For Stoke fans, the wait for the club’s first signing appears to be almost over as 19 year old Egyptian wonderkid Ramadan Sobhi looks almost certain to be a Potter. He’s arriving from Egyptian Premier League champions Al Ahly, managed by ex-Fulham boss Martin Jol. It was Jol who revealed Sobhi’s departure from the club and, with Stoke being the only club who have been known to have made a formal approach for Ramadan, it’s certainly looking likely that the Potters have won his signature. Sobhi is understood to be signing a five year deal at Stoke and come at a price between €3.5m and €5.8m (probably from the former to latter with add-ons).
Last week was where the serious news about Sobhi began to emerge and with that signalled and influx of thoughts, opinions and support from hundreds of Egyptian fans across all Stoke City social medias. For example, after a tweet that I sent regarding Sobhi, here’s some examples of what some of Sobhi’s fans had to say:
@Ben_Rowley56 Good job..Stoke City will be granted CL place with Sobhi.Congratulation for ever best signs in PL
So yeah, I think it’s safe to say ‘Ramadona’ is one of the best players that the Egyptians have ever seen. Indeed, his transfer fee is the highest in Egyptian Premier League history.
Now obviously, in England we do not get much coverage of Egyptian football so it might be hard for us Stoke fans to have a balanced on opinion on Sobhi; similarly for his fans in Egypt who obviously have a love and bias for their player. During the last week, I have received a lot of information regarding the Sobhi saga (including exclusives and opinion pieces) from Egyptian and African football news website KingFut. To get a more accurate and detailed opinion on Ramadona, TBPTV asked KingFut whether they would answer some questions for us. Very kindly, they did:
TBPTV – Can you give fans a brief overview of Sobhi’s career so far?
KingFut – Sobhi caught attention in the Sheikh Zayed tournament with Al Ahly’s U-17 team in 2014, impressing in games against Atletico Madrid and Botafogo. His debut with the senior team was that same year, and has appeared 67 times since then in all competitions.
TBPTV – What would you say Sobhi’s biggest strength is?
KingFut – His biggest strength is his skill. He’s absolutely mesmerising with the ball in his feet. He could outwit most defenders in the tightest of spaces; one second he’s here, the other he’s gone.
TBPTV – And his weakness?
KingFut – His weakness could probably be his goal record, it’s decent for a youngster but he still could improve in that regards.
TBPTV – How do you think Sobhi will adapt to English football?
KingFut – I think he won’t have a huge problem with adapting to the physical nature of English football. Sobhi is pretty strong and athletic, he’s fast and has got great stamina. He would probably have some problems with the language and adapting to a different culture, but I think he’s got a professional mindset even though it’s still early to tell for sure.
TBPTV – How far can you see Sobhi going in his career?
KingFut – It’s tough to predict where a player would go because of the many different factors and how much Stoke would help him grow. In terms of talent and ability, the boy could be one of the best Egyptian players of all time. He already is one of the biggest talents ever in Egyptian history at his age, and one of the best in the country at the moment.
TBPTV – How big is this story for Egyptian football?
KingFut – The story is pretty big because he’s the biggest transfer to go from the Egyptian league, smashing the previous record sales.
TBPTV – Egyptian fans seem to love Ramadan, do you think they will continue to follow him in England?
KingFut – Egyptian fans will follow him closely to say the least and cafes in Egypt will probably show every single Stoke City game in hopes of seeing Sobhi on the field. Stoke social media accounts will get over flooded with Egyptians
TBPTV – Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about Sobhi or to the fans of Stoke City?
KingFut – To Stoke fans: you’ve got a real gem of a player in Sobhi, so enjoy seeing him play and take care of our boy.
It looks like we’d better get ready: one of the most naturally gifted Egyptians of all time is coming to Stoke City, as is half of Egypt!
Huge thank you to KingFut (www.kingfut.com, @King_Fut) for taking part in the Q&A, they’ve got loads of fantastic information and opinions on Sobhi on their website to check out! Also thank you to all the Egyptian fans who sent support to me, TBPTV and all Stoke City fans!
Reports broke earlier this morning suggest that Stoke have reached an agreement around 6 million Euros with Al Ahly for their promising winger Ramadan Sobhi. So what can Sobhi bring to the Premier League?
Well the first guarantee is that Sobhi will cause a surge in the employment of physios. His devastating turn of speed, and ability to turn sharply will leave full backs waking in cold sweats the week before knowing they face this dangerous wonder kid. If you don’t believe me check out the Egyptians ankle shattering ability for yourself:
It was confirmed on Monday morning, by Mark Bowen no less, that Stoke are interested in bringing Fenerbahce’s Nani back to the Premier League, despite the player apparently agreeing to join Spanish outfit Valencia. Amid the uncertain future and elongated contract saga of Marko Arnautovic, Stoke are actively looking to prepare themselves with a Plan B should the Austrian look to move to pastures new. Nani certainly fits that bill: he has plenty of Premier League experience, is a box of tricks and, most importantly, is direct.
Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, or Nani, is a 29 year old forward from Portugal. Nani began his career at Sporting Lisbon, before making a colossal (at the time) £22m move to Manchester United as a mere 20 year old. He scored 40 goals in 230 appearances and eight seasons with the Red Devils. The arrival of Louis van Gaal saw Nani shipped back to Lisbon in 2014 on a season long loan, and then sold completely to Fenerbahce the following season. Last season he scored 8 goals in 28 league games with his Turkish club and helped them to finish second in the table. He is also a regular figure for his national team and is currently representing Portugal during Euro 2016, at the time of writing this they are due to play Wales in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Much like Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, the question over the introduction of standing terraces is an indicator of the much larger existential crisis relating to the role of the fan in modern football. In England the rise of the ‘prawn sandwich’ fan is unquestionable, modern stadia and rising ticket prices have caused a gentrification of the beautiful game. This has led to many of the more traditionally working class fans to feel isolated, ignored and disillusioned.
Many have enviously looked over the channel to mainland Europe (a somewhat ironic statement in light of recent political events). Specifically to Germany where ticket prices are phenomenally low and the vast majority of grounds have a substantial section of the ground allowing the more energetic, passionate and loud fans to stand. This leaves English fans and the FA with a very difficult question of can we introduce this rail seating system into the English game.
First it is worth looking at the system itself and what it could bring to the ‘Official Stoke City Sport Stadium and Large Events Hub brought to you by Bet365’. The system incorporates a fold down chair attached to a tall barrier behind it. The structure stands above two steps, this means that when down the chairs will occupy one step allowing the spectators legs to rest on the lower one. When in the vertical standing position the steps form two rows of terraces allowing spectators to stand on each. In Germany the seats are left down for European matches to meet UEFA requirements, and are folded up and locked in place for domestic games.
Dom Telford is a name Stoke supporters should get familiar with if they somehow aren’t already. The 19-year-old striker/attacking midfielder signed for Stoke from Blackpool last summer and got off to a tremendous start, knocking in 13 goals across all competitions for the Stoke U21 side over the course of the 2015-16 season. The Bear Pit TV had a chance to sit down with him (I was sitting on my couch in America, I can’t confirm whether or not Dom was sitting) to talk briefly about his first year in The Potteries and his thoughts about the future.
The Bear Pit TV: How have you enjoyed your time in Stoke so far?
Dom Telford: I absolutely loved it. Great set of lads, great staff, and great facilities! I couldn’t be at a better club.
Our lord and saviour Peter Coates must be disappointed with the news coming from the recent referendum. The vote to leave the EU has left many intelligent people scratching their heads wondering what the hell do we do next? In Stoke 69% of people voted in favour of leaving, and in Newcastle 63% were in favour of leaving. In fact all the surrounding areas were in favour of leaving. This clear expression cannot be undone, so there for it is important that we look forward. What will football in the UK be like now that we have voted to leave the European Union? What will the team be like? How much will we be paying in transfer fees? Will we have to deport Bojan? Well this post will try and answer some of the question people may have about the future of Stoke. I should mention that all this is speculation and no one and I mean no one can predict what will happen.
It’s common knowledge that whilst we are still in the EU, players from EU countries could come and play for teams with out any barriers. Where as players from outside the EU have much stricter restrictions. We all remember the trouble we had when we tried to sign Juan Agudelo. The law states that an International player must have played in 75% of their nations games with in the past two years, these games have to be at first team standard. The games must be played in reputable competitions set down by FIFA (I also see the irony in saying that FIFA competitions are reputable). This limitation on international players was to encourage teams to foster home grown talent, forgetting the fact that Europe has the highest concentration of footballing talent anywhere in the world.
Euro fever is well a truly upon us, and I for one am relishing waking up to 6 hours of football every day. As I recovered from the mayhem of Thursdays home nations clash I watched the Czech Republic Croatia match, and felt a very familiar style present in the game. This style came from Croatia who seem to play exactly the same way the Potters themselves have tried to set up for the majority of matches this season.Aside from the Red and White, the tendency to self-implode in spectacular fashion and the shock victories over tournament favourites, the Croatians seem to play an identical style to Sparky’s preferred tactic. They set up in a reasonably structured 4-2-3-1, with player roles mirroring that of their Premier League counter parts.
In defence two pragmatic no nonsense centre backs sit in the centre, whilst they are overlapped by full backs who seek to support the attack, not to create it as England’s two wing backs do. For both the Turkey and Czech Republic matches, the Croatian captain Srna has reminded me of Glen Johnson. Not blessed with lightening pace Srna sits wide of his inside forward, getting on the overlap seeking to provide pivotal balls into the box. This is mirrored to a lesser extent by Strinić on the left hand side, who plays a more defensive role due to the presence of a very attacking winger ahead of him, a relationship similar to that of Arnie and Pieters.
Stoke one game away from being Alternative Premier League Champions!
Despite the entire of Europe (and the Americas) being engrossed in this Summer’s Championships, I invite you to take a trip back to our beloved Premier League and witness the unbelievable drama that would have taken place should the FA have decided to tweak how the league table works. I’m a big fan, as most of us fans are, of an unexpected underdog win. However, I feel these wins are not sufficiently rewarded when it comes down to the nitty gritty when the season ends. Well, what if a team in bad form conquers a team in good form? Let’s see how this Alternative Premier League takes place.
Football plays itself as normal; however I have taken the results from each day of fixtures and, rather than allocate points, introduce the following scenarios to the league table:
Club A v Club B
Club A higher than Club B
Club B higher than Club A
Club A Win
League positions remain
Club A swap with Club B
Draw
League positions remain
League positions remain
Club B Win
Club B swap with Club A
League positions remain
For example, if Stoke (sitting in 9th) beat West Ham (sitting in 4th), Stoke will go to 4th and West Ham will go 9th. However, should Stoke have instead drawn or lost to West Ham, their league positions will stay the same.
August 13th, the date in everybody’s calendar, the date that our gladiators go to battle once again and the date that a brand new Barclays Premier League begins for Stoke City.
By now I’m sure that most of you have seen the fixture list which was announced earlier today, and I’m sure that a number of you have even gone as far as to study the entire thing, from week 1 to week 38, in enough detail to feel as though you’ve already lived the season.
But if you haven’t then don’t worry because that’s exactly what I’m going to attempt to do for you all right now. So without further ado let’s look at how Stoke’s season has been laid out and what we can take away from the fixtures.
This is it. We’ve gathered the best (and worst) Stoke City internet brains and asked them four simple questions about our season. Some were positive, some were negative, some probably couldn’t care less anymore. But we asked them to be honest and let rip.
