A Chance At Redemption: The Mark Hughes Story

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Transfer Business Around Europe

Week 1

-SL Benfica have sold Argentine CB Ezequiel Garay to Manchester United for 8 million pounds

- Dinamo Moscow have sold winger Balazs Dzsudzsak to Fulham for 4.9 million pounds

- Kaiser Chiefs have sold attacking mid Matthew Rusike to Ligue 1 side AC Ajaccio for 575,000 pounds.

Ajax have sold CAM Davy Klaassen to PSG for 4.4 million pounds.

Week 2

- Manchester City have sold striker Eden Dzeko to Borussia Dortmund for 8.5 million pounds

- Tottenham Hotspur have sold GK Hugo Lloris to VfL Wolfsburg for 8 million pounds

- Flamengo have sold GK Felipe to Aston Villa for 3 million pounds

- Serie A side Livorno have sold Brazilian striker Paulinho to Espanyol for 4.5 million pounds.

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2013-14 FA Cup
Round #3
11 January 2014
Turf Moor, Burnley

Burnley 2
Stoke City 1

Disaster at Turf Moor

On the heels of an exhilarating draw with Liverpool, Stoke City have seen their dreams of FA Cup glory come crashing down in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of a clearly inferior Burnley side here at cold and rainy Turf Moor. First half goals from Ross Wallace(19') and Dean Marney(45') turned out to be just enough for the hosts who held Stoke to just a single goal from Brek Shea(25'). Adding insult to the defeat, the Potters also lost defenders Robert Huth and Ryan Shotton to knee injuries on the slick turf, with Huth expected to miss about three weeks, and Shotton about four.

2013-14 FAA Cup
Round #3 Results
11-12 January 2014

Aston Villa 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Birmingham City 1-1 Barnsley
Blackburn 3-0 Brentford
Bournemouth 0-2 Leicester City
Bristol Rovers 1-2 Carlisle United
Burnley 2-1 Stoke City
Cardiff City 0-1 Arsenal
Chelsea 3-0 Notts County
Chesterfield 1-2 Millwall
Coventry City 1-2 Leeds United
Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
Derby County 4-0 Hartlepool United
Everton 2-1 Southampton
Exeter City 2-1 Newcastle United
Fulham 3-0 Bolton
Gillingham 1-1 Middlesbrough
Ipswich Town 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Norwich City 2-1 Brighton & Hove
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Blackpool
QPR 2-0 Doncaster
Reading 6-0 Southend United
Sheffield United 1-2 Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Leyton Orient
Sunderland 0-3 Liverpool
Swansea City 2-0 Colchester
Watford 2-1 Charlton Athletic
West Ham United 2-1 Manchester City
Manchester United 3-0 Preston North End
Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Hull City
Rotherham United 1-1 Yeovil Town
Swindon Town 0-0 Wigan Athletic
West Bromwich Albion 2-1 MK Dons

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2013-14 Barclays Premier League
Match Day # 22
15 January 2014
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke City 1
Swansea City 3

A Wilfred Bony(40' 59' 62') hat trick was more than enough to send Stoke City to a rather uninspired 3-1 defeat to Swansea City here at the Britannia. Following the match, Stoke manager Mark Hughes asked for patience from the fans, saying: "We're trying to build something here the right way, but to do that there needs to be days like today. We will learn from this and improve, that I can promise"
Oussama Assaidi(90') was the Potters lone goal scorer.

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Adding Some Young Lions

Having already signed right sided midfielder Nicolai Muller from Mainz early last week, Stoke City manager Mark Hughes stayed much closer to home with his next two signings, bringing in young and hungry CM Will Hughes from Derby County and striker Connor Wickham from Sunderland.
Hughes was purchased in a straight cash deal for £3.4 million pounds, while Wickham was purchased for £2.4 million pounds and struggling striker Peter Crouch who welcomed the move up north. In the presser to announce the deals Hughes called this the dawn of a new day for Stoke City and their fans, saying "We want young hungry lions to be the backbone of this club, and with Will and Connor we now have two of the best. Later in the meeting, Hughes mentioned a switch to a 4-4-2 for the rest of the campaign, with his starting 11 looking like this:
Begovic
Cameron - Shawcross - Huth(once healthy) - Pieters/Muniesa
Mueller - N'Zonzi - Hughes - Arnautovic
Giudetti - Wickham

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2013-14 Barclays Premier League
Match Day # 23
19 January 2014
Selhurst Park, South Norwood

Crystal Palace 1
Stoke City 3

New Boys Step To The Fore

Here at cold and snowy Selhurst Park, visiting Stoke City once again got the best of their former manager and his struggling club, defeating bottom of the table Crystal Palace by the score of 3-1.
Goals from Steven N'Zonzi(38'), and new boys Connor Wickham(57'), and Nicolai Müller(60') proved more than enough for Stoke who won for the first time since their 1-0 Boxing Day victory at St. James Park.
Joe Ledley(52') picked up the lone goal for Palace.

Stoke City Transfer News

- Left back Andy Wilkinson has agreed to a pre contract deal with Fulham and will be leaving us this summer.

- Up and coming keeper Jack Butland has been loaned to Championship side Blackburn Rovers for the rest of the season.

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Pre-Deadline Transfer Business

- Fluminense have shipped Brazilian forward Rafael Sobis to SC Freiburg for £1.7 million pounds

- Fulham have signed speedy winger Hatem Ben Arfa from Newcastle United for £4.2 million pounds

- Manchester United have sent backup keeper Jesse Lindegaard to Borussia Dortmund for £3.2 million pounds

- Zenit St Petersburg have sold Russian striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov to Aston Villa for £3.5 million pounds.

- Parma have sold Argentine central defender Gabriel Paletta to Udinese for £5.5 million pounds.

- Gremio have sold Brazilian GK Marcelo Grohe to Levante for £1.4 million pounds.

And Now......The Biggies

-Olympiqie Marseille have purchased Brazilian striker Ėderson from Atletico Paranaense for £11.5 million pounds

-Unhappy with his role in the squad, Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney has been granted his wish and has been sold to Paris Saint-Germain for £19 million pounds

- Manchester City have pried away talented Spanish CDM Javi Martinez from Bayern Munich for £19.5 million pounds

- Unable to stomach the antics of their uber talented but troubled star striker any longer, Liverpool have sold 27 year old Luis Suarez to FC Barcelona for a whopping £44.5 million pounds.

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2013-14 Barclays Premier League
Match Day #24
28 January 2014
Stadium Of Light, Sunderland

Sunderland 0
Stoke City 1

Continuing their run of results on the road, Stoke City used a 51st minute goal by Marko Arnautovic to defeat fading Sunderland by the score of 1-0 here at the Stadium Of Light. With the win, the Potters have now gone 3-2-0 in their last five league road contests, unfortunately though, their 1-1-3 mark at home has kept them from taking advantage.

Club Transfer News

- Disgruntled Stoke City midfielder Brek Shea has been transferred to Aston Villa in a straight swap for nearly out of contract midfielder Gary Gardner.
Stoke then announced that Gardner has signed a new 4 year contract with the club.

- Starting GK Asmir Begovic has refused to sign the new contract offered him by the club, preferring instead to play out the remaining time on his deal. With a little over two years left on his contract, and young Jack Butland waiting in the wings, you have to wonder if this will be the last season for Begovic at Stoke.

League News

-Announced just as the transfer window closed, midlands club West Bromwich Albion has just been taken over by Middle Eastern land barons. The new owners are expected to be aggressive in their attempt to strengthen the squad come summer.

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2013-14 FA Cup
Round #3 Replay
22 January 2014

Barnsley 3-3(4-3p) Birmingham City
Middlesbrough 2-1 Gillingham
Wigan Athletic 1-0 Swindon Town
Yeovil Town 1-3 Rotherham United