Coates - Kitson going nowhere...

[northstokie]

Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has said striker Dave Kitson will not be leaving the Potters in January.

Kitson has failed to score since joining City for a club record £5.5m from Reading in July and is rumoured to be unsettled at the Britannia Stadium.

But Coates told BBC Radio Stoke: "We don't want to offload him, we think he's a very good player.

"Like all strikers, he needs a goal. Pressures can build but I'm sure he'll get there eventually."

Coates also confirmed the Potters will spend in the January transfer window in a bid to preserve their Premier League status.

"The start we've had means survival is in our hands," said Coates. It's a big appointment because it's a difficult job and suitable candidates are hard to find

Peter Coates on Stoke's search for a new academy director

"We will be trying to strengthen in the January window and hopefully, with a bit of luck, we'll stay up."

Meanwhile, Coates also said the search is ongoing for a replacement for George Foster, who left his job as Stoke's academy director to take up a role with Glenn Hoddle's soccer school.

"It's a big appointment because it's a difficult job and suitable candidates are hard to find," said Coates.

"We have one or two people in mind who we think are good candidates."

[lordeffinghamhunt]

I could have told him that. The idle c**t