Back after a long absence, I’m back to talk things
Stoke City. Not the busiest of summers football-wise but there are a few
interesting bits and pieces for me to talk about. So without further a do,
my observations... Chrissy Greenacre A player known to many Stoke fans as
one we were ‘after’ for long periods of last season, was finally
snared by Rudgey and Cotterill before pre-season preparations began. Most
Stokies first saw Chris at Newcastle Town’s Lyme Valley Stadium where he
banged in a second half hat-trick to set off a mini-wave of ‘he’ll be
division one top scorer’ style optimism amongst the Potters Faithful. My
personal opinion is that although the prospects are good and it seems we
have a genuine goal-scorer on our hands for the first time since Peter
Thorne’s much talked-about move to Cardiff; we can’t get too carried
away as most of you will remember what happened withRikki when he sent the
Brit into a massive mental heading us to a victory in the Worthless Cup.
While I’m on that Thorney move to Cardiff, how silly must they feel. Not
only did we make 1.2 million quid and still beat them to promotion, we may
have signed an even better goal-scorer than Peter Thorne for absolutely
nothing. Sam Hamamm, you’re boys took one hell of a beating! I still get
goose-bumps now thinking about that winning goal, and I was only watching
on the big screen! Being a regular at first-team training (sad I know) I
can also comment on Greenacre’s performance there. Whilst fully taking
part until his recent sprained ankle vs West Brom (which I failed to
attend along with the Brit open day due to a badly organised holiday)
Chris has not really stood out as a deadly striker in the majority of
sessions. That said, I have only witnessed one practice match which was a
bit of an uneventful affair, that failed to tell the watching few a great
deal about how players are shaping up. From what I gather, he wasn’t on
the pitch long enough against West Brom for anyone to judge him properly,
so we’ll just have to hope his brief but impressive debut at Newcastle
Town was a sign of what we are to expect from him this season.
Carlton/Granada/Football League Executives-Consequences This little lot
have been busy over the past few weeks sorting out what was going to
happen with the money seemingly ‘owed’ to the majority of Nationwide
League clubs. As it turned out the football league executives didn’t
appear to read the small print of the contract properly which didn’t
state that the money was guaranteed to the 72 teams involved. The words
‘oh’ and ‘bugger’ spring to mind as we will now be paid no more
from the company once known as ITV Digital. Instead, a contract with Sky
Television has been signed which means we will actually receive
approximately a third of the projected ITV amount. However, I believe that
our board have actually managed this very well, using the majority of the
television money to re-pay the club’s £6 million debt. Clubs like
Waterford and Bradford have spent big-time on both new players and also
wages several times more than our own. This all means that clubs such as
Bradford and Waterford have had to release their ‘luxury’ players and
staff in a bid to continue their existence. Bradford were infect very
close to going out of business and finally managed to agree a rescue deal
at the end of July that would ensure their participation in Division One
for at least another season. Much criticised chairman of Crystal Palace
Simon Jordan said that it may have been better for football if Bradford
did cease to exist as it would make all the other clubs realise how
serious the financial situation facing football is. Although many will
agree with Mr. Jordan in principle, it is good to see a full complement of
teams in Division One as we return to this higher standard of football.
Let’s hope our board’s lack of spending will turn out to be blessing
in disguise, and we continue to succeed while others struggle to keep up
with considerable financial demands. Fixture List Moan I can’t find a
great deal to disagree with in the fixture list apart from one glaring
exception. Brighton Away, on the 18th September, a Wednesday. Now, for the
first time I was intending to follow Stoke to every match in season
2002/03. However, my vision has been somewhat shattered by this fixture.
Many will recall last years match at the superb (don’t make me laugh)
Within Stadium was also mid-week, resulting in those hardened enough
(about 400 if I remember rightly) arriving back in Stoke-on-Trent between
2 and 3a.m. Not meaning to sound extremely annoyed here but to me this is
a disgrace. Why not ensure that all mid-week matches are against teams 2
hours or less away? And to say it would be too complicated is load of
rubbish because we have multiple midlands and north-west area games
(Preston, Derby and Notts Forest for instance) in the early part of the
season that could have been played on this Wednesday. The trouble I will
now have (if I manage to go) is walking home from the Bit at 3a.m., not
getting back home until something like 4a.m., and being completely
knackered for college the next day as a result. Hopefully, I will manage
to sneak a lift from someone, but otherwise my idea of going to every
match will be out of the window. I had to have a moan about something and
that was it, sort it out fixture list computer! Things Shaping Up As the
excitement builds in anticipation of Stock’s first campaign in the 1st
Division, I will try and see how we may line-up for that first match
against Sheffield Wednesday and for the rest of the season. I believe it
will be something like: Cutler (Thomas)Wilson/Marteinsson Handyside(c)
Shtaniuk Clarke Gudjonsson Gunnarsson O’Connor Hoekstra/Neal Greenacre
Hoekstra/Iwelumo/Cooke/Goodfellow As you can see there a number of
positions that may not yet be decided upon by Steve Cotterill. The
goalkeeping slot seems to be sorted at least as Cotterill has chosen Cutz
to start all our friendlies to date. Jani Viander will be pushing hard for
a place though and Neil will have to start this season as he finished the
last the retain his place in the team. The back four would probably be in
order if it wasn’t for Thommo’s indiscipline last season resulting in
him being given a 3-match suspension, and therefore giving another player
the opportunity to impress the manager. It seems a youngster, Brian Wilson
may be in-line for a starting place having made a step-up to the main
squad with ease, showing he has a certain touch of clam and class about
him. The only other real option is Petur, who is much more experienced
than Wilson, and could well fill-in for Thommo in those opening three
matches. However, it seems when Thommo is back, he will slot straight into
the team as Cotterill has recently said he is the one player he would want
to be available. The rest of the back four virtually picks itself as the
success of last term means Der Kaiser, Stan and Clarkey should keep their
places. The right side of midfield should be filled by Bjarni who is the
only real option for this position. Hopefully, he will prove himself as
the good player many people think he is. Jimmy and Brynjar should hold
onto their central midfield places but Karl Henry will be pressing them,
showing what a talent he is in pre-season, impressing as a David Batty
type holding player in front of the back four, whilst also setting up
attacks with his excellent passing ability. The left side of midfield will
depend on Peter Hoekstra’s fitness or whether Cotterill thinks he is
best on the left or up front. If Hooky is used as a striker, Lewis Neal is
likely to get a place in the team. This may be a surprise to some people,
who may see Lewie as more of an up and coming squad player. He too, has
impressed in pre-season games/training and it will be no surprise to me if
he is in the team. The striker’s places are very much to be decided with
only a few days left until the start of the new season. Chris Greenacre
seems to be our main goal-scoring hope and most will expect him to be
starting on August 10th if he has fully recovered from his sprained ankle.
The other strikers place may be a toss-up between several players. Big
Chris/Cookey/Freezer/Hooky and possibly Oulare or Albrightsen (if they get
fit) are all hoping to start up front. My money is on Souley if he gets
fit, but it seems this place is very much up for grabs. That’s all for
now, I’ll be back at the beginning of September to assess our
performances and probably moan about Brighton Away again! Cheers, Pricey.
