Stoke City: Pass Masters

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Secret Yoghurt

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I'm new to this forum, and having read multiple manager stories over a long period of time, I have decided to write my own!
After a vote on this forum, I decided to choose Stoke City as the subject of my first story. My ultimate aim is to transform the team into a Barcelona-esque force, in terms of both style and success.


The Team

Many improvements are needed. I am planning a major overhaul, and have transfer-listed most of the first team. Most of my signings will likely be midfielders with high passing ability. The only area that I am happy with is goalkeepers; Jack Butland looks like a great prospect.


Tactics and Style

The style I wish to implement will take a long time, so I am not expecting instant results; especially since my players are -on the whole- terrible. I am looking to control matches, and encourage short, quick passing.

Transfers

I have been given a transfer budget of £15m, with £95k a week in wages. Hopefully I can improve on this by selling a few players, but at the moment this is looking difficult...
By the 1st July I have managed to sign Danny Simpson on a free transfer, and James Ward-Prowse on a season-long loan.


Next up: July Update...

​
 
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JULY

July has been a busy month in terms of transfers!

I brought in £5.5m young star Will Hughes; £4.3m Palermo midfielder Josip Iliicic; Rangers' £2.7m LB Lee Wallace; and Simon Vukcevic, a Montenegrin winger on a free transfer.

Wilson Palacios left for Norwich, for a fee of £4.5m; Matthew Etherington moved to Southampton in a £2.3m deal.


Pre-Season

These games went as expected, generally:

Dundee Utd 2 - 3 Stoke City
(Cierzniak o.g., Walters, Crouch)

Carmarthen 0 - 2 Stoke City
(Ward-Prowse, Crouch)

Haverfordwest0 - 3 Stoke City
(Etherington, Jerome x2)

Newton 0 - 3Stoke City
(Crouch x3)


Next up: August...
​

 
hi will be following as i commented on your thread saying to be Stoke so im following good luck got great money for Palacios
 
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AUGUST

Much like July, August was a month of squad improvement, with many comings and goings over the course of the month.


Nathaniel Chalobah came in on loan; Fernando joined for £9.75m from Portugese giants Porto, in what was a major coup for the club; Carlos Fierro, everyone's favourite wonderkid, joined for £4m; Stephane Mbia was signed for £5m.
Efforts were made to sign Nathan Redmond, but the deal fell apart at the last moment.
A loan move was also secured for winger Max Gradel, because Kightly was injured for 5 months against Newcastle..

Cameron Jerome left to go to Hull, for £4m; Cardiff put up a combined £7m for Jermaine Pennant and Glenn Whelan; Andy Wilkinson joined Southampton in a £3m deal; Peter Crouch left for Sunderland after a healthy £6m was offered; veteran keeper Thomas Sorenson moved to Aston Villa for £1m.

--------------------
In the last game of pre-season, we were destroyed by Brighton:

Brighton 3 - 0 Stoke City

A spirited performance against Arsenal ended in disappointment, despite an inspired performance from Ryan Shawcross:

Arsenal 1 - 0 Stoke City

Our fortunes began to turn around as we grabbed a win at home against Newcastle:

Stoke City 1 - 0 Newcastle
(Jones)

We strolled through our Capitol One cup 2nd round tie against Cheltenham:

Cheltenham 0 - 3 Stoke City
(Huth, Cameron, Ilicic)

-------------------
After 2 games, we lie in 10th place in the Premier League, with 3 points.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

View attachment 368056

Ryan Shawcross has been an absolute rock at the centre of my defence! I'm surprised I didn't receive any offers for him from big teams over the summer..

------------------------------------

Overall, a good month!
Next up: September..

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Really interested in this. Should prove a challenge, will be following.
 
Some good business done, especially recouping a lot of money.
 
 
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SEPTEMBER

As we roll on to September, the Premier League season gets properly underway.

---------------------------------------

In our first game of the month, we held on to defeat Norwich, as Mbia gets a goal on his debut:

Norwich City 1 - 2 Stoke City
(Mbia, Vukcevic)

A draw against Swansea. Disappointing, but no less than we deserved, honestly:

Stoke City 1 - 1 Swansea City
(Huth)

A good win against Cardiff, although Vukcevic was injured and is now out for 4 weeks:

Stoke City 2 - 0 Cardiff City
(Vukcevic, Shawcross)

We were expecting to beat Brentford in our 3rd round Capitol One cup tie. Despite a dominant performance, we only won a one-goal margin:

Stoke City 2 - 1 Brentford
(Shea, Gradel)

We played newly-promoted Hull City in our last game of the month. A draw from a game we should have won comfortably:

Hull City 1 - 1 Stoke City
(Shea)

--------------------------------

After 6 games, the Premier League table looks like this:

View attachment 368521
We drew Ipswich in the 4th round of the Capitol One cup.

-------------------------------------------------

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

View attachment 368529

American winger Brek Shea has scored some important goals for us in recent weeks, and his form has really impressed me. I hope it continues, as Kightly and Vukcevic are still out with injuries..

--------------------------
October is a busy month, with games against Liverpool and Chelsea to come.​
 
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