Premiership players can tip the balance

[stokecityscott]

Tony Pulis must have felt like he'd swapped the local corner shop for Harrods after splashing out more than £3m in the transfer window.

It was a lot of money for any Championship side, but he shopped in the right places for quality young players who will fight for a place in the Premier League.

Ryan Shawcross, in particular, was an excellent signing who could definitely be Premier League quality, and a club able to tie up players of that calibre is heading in the right direction.

With the loan market open for business again today, Pulis will now look to add one or two players to give that vital boost for the promotion push.

I'd expect him to dip into the market for Premier League fringe players, where promoted sides Birmingham City and Sunderland showed last year that you can be successful.

Birmingham brought in Arsenal youngsters Fabrice Muamba and Nicklas Bendtner, while Sunderland used Roy Keane's Manchester United links to good effect.

The Premier League option is in Stoke's favour at this stage because, as a player, it's always going to help if the club that wants you is sitting in the top six of the Championship.

The player himself - and their managers - will look at clubs and consider whether it's somewhere they can increase their football education.

With Stoke in the top four, they'll know they're going to a competitive team where the stakes are high and there's something tangible to aim for.

Stoke were linked with Arsenal's Theo Walcott in the transfer window and he would undoubtedly have been a good loan capture.

But it would have been a big signing more for the reputation of the player than what he's achieved in recent times. Some players might have started to look at Stoke in a new light and been encouraged to join them.

Maybe it was a bit unrealistic, though, to think he'd leave Arsenal when he's close to first-team action - and his manager, Arsene Wenger, might want to oversee his development.

Another name linked with the Championship is Portsmouth striker Dave Nugent, and for me he'd probably be a better option than Walcott.

He's a proven goalscorer in that division and he's at a stage where he's trying to prove a point to Harry Redknapp, so he'd come in with the right attitude.

He's also a bit older than Walcott and would probably be a more mature player for the challenge that lies ahead.

One that I'd look out for is Chelsea striker Scott Sinclair, who's had loan spells at Plymouth and QPR.

It seems he's firmly out of the picture at Chelsea, and I'm sure he's not enjoying reserve-team run-outs when he could be in a promotion challenge in the Championship.

But if Pulis brings in the likes of Sinclair or Nugent, he could have some tough decisions to make as the squad grows in size and quality.

With another striker on board, someone like Mama Sidibe - who's contributed to the team, but hasn't scored all season - would come under pressure for his place.

At this critical stage, though, Pulis won't want to upset the balance too much, and knows the team needs variety to maintain their assault on promotion.

I played with Carl Leaburn at Wimbledon and he only scored a couple of goals, but he always came on and gave us something different or filled an important role.

You have to take each situation on its merits, but if you value what the player is doing, he's worth a place in the side.

With injuries and suspensions always a threat, it's important that everyone feels they can play a part and it's a careful balancing act to manage the different personalities.

But if Pulis can back up his transfer window activity in the loan market, it will certainly show the club means business as the promotion race hots up.

[garyhackett]

wishful thinking- if we signed drogba sidibe would still keep his place

[lordb]

where is this from?

[miltonstokie]

Robbie Earl

[5ManBack4]

If we can get a striker to partner ricci and who will score 10 to 15 goals in the remaining games including the play offs......WE WILL GO UP!!!!.

[stokecityscott]

i ver much doubt you would get a striker who would score 15 goals, 10 maybe as its only 3 months till close.

[Deleted]

I like the look of Sinclair from the few times I’ve seen him play. If we add 2 more quality additions to this squad, in the right areas, we will have quality and depth throughout the team which is where we’ve lacked in recent years.

If the new signings materialise, we could go from having the likes of Buxton, Perricard, Broomes, Pulis Jnr etc on the bench to having players like Gally, Wheelan, Sidibe, Zak and Cressie fighting for places along with the 2 new additions.

[tazi]

RobbieEarl column in the Sentinel.