The Potters have been in the second tier for a time, and ever since they were kicked out of the Premier League, they haven’t really tried to get back up.
The team started modifying how they operated last year when Alex Neil took over a few games into the season with the goal of moving up the table.
That hasn’t happened yet, though, as the club spent the majority of last season in the bottom half, and thus far this season it hasn’t changed.
The club’s owners supported Neil during the transfer window, but nothing has worked out on the field; after eight games, they are in 20th place with seven points.
Their most recent contest took place on Sunday at the Bet365 Stadium, where they lost to Hull City.
Hull City 1-3 Stoke City
Hull improved their improbable play-off campaign in this match, while Stoke let down and angered the home crowd.
Although the game was evenly matched, Hull took over in just two minutes on the stroke of the half-hour mark.
After Michael Rose’s deflection gave them the lead, Aaron Connolly neatly scored from 10 yards out two minutes later.
Stoke was under pressure to try to turn the game around for the remainder of the match, but the visitors maintained control and outperformed their opponents.
Regan Slater’s long-range strike after a deflection gave the Tigers an impressive victory; Andre Vidigal’s goal gave the Potters hope, but it wasn’t enough as Stoke City suffered their fifth league loss of the year; Stoke City must now decide on Alex Neil’s future.
Stoke was considered by many to be one of the underdogs in the Championship this year when the season began.
They spent a lot of money and brought in a lot of new players, thus Neil completely changed the roster from the one he had previous season.
Stoke shouldn’t be fifth from the bottom and two points above the relegation zone given what they did in the summer window, but it hasn’t had any impact on their on-field performances.
They have won two and drawn two of their eight Championship games thus far at the Bet365 Stadium, averaging 1.50 points per game at home.
The Potters have lost all four of their games when away from home, drawing just one. They score roughly zero points each game on the road, 0.25, as a result.
While other teams have scored as many goals as Stoke has, Stoke seems to be a side that is hesitant to attack, and when they do, they run out of ideas. The team now prefers to have the ball in their control more than before, but despite dominating the ball, Neil lacks a cutting edge at the top of the pitch.
However, the fact that they are giving up goals will be alarming, as they have only managed to keep a clean sheet 13% of the time thus far and have yet to do so while traveling.
The figures are alarming, and it appears that things will deteriorate before improving.
But you can’t help but wonder how long Neil has to make an effort to make things better.
The fan unhappiness following the match against Hull wasn’t good, and you have to ask if Stoke needs to take action right away to avoid wasting another season in the bottom half of the standings.
