Shawcross Hints At Dissatisfaction At Stoke

  Stoke’s England Under 21 defender, and one time record signing Ryan Shawcross has hinted that he is not happy with hiscurrent situation at the club and may be tempted to leave if another player in his position is signed, with former captain Danny Higginbotham being linked.

  20 year old Shawcross, pictured looking remarkably like a turtle, became a mainstay at the heart of the Stoke backline after signing first on loan and then permanently for a fee that could rise to £2 million from Manchester United last season, making 45 appearances and scoring eight goals. He started alongside Leon Cort in Stoke’s suspect defence against Bolton two weeks ago, but was dropped to make way for new signing Abdoulaye Faye against Aston Villa last Saturday, and few could argue with the result from that day. Surely the back four that looked solid in that match have earned something of a run in the side to impress.

                    

  There is no doubt that Shawcross, tipped by many to feature for the england senior team in years to come is a very talented player, with quality that belies his age and arguably the best prospect Stoke have had in a young player in a long time. However, one must not forget that just over a year ago, Shawcross was playing only reserve team football, and is now a Premier League player. He is still very young and it is surely for the best that his first team opportunities this season are designed to ease him up to the level, rather than drop him in at the deep end, as frankly versus Bolton he looked out of his depth.

  No professional player can begrudge his colleagues a place in the team when they’re performances justify that place, as with Cort and Faye versus Villa. No player is bigger than Stoke City, and it is important for a young player such as Ryan to remember this, and it is naive to expect the team in a higher division to remain unchanged from the division before.

  Shawcross did show maturity above his years in his displays on the pitch last season, but to suggest he will attempt to leave the club because healthy competition for his place, that will no doubt improve the squad as a whole, shows great immaturity.

  Hopefully Shawcross will soon realise that it is best for him to remain at Stoke and be content with limited action for the opening stages of Stoke’s first ever Premier league season, as he should, as I am, be of no doubt that it won’t be too long before he breaks ito the side on merit and is gracing the field and the club with his performances again.