Mike Pejic says Stoke City should have anticipated the situation after being short-handed in defense.
Stoke City have signed free agent Ciaran Clark after a slew of injuries left them with just two fit defenders for last weekend’s trip to Leicester, with Jordan Thompson and Josh Laurent filling in as emergency left-back and center-half, respectively.
Alex Neil wanted to add another center-back to his squad of four, but he ran out of time in a summer transfer window in which he had already made 17 new recruits. Now that Ben Wilmot (knee) is expected to be out until Christmas and Michael Rose (groin) has missed the last two games, Clark has signed on a contract until the end of the season.
“It was a gamble to go into the season without proper cover at centre-half,” left-back-turned-pundit Pejic stated.
“Alex Neil has had the opportunity to write off players he didn’t want and shape the squad for the future.” He let go of young Connor Taylor, Phil Jagielka, Morgan Fox, and Aden Flint, which is OK if he doesn’t believe they’re good enough, but he needs cover. He must ensure that Stoke are properly equipped for the challenges that come with a Championship season’s blood and thunder.
“Injuries occur. It’s a shame for Ben Wilmot, but that’s why you have a squad. You must be as prepared as possible for any circumstance.
“You must have wingers on both sides, a target player, a player who can make runs behind, a 10 who can pull off, a sitting midfielder, attacking midfielders, full-backs, and centre-backs.”
“Your close season and pre-season are all about making sure you have all these roles adequately covered, and I think we left ourselves short at left-back and at center-half for the number of deals we did.” Even if we were unlucky with the severity of the injuries, it is an issue we might have predicted.”
Clark, 34, played 11 games on loan for Sheffield United last season as they achieved promotion to the Premier League.
He does, however, have nearly a career’s worth of Premier League experience, which Stoke will need with a flurry of matchups coming up in the coming weeks.
“It’s your knowledge and decision-making as a manager or recruitment department that brought him in,” Pejic remarked. He’s there to do a task.
“You have players with different roles in the squad and there will be some, like Jagielka might have been, who could have been around the training area and changing room to pass on knowledge and experience and pass on the spirit.”
“We’re coming into a big week when we return from the international break (with games against Sunderland, Leeds, and Middlesbrough), but these weeks always come up, and everyone is in the same boat,” he continued.
“We can’t think of it as an excuse; we have to face the challenge head on.” We must prepare for whatever may occur, make sound decisions, and provide appropriate responses. The ones who provide the best responses are the
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