In what has been a busy 24 hours for Stoke City, our goalkeeper has signed a contract extension, we’ve appointed a new academy head and one of our most promising young players has been sent out on loan. Danish ‘keeper Thomas Sorensen has put pen to paper on a new contract, former Portsmouth coach Steve Martin has joined Tony Pulis’s coaching staff, and winger Ben Marshall has signed a one-month loan deal with League Two Cheltenham Town.

33 year-old Sorensen has, after protracted but friendly negotiations, agreed to extend his current Stoke contract, which was due to expire in the summer, by a further year, meaning he should remain at the Britannia Stadium until the summer of 2011, when he will turn 35. The talented stopped, who should become the club’s first representative at a World Cup since Northern Ireland’s Sammy McIlroy in 1982 when he turns out for Denmark, for whom he has 83 caps, in South Africa next summer,  joined the Potters on a free transfer from Aston Villa in July 2008, and impressed hugely in his first season, and was many fans’ second choice for player of the year, behind the unanimously backed Abdoulaye Faye. Despite failing to deal with a long shot that resulted in the late goal that cost us a point at Hull last week, he has made a solid start to this campaign, clearly impressing manager Pulis enough to earn a new deal.

After previously stating that he would like to see out his career in the Potteries, Sorensen expressed his hapiness at signing the contract and his gratitude to teh club for giving him the opportunity to turn his career around after he was frozen out of the side at Villa saying, “Their faith then was very important. It was a crossroads for me and Stoke gave me a great chance to play first-team football. When you are given a chance like that, you have to pay something back. I would like to think I have been doing that and hopefully that can continue. I am very happy here and very pleased to have got this sorted.”

For me, this comes as good news. Sorensen is a strong ‘keeper and a great figure to have around the club. He’s not getting any younger though, and as he ages, his game will deteriorate, and I believe we may be seeing the first signs of this. I think it’s important therefore that we look to bring in a younger goalkeeper in January; we have been linked with Huddersfield’s Alex Smithies, to take over the mantle from Sorensen at some point over the next few years.

I admit that I did not know a great deal about Martin when I heard this afternoon that he was coming to Stoke, but, after I realised that he wasn’t the ageing, banjo-playing comic that my initial enquiries revealed, it seems that he’s well qualified for the job in charge of our youth academy. The 41 year-old turned his hand to coaching after failing to break through as a professional despite spending time on the books at Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Southend, Aldershot and Milwall, and spent the last six and a half years at Portsmouth, working in various roles from recruitment manager to youth coach.

Portsmouth have come a long way as a club and that time, and Martin comes with good recommendations from Potters reserve coach Mark O’ Connor, with whom he previously worked at Pompey. As we look to establish ourselves as a top flight club, youth development becomes increasingly importnant, so I hope that Martin is able to continue the good work that was done by Steve Holland before he unpopularly left to take up a job at Chelsea in the summer.

One player that Holland brought to Stoke in his short time back with the club is standing out particularly. That’s eighteen year-old right winger Marshall, who is equally happy playing as an out and out striker. He joined Stoke from Crewe’s academy, where Holland previously worked, back in July and, after impressing during pre-season, he was sent out on a three month loan to League Two side Northampton Town in August. He did well there, netting twice in seventeen league games, and, although he seemed to tire towards the end of his spell at Sixfields, Pulis was instantly keen to get him playing first team football again after his time with the Cobblers ended last week. He joins Cheltenham, who currently lie 21st in League Two, five places behind Northampton, for a month, and will go straight into their squad for the trip to Lincoln tomorrow.

From what I’ve seen of Marshall, he’s got a bright future ahead of him, and it’s important for him to be playing regularly to get his experience and confidence up. Though I’d have liked to see him move up a level now and go to a League One club, the move to Cheltenham is a good one for him, and he should benefit well from it.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!