After another missed penalty by Jonathan Walters, Stoke City boss Tony Pulis came to the defence of the forward, but was the Welsh supreme right to, or should he put his foot down and remove penalty duties from the Republic of Ireland international?
Since Jonathan Walters moved from East Anglian outfit Ipswich Town in 2010, he has taken over the responsibility of taking the Potters` spot kicks, with mixed results.
Before Walters took over the penalty duty, Stoke had an amazing penalty record, between the 2003/04 and 2009/10, Stoke had only failed to get a 100% conversion rate in two seasons.
Ricardo Fuller missed one penalty in our first season in the Premier League against Tottenham at Home, where the ball hit both posts and came out and then unbelievable, the only other season that Stoke failed to score all their penalties was in the 2005/06 season when two spot kicks were missed in one game, as Paul Gallagher and Luke Chadwick both missed penalties in the 3-0 home defeat against Hull City.
There are a number of options the Potters` could turn too. Free kick specialists Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson are plausible options, whilst German centre half has all the pedigree and history behind him to be a successful spot kick taker.
Reverting back to former spot kick taker, Matthew Etherington looks the most realistic option. Etherington has failed to miss a spot kick in the Premier League for Stoke, hailing a three out of three record, but the former Tottenham and West Ham winger did miss his last penalty, in the F.A. Cup Quarter Final against West Ham.
One thing for sure is though, Stoke do need to look for a new spot kick taker, because Jonathan Walters record is not good enough, and if Stoke continue to pay the penalty, the club could lose valuable points in the tail end of the season and could miss out on European football, a top-half place or even their Premier League status.
2012/13- 1/3 33% (Walters 1/3)2011/12- 4/6 66% (Walters 4/6)2010/11- 3/3 100% (Etherington 3/3 Walters 1/1)2009/10- 2/2 100% (Beattie 1/1 Etherington 1/1)2008/09- 5/6 83% (Higginbotham 1/1 Lawrence 1/1 Beattie 1/1 Fuller 2/3)2007/08- 6/6 100% (Lawrence 4/4 Fuller 2/2)2006/07- 5/5 100% (Higginbotham 4/4 Fuller 1/1)2005/06- 1/3 60% (Hoefkens 2/2 Gallagher 1/2 Chadwick 0/1)2004/05- 1/3 100% (Noel-Williams 2/2 Clarke 1/1)2003/04- 1/1 100% (Asaba 1/1)
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