Stoke City: Pulis treads carefully

by Anthony Munday

IT’S a case of deja vu at Stoke City with fans clamouring for new signings and manager Tony Pulis refusing to be rushed.

What some supporters view as the manager’s over cautious approach in the transfer market has previously provided his detractors with much ammunition.

But Pulis’ prudence helped Stoke back into the top flight and there is no way he will be influenced, and rightly so, by those who expected a flood of new recruits by now.

Value for money remains a huge priority despite the riches of the Premiership and Pulis and his backroom team will examine all the pros and cons of every target before a deal is done.

No manager can be right in his judgement every time and most Stoke fans would point to the out of condition Jon Parkin as Pulis’ worst signing so far.

But he makes far less mistakes than most and will do his utmost to prise as much money as possible out of chairman Peter Coates to bring in the quality Stoke will need.

Interestingly, Pulis said some months before the end of last season that he was monitoring several foreign players who he would consider if the Potters won promotion.

Foreigners, and particularly those still to prove their credentials in England, have not often proved to be Pulis’ cup of tea, but he recognises he must unearth some gems to help what will be a very difficult cause.

The prices of most British players good enough to cut the mustard are likely to prove prohibitive and Pulis has been casting the net far and wide for some time.

One player we can expect to sign shortly is Jamaican centre-back Rudolph Austin, who Pulis wanted to recruit at Christmas only for international red tape to scupper his chance.

I understand the Stoke coaching staff were incredibly impressed with the international team mate of Ricardo Fuller when he trained with the club and Austin’s signature is little more than a formality.