If you ask most Stoke fans to name their five favourite Potters players from the last twenty years, one of the more frequent names will be Ricardo Fuller. The Jamaican striker will go down in Potters folklore as one of the most popular players ever to wear the red and white. However, it is sad to say, but this could very much be the last season we could be seeing Ric at the Britannia Stadium.

The poultry £500,000 was paid for his services to take him from Southampton back in 2006, could be described as Pulis best ever piece of business. Fuller epitomises the rise of the club. Under the guidance of Pulis, he and the other miss-fits the manager had assembled realised their potential and fired the club into the Premier League. Fuller, however, was arguably the most important link. His 16 league goals that season don’t pay testament to his impact. His lethal combination of strength, speed and cool finishing made him the most feared striker in the Championship. He also had a trick or two.

The 32 year-old could be best defined as an undiscovered genius and would have played at a far higher level if it wasn’t for a long-term knee problem and his attitude. His Stoke years have been by far the best of his career, while previously managers recognised his talent, they couldn’t quite extract the most of it, and all the baggage that comes with Fuller usually guaranteed him a swift exit, a terrible waste of a superb talent.

Tony Pulis, however, isn’t an ordinary manager. He is prepared to put with all the baggage Fuller brings and all the problems he poses. Few other managers would have kept faith with him after some of the stunts he has pulled in his time at the Britannia. As long as he did it on the pitch it was less of a problem.

He isn’t a natural goal scorer, despite him being the clubs top marksman for four successive years. But he did have a knack for scoring extraordinary goals. Just type into YouTube the goals against Wolves back in 2008, his solo effort against Aston Villa in our first ever Premier League home match is one of my most favourite memories as a Stoke fan, and his one away at West Ham isn’t bad either. He could pull something out of nothing when we most needed it, a piece of skill, a clever pass or even surging run. Fuller was unpredictable, and that’s why the crowd love him. Even today, if we were losing, Fuller could still do a job. He still strikes fear into defenders, even if he is in decline.

People often suggest that it was Rory Delap’s throws that are the main reason Stoke still exist in this division, but we couldn’t still be here without Fuller. Whether he could step up and be counted in our first Premier League season was pivotal to our survival. And of course he did, he finished with double figures in the league. Without those goals Stoke wouldn’t be here. For those two seasons, the promotion campaign and the first season, Ricardo Fuller will always be one of my heroes.

Sadly, over the past two years the club and player have been going in different directions. Stoke are growing, improving every season. Fuller is getting older and retirement looms. He probably couldn’t last into his mid-30’s due to his chronic knee , which is so bad that he rarely takes part in full training to protect it. He has gone into decline now he is a little bit slower, much less potent and not quite the genius he was. His contract runs out in the summer, and if he isn’t offered another one and does leave after six years, I would just like to thank him, because without him we wouldn’t be where we are today.

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