by Muskrat » 18 Jul 2008 20:53
by leon » 18 Jul 2008 23:33
by Arch » 18 Jul 2008 23:44
by coyrls » 19 Jul 2008 00:34
by loyalroyal4life » 19 Jul 2008 00:51
by Jackson Corner » 19 Jul 2008 02:13
by Readingfc50 » 19 Jul 2008 02:37
by friday fan » 19 Jul 2008 02:49
by Cripple Creek » 19 Jul 2008 03:55
by Bill Oddie's Beard » 19 Jul 2008 05:33
by hutch » 19 Jul 2008 07:34
by The Insider » 19 Jul 2008 08:09
by percy_freeman » 19 Jul 2008 08:19
Cripple Creek I have no doubt you will establish yourself as an excellent player in the premiership until you hang up your boots.
by papereyes » 19 Jul 2008 10:25
The Insider I am not entirely sorry to see Kits go. I think this was clever business on the part of Hammond and Co, Stoke are desperate and £5.5m is exceptional money for a player of his age and body condition.
I also want to offer another supporting argument, do we really need a target man ?
We finished 8th two years ago , Kits spent almost the entire season out of the side, and Lita /Doyle/Long flourished as a result. We played fast counter-attacking football and teams struggled to cope with our invention. Yes we had Glen Little which I acknowledge (though even Glen did miss 1/3rd of our premier league games in the first season) , but we avoided the 'boot and hope' route one nonsense that Kitson invites when he's the big man up front. That was the main frustration for me last year. I understand that the Championship is a different brand of football (or at least was when we were in it) but I am not entirely convinced that a target man is imperative. A lot will depend on who we buy to fill the right wing and supplement the midfield.
Add to this that Kits had the capacity to upset his team mates off the field and I start to feel fairly confident that Copps has done a good bit of business here.
by Man Friday » 19 Jul 2008 10:39
by Royalee » 19 Jul 2008 11:26
by Gordons Cumming » 19 Jul 2008 11:37
by Gordons Cumming » 19 Jul 2008 11:43
Royalee Can anyone find the goals against West Ham he scored? He needs a decent tribute video.
by Royalee » 19 Jul 2008 11:45
by Dirk Gently » 19 Jul 2008 13:26
papereyesThe Insider I am not entirely sorry to see Kits go. I think this was clever business on the part of Hammond and Co, Stoke are desperate and £5.5m is exceptional money for a player of his age and body condition.
I also want to offer another supporting argument, do we really need a target man ?
We finished 8th two years ago , Kits spent almost the entire season out of the side, and Lita /Doyle/Long flourished as a result. We played fast counter-attacking football and teams struggled to cope with our invention. Yes we had Glen Little which I acknowledge (though even Glen did miss 1/3rd of our premier league games in the first season) , but we avoided the 'boot and hope' route one nonsense that Kitson invites when he's the big man up front. That was the main frustration for me last year. I understand that the Championship is a different brand of football (or at least was when we were in it) but I am not entirely convinced that a target man is imperative. A lot will depend on who we buy to fill the right wing and supplement the midfield.
Add to this that Kits had the capacity to upset his team mates off the field and I start to feel fairly confident that Copps has done a good bit of business here.
I think had Doyle or especially Lita had shown some level of form, people wouldn't be criticising our top scorer and nearest thing we had to a goal threat last season. If you want to look at failures in the attacking department last season, look at Leroy not at Kitson. If Leroy had played to any level of consistency or ability, we'd have played something more akin to last season.
That said, we also lost a large chunk of our midfield and width, so that is perhaps a more important factor.