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  1. 'Scouting is about your eyes' - Vale legend Foyle

    Foyle: 'A lot has changed for the better'

    Port Vale chief scout Martin Foyle will rely on his eyes over data and statistics when it comes to recommending possible signings for the club.

    Foyle scored 107 goals in 356 games for the club, managed them from 2004 to 2007 and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in June.

    He has previously filled recruitment roles at Northampton Town, Morecambe, St Mirren and Carlisle United. He told BBC Radio Stoke doing the job had changed over that time.

    "A lot of it [now] is data driven which is something I didn't have a lot of at the previous three or four clubs - not that if affects anything because at the end of the day, scouting is about your eyes and your feel for a player and obviously if the club can afford to take them," the 63-year-old said.

    "Social media has probably had the biggest affect on football, on managers and coaches, even players as well. It can be very tricky, there's a lot of lies out there and people get portrayed in different ways.

    "That's the hardest thing to deal with - but as for the rest, going to games, meeting people, meeting agents who are connected with a lot of clubs... It's about trying to be open, honest and upfront, and tell it like it is.

    "Contacts are huge - it is [about] who you know. I started about 10, 12 years ago with Chris Wilder and Alan Knill at Northampton - that was a baptism of what goes on. Recruitment is a completely different field and it's not as easy as people think."

    Vale have signed a dozen players since relegation from League One last season.

    They began the League Two campaign with a 2-0 loss at Oldham Athletic and next face back-to-back home games against Tranmere Rovers and Crewe Alexandra.

  2. A scattered arrangement of Panini football stickers, all of which feature Robbie Williams, a man wearing a black football top with brand logos and the letters RW in gold type on the front.

  3. Gossip: Stoke track Villa defender Rowe

    BBC gossip image with blurred out football stand in the background

    Stoke City are interested in taking full-back Triston Rowe from Aston Villa. The Premier League club are understood to be open to either a loan or a permanent deal for the 19-year-old. (The Athletic - subscription required)

    Meanwhile Stoke and Preston are set to be disappointed in their pursuit of Hull City defender Cody Drameh who reportedly wants to remain with the Premier League club. The two Championship clubs are reported to have offered £1m for the right-back. (Sky Sports)

    Find more of Tuesday's EFL gossip here.

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  4. 🎧 'Not the start we wanted'

    The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.

    Lucas Yeomans and Matt Sandoz are joined by former Stoke City striker Louis Moult to reflect on the opening day defeat by Swansea City.

    Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

    A Cold Wet Tuesday Night: 'Not the start we wanted'

    Explore more Stoke City content on BBC Sounds

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  5. Two men and a woman in black tshirts and trousers standing in front of a large stack of green crates containing a variety of items

  6. A group of people in blue or yellow uniforms are standing at a counter in a leisure centre with branding on the wall behind them. There is a pale grey flooring and a series of hanging lights dangling from the ceiling.

  7. An aerial view of a fire engulfing gardens, with trees either side and house nearby. There is a scorched field in the foreground.

  8. An elevated view of queuing traffic on a motorway

  9. Smoke is billowing from an area of scrubland, with ash covering much of the area in the foreground of the photo. In the distance are rows of houses and green trees.

  10. 'Swans more of a finished article than Stoke'

    Mark Elliott
    BBC Radio Stoke commentator

    Eric Bocat, wearing Stoke City's red and white striped home kit, celebrates scoring against Swansea. His team-mates Ethan Galbraith, left, and Sorba Thomas, right, can be seen running either side of and just behind him.Getty Images

    Stoke had enough chances to take at least a point from their 2-1 defeat to Swansea but ultimately came off second best in too many of the game's biggest moments.

    Eric Bocat scored a good goal at the end of a good move but Sorba Thomas, so often the hero over the past year, missed a very presentable chance at 1-1 and several other lower profile opportunities were passed up by a poor final pass or shot.

    Swansea scored the winner immediately after the bulk of their substitutions all came at once, taking advantage of a brief period of chaos partially brought about by the changes and kept the ball impressively to see the game out.

    In all, they looked closer to the finished article as a team with Stoke still looking to reinforce their squad and, in doing so, retool their attack in the transfer market.

    They will hope that those moves will help them become more efficient in front of goal, something they've needed to do for some time.

    After the game, manager Mark Robins said he and the club's recruitment team are hoping to add to the squad soon ahead of a tough run of fixtures through the rest of August.

    The Championship provides a long, testing campaign and it's clear the club is well aware of what it needs to do while the transfer window is open to give itself the best chance of success.

  11. A woman in a vintage car wearing a costume which looks to be 1920s-themed.

  12. Two men dressed in blue scrubs are on the left and in the middle and standing up. They are looking towards Hall, who has a beard and grey hair and is sitting on a blue chair on the right.

  13. Seko leaves Stoke for Urawa Reds

    Tatsuki Seko in action for Stoke CityGetty Images

    Japanese midfielder Tatsuki Seko has left Stoke City to join J1 League side Urawa Reds for an undisclosed fee.

    The 28-year-old returns to Japan after two seasons in the Championship with the Potters, having arrived from Kawasaki Frontale in the summer of 2024.

    He played 75 times for Stoke across all competitions, but has not featured in the early weeks of the latest campaign.

    "Tatsuki and his family were open to exploring a return home and, after we reached an agreement with Urawa, he leaves with our gratitude for his commitment as a Stoke City player," Stoke's sporting director Jonathan Walters told the club website.

  14. A middle-aged woman with blonde hair smiles at the camera. Two black cats are visible in front of her.

  15. A white dog sits on top of a circular bale of hay, in the middle of a harvested field under a cloudy sky.

  16. An aerial image taken with a drone of fire damaged properties in Stourbridge, showing burned out homes.

  17. Generic image of EFL ball

  18. Generic image of EFL ball

  19. A man dressed in a Viking outfit, including a red shirt and cloak, as well as a helmet, sword and shield, stands side-on in front of a white and black building.

  20. Narrowboats are moored beside a canal as visitors browse colourful stalls and displays at a canal-side festival.

  21. A composite image of Matt Hudson Smith and three young women

  22. Firefighters spraying water onto the burnt out remains of a house following a huge blaze in Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, which forced some people to flee after it started tearing through homes. Fire crews are making progress tackling huge blazes in the West Midlands that led to thousands of 999 calls and caused "extensive" devastation.

  23. Milan Smit in action for Stoke City. He is wearing a red and white striped home shirt