Pick Your Poison - Stoke City

The Challenge

Pick 3 players you believe left your club and gone onto bigger/better things and you want back at the club. Then make a choice between the 3 players as to which one you'd take back in the current squad. Judge all players on their time of sale, not currently.

The Challenger

Hannah Burrows, 18, Stoke-On-Trent

Player 1

Peter Hoekstra - Winger/Striker

August 2001 - June 2004

 

"The Dutchman was a magician; he did things on the pitch that I didn’t even know were possible! He was the type of player that would make the opposition scared and although he wouldn’t fit into the current team (big, physical etc) I’d love him to return to the club in some capacity. It’s great to think that such a skilful player finished his career at the club after he retired in 2004. He will always be remembered for his hatrick against Reading and particularly the second goal, a goal that I don’t think will ever be matched by a player in a Stoke shirt at the Brit. He was voted as the best Stoke player in the first 10 years at the Britannia which proves what a player he was."

I don't know much about Peter Hoekstra, but having looked him up for the purposes of the article it seems he was a fairly magical player for the Potters. He scored 11 goals in the 3 years at the club and will be poignantly remembered for his hat-trick heroics against Reading. At 6ft 3 he wasn't a typical winger but his skill often led to him being on the receiving end of strong challenges which may have led to his retirement at a fairly young age. He'd have the height to pose a traditional Stoke threat but he was never the strongest so would probably find himself on the fringes of the first team these days.

Player 2

Martin Paterson - Striker

2004 - July 2007

"Having grown up in Stoke-On-Trent, ‘Patto’ wore his heart on his sleeve. He never fully got going at Stoke (only scored 1 goal) but on the rare occasion that he actually played, he’d give 100% effort in similar fashion to Andy Wilkinson, who he came through the academy at Stoke with. Looking at where Stoke are now, it’s difficult to judge whether he’d actually be involved on a regular basis but he’s still only 24, although injuries seem to have curbed his development in recent seasons. Had he not left in 2007, when he signed for Scunthorpe, there’s no doubt that he would have played a key role in our promotion to the Premier League, just a couple of seasons after he left. Having only played 15 games for the club it shows what sort of character he was when you see that he’s still remembered by Stoke fans."

Martin Paterson came through the academy at Stoke City but never managed to break through into the first team on a regular basis. He played just 15 times for the Potters before moving to Scunthorpe where he had a successful season scoring 13 goals in 40 games for the Championship side. That record earned him a £1.3M move to Burnley where he then helped them to promotion into the Premier League. His time there has been blighted by injuries, but he has still been fairly successful scoring 20 goals for the club so far since he's been there.  He'd add some pace to the Stoke front line, but with Jonathan Walters and Cameron Jerome already there along with Ricardo Fuller, Kenwyne Jones and Peter Crouch he would find opportunities very few and far between.

Player 3

Peter Thorne - Striker

1997 - September 2001

"I’ve been looking forward to writing about this man, if you asked me who my all time favourite Stoke player was; it would definitely be Peter Thorne. He scored 65 goals, including the winner that sealed our victory at Wembley in the ‘Football League Trophy’, then called the ‘Auto Windscreen Shield’. In his final season for Stoke, the season that saw him controversially leave for Cardiff City, he scored 4 goals in 5 games before bidding farewell for a lucrative contract in South Wales, who knows what may have happened that season had he stayed with us. Despite the circumstances with which he left, he’ll always be a hero and he proved his love for Stoke when after scoring a hatrick for Cardiff against us he decided not to celebrate. I’d welcome him back with welcome arms; there is only one Peter Thorne!"

Peter Thorne is a cult-hero when it comes to Stoke City. His four years at the club produced 80 goals in 187 games before a £1.8M move to Cardiff took place. He scored the goal that won Stoke the Auto Windscreen Cup at Wembley and is the club's "Famous Number 9". He was an excellent all round striker and became known for his goalscoring instincts in the penalty area, a "fox in the box" if you will. He'd add some clinical finishing to Stoke's game, but he'd find it hard to displace Peter Crouch or Jonathan Walters from the starting line-up.

CONCLUSION

HANNAH BURROWS

"Choosing between the three I'd say Peter Hoesktra, simply because we desperately need competition for wingers right now. We have a good basis of strikers with Crouch and Jerome signing along with the imminent return of Ricardo Fuller. He'd add flare to our team and like I said previously, defenders would fear him. Although he's now in a coaching role, I'm sure he'd pull on the famous red & white again!"

DMF

I think between the three, the obvious choice if Peter Hoekstra. The big Dutchman possessed lots of skill down the wing and add to that his physique, he'd be an excellent fit into the current Stoke setup. I don't think he'd be first choice for Tony Pulis, but he could definitely be someone to bring on when things need to change and I don't think Stoke would mind having a bit more competition for the wide places in their squad.

Do you agree with the choices @HBscfc made? Let us know in the comments section or on Twitter.

DMF (@dmf180593)