Tom Cannon is receiving support as he aims to secure his first goal for Stoke City.
The 21-year-old striker joined the Potters on loan from Leicester City during the summer transfer window, a move that was considered a significant win for Stoke given the competition from various Championship clubs for his services. However, Cannon has struggled to find his form at his new club thus far. He has featured in two Championship matches, both of which ended in losses for Stoke, and he came off the bench in the League Cup match against Fleetwood, where he unfortunately missed a clear opportunity during regular time and failed to convert his penalty in the subsequent shootout.
Tom Cannon is receiving encouragement to succeed at Stoke City, even though he has had a slow start.
Despite it being early in the season, some fans expressed their dissatisfaction with Cannon’s performance against Hull. Given Stoke’s long-standing struggle to find a natural goalscorer, there is growing concern about whether he can be the solution to this significant issue.
Potters fan pundit Sam Harrison urged the support to show patience with the youngster.
“With Tom Cannon, I think it’s one of them where you need to give him time. He obviously hasn’t had loads of football in general, he played in pre-season for Leicester but didn’t get much after that,” Sam told Football League World.
“So, he’s still building up that sharpness and that kind of mentality of getting goals, and with a striker like that, we have seen he can do it at the likes of Preston, that he can get goals and do it in the league, when you get that first goal, the criticism goes away, and he’s able to then flourish and hopefully he can get double figures.
“With a striker like him, there’s always going to be a pressure on him in terms of being a Stoke striker. Whenever you’re not scoring, you’re always going to be wanting to bring in a striker, so straight away that pressure is on him, and especially at Stoke, having not had a player that has been a huge goalscorer, the focus is moved on to Tom Cannon to get the goals.
“But, if you look at his performances, most of the time he is feeding off scraps – he hasn’t got loads to work with. Just give him time, it’s silly that there’s some criticism already – he’s a Stoke player, someone that is willing to learn and is young, so I think it’s just a matter of giving him time.”
Tom Cannon will surely score goals in the Championship for Stoke City
Most Stoke fans recognize that it’s still early in the season for Cannon, and given his solid background, there’s little cause for concern at this point.
However, it’s essential to remember that these are indeed early days for the player. The fact that he has played under three different managers in his first three matches only emphasizes how unjust it would be to evaluate Cannon’s performance at this stage.
As previously noted, Cannon has a history of scoring goals at this level during his time with Preston, which instills confidence that he can replicate that success.
The team will need time to adjust to Narcis Pelach’s coaching methods, and it’s clear that the new manager is focused on improving their ability to create more opportunities in the attacking third—a problem that has persisted for a while.
If they can address this issue, Cannon is likely to feel more confident about finding the back of the net consistently. However, it’s evident that the team must tackle this challenge together.
| 2024-25 Championship Table (As Of September 26, 2024) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 16 | Hull City | 6 | -2 | 6 |
| 17 | Stoke City | 6 | -5 | 6 |
| 18 | Millwall | 6 | 0 | 5 |
It will be intriguing to see how the situation develops, but, much like Pelach and the rest of the Stoke squad, it wouldn’t be fair to evaluate their performance for at least another month or two.
Stoke will be back in action on Saturday as they head north to take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.