The worry expressed by impartial experts Ali Maxwell and George Elek highlights Stoke City’s precarious position in the Championship.
Prior to their match on Wednesday night, the Potters are just three points ahead of Queens Park Rangers, who are now in third place but have a better goal differential of two. The Potters have lost their last four games, sending them closer to the relegation zone.
This week’s Not The Top 20 podcast episode examined their performance in detail, citing “a meltdown” in the atmosphere at the bet365 Stadium and raising concerns that they are now “one of the favourites” to finish in the bottom three by May along with Rotherham.
“We are by far the worst team in the league; in fact, we are not even League One quality,” and “If we lose on Wednesday, Schumacher has to be sacked” were among the many tweets the algorithm tossed at me on Saturday night. Someone who is well knowledgeable about both Stoke City and League One.
The fact that a certain amount of anxiety and panic is beginning to set in is not really surprising, in my opinion. I don’t mean to pick on anyone because we all know that tweets like this following a loss are common and not exclusive to Stoke City supporters.
When asked if he could offer “any crumbs of oatcaky comfort,” Elek gave a somewhat depressing answer.
“Not massively, no,” was his response. It’s important to note that the underlying statistics are stronger than the outcomes, particularly when you factor in the 5-0 loss to Leicester and the seven straight wins that preceded these four straight losses.
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