Stoke City: 'New' Wilson Palacios can star for Stoke, says boss Tony Pulis

“Wheatear does have a point about all the negativity. When we signed Fuller for peanuts it was because his fitness was in doubt and never his ability, he went on to be one hell of a player. Had Palacios been the player that Spurs first signed he would have been way out of Stoke's price range. If we do get him fit he will be a great player because the ability is obvious. TP has taken a risk that may yet pay off big time, we don't know and we have to wait and see. Interesting to note that Newcastle have taken a similar chance on Demba Ba, it may not pay off in the long term. Man City took a chance on Owen Hargreaves that flopped, it's all part and parcel of football. Don't understand Mel's comment about Palacios not fitting in with Stoke's style of play. Since our preferred option is playing with 2 wingers (when they are fit and on form or not in court) then a midfielder who can win the ball and find them with a pass is an obvious requirement. If Palacios does well next year and Stoke do start finding the net I wonder how many of you will be big enough to come on here and hold up their hands and say "I was wrong".”

“ro something erto that you do not understand what supporting your club means - speaks volumes enough said

bye bye prats”

“What???????”

“Stoek fans - dont make me laugh - you just cannot wait to post negative comments about every article in this rag

Take away the vale fans and stonemel and latthink you should be ashamed of yourselves

go and support one of the manchester clubs and for gods sake leave this club alone

Neither of you are fit to clean the boots of any stoke player, official or owner you are both just cheap!”

“At the end of the day Paclacios is a very good footballer. Tottenham signed him based on how well he had played at Wigan, and before his injury, he was excellent at Spurs. Add to this the fact he had played 77 times for his country, which is only going to provide great experience.

Let's hope that with a good pre-season and a strong fitness regime, he can get himself to how he was in his first season at Spurs. If so, we have a great player on our hands. As long as TP is willing to play him in the middle of the park on a regular basis.

The issue with Stoke however, is that Pulis only wants one type of player, workhorses. Every player has to be capable of tracking back and defending. This all results in an extremely negitive display and a complete lack of attacking flair. When you insist on playing 4-4-2, yet have wingers keeping an eye on their fullbacks, centre midfilders supporting the defence and a forward in a withdrawn role, how can you expect to create or score goals?

For all the conversations and discussions we have Stoke fans, it all comes down to TP's mindset, and I just don't see that changing. Hopefully we will soon start to bring some players into the club, and the standard and type of players will quickly allow us to see what kind of football to expect next year. "Diao" types are not what we need.”

“Redknap and the Spurs directors must be laughing all the way to the bank over Palacios. They are similar to second hand car salesmen selling vehicles with no engine!
And Wilson himself? Bet he can't believe he's had a years salary for doing virtually nothing. City are a very easy touch, both in business and dealings with players etc.

ASK BIG MAMA, HE KNOWS!”

“both did come as a package,its just a pity demba ba and cisse didnt and then perhaps we would have signed ba,instead we got jones .all you hear out of stoke is lets work on the players fitness,how bout lets work on some quality football tp,stop trying to fool us as its obvious it is starting to wear very very thin,u have the tools at your disposal but fail to implement a system where we are able to go at teams,instead u employ a strategy that put it bluntly is damn boring.i for one am not the only one who states the season in the premier league was worst by far,i had more enjoyment watching us in championship,at least we went at teams.and trust me if we go at it the same as we just have itll be 9 months before ill b watching championship again.i hope u dont include sidibe in ure final 25 or i can assure u itll not be welcomed.u messed about with tuncay and you had quality there but couldnt handle it,i hope u prove us wrong,but i like others doubt it.”

“From what I saw of Palacios last year, it is easy to see that the player has some quality, which is sorely needed by Stoke in the midfield but the fitness issues were so apparent.
I will ask these questions on the basis of that:-
1. Why did we sign him in the first place when it would have been obvious from his fitness test that his fitness was an issue?
2. Why sign a player such as Palacios if he does not fit into our style of play?
I can't help feeling that Crouch and Palacios came to Stoke as a package deal and that we wouldn't have got Crouch otherwise.”

“HE HAD ALL LAST SEASON TO GET FIT BUT NEVER MADE IT!”

“Just get some decent players in pulis and get rid of the dead wood or get out yourself.This season we aint putting up with anymore dross boring football from you,”