NEIL LOOKS TO WIDEN POTTERS’ GAME APPROACH
Wingers set to be on the agenda as Stoke manager prepares for the January transfer window
ALEX Neil has given a big hint that he will be January shopping for wingers to give different options in his Stoke City squad.
Neil only arrived at Stoke with a week left of the summer transfer window and had time to bring in right-sided defender Dujon Sterling on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The World Cup break means there are only four games remaining until he can start recruiting again and he knows Stoke are still lacking in wide areas.
Tariqe Fosu is the only out-andout senior winger.
Stoke’s task will be all the more difficult because of Financial Fair Play restrictions and the fact that Neil already has six loan players in his squad – and is only allowed to name five on a match day.
He will have to make a choice who to leave out if and when Gavin Kilkenny recovers from injury.
Neil said: “I think we’ve got a competitive squad. What I’ve said before is that I think we lack variation in terms of different types of players.
“I think that would be something that would be helpful, making us more flexible and give us more options in specific areas.
“If you look at us at the moment, I know Tyrese can play wide and Jacob has played wide since I’ve been here but realistically we’ve got one winger in the building and that really hampers most teams whether you play a 4-4-2, a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3.
“Normally you’d have at least two wide players in the building so if you wanted to fluctuate shape you could do it quite seamlessly. We have got players who can play there. I’d say it was more of a secondary position than their primary position.
“There are some holes we need to fill, shall we say, but all in all I
think we’ve got some really good players.”
Neil has been able to assess the quality and potential in Stoke’s changing room over 15 games in charge so far, using 25 players.
He has been gradually initiating changes on and off the field, such as the arrival of new technical director Ricky Martin this week and the expected imminent appointment of a new goalkeeper coach following the departure of David Rouse.
But if he thinks he is laying foundations to get things right in the long-term, he knows that he will always be judged in the shortterm and the results he has been
picking up in the Championship, where Stoke currently sit in 17th place.
“It’s been mixed in terms of results and you’ve got to base it on results because that’s what people will look at,” he said.
“If I say it’s going great, people will see we’ve lost a few at home on the bounce and it would be remiss of me to say that. I don’t think it would go down well.
“Some of the games we’ve lost, particularly a couple of weeks ago, were arguably as good as we’ve played but that doesn’t matter. We lost.”
Stoke have launched this season’s Big Sleep Out raising money for the club’s Community Trust and the Macari Centre. Participants will be sponsored to sleep for a night inside and outside the Franklyn Stand concourse at the bet365 Stadium on Friday, February 17.
Those involved must be aged
11 or over and accompanied by a parent or guardian if under 18.
Adrian Hurst,
Stoke’s head of community, said: “The Big Sleep Out has become an annual event in a number of people’s calendars, and this year we are keen to make it bigger and better than before. I encourage those that have done it before to do it again and for those who are thinking about it to take the plunge and sign up. Once again, we want to raise awareness and money for the issue of homelessness in Stoke-ontrent.”