Stoke sold 10,500 season tickets last week and hope to sell at least 15,000 before the new season begins in August.The Stoke chairman is still unsure about coughing up the £4million for Shola Ameobi, in a deal we thought was a cert after Stoke secured promotion to the Premier League.
Coates has refused to rule out the possibility of making the striker's loan move from Newcastle permanent, but has made it clear that the club are under no obligation to complete such a transfer.
Coates: "It is my understanding that the deal was never binding in the first place.
"Whether we still want him or not is clearly a footballing decision for the manager (Tony Pulis) to make."
And now Ameobi is not sure if he wants to make the move, now Stoke are playing "silly buggers".