Since the transfer window came into force during the 2002-03 season, Spurs have been one of the most active clubs in terms of players arriving at and leaving White Hart Lane.

After a fairly quiet window by their standards – signing trio Yago Falque, Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen all on free transfers, let's take a look at seven players signed for big money during the January period.

Liverpool turn their attentions back to the Premier League this weekend when they welcome Stoke to Anfield after two games in the FA Cup and Carling Cup.
The Reds go into the clash boosted by the news that skipper Steven Gerrard has signed a new long-term deal which is likely to see him end his playing career at Anfield.

Gerrard signed a new deal this week...Liverpool face Stoke at Anfield on Saturday in the Premier League. After a winning performance at the Etihad in the League Cup, the Reds are brimming with confidence. Interestingly, the last time visitors Stoke lost in the league was at the Etihad, Pulis's boys are on a bit of a roll.

Didier Drogba, Gary Cahill, Andrei Arshavin and Andy Johnson headline the list of Premier League stars who are out of contract at the end of the season according to Goal.com, and could be available on a free transfer this summer.

You could put together a pretty competitive side from this list.

Mock the Weekend: QPR are so bad they made Michael Carrick look like Lionel Messi

The Manchester United man dribbled from the halfway line to stroke home, while Jonathan Woodgate put in one of the worst performances by a professional footballer ever

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-19 08:00:00 from: Goal

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Premier League Official Line special with Graham Poll

Wolves had every right to complain after Jonathan Woodgate escaped his second yellow card when conceding a 17th-minute penalty. Woodgate had already been cautioned.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-18 22:30:18 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

By Alan Duffy

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Stoke City Premier League 17th December 2011

You have to hand it to Tony Pulis, you really do. For all the (often justified) criticism of his team's tactics and style of play, Stoke continue to ground out decent results season after season, never looking like getting themselves embroiled in a relegation dogfight.

A plethora of former Tottenham players suited up in a Stoke City uniform and fully played their part in ending the Spurs' 11-game unbeaten run with an impressive 2-1 win at the Brittania Stadium.

Matthew Etherington, who was a Spurs player between 2000 and 2003, scored twice in the first half, with his opening strike being assisted by Peter Crouch, who just left White Hart Lane this summer.

This will not be an Arsenal related post. It's the Interlull and while there's been sufficient topic of discussion to go about, I felt it would be nice to take a break and write about other things for a change. Was suggested this wonderful site by WengerBoy1 on twitter and there's some wonderful statistics on there.

Racial abuse on the pitch should carry a life ban

I don't know what happened between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand on Sunday. I believe that someone is innocent until proved guilty. But I do think that anyone who uses a racial slur on a football field shouldn't receive a three- or five-game ban.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has confirmed that Luis Suarez was injured against Stoke last night
Dalglish said:
"He got himself injured by trying to stay on his feet when he went round Jonathan Woodgate when there was contact just before half-time.
"He's got a bang on his calf.

Facts and figures ahead of the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Stoke City at the Emirates Stadium.

TEAM NEWS

Arsenal are without Carl Jenkinson due to a knee injury sustained against Marseille so, withBacary Sagna a long-term absentee, Johan Djourou could start at right-back.

1. After making a better start to the season than Sir Alex Ferguson has ever managed with Manchester United, we dropped our first points on Saturday evening. Based on the performance, we can have no complaints. We didn't create enough opportunities to score and didn't deal with the Freak well enough for a cross.

Europa League or Carling Cup, which ought we to want less? It's a tricky one. The Europa League trophy is a sizeable beast, and its lack of handles gives it a pleasingly Neanderthalic edge – one cannot help but handle it in rough, uncouth manner when raising it aloft, which is rather apt after 90 minutes of blood and thunder.

There are four ex-Spurs players in the Stoke City squad and while the Potters also have league and European ambitions to worry about, we can expect to come up against some, or maybe all of them this evening.

As Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and Jonathan Woodgate linked up with Matthew Etherington at the Britannia, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp revealed that he is harbouring some regrets at letting Woodgate go.

By Alan Duffy

Despite spending a fair amount of money on his Sunderland team, Steve Bruce has endured a rather rubbish start to the season. However, at home to Stoke on Sunday, the Black Cats finally marked their territory by weeing all over the Potters.

Not famed for his goalscoring ability, Titus Bramble opened the scoring while summer signings Craig Gardner and Seb Larsson also helped to give the Black Cats their first win of the new season.

By Alan Duffy

Jonathan Woodgate's career has been utterly ruined by injury, which may be some kind of karma for his involvement in the attack on an Asian student back in 2000. Still, despite his immense talent, the 31-year-old central-half has struggled to stay fit for any decent length of time since leaving Leeds United in 2003.

Liverpool head to the Britannia tomorrow to face Tony Pulis' Stoke City in one of the more challenging away fixtures on the Premier League calendar. The Reds have only earned two points in their last three visits, and the hosts have a well-founded reputation for being one of the least hospitable clubs in the top flight.

Liverpool hasn't won at the Britannia Stadium in the Premier League and they will be in for another tough game at Stoke on Saturday.
Tony Pulis has done some great business in the transfer market and it's been a real show of ambition by Stoke.
They've brought in the likes of Peter Crouch, Matthew Upton, Jonathan Woodgate and Cameron Jerome and look set for a good season.

Jonathan Woodgate was released from Tottenham Hotspur in June 2011 and found himself looking at an end to his athletic career. Upon his departure from White Hart Lane he had only played in four games in about two years. His downfall was an injury he...
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Why Stoke are the window's big winners and Bolton the big losers, plus Arteta, Bellamy and why I fear for Wales at Wembley

Stoke are the big winners of the transfer window, Bolton the big losers. Gary Cahill can now leave the Reebok on a Bosman next summer, so holding out for £17million will hurt Bolton, especially with their big debt.

Why Stoke are the window's big winners and Bolton the big losers, plus Arteta, Bellamy and why I fear for Wales at Wembley

Stoke are the big winners of the transfer window, Bolton the big losers. Gary Cahill can now leave the Reebok on a Bosman next summer, so holding out for £17million will hurt Bolton, especially with their big debt.

Why Stoke are the window's big winners and Bolton the big losers, plus Arteta, Bellamy and why I fear for Wales at Wembley

Stoke are the big winners of the transfer window, Bolton the big losers. Gary Cahill can now leave the Reebok on a Bosman next summer, so holding out for £17million will hurt Bolton, especially with their big debt.

Why Stoke are the window's big winners and Bolton the big losers, plus Arteta, Bellamy and why I fear for Wales at Wembley

Stoke are the big winners of the transfer window, Bolton the big losers. Gary Cahill can now leave the Reebok on a Bosman next summer, so holding out for £17million will hurt Bolton, especially with their big debt.

Why Stoke are the window's big winners and Bolton the big losers, plus Arteta, Bellamy and why I fear for Wales at Wembley

Stoke are the big winners of the transfer window, Bolton the big losers. Gary Cahill can now leave the Reebok on a Bosman next summer, so holding out for £17million will hurt Bolton, especially with their big debt.

Why Stoke are the window's big winners and Bolton the big losers, plus Arteta, Bellamy and why I fear for Wales at Wembley

Stoke are the big winners of the transfer window, Bolton the big losers. Gary Cahill can now leave the Reebok on a Bosman next summer, so holding out for £17million will hurt Bolton, especially with their big debt.

By Andy Brunning

Now that deadline day's out the way, it's time to take a look at who's feeling smugly self-satisfied about the whole affair and who spent the small hours of last night crying into their pillow at the injustice of it all. Here, in no particular order, are the four biggest winners and losers to emerge from yesterday's dealings.

Huge day for Stole City as they spent around £20million, including a club-record fee of £10million for Spurs striker Peter Crouch. In addition to Crouch, Stoke also signed midfielder Wilson Palacios and forward Cameron Jerome. The Crouch deal could even rise to £12million dependent on the fulfilment of various clauses.

Huge day for Stole City as they spent around £20million, including a club-record fee of £10million for Spurs striker Peter Crouch. In addition to Crouch, Stoke also signed midfielder Wilson Palacios and forward Cameron Jerome. The Crouch deal could even rise to £12million dependent on the fulfilment of various clauses.

Stoke City F.C. are leaving no stone unturned in their meticulous preparations for the club's first European campaign in 37 years. With work afoot to build a squad that can cope with the rigours of playing twice a week, they have also embarked on the gargantuan task of making thousands upon thousands of sandwiches.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis has told Liverpool to forget about signing Ryan Shawcross, insisting the club have "got no need to sell" their star defender.
Following the arrivals of England internationals Matthew Upson and Jonathan Woodgate, rumours of Shawcross potentially heading for the exit door have circulated.

In football as in life, hindsight is always 20/20 and there are some dissenting Spurs voices that have greeted the impressive displays shown by Jonathan Woodgate in his first two outings as a Stoke City player.

Woody played half a game for Spurs last season after being beset by injuries over the last two years.

Roberto Mancini, Queen Of The Desert

How do you get over a last-minute Community Shield defeat to your closest rivals? Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini went out in London last Monday and, rather worryingly, chose to cheer himself up with a visit to cross-dressing musical Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert.

Our next View from the Enemy on our final day is with Jon Owen from Why Delilah who has spoken to us about the highs and lows of last season.

Scott the Red: Were you happy with your team's performance last season?

John Owen: Very. It was disappointing not to finish in the top half, but it was another season of progress for us.

It was only three years ago that Stoke City got promoted to the Premier League and everyone expected them to immediately get relegated. Instead they finished 12th in their first season in the Premier League and have not looked back.

Stoke have always been strong defensively and last season Tony Pulis focused on scoring more goals, breaking the Stoke transfer record to sign Kenwyne Jones from Sunderland for £8 million.

Stoke have pulled off another astute free transfer deal, which see's former England defender Matthew Upson join the Potters after being released by relegated West Ham following his contract expiration.

Upson (32) will join Jonathan Woodgate in the Stoke ranks following his free transfer from Tottenham last month.

In the absence of live football during the close-season, the avid football fan is kept entertained by the bi-annual transfer merry-go-round where rumours of unlikely moves and bargain buys are rife as each team looks to build on the past season.

This summer has been no exception and certainly hasn't disappointed.

Friendly round-up: Gervinho scores twice on Arsenal debut, Liverpool lose to Hull

Titus Bramble was sent off and Jonathan Woodgate played for an hour in mixed afternoon for Prem sides

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-07-23 17:16:18 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

This summer Ipswich Town have been 'linked' to so many footballers I think I've lost count; but this time last week the name being thrown about on Twitter made my blood run cold.
Seven days later we have signed Lee Bowyer, chequered history and all. But was it the right move?
The debate on Twitter has been interesting to say the least; when I offered my opinion on him I was ridiculed for being childish and judgemental, being told to 'grow up' and 'give him a break'.

Jonathan Woodgate, once considered among the top defenders in the world, has signed on a pay-as-you-play basis with Stoke City after a series of injuries had derailed his career.

Woodgate, who flourished with Newcastle United in his younger days, can boast of clubs such as Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur on his CV but unfortunately, his appearances with those clubs were limited by the aforementioned injuries.