Chairman Peter Coates bears no ill will towards £5m transfer flop Dave Kitson after Stoke offloaded him to Portsmouth.
Coates says the failure of the former Reading star to live up to his price tag is no-one's fault.
The Potters chairman told The Sentinel: "Kitson came with a reputation after scoring 15 goals for Reading in the Premier League, but it didn't work out for him here.
"Transfers are always risks, however, and they cannot all come off."