Well there we have it, the English transfer window has slammed shut again until January 1st. The window from a Stoke City perspective has provided the usual last minute drama we become accustomed too, many names have come and gone between now and the re-opening on May the 9th, and 8 of those have signed and sealed deals at the potteries. We've suffered all the usual emotions that come with a Stoke City transfer window, mass panic setting in as the season drew closer and the signings were few and far between, and the eventual reality that yet again Tony Pulis would conduct his business in the same manner. Pulis and Stoke have yet again stuck to their philosophy of refusing to pay above the odds, the market is becoming ever inflated, average players quoting crazy wage packets, and greedy agents doing their best to inflate a price to increase their percentage. The teams who have done business early are generally the teams who possess the money to pay the going rate, or simply feel the financial risk is worth taking.
The potters set the wheels in motion on July 8th, when a young and upcoming prospect in the shape of Portsmouth's Belgian youth international Florent Cuvelier appeared from nowhere, arriving with a promising reputation. A two-year deal was tied down, and it was nice to see Stoke building for the future.
We then had to endure a draining 24 day wait for the next deal to fall into place, and it was ex-potter Carlo Nash who was to return to the potters to replace the departing Steve Simonsen as City's 3rd choice shot stopper. Nash was a signing met with much satisfaction from the potters support, a keeper with a proven CV who will always hold legend status for his contribution in the running to our famous promotion season in 2007/08.
10 more days had past and the season was now 3 days away, concern had now reached mass hysteria amongst a selection of the Potters support, FourFourTwo magazine had sentenced us to inevitable relegation, but a selection of support also remained upbeat and took into account Pulis's mentality in an average transfer window. Even the most ardent of optimist would've found their enthusiasm and belief pushed to the maximum if you had told them that 6 new faces would make their way to the Potters before 6pm on August 31st though, but low and behold, Pulis delivered the goods at the death.
Our next signing came on Wednesday the 11th of August leading upto the big kick-off at Molineux, a much admired long-term target of Pulis's finally arrived, a man whose progression since his previous stint with the potters is impossible to ignore, argueably a proven Premier League goalscorer, Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones. Stoke had persued many attempts previously to bring Jones back to the potteries, but to no joy, but following a bust-up with Bruce and the willingness for him to let Jones leave, the potters secured a bargain deal of 8 million pounds, paid as 2 million a year over 4 years. A target man with goals, surely the end of the long-time servant Mamady Sidibe?
The season had started in lacklustre fashion, a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Wolves, and an unfortunate injury to debutant Kenwyne Jones after 15 minutes. We headed towards our 2nd fixture of the season, a daunting visit to the britannia from newly crowed Champions League outfit Tottenham Hotspur, and a combination of bad luck and dreadful officiating would succomb us to another defeat, and another 2-1 scoreline. There was business before the Tottenham game though, another long-term Pulis target arrived, Ipswich's captain Jonathan Walters. Pulis had previously tried to prize Walters away from Ipswich in Stoke's first season in the Premier League, but too no avail. Eventually Pulis landed him man for a fee of 2.75 million with a potential 500K of additional add-ons. The Walters addition was met with much debate, a fairly hefty fee for a player unproven at Premier League level, a lack of ambition? or a shrewd piece of business? Walters set about answering that question as he was handed a debut against Tottenham. Walters's impressive performance resulted in him collecting the MOTM award, encouraging signings for a player already written off by many.
We would now find ourselves waiting till the final gut-wrenching hours of the window on the deadline day of August 31st before further business would be added to our current 4 additions. Salif Diao was to make a shock return to Stoke, a player whose contract expired in the Summer and seemed desting for new things had returned, in a player/coach/ambassador role. Many felt Diao had shown himself to be out of his depth in his Stoke appearances last-season, an ageing midfielder who struggled to keep fit and offered little to the team other than the ability to break play down. Diao will no doubt only feature as a bit-part player this season, but it's fair to say his return wasn't met with much enthusiasm, and he has critics to answer again who doubt he can produce the form of his younger years. We now found ourselves staring at a ticking clock that read around 5 hours and counting. Rob Dorset would frequently update the Sky Sports News viewers of the deals Stoke are hoping to do, which included the arrival of Portsmouth midfielder Marc Wilson at the Britannia Stadium at 9am, and a recently rumoured outrageous punt to lure current Monaco and ex-Barcelona Striker Eidur Gudjohnsen to the potteries on loan. As the hours ticked by the Gudjohnsen deal gathered pace, John Rudge was seen driving Gudjohnsen to Stoke City's Clayton Woods training ground with hours to spare, for talks with gaffer Tony Pulis. The deal between Monaco and Stoke looked set in stone, a rumoured 2 million fee for a 12 month loan deal. It would now appear that only personal terms could hamper this deal. Meanwhile a stumbling block was reported in the proposed deal for midfielder Marc Wilson, a planned exchange deal involving Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence had hit a snag as the pair were reluctant to head South. This deal went quiet for a good hour, and appeared to be hanging in the balance. As we approached 5:30pm, the latest noises from Rob Dorset and the Britannia Stadium were one's of renewed hope. It appeared that a previous worry of a last-minute bolt in the works in the deal between Monaco and Stoke had been ironed out, and Gudjohnsen had agreed personal terms to come to Stoke City. Reports also suggested that the Wilson deal was still very much on, he remained at the Britannia Stadium as Stoke appeared to be exploring every possible avenue to make the deal materialise. As 5:45pm struck, a previously linked name re-appeared, Sky sources reported that Tony Pulis was looking at a last minute loan attempt for Real Zaragoza winger Jermaine Pennant, a player with enermous talent to re-ignite, hopefully with the potters. 6pm arrived and the chimes of Big Ben confirmed the window had slammed shut until January 1st, of course this didn't immediately draw any conclusions, the deals rested on one thing now, did Stoke fax the paperwork off to the FA Headquarters in time? At roughly 6:15pm Rob Dorset told us the news we'd all been waiting for, unbridled joy, at a rumoured 5:59pm, the crucial fax had landed at the FA Headquarters from Stoke City, we knew for sure now that Jermaine Pennant and Eidur Gudjohnsen were Stoke City players. The final twist now rested on the outcome of the future of midfielder Marc Wilson, had we finalised the deal in time? What were the terms? Where did the future of Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence lie?
At roughly 7pm Rob Dorset and silver haired enthusiast Jim White confirmed the deal had been successful. Marc Wilson was a Stoke City player in a cash + Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson deal, Tony Pulis had landed his man. Eventually as we neared 8pm, the Stoke City official site caught up with the rest of the world with their confirmation of the deals that had already been confirmed elsewhere, but that final confirmation was welcomed all the same.
So a day of high drama reached it close, with 4 new faces joining the other 4 recruits as Stoke once again took things to the wire. Whilst a full-back or two would've been nice, you really have to take your hat off to Tony Pulis again who must've been running round Stoke-on-trent like Ken Dodd on ecstasy in the final knockings. Also we offer our best wishes to the departing Liam Lawrence, a true club legend and a loyal servant to the potters who played a pivital role in our promotion to the Premier League. But let's not forget the man whose coughed up the money to make this happen, Peter Coates, once again doing everything he can to see this club continue to build. The aim this season will primarily be to stay in the division, currently the aim is to secure a point on the board! But with names of these calibre making their way to the Britannia Stadium, it really does ponder the mind just how much can be achieved.
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