Stoke stuck in spiral of negativity
THE LIST of clubs who have fallen on hard times following relegation from the Premier league is endless, but Stoke City’s slide towards Championship obscurity is one of the more curious.
the Potters enjoyed 10 years in the top flight between 2008 and 2018 — a golden era which included a maiden Fa Cup final and a first european campaign in nearly four decades.
Highlight reels? take your pick. a stirring 3-2 win over aston Villa in their first home match, a 2-0 victory over Manchester City and a 6-1 thumping of liverpool in Steven Gerrard’s final game.
under tony Pulis, who led Stoke into the top flight, they had a reputation for being awkward and at times intimidating opponents. the bearpit atmosphere at their home ground made it a fortress. they could play a bit too, when Mark Hughes had Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan Krkic and Marko arnautovic at his disposal.
Since sliding into the Championship, though, the Potters have finished 16th, 15th, 14th, 14th and 16th. It has been mundane, mediocre and miserable.
Stoke arrived at West Brom yesterday following the recent axing of the unpopular alex neil, who followed in the footsteps of Gary rowett, nathan Jones and Michael o’neill since 2018.
the club remain under the ownership of the billionaire Coates family and long-standing fan Mark Holmes, 38, said: ‘We have a wealthy, stable ownership so we didn’t need to go down, let alone fall to the lower reaches of the Championship. there have been periods where we have been massively hamstrung by Financial Fair Play rules, but there’s no excuse not to have the very best technical set-up in place.
‘Stoke haven’t done that. they have persisted with the traditional British manager rather than adopt the head coach model. there has been an arrogance since we got relegated that just spending money would guarantee success, but there are a lot of astute clubs who have outperformed us.
‘there is no hard luck story — rather mismanagement and poor decisions have got us into this state. People are just bored of it and apathy is the word. We’ve almost given up on expecting any positive change.’
the concern now, in Stoke’s sixth season since leaving the big time, is that they could be sucked into a relegation fight. eighteen players arrived in the summer and technical director ricky Martin
and head of recruitment Jared Dublin are now under scrutiny.
Stoke supporter anthony Bunn, 55, said: ‘to go from beating liverpool 6-1 to where we are now — with no identity — is shocking. the next manager is possibly the biggest appointment in the history of the club. What type of club do we want to become? Where’s the plan?’
Slavisa Jokanovic and Paul Heckingbottom have been touted as candidates to replace neil, along with former Stoke captain John eustace and england under 21 boss lee Carsley.
Caretaker boss Paul Gallagher at least conjured a spirited showing here to earn a point. Stoke’s lynden Gooch opened the scoring early on with a dipping cross-shot before Brandon thomas-asante rifled home.
Gallagher said: ‘We played like a real team with people putting their body on the line for the cause. Whoever comes in is taking over a massive football club with a great history and good people working here.’