Michael O’Neill delivers defiant Stoke City message amid recent struggles

Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill insists that he is still totally committed to the club and confident that he can deliver long-term success.

It had been hoped that the Potters would push for a top six finish this season, but O’Neill’s men are currently languishing in the bottom half of the table and they are ten points away from the play-off places.

Therefore, another year in the Championship beckons, which has understandably frustrated some of the support.

However, speaking to Stoke-On-Trent Live, O’Neill explained how he believes the approach the club have taken is the right one.

“I was manager of Northern Ireland for eight years and there were difficult periods we had to get through and the important thing is that you didn’t deviate from the strategy or how you believed you could make something successful. That’s where we are at this minute in time.

“It is challenging. We’re restructuring a lot of things at the club and we’re not building a team from scratch. Over that period we’ve also been dismantling a squad and it was an expensively assembled squad. We’re putting in place a team that is much cheaper but hungrier and younger and has value and potential in it.”

The verdict

This is the sort of message you would expect from O’Neill, but he does have a point that major changes have been made since he took over and patience is required.

For some, they would’ve expected more progress, which is understandable, but injuries haven’t helped Stoke either.

You would expect the hierarchy to keep faith with the boss and it will be down to him to ensure that improvements are made next season as another failure to seriously mount a play-off challenge probably wouldn’t be accepted.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.