Premier League Life Can Be Very Hard, Just Ask Vincent Pericard
Stoke have today announced that French forward Vincent Pericard will be released from the club when his current contract expires in June. The Cameroonian born Frenchman has had a tough time over the last couple of years, spending a month in prison for motoring offences and struggling to make any impression on the Stoke first team.
Pericard’s time at the Britannia Stadium is up
The 26 year old, who has been sidelined since March with a serious knee injury, was Tony Pulis’s first signing of his second spell in charge of the Potters, joining on a free transfer from Portsmouth, and actually made a promising start to his time at the club, credited with a goal on his home debut against Derby, though the last touch actually came off a defender, as well as scoring in two of his next matches, including a vital headed winner over promotion bound Sunderland.
Things soon went wrong for him though, as his lack of pace and tendency to hit the deck at every possible opportunity alienated fans. In fact, when it comes to spectacular falls, Niagara has nothing on Pericard. All in all, he played 45 games for the Potters, scoring just four goals. With a return like that, there’s little wonder he never became a fans’ favourite at Stoke. While I’ve never been one for all out abuse and derision of Stoke players, it’s fair to say that he won’t be missed. I feel that he simply didn’t have the quality to cut it for us at the top of the Championship, let alone in the Premier League, and wasn’t helped by his string of injuries and incarceration, though he only has himself to blame for that. There are probably a fair few Stoke fans who disagree with me when I say this, but I wish him all the best for the rest of his career.
Pericard’s winner against Sunderland in October 2006 was a rare highlight of his Stoke career
The only other Stoke player, youngsters aside, whose contract expires this summer is the veteran Senegalese holding midfielder Salif Diao. In past years, we have always announced all the players we are to release at the same time. There’s been no news on Diao today, which suggests to me that he may be signing a new deal soon. Pulis is a huge fan of him, saying he believes he is the best player of his type in the Premier League, and I’m sure that if Diao wants to stay on at Stoke, a contract will be there for him, but, now 32 and with persistent injury problems, he may wish to hang up his boots or return to Senegal, or possibly France, where he began his career.
A new contract may be on the way for Diao
The former Liverpool man has been a solid player to have in our squad this season, starting eighteen games, and now free from injury for the first time in months, with a good pre-season behind him I feel that he could still play a significant role in our attempts to consolidate our Premier League status and push on up the league next season and beyond, and would be happy to see him signed on for at least another year.
I wish I shared your confidence in Diao’s prospects of a good season. For me he has rarely reproduced the form he showed us on his loan spell from Liverpool. In those games he showed real quality. But his long layoff before he re-joined the club 18 months ago and injuries since then, have meant we have rarely seen the form he showed on loan. And it isn’t just lack of fitness – some of his passing has been mediocre and he has developed a tendancy to get caught in posession.
Obviously a class player once, but I will shed no tears if he leaves this summer.
I like the rhyme in the title, very sneaky yet effective!
Now your safe i think the following phrase you use sums it up,
“it’s fair to say that he won’t be missed”
Nice article
Surprised you have time with these exams!
You shouldn’t have time to produce this!
Although Matt remarks about the effectiveness of the rhyme in the title, it does not actually work. Maybe for the uneducated Englishman it does, but for those of us who are familiar with the pronunciation used by Franch people, know that Hard and Pericard don’t actually rhyme!!
Only one mistake I can be bothered to find. You put “In in all” instead of “All in all”.
How did you find the paper?
Just to let you know, Franch is a similar language to French that is spoken in France!!
So I am uneducated?!
If that is what I was wanting to be inferred, then yes
Lakeland, I see your point, but I still believe he’s a useful player to have in the squad, if not for his on pitch displys then as a vastly experienced head in the dressing room. I felt in the first half of the season he was pretty good, before he had a couple of injuries and never recovered. I don’t think we’ll ever see him as good as he was in that first loan spell, but you have to consider we’re now playing significantly superior opposition.
Steven, I’m well aware that Pericard is actually pronounced “Payrecar”, but oh well. How did I find the paper? Very easily, it was right there on the desk in front of me (that’s my stock response to the numerous people who ask me that).
Seriously though, so so, I thought part A was quite easy, while B was harder. You?
“Steven, I’m well aware that Pericard is actually pronounced “Payrecar”, but oh well. How did I find the paper? Very easily, it was right there on the desk in front of me (that’s my stock response to the numerous people who ask me that).”
Technically, it should be pronounced Payreecar, but I’ll let you off.
That actually made me chuckle VJ. Very similar to your comment about the person called Mark Scheme – a quip that sill makes me smile!
I agree, part A was OK (maybe apart from the inequalities question) whilst section B was considerably harder. I felt question 11 about the co-ordinate geometry was particularly demanding whilst a couple of parts in both 12 and 13 required some serious thought. All in all, and judging by some of Chekroud’s comments on facebook, it was one of the harder C1 papers we have done.
“How did I find the paper? Very easily, it was right there on the desk in front of me (that’s my stock response to the numerous people who ask me that).”
That just made me laugh so so much! Ahaha, lovee itt! I even told my dad that, he was impressed! That just made my rather dull day complete!
VJ, check here for the answers to C1:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=911242&page=1
From what I remember I put, I estimate that I got 53.
Would that get me a B???
I’m not going to look at the answers, no point fretting over it, what will be will be.
53 is just about on the C/B borderline.
I think on a hard paper, 53 will be a B, but as you say, there is nowt that we can do now, so I will move onto C2 with fresh thoughts.
Good ridance to Pericard, the guy can barely stand up.
Top article, well done!