Mark Hughes sacked by Stoke City

[JJ1532]

Well, this has been on the cards for weeks. Losing 2-1 in the FA Cup to a League Two team was rightfully the final straw.

Wonder who they turn to now? Most of the firefighting managers have gone now. Need to get someone in quick mind, they'll only have 4 weeks to clear some of the shite in that squad out plus make the necessary additions to try and get them to safety.

 

[Super_horns]

Stoke want to replace him with another British manager..

Missed the boat with Pulis!

Martin O'Neil early favourite.

 

[SALTIRE]

Not before time, but today was utterly embarassing. To lose to a league two side is shameful. He's looked a dead man walking for weeks and some of the stuff he was spouting to the media was Trumpesque.

 

[Dave-Vale]

Gutted.

Looks like Martin O’Neill with Roy Keane as assistant will be coming in, according to Stoke fans that claim to be “in the know”..

 

[lordofthepies]

Terrible news. RIP Sparky

 

[kieran_vale]

Such a shame. Thanks for the memories Sparky.

 

[Dave-Vale]

The memories of Stoke fans going into meltdown mode (after spending a decade in the top division, playing in europe and reaching an FA cup final) will remain.

Hoping that whoever comes in will continue the chaos.

 

[AnkleBiter]

After laughing at West Ham appointing Moyes, I'm not saying who I hope they bring in! Their long term future really isn't looking promising though, even if they do stay up.

 

[ValiantRob]

Steve Davis is available.

 

[ValiantRob]

Joking aside it is a good job for someone as defensively they are completely disorganised and that is usually easy to fix. Getting rid of expensive flops like Berahino, Imbula etc will be more difficult.

 

[mistermagic]

Don't think these two are flops. Honestly reckon that Hughes took Stoke as far as he could and that they need a change. He's not a bad manager, just stayed at the same club for too long imo.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Ostersunds English manager Graham Potter has emerged as a surprise contender for the Stoke job. A risk but could be a decent appointment.

 

[Benji]

Can we trust someone who has only done football in foreign?

 

[Anon]

Did Stoke need to make a change? Probably, although at this stage of the season and the current spread of the league table, they could have easily recovered and finish midtable again. Did Hughes deliver on what he was asked to do? Probably, given he most of the time finished higher than Pulis and did change the playing style as required by the board.

 

[JimJams]

Was that post sponsored by Carlsberg?






Probably.

 

[ValiantRob]

Don't think these two are flops. Honestly reckon that Hughes took Stoke as far as he could and that they need a change. He's not a bad manager, just stayed at the same club for too long imo.

You don`t think Imbula and Berahino are flops-wow you are easily pleased for a circa £30 m outlay plus long contracts of the sort that bankrupts championship clubs . see Bradford City etc for evidence.

 

[Leewilson]

Don't think these two are flops. Honestly reckon that Hughes took Stoke as far as he could and that they need a change. He's not a bad manager, just stayed at the same club for too long imo.

Imbula couldn’t have been any more of a flop than he was. Wasn’t fit enough for English football.

Berahino has proven to be a 1 season wonder.

 

[Bilo]

Ostersunds English manager Graham Potter has emerged as a surprise contender for the Stoke job. A risk but could be a decent appointment.

This would be a brilliant appointment. All round fantastic manager. He's obviously "unproven" at top level football, but having followed him for a few years I have no doubt he'd be a success. His leadership is extraordinary, he's very tactically knowledgable and I genuinely struggle to believe that anyone of the current Premier league managers would have come close to what he's achieved with Östersund. We haven't had a team in the knockout stages of a European competition in something like 25 years and he did it with a nothing club that has never even come close to being in the second division regularly.

The only problem, I guess, is that he very well could turn them down.

 

[Renegade]

It would be a shame if he left Östersund after getting them to the Europa League knockouts and earning a huge tie against Arsenal. That will only increase his profile and if they put in a good showing, could put him in line for even bigger jobs, especially as a young English manager. Then again, he played for Stoke, so it's not a bad shout.

 

[Renegade]

Did Stoke need to make a change? Probably, although at this stage of the season and the current spread of the league table, they could have easily recovered and finish midtable again. Did Hughes deliver on what he was asked to do? Probably, given he most of the time finished higher than Pulis and did change the playing style as required by the board.

I think even if you achieve your mid-table goals in the Premier League, fans get tired of football purgatory. Nothing to hope for but avoiding relegation. The managerial merry-go round routinely takes the jobs of managers that can't go beyond 9th, fairly or unfairly. The same thing will probably happen to whoever replaces Hughes. Much like what happens over and over with Pulis, Allardyce, Moyes.

Stoke fans will soon miss Hughes if they get O'Neill and Keane in, the football Ireland have played during their tenure makes Pulis look like Maurizio Sarri. He is at least an affable media personality (really clutching at straws).

 

[Bilo]

It would be a shame if he left Östersund after getting them to the Europa League knockouts and earning a huge tie against Arsenal. That will only increase his profile and if they put in a good showing, could put him in line for even bigger jobs, especially as a young English manager. Then again, he played for Stoke, so it's not a bad shout.

I agree, I hope he stays. That said, I believe he will have to choose a stepping stone to reach the top tier clubs regardless. What he has done with ÖFK is nothing short of baffling but I just can't see him going from Östersund to a higher level club than Stoke to be honest.

 

[Abertawe]

This would be a brilliant appointment. All round fantastic manager. He's obviously "unproven" at top level football, but having followed him for a few years I have no doubt he'd be a success. His leadership is extraordinary, he's very tactically knowledgable and I genuinely struggle to believe that anyone of the current Premier league managers would have come close to what he's achieved with Östersund. We haven't had a team in the knockout stages of a European competition in something like 25 years and he did it with a nothing club that has never even come close to being in the second division regularly.

The only problem, I guess, is that he very well could turn them down.

This guy is always mentioned whenever we do our annual replacement of manager - no doubt he has potential - but I think the best he can hope for in England is a progressive championship team - no PL is going to punt on him unless someone like Bournemouth want to go full hipster if they need to replace Howe.

 

[Bilo]

This guy is always mentioned whenever we do our annual replacement of manager - no doubt he has potential - but I think the best he can hope for in England is a progressive championship team - no PL is going to punt on him unless someone like Bournemouth want to go full hipster if they need to replace Howe.

I think you understimate what he has done. Which is fine, that's why I think you're right as most clubs will do the same. But taking a team like Östersund to the heights he's managed is unparallelled in European football over the past decade, period. As far as managerial achievements go, not even Ranieri and Leicester trumps it in downright unlikelihood. I think people struggle to understand what kind of circumstances he's working against in the Swedish inland.

 

[Abertawe]

I think you understimate what he has done. Which is fine, that's why I think you're right as most clubs will do the same. But taking a team like Östersund to the heights he's managed is unparallelled in European football over the past decade, period. As far as managerial achievements go, not even Ranieri and Leicester trumps it in downright unlikelihood. I think people struggle to understand what kind of circumstances he's working against in the Swedish inland.

We used to play Östersunds in pre seasons gone by - nice to see our magic rubbed off.

 

[Bilo]

We used to play Östersunds in pre seasons gone by - nice to see our magic rubbed off.

Your journey was fantastic in itself but it genuinely doesn't come close to going from the fourth tier in Swedish football to the knockout stages in the Europa league in under 7 years under the same manager.

When Graham Potter came there, there was genuinely nothing. No history, no real interest in football, deep snow 6 months a year, no youth academy, no money, nothing. There's no manager in the world you'd back to repeat what he's done.

 

[lordofthepies]

Ostersunds English manager Graham Potter has emerged as a surprise contender for the Stoke job. A risk but could be a decent appointment.

He played for Stoke for a while which might explain that link. Sounds like way too progressive a choice for a club like Stoke to even consider him, doesn't it?

 

[Stevencc]

Joking aside it is a good job for someone as defensively they are completely disorganised and that is usually easy to fix. Getting rid of expensive flops like Berahino, Imbula etc will be more difficult.

 

[Super_horns]

Stoke interested in Flores.

Probably sort their defence out a bit but not sure there would be much excitement in terms of attacking play.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42632034

 

[Abertawe]

Is this Quique Sanchez Flores actually any good?

 

[DarkSithLord]

Is this Quique Sanchez Flores actually any good?

Well he has PL experience and did a half decent job at Watford and was unfairly sacked IMO