Comparisons with Lourdes are incongruous, but perhaps there is something in water in the Potteries capable of rejuvenating troubled maverick midfield players. Fastforward 30 years after Alan Hudson revived his career by joining Stoke City and Lee Hendrie is following suit.
On loan from Aston Villa, Hendrie is showing the form that is likely to persuade Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, to recall him to the claret-and-blue fold. “He’s shown his manager that he should still be playing in the Premiership,” Michael Duberry, the Stoke captain, said. “He’s also lifted Stoke City as a football club and that’s all you can ask for.”
And how. Stoke have won seven of their ten matches since Hendrie arrived and it was his astute pass that resulted in the penalty from which Danny Higginbotham secured the latest. The win also elevated Stoke to sixth, but how long will Hendrie, and, the other loan signings, Andy Griffin, Salif Diao and Patrik Berger, be allowed to remain? “It is a worry come January that the team could be broken up,” Duberry said. “But we’ll deal with that when it comes. I’m sure the manager is planning ahead to that time.”
By contrast, Tony Mowbray, the new West Bromwich Albion manager, should have no need of loan signings, having inherited what is regarded as the Coca-Cola Championship’s strongest squad. But that was not apparent against Stoke, or from recent results, as West Bromwich have slipped to eighth in the table after taking four points from six matches.
“We didn’t create too many clear-cut chances in the second half, but I felt we were in the ascendancy,” Mowbray said. “We played against a very competitive team and weren’t allowed to play our free-flowing, passing football.”
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Stoke City (4-4-2): S Simonsen — A Griffin, M Duberry, D Higginbotham, C Hoefkens — L Lawrence, D Russell, S Diao, L Hendrie (sub: C Hill, 90min) — M Sidibe, V Péricard (sub: P Berger, 67). Substitutes not used: P Sweeney, S Bangoura, L Buxton. FORM WWWWLW NEXT Cardiff City (h)
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): R Hoult — M Albrechtsen (sub: Z Gera, 63), C Davies, L Perry, P Robinson — J Greening, N Quashie, D Carter, J Koumas — D Kamara (sub: N Ellington, 77), K Phillips. Substitutes not used: L Steele, S Watson, P McShane. Booked: Phillips, Greening. FORM LWLLDL NEXT Sheffield Wednesday (a)