The ship has been steadied, but what’s next for Stoke in the quest for promotion?

Not much has gone right for Stoke City since their expulsion from the Premier League two-and-a-half years ago. In both Championship campaigns since then there’ve been managerial changes, unrest amongst players, and serious flirtation with relegation to the third-tier.

As much as the Potters wanted Nathan Jones’ tenure to be a success, it was terminated prematurely early on last season, with the club at the wrong end of the Championship table. The Welshman had impressively led Luton Town from League Two to the brink of the Championship before swapping Kenilworth Road for the Bet 365 Stadium.

Like for Gary Rowett in 2018/19, impressive efforts with previous clubs in the EFL were irrelevant as he too couldn’t fix the major issues that the Potters had swept under the carpet.

Now, with Michael O’Neil at the helm, Stoke will be hoping for a season where they will be looking up the table as opposed to down it. 

The 51-year-old left his role as the manager of the Northern Ireland national team to steady the ship at the Bet 365 which he was able to do successfully, guiding the club to a 15th place finish.

However, if you’d told Stoke City fans following their relegation from the top flight in 2018 that they’d finish 16th and 15th in the Championship in the next two seasons respectively, they wouldn’t believe that their club could get into such a predicament.

Promotion has been the target since Stoke’s ten-year stay in the Premier League came to an end, but of course it’s never that simple. A mixture of numerous want-away players, a Premier League level wage bill, poor managerial appointments and other complications on and off the pitch have drastically held the Potters back.

But a play-off push seems a reasonable target for this season though. O’Neil has had the opportunity to manage from the beginning of the season and oversee transfer business and pre-season (despite it’s unusual shortness) which would have certainly helped preparations.

Thus far, Stoke find themselves 14th in the league after a draw, a loss and a win. On Sunday, they host Birmingham City which they’ll see as a decent opportunity to register their first home win in the league this season, as well as back-to-back victories for the first time this campaign. 

However, it’s been in the Carabao Cup where Stoke have picked up their most impressive results. With the congested nature of the League Cup this season, the Potters found themselves advancing from round one to the quarter-finals in the space of a month.

A penalty shootout win over League One Blackpool was followed by 1-0 victories over Wolves, Gillingham and Aston Villa respectively. Overseeing two wins against Premier League opposition, who both fielded relatively strong sides, will be a major boost for Michael O’Neil and his players.

Now in the quarter-finals, Stoke don’t play in the Carabao Cup until December, meaning it’s all eyes on the league for the next few months. The Potters need to take the positives from their solid displays in the cup and implement them into their league form. 

As already said, a push for the play-offs is certainly a realistic aim, and a strong start to the campaign will make life a whole lot easier for the Potters. Games like Sundays against Birmingham City will be the fixtures targeted as must-wins if Stoke are to find themselves in the top-six come May.

 

Our reporter Dan Hargraves will be at the Bet 365 Stadium on Sunday covering the game between Stoke City and Birmingham City for us.

 

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