Stoke City: Kitson deal can be statement of City ambition

THERE'S nothing worse than saddling players with unrealistic expectations – so let's not tell Dave Kitson he is Stoke City's biggest statement of intent since Tony Waddington convinced Alan Hudson and a collection of 1970s stars to head for the Potteries.

That's not to suggest Kitson should be judged by the sky-high standard Huddy set. But the Hertfordshire-born striker will surely capture the imagination of City fans who have been growing increasingly desperate for signs of activity at the Britannia Stadium this summer.

City's ambition was always going to be judged by their summer targets, so Tony Pulis has proved the club means business by going after England keeper Scott Carson and Reading striker Kitson.

City have given up on Carson, but Pulis is close to landing Kitson in a club-record deal of around £4.5m.

The fee will not so much smash as explode the £1m-plus records Pulis set for defenders Leon Cort and Ryan Shawcross last season.

However, the famously canny Pulis could still have struck a bargain for a player who scored 10 goals in 34 league appearances in the Premier League last season.

Some reports have suggested City could initially pay only £2m for the 28-year-old, with the rest based on his and the club's success in the top flight.

That's surely decent business in a climate in which Fulham have just spend £6.3m on West Ham fringe players Bobby Zamora and John Pantsill.

Kitson was playing for Cambridge United in League Two five years ago, having been picked up from non-league Arlesey Town.

A former shelf-stacker in Sainsbury's, he played for his local youth side at Hitchin Town and the Arena Tavern pub team before breaking into the Football League.

After making his debut as a Cambridge sub in 3-2 defeat at Stoke in March 2001, he went on to score 40 goals in 102 appearances for United.

He moved to Reading for £300,000 in December 2003 as Steve Coppell began to build a side to reach the Premier.

Kitson was prolific in the Championship, scoring 19 in 37 appearances in the 2004/2005 campaign and 18 in 34 games the following season as Reading ran away with the title.

Injury restricted him to two goals in 13 games in Reading's first appearance in the Premier League, but his efforts last season proved his quality in a struggling side.

His form had him widely tipped to be included in Fabio Capello's first England squad, in January. Kitson missed out, but not before receiving a glowing reference from Coppell, who felt the player could succeed for his country.

Coppell said: “Kits would give any team something that other combinations wouldn't.

“He is good in the air, can use his left and right foot and has decent pace and knowledge of the game. He has a spark – he is different. He is a target man, yet he is subtle.

“The bigger men now have skills on the floor. It is not just being about a head on a stick. From a skill point of view, he could play at any level.”

No doubt Kitson would bang in goals in the Championship next year, but he wants to remain in the Premier League.

He is less likely to be enthused by the prospect of the FA Cup, having made clear last season that the competition came a poor second to Premier League survival.

The Spurs fan scored twice in Reading's 6-4 defeat at White Hart Lane last December, but then revealed he wasn't bothered about a second trip in a week there, this time for an FA Cup third-round tie.

He said: “We're not going to win the FA Cup and I don't care about it, to be honest.

“Our Premier League status isn't protected by winning the FA Cup – it's as simple as that.

“It's a fantastic competition and perhaps one day we'll be in a position where we can compete for it, but not now.”

That's largely common sense stuff, but was also manna from heaven for journalists indulging in the annual debate about the relevance of the world's oldest cup competition.

Kitson was back in the papers last January when he received an 18-month driving ban for failing to provide a breath sample, or co-operate in providing a sample.

The story no doubt received more attention because of Kitson's Premier League status, but also because the striker had achieved fleeting fame beyond the sports pages in 2005.

Kitson complained at the abuse he receives from opposing fans because of his ginger hair, saying: “If a black guy goes out there and 25,000 chant at him 'you black this' or 'you black that', I don't see what the difference is if you replace it with a colour of hair or anything else.

“I don't think being paid thousands of pounds a week has any bearing on whether someone can call you a 'black this' or a 'ginger that' or anything else.

“This is not how human beings behave – certainly not the way I was brought up. I am a sensitive guy, maybe over sensitive. I make no bones about that, but I genuinely believe I was brought up the right way.”

Kitson can be assured hair colour will be of no consequence to Stoke fans eagerly awaiting the club's first star signing of the summer.