Stoke City considering major decision regarding key figure

Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill is on the brink of the sack at the Bet365 Stadium and he could be relieved of his duties before the end of the 2021-22 season, according to Football Insider.

The former Northern Ireland international boss arrived at the Potters in November 2019 to replace Nathan Jones and he was able to save the club from the threat of relegation to League One, eventually guiding them to a mid-table finish in the 2019-20 campaign.

The Staffordshire club have not progressed though on the pitch since that very first season with O’Neill in charge, finishing 14th in the league last season and they are set for another mid-table finish in the 2021-22 campaign.

Multiple names have been linked in recent weeks to O’Neill’s job at Stoke, with Daniel Farke being one of those after departing his role as boss of Russian side Krasnodar.

Sean Dyche has become the latest individual to be name-dropped as a potential O’Neill replacement, just days after leaving Burnley, but the latter is still in his role although he is fighting to keep it according to Football Insider’s report.

The Verdict

With some of the summer transfer business Stoke were able to pull off, they were expected to be in and around the top six come the end of the season.

That hasn’t happened though after a tail-off of results but injuries have also hit them hard this season, with Harry Souttar absent since November and Nick Powell missing a large chunk of the campaign.

O’Neill could be classed as unlucky, but with the amount of financial support that the owners have given to write off lots of debts, more was to be expected from the squad this season.

It appears that Stoke will have a squad rebuild this summer – the only thing left to decide is whether