Andy Tillson - Pottering On

I stupidly forgot to screenshot the table for the end of February so after seeing it was a short month decided I'd group it together with the March update.

Stoke City can confirm that they have agreed a deal for Barcelona full-back Carles Planas for a tiny fee of £250k, he will join up with the squad on 9th June. This move comes as a shock to most Stoke fans as manager Tillson already has Marc Wilson at his disposal as well as only signing Jorge Casado from Real Madrid in January. The 21 year old has made just over 80 appearances for Barcelona B and has made a handful of appearances for the senior side. Planas has also appeared 34 times for Spanish youth sides.

Meanwhile Stoke have also confirmed that they will not be renewing Jermaine Pennant, Matthew Upson and Michael Owen's contracts which all end at the end of the season. Jermaine Pennant has made very few appearances this season with Jonathan Walters and Michael Kightly ahead of him in the pecking order for the right wing spot. Matthew Upson has been out on loan at Brighton all season and has not impressed Tillson enough with his performances for the Championship outfit. Michael Owen has featured 11 times this season but only 1 was a start, these appearances have come because of injuries to starting forwards through-out the course of the season.

Results

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Stoke had an unbeaten month. A remarkable run has seen Stoke propel up the table and they look to be in a fine position going into the final 3 games of the season. Stoke conceded just 2 goals in 4 games and showed their defensive ability once again.

Table

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Barclay's Premier League Manager of the Month Runner-up

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In the second month running Andy Tillson has been in the top 3 for manager of the month.

New deal

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Stoke City are overjoyed to announce that manager Andy Tillson has agreed a new deal with the club. His contract was due to expire at the end of the season and he's performed well above expectations.

Stoke City's Player of the Month - Ryan Shawcross

Ryan's had another fantastic month and continues to impress. He's been a rock at the back and has stepped up again this month after defensive partner Robert Huth was ruled out for the rest of the season.

San Lorenzo striker Denis Stracqualursi has agreed to a Premier League return in the summer, when his current deal with San Lorenzo ends. Stracqualursi doesn't have the best track record when sticking with clubs, having 5 clubs in 6 years. These club are include Gimnasia, Tigre and Everton.

Stracqualursi has undoubted talent when it comes to goal scoring, he had an unfortunate loan spell with Everton which resulted in him missing a permanent move to a European team. This season he has been on fire with San Lorenzo and potential suitors swarmed from all over the world. Stoke pipped some big clubs to this signing with Brazilian giants Corinthians and Santos missing out.

Stracqualursi is a striker who is strong, powerful and fantastic in the air. He is the ideal striker for Stoke. With their injury problems to to their forwards Stoke were in real need of some reinforcement and Stracqualursi fit the bill.

Results

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A great result against Aston Villa kept Stoke in the hunt for 6th but with Tottenham next they needed to get a result. They may not have beat Tottenham but the draw still put Stoke in a good position to finish 6th. Stoke's loss on the final day to Man City cost them 6th spot, with Stoke finishing 8th they missed out on Europa League football on goal difference. A disappointing end to a fantastic run and more importantly a fantastic season.

Tillson - "I'm gutted that we missed out on European football on goal difference. To say the squad were disappointed is an understatement. We had a good season and we all felt European football would show that".

Final Table

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The final table for Stoke looks all too sweet. Tipped for relegation at the start of the season, under the management of the inexperienced Tillson they took 8th place. However they did miss out on Europa League football on goal difference. The team shouldn't feel disheartened because they played valiantly all season.

Barclay's Manager of the Season - Runner up

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In his first season in management Andy Tillson has remarkably came runner up in the manager of the year award.

Tillson - "I was gobsmacked when they told me I was in shortlisted. I never expected to even make that, let alone be named runner up. It's been a fantastic season for us here at Stoke. I owe this award to the hard working players".

Stoke City's Player of the Month - Ryan Shawcross

Ryan ended the season how he had played all season, amazingly. He did all of his jobs fantastically.

Stoke City's Player of the Season - Ryan Shawcross

Ryan Shawcross was outstanding throughout the season. He showed real quality in each game and picked up 9 man of the match awards for the season. He proved vital in the success of Stoke's season being the heart and soul of the defense. He captained the side and showed a real maturity this season.

Stoke City's Young Player of the Season - Jamie Ness

Jamie Ness came into the Stoke team at the start of the season from Rangers. He has had to fill in playing various roles in the midfield and showed his versatility. At just 20 years old Ness featured for Stoke 13 times over the course of the season.

Fan's Player of the Season - Asmir Begovic

Asmir Begovic had a fantastic season, in 36 games he conceded just 37 times and kept 14 clean sheets. Begovic made some fantastic saves during the season and was key in wins over Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.

Stoke City's Most Improved Player of the Season - Cameron Jerome

Cameron Jerome wasn't expected to be playing for Stoke this season. Manager Andy Tillson had decided he would sell him to free up money and wages. When Kenwyne Jones picked up an injury in preseason Jerome had to fill in for the start of the season and never looked back. He finished as Stoke's top scorer for the season. In 37 games he scored 17 goals, assisted 8 times and picked up 2 man of the match awards.

What a great first season in charge you've had, I'm sure this time next year you will be in Europe!

2013-04-25 19:46#94797 BFC_Michael : What a great first season in charge you've had, I'm sure this time next year you will be in Europe!

Thanks! I really hope so.

Abel Hernández has joined Stoke from relegated Palermo for a small fee of £4m. He didn't have the most productive of seasons, scoring just 7 times in 30 appearances. This can be put down to the entire Palermo side performing so poorly that a side expected to finish in the top half of the table got relegated. Hernández is nicknamed 'La Joya' which means The Jewell in Spanish.

Hernández started his career off with Central Español before moving to Peñarol where he rose to prominence and was snapped up by Palermo where he spent the last 5 years. He has played for Uruguay's under 20 side 17 times and featured for them in the U20 World Cup. He then recieved his first senior cap for Uruguay in 2010. He has scored 9 times in 15 appearances for the senior side.

Stoke managed to secure the signing of Hernández despite interest from some undoubtedly bigger sides. This signing shows Stoke can compete for the signing of quality players.

Meanwhile Jorge Casado has left Stoke after just 5 months at the club, appearing just 3 times. Stoke sold him for £825k which gained them a profit of just under £500k. He will joins Championship side Charlton.

Stoke have signed American duo Timothy Chandler and Mikkel Diskerud. Chandler joined from 1. FC Nürnberg for a fee of £7.5m and Diskerud signs for just £600k from Rosenborg BK. Chandler plays as a right back while Diskerud is a central midfielder. They join fellow American’s Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea at Stoke.

Chandler almost signed for PSG but decided to join Stoke last minute. It’s believed the offer of consistent first team football was the reason Chandler decided upon the move to Stoke, but this is not confirmed.

Chandler has spent his entire career in Germany, where he was born. He started his career with Eintracht Frankfurt before moving onto Nürnberg. He has made 25 senior appearances for the US, who he eligible for due to his father being American.

Diskerud himself was not born in America, he was born in Oslo, Norway. He’s eligible for the US national team through his American mother. He started his football career off at Stabæk before joing Rosenborg. He has made 12 senior appearances for the US.

Another player has departed Stoke, midfielder Olexandr Aliev, who joined 5 months ago in January. He leaves to join Cagliari and presumably make room for Casarini. Cagliari were in need of a replacement for Casarini after his loan expired with them at the end of last season. Aliev fit the bill and they forked out £4m for him.

Stoke City have agreed to sell Glenn Whelan and Andy Wilkinson to Reading, who are now managed by former Stoke manager Tony Pullis. Glenn Whelan was sold for £2.1m and Wilkinson was sold for £1.4m. Both were told that they didn’t have a future at the club at the end of last season and Reading manager Pullis swooped in for his former players.

Whelan has played for Manchester City and Sheffield Wednesday before joining Stoke where he spent 7 years. He managed just 12 appearances all season for Stoke in what was a disappointing season for him. He was very low down the pecking order for his positions and was often played out wide.

Wilkinson had spent his entire career at Stoke, his hometown club. He had been in and around the first team since 2001 and last season, due to injuries to first team players, he made 20 appearances. Most were as a substitute, which Wilkinson was unhappy with.

Both are said to be delighted to re-join former boss Pullis at Reading and hope to help their new side return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

This story deserves a lot more views.

Great results with Stoke and I love the clean layout and your writing.

Keep it up.

2013-04-26 10:40#94947 Northwood : This story deserves a lot more views.

Great results with Stoke and I love the clean layout and your writing.

Keep it up.

Thanks for your kind comments.

You have a brilliant story here Gashead. I may be missing from chat, FM and my story but certainly not on other stories, and I'm glad I didn't miss this one. I hope you keep going and persevere with Stoke Keep it up!

2013-04-26 11:02#94954 Glenn T : You have a brilliant story here Gashead. I may be missing from chat, FM and my story but certainly not on other stories, and I'm glad I didn't miss this one. I hope you keep going and persevere with Stoke Keep it up!

Thanks. Means a lot coming from you, your Villa story was one that inspired me to start writing stories.