tightrope its very very false economy , either way its a total lack of ambition or capability to do the deals or both . My view is we wont score enough goals and thats indicates 35 -40 points or worse see Middlesborough last year having tightened up the defence .
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Post by ukcstokie on Sept 2, 2017 20:34:24 GMT
Too many squad places were taken up with ageing pros this was blocking the way for our youngsters.I expect to see more kids occupying the bench this season and giving us a chance to see what they van do It a shame non of our kids that are coming through are positions we need more cover for, most seem to be in positions were we are quite strong or at least have a couple of people ahead of them, midfield for e.g. Edwards looks to have the best chance but so far it seems to be anyone but him at rb/rwb. 10 of the squad are 30 (or will be during the season) or over. That's not a young squad. Not even near.
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Post by boskampsflaps on Sept 2, 2017 20:37:18 GMT
It a shame non of our kids that are coming through are positions we need more cover for, most seem to be in positions were we are quite strong or at least have a couple of people ahead of them, midfield for e.g. Edwards looks to have the best chance but so far it seems to be anyone but him at rb/rwb. 10 of the squad are 30 (or will be during the season) or over. That's not a young squad. Not even near. I don't disagree, im on about the academy lot though, the ones that are anywhere near seem to be in positions we're already well stocked n.
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Sept 2, 2017 20:49:05 GMT
8/10 STOKE IS BETTER ALL OVER THE PITCH. At least 8 of the 11 starters are better, and Hughes made as many changes as he could without going to far (like he has said about his time at QPR). We now have top defense, and I believe we will prove to have a strong, if not potent attack - time will tell. We've shipped older players and made room for youth to thrive. Keeper: Jack is back and healthy - though loved the fairytale story last year Back 3: Zouma (MVP so far), BMI locked down, Ryan now looking healthy, Wimmer excellent signing Midfield: Fletch (will be team MVP),Attack: Jesse, Choupo-Moting (far more exciting that anything we had) and Shaq has adapted to PL and will shine this year. Only Allen, Diouf, Pieters aren't improved, but you can argue Pieters has already shown that last year's performances are behind him We were very solid away at Everton (everyone's pick for top 6), fantastic against the Arse at home, and drew against a tough West Brom away. This team will be fighting for 7th/8th come year end; we will have some major scalps, and we will beat the teams below us consistently. This is a massive improvement from last year - quality all over the pitch. I am not a betting man, but Stoke seem poised to materially exceed expectations based on this board. I'd put 20 down on top 8. I'll take your £20 for DLT
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Post by cobhamstokey on Sept 2, 2017 23:56:48 GMT
A bit unfair to say lots of issues not addressed. We know we were after more players but couldn't get them. We could get them we just chose not to pay the going rate , thats the risk we have taken if we finish comfortably then its arguable a good decision if we walk the tightrope its very very false economy , either way its a total lack of ambition or capability to do the deals or both . My view is we wont score enough goals and thats indicates 35 -40 points or worse see Middlesborough last year having tightened up the defence . This. If we wanted a DM, WB or CF we could get them I guess it's just how much we'd be prepared to pay over the odds. Ultimately there's always a risk but we're pinning our attacking hopes on Jesé and Eric who are untried in the PL. We've done some excellent business at the back but we've chosen to rely on a striker at wingback, no proven goalscorer and a midfield with no real cover. We did have 2 months to bring players in but didn't. I'm confident that we should be OK as we've got some very good players but with more investment we could really have pushed on.
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Sept 3, 2017 16:43:14 GMT
This. If we wanted a DM, WB or CF we could get them I guess it's just how much we'd be prepared to pay over the odds. Ultimately there's always a risk but we're pinning our attacking hopes on Jesé and Eric who are untried in the PL. We've done some excellent business at the back but we've chosen to rely on a striker at wingback, no proven goalscorer and a midfield with no real cover. We did have 2 months to bring players in but didn't. I'm confident that we should be OK as we've got some very good players but with more investment we could really have pushed on. I really don't think lack of investment is the issue - unless you seriously expect us to compete with the big boys. We could have paid £20-30 million for a sub £10 million player but would they have improved us? The proven 20 goal a season striker every team wants is now in the £50 million plus range and is only going to one of the top six because that's who they believe they should be playing for. We've taken punts on Jesse, Choupa and Berahino for nothing or (relatively speaking) not that much and they probably have as much chance of coming off as players in the 20-40 million bracket. Some of our rivals have played over the odds for some pretty average players. We could have played that game but to be honest I think we're playing a smarter game with half an eye on the future. We've freshened the squad up and playing a new system. I'm really looking forward to the season.
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Post by stokie1082 on Sept 3, 2017 18:15:09 GMT
8/10 for me.
So many mental signing for ridiculous amounts of money which I think has kind of got rid of the love of the sport. However, the funny fail signings from ARSenal and Chelsea was quite funny and there was loan deals with zoama and Jesé was great and also to see Arsi suffer with West Ham is great to see.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2017 18:42:43 GMT
Why on earth would Stephen Ireland be included in any form of Stoke City playing squad listing right now ?
truly baffling if true - above
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Post by mrcoke on Sept 5, 2017 22:20:21 GMT
A bit more info/rumour here; www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/09/05/report-spurs-misfit-vincent-janssen-refused-to-leave-when-stoke/which goes some way to indicate the difficulty the club has in attracting quality players to Stoke, particularly if they are sitting (literally) comfortable with a Prem top 6 club like Janssen or Delph. We cannot offer more money than they are already getting without ruining the club's wage structure, so these players are quite happy to take their chance with the likes of ManC and Spurs, even though they may be 4th choice.
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