JAGS HAS PLENTY LEFT IN TANK TO HELP CITY QUEST
PHIL Jagielka says his goal against former club Sheffield United was a big reminder of the buzz he can only get from football - and he dreams what it would feel like to guide Stoke City into the Championship play-offs.
Jagielka, who turned 40 in August after signing a short-term contract extension in the summer, became the third oldest player ever to score for Stoke - and oldest since Sir Stanley Matthews when he got the important second in a 3-1 home win last month. It was his first goal in three-and-a-half years, a winner for Everton against Arsenal.
It was a moment that helps justify why he is still ready to put himself through the wringer of second-tier football, hoping that there will still be more to collect before he hangs up his boots.
“Scoring at 40 was another milestone,” he says in an interview for this month’s Fourfourtwo. “My dad and best mate were at the game so I keep reminding myself that I wouldn’t have fantastic memories like that one if I’d hung up my boots. There might not be many more special memories I can create before the end of my career so I just try to enjoy every second.
“What could be better than helping Stoke bag a play-off spot or a cup run? We know we’re miles from the finished article but we just need to keep putting in performances, taking our chances and climbing the table.”
Stoke only have four more games remaining before the new year, when Jagielka will be out of contract, but Alex Neil has already hinted that he will be happy to keep him around, provided he is still fit and willing in another month’s time.
Jagielka added: “One of our star players, Harry Souttar, hasn’t been fit for about a year but he is edging towards full fitness. He’ll be in the team soon enough, but whether he comes straight back in and who he partners is down to the manager. I’m not at an age where I want to stop him - he has a massive career in front of him - but in terms of my passion for playing, he is going to have to play really well to get in and stay in.
“What the club decides to do in December is their prerogative but I do love it here.”
· GEOFF Cameron is on the lookout for a new club after two years at Cincinnati.
The former Stoke City utility man, now aged 37, returned to the United States in 2021 after almost a decade in England and went on to make half a century of appearances in MLS. He helped Cincinnati, who were only inducted into the league in 2019, reach the Eastern Conference play-off semifinals. But the club has now announced it is declining its option to extend his contract for next season.
Cameron told supporters on social media: “Thank you to FC Cincinnati ownership and staff for bringing me back stateside from across the pond!
My family and I appreciate the warm welcome this city gave us. We always say, Cincinnati is a sleeper city with some of the kindest people we’ve ever come across. So, thank you to this city, the friends we made along the way and especially to the fans. It was a pleasure fighting for you week in and week out for the last two seasons.
“And, a special thank you to my homies on the staff who work tirelessly to keep the club functioning and are always putting smiles on the lads’ faces! You’re often the ones who don’t get the glory or thanked enough but are the heart and soul of the club and what keeps it all going. Thank you! Onto the next chapter… age ain’t nothin’ but a number!”
Cameron was brought to Stoke from Houston Dynamo by Tony Pulis in 2012 and made 186 appearances before leaving in 2019, having spent a year on loan at Queens Park Rangers, who he then joined on a permanent deal.
He was used in central midfield, at right-back and at centre-half and told the Sentinel in 2017 - after he declined interest from Germany and the US to sign a new three-year deal with Stoke how he hoped to play on into his 40s.
“I’d like to play until I was 38, 40,” he said. “I’d like to think so, I take care of my body pretty well. I went to college, I did my degree and went from there, so I started later, turning pro when I was 23.
“I feel young still even though I’ve just turned 32. I feel great. For me, looking at other guys who are my age I feel younger. Across the whole of football the age of retirement has gone up, guys are taking care of their bodies with nutrition and sports science. I’m still a young gun.”