Glenn Whelan just beat the January transfer window deadline to join Tony Pulis's Stoke City revolution when he moved from Sheffield Wednesday in a £500,000 transfer. Ex-Manchester City academy player Whelan was something of a fans' favourite at Hillsborough but the Irishman admitted the time was right for him to move on after helping Wednesday out of League One and spending three-and-a-half years with the South Yorkshire club. Pulis had been considering a move for Whelan for a while and once the price was right for Stoke he brought the promising midfielder to the Britannia Stadium. For Whelan, 24, it was a tough decision to make but he knew there was a chance he could be back in League One next season if he didn't go to Stoke who are hoping to make it into the Premier League. He spoke to givemefootball’s Ian Clarkson about his move from one end of the division to the other.
Q:DID YOU EXPECT STOKE TO BE IN THIS STRONG POSITION WHEN YOU JOINED?
A:The manager told me that Stoke were a team on the up and I could see that with the players he brought here in January. To get out of this division you need to spend that kind of money. What that told me was that Stoke were not a club who were just happy to tread water and maybe hope to challenge for the play-offs. The quality of the squad here also impressed me.
Q:YOU WERE A FANS' FAVOURITE AT WEDNESDAY, SO WHY MAKE THE MOVE?
A:I rejected a new contract at Wednesday because I didn't know what division we'd be playing in next season to be honest. I'd heard rumours that Tony Pulis had been interested in signing me for a while but it wasn't until we met that I found out what his plans for the club were. I was happy to make the move, obviously it's better to be at the top than struggling at the bottom. But I have a lot of time for Wednesday, I enjoyed every minute of my time there and I really hope they don't go down.
Q:STOKE PLAY AT HILLSBOROUGH AT THE END OF MARCH, HOW WILL YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT GAME?
A:I hope there isn't too much bad feeling towards me, but if there is then I'll have to accept it because that's the way football is sometimes But all the moves I've made so far in my career have been a progression for me. I left Manchester City in 2004 to get more football at Wednesday and it worked out well. I hope this decision is a good one and I'm sure it will be.
Q:YOU HAVE PLAY-OFF EXPERIENCE AFTER SCORING IN THE LEAGUE ONE FINAL IN 2005 WHEN WEDNESDAY BEAT HARTLEPOOL, COULD THAT BE AN ASSET AT THE END OF THIS SEASON?
A:It's all very well getting into the play-offs and reaching a big final, but if you don't win then it's all for nothing. I made it to a final with Wednesday and we won which is the greatest feeling, but I certainly wouldn't have wanted to have been on the losing side that day. So I would hope Stoke can go up by being in the top two. The play-offs are cup-tie football, not league, so that's different too and the pressures and expectation are immense. It would be great for me to get back into the Premier League after things didn't work out with City. And I wouldn't have come to Stoke if I didn't think that was possible.
Q:HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE RUN-IN TO THE END OF THE SEASON?
A:We were unlucky at Preston then at QPR we hit the woodwork twice and had Andy Griffin sent off for an offence where the referee then rescinded the red card after looking at the replay. It's no use pouring out hard luck stories though, we had a good sequence of results going and we need to pick them up again.
