I Love Stoke City

The start of the season was a disastrous one for Stoke City as they were not able to secure a single victory in any of their 7 opening league matches of this current season. This consistent drop of points saw Stoke City being dropped to the bottom relegation zone.

However, for the past few weeks Mark Hughes and his squad have been able to secure points on a more regular basis and have been able to slowly escape the relegation zone and the head coach of the club, Hughes has recently talked about their recent up-rise as the Welsh manager said:

“We came here with a little bit of confidence, in good nick, looking to ideally get a fourth win on the trot. We weren’t quite able to do that but we’ve kept our run going. That’s six games unbeaten in the Premier League which is something. It is difficult to get runs going. We’ve clearly turned our season around’’

“A lot was made of our opening three or four games where we had a really poor performance against Palace and were well beaten and maybe a half against Tottenham where we weren’t as good as we can be. Apart from that we were always in the other games so we knew we weren’t far away from getting back to the level we know we’re capable of and the last few weeks have proved that.”

This was the statement released by Mark Hughes after his team tied with West Ham on November 5 in a match which had a final scoreboard that displayed 1-1.

Stoke City are going through a fairly impressive form as they recently went through a string of 3 successive triumphs against Sunderland, Hull City and Swansea City. These 3 victories are huge for Mark Hughes and his squad as they collected 9 points and have gone from being located in the bottom spots of the Premier League to the middle section to the 12th spot after having played 11 league matches.

Manchester United and Three Lions skipper Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of the Premier League clash against Stoke City, according to reports.

The Red Devils are poised to face Stoke City at Old Trafford on Sunday in the League, and Coach Jose Mourinho is doing everything possible to ensure they remain on the winning path.

Sky Sports report that Rooney will play in the Europa League game against Zorya Luhansk at Old Trafford, but that he would be on the bench again in the Premier League.

Mourinho dropped the Englishman in the game against the Premier League defending champions – Leicester City last week. The result was United celebrating a 4-1 win, world record transfer signing Pogba bagging the Man of the Match Award and his first goal since returning to England.

The absence of Rooney in the Leicester game was only the third time in four years that he was on the bench in a Premier League game. He was eventually set on by Mourinho when they game was done and dusted with seven minutes to the final whistle.

Rooney has spoken regarding the level of criticism he has had to bear this term. Mourinho claims the forward has been taken aback by the level of criticism, hence the rationale behind taking a back seat for a while.

The three straight losses of the Red Devils really attracted a lot of scrutiny, particularly after the club spent so much during the summer on players’ reinforcements and welfare.

Numerous people have joined to back Rooney to face the stormy water. Defender Chris Smalling said Rooney remains the “main man” for club and country despite the condemnations. “Regardless of whatever the situation is, whatever game, whether he is on the bench or playing or whatever, he is always the same type of character and that’s why he is England’s main man, and our main man,” said Smalling.

For the majority of the summer transfer window, Stoke City’s Mark Hughes has been attempting to lure Saido Berahino to his squad but it seems like this transfer will not be happening as the transfer window is reaching it’s final stages and nothing has really occurred with Berahino and a possible transfer to Stoke City.

The 52 year old Welsh manager has admitted himself that it might be better off for him to attempt and sign another player instead of Saido Berahino and make a last minute surprise signing.

“We’re quite a way down the line with that one, in terms of going back and to. I’m not really up to date in terms of where we are at this moment in time.You have to let these things run their course and give them the time that they deserve. There may well become a point, not necessarily with these negotiations, but certainly some deals just go on and on and you get to a point where you have to make a decision to move on.’’ Stoke City’s Mark Hughes said as he revealed information concerning his current situation involving Saido Berahino.

Stoke City launched an offer in the region of €20 million but it’s believed that West Bromwich Albion will not be letting go of the 23 year old striker until they find a proper replacement but taking into consideration that the summer transfer window is only a few days away from finishing, Mark Hughes doesn’t have a lot of time left to reinforce his squad and he is in a big need to strengthen his offensive department.

Saido Berahino has not scored a single goal in any of the 3 opening matches of the season for West Bromwich Albion, it’s clear that he is struggling and it might be better off for him to join another club and West Bromwich Albion could utilize those funds to sign another player.

Coach Jurgen Klopp gave the go ahead for Mamadou Sakho to be placed on the market before it closes in a matter of days.

The former Dortmund boss isn’t very impressed with Sakho, but he wants to keep him for the future. He is releasing the player to any club only on a loan deal, reports say.

Liverpool defeated Burton Albion on Tuesday, but when Klopp was speaking to reporters, he didn’t confirm the deal outright. He dropped hints, particularly with Sakho not likely to be glad with the transfer at such a turning point for the Reds.

“Everybody who needs to be informed about this have been informed about this. There are no secrets with the important people, I would say,” Klopp noted to the reporters.

The August transfer window closes next week, so Sakho has to get set for a move. Reports that linked him with a move from Anfield claim the move was so he would get better match fitness, and develop to return better for the team. The concern is that Sakho is the first sent out on six months loan to regain fitness, even when Joe Gomez, Danny Ings and Daniel Sturridge struggled with fitness.

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is set to help Sakho as he is offering the 26-year old defender an escape route to join his side. Same Stoke got Joe Allen from Liverpool, and would be building on that relationship to add the player as well. Stoke conceded four goals when they encountered Manchester City in the Premier League, so they could really use an experienced help. Sakho is one of Liverpool’s bests; so many other clubs would be ready to receive him. Red Devils player Phil Jones is linked with a move to Stoke City but Hughes might prefer Sakho.

There are media reports that former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch may make a move to Swansea City in the coming days.

Indeed the Welsh side is currently short on strikers and may be in the market for at least two attacking reinforcements. Several attacking players are going to leave Swansea in the summer, and the club is actively looking for a replacement. BatetimbiGomis is said to be going out on a season loan to French side Marseille while Alberto Paloschi and Eder are both going to be sold.

It is believed that Swansea has made inquiries for Peter Crouch, and it is believed that they are preparing a £3 million bid for the player. Peter Crouch has enjoyed a poor season with Stoke City last term and might be favorable to a transfer. Indeed the tall striker has been quite frustrated with his lack of playing time and will feel that a move to Swansea may revive his career.

It is also reported that Swansea City might also make a move for Leicester City’s striker Leonardo Ulloa. The latter had risen to prominence last term when he helped Leicester City end up the season as champion. However, with the departure of Kante and potential departure of Mahrez, it is very unlikely that Claudio Ranieri will allow Leonardo Ulloa to leave the team.

Leonardo Ulloa has stated that he is happy to remain with Leicester City and want to be part of the team next season. Indeed Leicester City is going to play in the Champions League next season, and it is very hard to imagine that Leonardo Ulloa will want to forego this possibility and play with Swansea.

However, time is running out for Swansea City, and they might want to finalize the Crouch deal as soon as possible.

Stoke City’s Geoff Cameron claims that he is more worried about keeping his place in the first team of the Premier League outfit for the 2016-17 campaign since he expects the club to have a busy transfer window.

There have already been reports that manager Mark Hughes has been looking at several players who are unable to get game time at top clubs like Barcelona. Christian Tello is one of the names being linked with a move to Stoke City. A transfer will not be beyond the possibility since Stoke City already have a former Barcelona player in the squad – Bojan Krkic.

Cameron is currently with Uruguay at the centenary edition of the Copa America. Doing well in this tournament will be a major boost for Cameron’s hopes of getting the attention from Hughes. The 30-year-old is a versatile player in the Stoke City dressing room. For the first time, he has admitted that his versatility may be starting to hurt his first-team opportunities. Stoke have been quietly improving the squad since the arrival of Hughes. The revamp is expected to continue even though the club come on the back of an impressive campaign in which theyonce again finished in the top half.

It is a major achievement for a club who were once known for their long ball style game.“The main thing for me is to get a shirt. As long as I’m playing I’m happy so we’ll see. I imagine Mark Hughes will be looking to strengthen the group. It’s one of those normal things but a lot of my focus at the moment is on the national team.The main thing for us is to get out of the group and then anything is possible,”said Cameron, whose United States national team is one of the favourites to win the tournament.

Mark Hughes has confirmed that Stoke City will be ambitious in the summer when it comes to the signings.

It has been speculated that Stoke City will be signing a number of players like Nathan Redmond and Saido Berahino. Players such as these are expected to cost in excess of £ 10 million quite easily. However, Stoke City have been on a spending spree in the last few summers. The club is clearly determined to become an established Premier League outfit and they see the presence of quality name as a key.

After having come close to Europa League qualification once again, Stoke will sound like an attractive destination for players across Europe. The presence ofplayers like Bojan Krkic will only add to the popularity. Hughes says that he has identified several targets who are ready to join the club. After having just seen Leicester City win the league title in surprising circumstances, Stoke City will feel that they can realistically aim for European qualification on a regular basis if they sign quality players in the summer. The club may have finished ninth in the table, but they were ahead of clubs like Chelsea and Everton. It is understood that Stoke have made a new enquiry for West Brom forwardBerahino.

“We are trying to progress both on and off the pitch and I think that is there for everybody to see.We have made signings of real intent and that shows we are regarded as a progressive and ambitious club now.Everything is growing and getting better and this is a great club to be a part of at the moment,” said Hughes, who will also have to concentrate on retaining the existing stars like Arnautovic. The winger has only one year left on his deal and is widely expected to leave.

Mark Hughes saw his team collapse remarkably in the recent meeting with Liverpool, which ended as a 4-1 loss for his team. Stoke City were coming into the game with aspirations of a European finish.

The club’s chairman Peter Coates recently claimed that qualifying for Europe regularly will be a sign of improvement for Stoke, who were a regular Championship club not too long ago. Any hope of featuring in the Europa League for only the second season in the club’s history may have come to an end after this loss against Liverpool at Anfield.

Stoke were feeling confident prior to the match since there was a belief that Liverpool will be having their entire attention on the midweek clash with Borussia Dortmund. The Merseyside outfit drew 1-1 with the German club in the first leg of the Europa League match. The return leg will be at Anfield and Jurgen Klopp was expected to rest some of his big-name players in anticipation of this game. This was not the case, as the likes of Daniel Sturridge, James Milner, and Roberto Firmino all played against Stoke. Sturridge scored a goal in the 32nd minute and stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.

Hughes was feeling confident after going into halftime at 2-1, but conceding two goals in the second half made the scoreline flattering for Liverpool. “I thought first half we acquitted ourselves really well – we had a decent amount of control in the game.We feel 4-1 is a little bit harsh on us, especially after what we did in the first half, but you’ve got to have a full 90 minute performance and we didn’t have that today.We were not as resolute as normal. We had some had good moments, and at half-time we felt we were very much in the game,” said Hughes.

The Premier League and just about every top European league are reaching their final stages and every single point that any club is able to secure from this point on can play a huge role in what spot they are going to finish in their respective league

Stoke City is hoping to seal a Europa League spot that would allow them to compete in the European competition for the upcoming season but a recent string of injuries might hamper their chances of making it happen.

The latest player of Stoke City that fell victim to injury was Jack Butland as he was playing a friendly match for England against Germany on March 27 and during this game, Butland picked up an injury which forced him to leave the pitch at the 46th minute as he had to be replaced by Fraser Forster.

Jack Butland has already taken medical tests and scans, the results of these tests revealed that the English goal-keeper is going to be out of action for around 3 months and this is a huge blow not only for the England national football team but also for Stoke City.

At the young age of 23, Butland has managed to become the undisputed goal-keeper of Stoke City but now Mark Hughes will have to use another shot-stopper as this injury is expected to keep the young player out of the pitch for the remainder of the season.

Jon Walters, Ryan Shawcross, Erik Pieters, XherdanShaqiri, Glen Johnson and Marc Wilson are the other players of Stoke City who have recently been suffering with injuries and this is a huge hit for Mark Hughes who might not be able to achieve his goal of landing a top 5 spot in the Premier League.

For the past few weeks and even months, Chelsea has been in search of a manager who can take charge of the main team after the current season reaches it’s end. Guus Hiddink is the interim coach but the Dutch manager will be making his way out of Stamford Bridge in a few months’ time.

Diego Simeone, Massimiliano Allegri, Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho are some of the high profile managers who have been linked with taking charge of Chelsea but there is someone else who isn’t so well known as those previously mentioned who was being taken into consideration and it’s Stoke City’s Mark Hughes.

Mark Hughes has enjoyed success with Stoke City as he led the team to the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup as well as changing the playing style of the Premier League club and these were a few of the main reasons of why Hughes was reportedly being taken into consideration as a possible manager of Chelsea.

Massimiliano Allegri of Juventus has impressed the managerial staff of Chelsea and the Italian manager is one of the coaches that the Premier League has consistently been attempting to lure in but the Italian manager has refused the invitation and this has forced Chelsea on having to search around for other managers and it’s rumored that Diego Simeone is the one that has accepted the challenge but Mark Hughes has been in the watch list of Chelsea for the past few weeks.

Mark Hughes has recently decided to extend his managerial stay with Stoke City until 2019 as he will continue to be manager of Stoke City for the next few years but there is a high chance that he becomes the next coach of a top club as he has already been attracting the attention of the Premier League side Chelsea, who have been struggling so much in this season and are in need of someone who can spark them back to life.