Hope you enjoy in Stoke mate and I'm 100% sure that you will succeed. Can't wait for update

2015-03-01 18:25#209441 TaroMisaki : Great choice! And Jordan Ibe hopefully works wonders for you...

I hope Ibe does well for me for the rest of the season as his development has been really hindered in this save.

2015-03-01 19:36#209446 mcryanek : Stoke is a more interesting choice than the rest i think. Can't wait for some games

I am very happy with my choice of a club and I am really confident that we can do well.

2015-03-01 20:30#209453 yuttra52 : Good luck with Stoke!

Thank you.

2015-03-01 22:15#209463 Justice : Good luck at Stoke!

Thank you.

2015-03-01 22:32#209469 MisterLister : Hope you enjoy in Stoke mate and I'm 100% sure that you will succeed. Can't wait for update

An update is on its way don't you worry!

I have to tell you that when I joined the club, the board of directors suggested that I would have a difficult time ahead of me and just wanted me to make sure that we fought as hard as we could to avoid relegation. They will not have expected me to come into the club and have the impact that I have!

To have managed to pick up twelve points from my first five games in charge of a club that are short on confidence and have not been able to gel this season, in my opinion, is a damn good start! I was extremely nervous heading into my first game against a below part Southampton who seemed to be having as bad a season as Stoke had had so far. However, Julien Ngoy should be what he was capable of and grabbed a second half goal to get the club their first three points under my tenure. The outstanding result of the month does have to be the comprehensible demolition of Hull City at their stadium which is known as The Circle. Ngoy got himself another goal but the standout player was Mame Diouf who bagged himself a brace and the pair of them showed why they should be leading the attack for the club for the rest of the season. They linked together well and the Hull City defence just didn’t cope with their interlinking play and their runs at the defence. If we are going to retain our Premier League status this season, it is going to be vital that those two continue to form a good understanding and support each other on and off the pitch.

I guess the result against Nottingham Forest wasn’t a bad one either and brought us our second clean sheet of the month. The best aspect of our play in this match had to be our defensive play with Sergio Romero proving why he is deserving of the player of the month award. We were so solid in defence that I was not worried that my midfield spent the majority of the match in the opposition half. This approach benefited Darwin Machis who had been given a start and has given me food for thought when choosing my two strikers before future games. His brace showed that it as an easy a decision as I thought when choosing my starting strikers. It is a good headache choice to have I guess...

Player of the Month – Sergio Romero

Wow! What a start to your Stoke era!
Already bringing them into the midfield places is a hugh succes and you should maybe aim for a top half finish

2015-03-08 08:45#210052 TaroMisaki : Wow! What a start to your Stoke era!
Already bringing them into the midfield places is a hugh succes and you should maybe aim for a top half finish

I agree that it is a brilliant start. I couldn't have asked for a better string of performances. If we continue to play this way then a top half finish definitely isn't out of the question.

Wow what a fantastic start. Nice choice of club in Stoke, the rebuilding process is firmly underway!

Also, what on earth are Walsall doing in the Prem?!? I'd expect all their fans are getting nose bleeds because this is well and truly new heights for them.

A strong showing this month!

2015-03-08 10:39#210062 Walter : Wow what a fantastic start. Nice choice of club in Stoke, the rebuilding process is firmly underway!

Also, what on earth are Walsall doing in the Prem?!? I'd expect all their fans are getting nose bleeds because this is well and truly new heights for them.

The start to my time at Stoke couldn't have gone any better! I can't see me getting much funding next season so the rebuild might be a long process. Walsall are so good and have become my nemesis team as I rarely beat them!

2015-03-08 14:11#210075 Justice : A strong showing this month!

Indeed. Long may it continue.

With us now getting closer and closer to retaining our league position, I have taken time to evaluate and reflect on my time at the club so far with one eye on the future. I am confident that we can continue to get the wins needed to still be playing in the Premier League, especially if we play like we did against Champions League contenders Arsenal; that result is definitely the best of the season so far for the club. It was a fantastic performance against a club that should not have been losing to us but instead should have been dominating the game in terms of the score board and not just possessions stats. Arsenal still have Welbeck, Wilshere, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chambers on the books and with quality throughout the rest of the club, it was definitely a great result for the fan of the underdog.

As I said at the beginning of this update, I have started to already think about next season and who I still want at the club and who will be shown the exit door. Sadly, Jordan Ibe has not featured much for the club since I became manager due to me choosing to play a 5-3-2 narrow formation which means I am not utilising any winger positions. With the preferred starting eleven playing so well in this formation, I can’t see me changing it anytime soon so Ibe will be remaining on the bench. I feel for the lad as he could have been a great player but I can’t see him still being at the club next season. Along with Ibe leaving the club, Marko Arnautovic has made it clear, in a respectful manner (unlike Dominic Poleon), that he would like to leave the club at the end of the season. This is fine as he is coming to the his career and we could potentially make a bit of money from a transfer; this money would be pumped bank into the transfer fund to help a needed rebuild.

Another winger, Junior Stanislas will also be shown the door as he is an ageing player who has contributed nothing to the club so far this season. If he isn’t going to perform when given the opportunity, then he doesn’t need to be at the club. I would like to replace Stanislas and Arnautovic with younger players from the youth team and help them progress; this is also a philosophy that I agreed to when I took the job. As well as looking to the youth team for replacements, I will also venture in the transfer market but I can’t see the chairman piling in the money for me to spend. With players leaving, there will be some funds available but they will be very limited. Instead, I might have to look for a bargain and also look at the loan market in order to strengthen the club.

Player of the Month – Darwin Machis

Great results, especially on away field. You could even compete for European qualifications, so good luck for that

great start with your time at Stoke mate! and lovely in-depth updates too; hopefully you can get some decent transfer kitty and take the side to new heights

Very good results this month, a late push for Europe perhaps?

2015-03-10 18:57#210293 MisterLister : Great results, especially on away field. You could even compete for European qualifications, so good luck for that

They were a damn set of good of results. European football might be a challenge too far but you never know in the world of football.

2015-03-10 18:58#210294 TodayAtTomorrow : great start with your time at Stoke mate! and lovely in-depth updates too; hopefully you can get some decent transfer kitty and take the side to new heights

Thank you. It has gone extremely well and long may it continue. I doubt I will get much in the transfer kitty but one can hope.

2015-03-10 19:50#210301 Justice : Very good results this month, a late push for Europe perhaps?

I think a European spot is one step too far this season and maybe should be an expectation for next season.

As the title of this update suggests, when I joined Stoke City a few games into the season, they were languishing in the relegation zone and had taken the dramatic decision to relieve Tony Pulis of his tenure at the club. Pulis had been one of the very few managers who were still at the club they started at at the beginning of the save. However, the board firmly believed that Pulis was not the man to guide them away from the relegation zone and be pushing at the higher heights of the Premier League, which the Stoke City fans do believe is where their club should be.

I had the opportunity to take the Reading who will be taking part in the play-offs now it is the end of the season but I am over the moon with my decision to decline their job offer but instead try my luck with Stoke City. Soon as I joined the club I altered the style of play that the fans had been accustom to seeing, changed the starting line up and dropped players who had expected to start every game and demanded a lot from the players in terms of effort in training and on the pitch when it was game time. All of these steps accumulated into a damn good end to the season which has seen us rewarded for our determination with a European spot next season. We will enter the Europa League in the third qualifying round before being entered into the play-off stage (if we are successful in getting over the first hurdle) before then hopefully going onto the difficult group stage. It is not a competition that will be a priority but instead the key to our success next season will be a good showing in the Premier League and showing that we can compete against the “bigger” clubs. The best thing about being a part of the Europa League, especially if we reach the group stage, is the money that will come into the club. I have done my part in controlling wages and will be looking to balance the books during the summer transfer window, but we are firmly in the red by close to £25 million. A good run in the Europa League (at least the group stage) and a good finish in the Premier League are vital if we are going to plug the huge leak in our finances.

I don’t intend on staying at Stoke for season after season but instead do see my future at a higher reputable club but I would like to leave them in a much better financial position and if I can do that by guiding them to success next season then I will try my best to achieve this. There will be a decent number of players, who are on inflated wages, being shown the door with us as a club hopefully being able to get some sort of money for them. The board have said they will back me with some funds, which is surprising due to the dire situation of the club finances. I don’t think that many areas of the club need to be rebuilt but instead consolidated with some of the current players being offered contract extensions while keeping the amount given to them being limited. With us also having a decent number of youngsters in the youth squads, I will be looking to them long before entering the transfer market. This will probably not go down well with the fans who will want to see new additions to the squad but I have to be disciplined and stubborn in my chosen approach. The rebuild will happen but not this coming transfer window.

Player of the Season – Lewis Baker

Some great wins in this update and very good finish in seventh place. Good luck next season.