Jordan Thompson speaks out on Stoke City future as contract ticks down
Jordan Thompson wants to earn a new contract at Stoke City as he tries to help a club he has fallen in love with pull firmly in the right direction.
The 28-year-old Northern Ireland international is Stoke’s longest serving first team player and is back fit after a hernia operation to break into Mark Robins’ plans, firstly tasked with making sure they get enough points in the next 11 games to secure their Championship status.
He is one of eight players who are out of contract in the summer and, if he wants to let that situation take care of itself by playing well for Robins, there is no doubt he wants to stay.
“This club definitely means a lot to me,” he said. “I’ve been a good number of years now and my wee son is a Stoke fan. The most frustrating thing, because you’ve been here so long you want to see the club progress and go upwards rather than looking over our shoulder. First and foremost we want to finish this season strong.
“My contract situation is what it is but I would like to stay at the club. I love being here to be honest with you. But that’s got nothing to do with the priority at the moment. I just want to kick on with the football and those things then take care of themselves.”
Thompson was parachuted into a fight to stay in this division when he was brought to Stoke from Blackpool by Michael O’Neill back in January 2020. A couple of seasons hoping to sustain a play-off push ran out of steam before they were sucked back into a battle in the wrong half under Alex Neil and Steven Schumacher.
Now, as they prepare for a trip to in-form Coventry this Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm), Thompson knows what is required most urgently.
“I just think at the minute it’s not about the performance, we need to find a way to win matches,” he said. “It’s not the situation we want to be in, definitely not – we want to be looking up at the play-offs and things like that – but it is where we are at the minute and in previous years we’ve found a way to win games.
“We have to take responsibility as players. That’s our job. The results and performances haven’t been good enough this season but there have been glimpses that have been positive things, just not a consistent basis and we’ve been losing too many games. We need to be finishing the season strong.”
The midfielder has made 170 Stoke appearances now and is closing in on his 100th league start. He is trying to make up for lost time after missing a chunk of the winter through injury.
He said: “That was a frustrating period. I knew there was something there and I just didn’t know what it was at the time and was playing through it a wee bit. But once I got the surgery I felt brand new again and it’s good to be back.
“It’s frustrating (to be injured when a new manager is appointed) because you want to be out getting to know what he wants from you and the team. But once I got back, the manager had a brief conversation with me, said it’s a clean slate for everyone and I was happy to be back out with the boys again.”
His first start back was at left-back in a 3-1 win over Swansea but he then liked being back in the middle against Watford alongside Ben Pearson, who is also back from injury.
“I enjoyed it at the weekend,” he said. “We had a good bit of chemistry, two feisty players and I think we set the tone really for the match. You could feel it with the crowd getting behind us and the rest of the team. He’s got a lot of experience under his belt and he’s not long back from injury and feels like he’s got a point to prove as well.”
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