We are now in the run up to the silly season. This is the time of year when Sky Sports, ably assisted on the Oatcake by some chap called "davesviews", start having us believe that we are in long and protracted talks with Ditmar Van Nostrilboy and a nine foot striker from Trinidad who isn't worth 14 million in Zimbabwe, let alone Britain. But City's lack of goals this season is not, as Pulis might have you believe, the sole fault of the strikers and seeing as there are no bargains to be had in the final third this year, perhaps we need to look elsewhere to strengthen our goalscoring capability.

It is my belief that the forwards that we boast at the club: Kitson (albeit just), Sidibe, Fuller, Beattie & Tuncay are the best collective of strikers in the bottom half of the Premier League and it is becoming apparent that given the absurd numbers being banded about, it seems stupid to look at an area that we are already capable in and ignore the key area that I see as our major weakness going forward. Our Midfield.

Now this is not to say that we do not have decent midfielders at the club; Etherington is in the form of his life and is our stellar performer most weeks, and Whitehead, Whelan, Lawrence to name but three are all more than capable of playing at this level, but it is the manner in which they are deployed that is causing the problems. There seems to me to be an invisible box that the central midfielders are allowed to play in, a box that begins at the toes of our central defenders and ends at the half-way line, and it is costing us dearly. Pulis bemoans the fact that we are not scoring goals yet we frequently enter games with only three attack minded players - when you think about it it is hardly inspiring is it, and certainly at this level not hard to defend against.

It's also making good players look not so clever. Delap out wide is ridiculous. He's far too slow to play our there these days and as such his contribution to the game is reduced to that of Subbuteo throw-in figure...by rights Americans should love Stoke, we are the only side in the Premier League with a special teams divison. Much has been made of Whitehead's ineffectual performances at times this season, but he's stifled by Diao in my opinion. You wouldn't play Defoe & Owen up front in the same side would you? because they will make the same runs. The same thing applies to Central Midfielders, either Diao or Whitehead is continually in the way of the other when they are trying to do their job and as such they basically nullifying each other. It's one or the other Tone, and you'll see the improvement, but you cannot play three defensive midfielders (Delap is too slow to get forward, and he doesn't like to go too far from his favourite towel) and then blame the strikers for not scoring, it makes no sense. We played two naturally wide players against Fulham and the difference shows. Now what we need to do is take the transfer window and use it to bring in players who don't shy away from their resposibilities, but are also prepared to put their foot on the ball and use it too.

Liam Lawrence seems to be really out of favour these days (for reasons that escape me to be honest) so options wide on the right would be my first port of call. Babel to me is pie in the sky but there are two J's that might well fit the bill. Jerome Thomas at West Bromwich Albion is in the form of life, looks a potent threat going forward, would be in our wage bracket and is living in the area so would be worth a bid, and despite his problems, Jermaine Pennant remains one of the best crossers of a ball I have ever seen, something I believe our striking force would really thrive upon. The other area I think we need to look at is Central Midfield, and we need a player happy going forward, but as happy working hard in a midfield if the game turns or we are hanging on a bit. Another player I believe not only fits our finances as well as our ethos is Michael Johnson at Man City. He came into that side in a blaze of glory but has lost his way somewhat in the meleé of spending and star names turning up at Eastlands. Pulis' management speciality remains turning round the careers of players who thought they were on the slide and given the natural resources Johnson possesses, I think Pulis could make him a star. On his day he is a top class talent, capable going forward, a good passer and has an eye for goal. In short, he is exactly what we need.

To finish, i'd lie to thank Andy Griffin for his efforts at Stoke and wish him all the best. That is to say I would like to, but i'm not going to. Griffin pitched up at Stoke after being largely ignored at Newcastle and Portsmouth, where Super Tone turned him round, gave him his confidence back and turned him back into a professional footballer, so much so that we even offered him a contract which he apparently shook hands upon. That is until Derby turned up, offered him a few extra quid a week and off he sodded, only to return in a blaze of mediocrity three months later after Derby realised quite how ordinary he was. Fuller should have slapped him harder for me, and I hope he never gets to wear our shirt again.

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