3 ways Stoke City can bounce back from disappointing 2021/22 season

There was a time when Stoke City looked the most likely team to challenge Fulham and Bournemouth in the automatic promotion race this season.

That ship has sailed and the Potters have fallen well out of the promotion race to 15th in the table with eight games remaining.

Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones both failed at Stoke, and are currently conducting tremendous jobs in the second tier with Millwall and Luton Town.

Those two case studies seem to be contributing to more patience with Michael O’Neill in the dugout, but the pressure is building.

Here, we have taken a look at three ways that Stoke can bounce back from their disappointing 2021/22 season…

Keep nucleus together

There is a spine of a promotion pushing team in the squad and that has been part of the reason that they have been able to show their class in patches, just not on a consistent basis.

In Josh Tymon, Lewis Baker, Nick Powell and Jacob Brown they have the foundations of a decent side, and with Harry Souttar to return to the team next season, that could build a credible bid over 46 games.

This summer should not be a start from scratch mission, because there are plenty of reasons for optimism that the Potters can improve next term.

Trim the fat

There are a lot of players in this squad edging towards the end of their contracts, providing an opportunity for Stoke to build a new identity heading into next season.

According to Transfermarkt, along with six loan players, Phil Jagielka, Steven Fletcher, Mario Vrancic, Joe Allen, James Chester, Tommy Smith, Nick Powell and Jordan Thompson are on expiring deals this summer.

Not many of them have put together a convincing case to earn an extension.

Recruitment

Stoke have wasted a lot of money and conducted some