This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Stoke City announced the shock sacking of head coach Steven Schumacher on Monday morning.
Schumacher made the move to the bet365 Stadium from Plymouth Argyle in December, and he successfully kept Stoke in the Championship last season.
The 40-year-old was allowed to rebuild his squad this summer, bringing in 10 new signings, but just five games into the new season, the board have decided to make a change.
Schumacher’s final game in charge of the Potters was the 1-0 defeat to Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, and he leaves the club sitting 13th in the table, just three points from the play-off places.
| Steven Schumacher’s record as Stoke City manager (according to Transfermarkt) | ||||
| Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win percentage |
| 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 40.6% |
Stoke Sporting Director Jon Walters explained the reasons behind Schumacher’s dismissal, telling the club’s official website: “My role as Sporting Director is to make tough decisions that serve the long-term interests of Stoke City.
“After ongoing discussions with John Coates, we feel the time is right for a change in direction to bring success to the club.
“We have a young, dynamic squad that is eager to develop and a clear vision of how to achieve success, and we hope to announce a new appointment shortly. We will need the fans, staff, and players united in support to achieve our goals.
“As always in football, these decisions are difficult, and we wish Steven and his staff all the best for the future.”
It seems the search for Schumacher’s permanent replacement is already well underway, and according to journalist John Percy, the Potters have been given permission to speak to Norwich City first-team coach Narcis Pelach over their vacant managerial position, while Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace and Stockport County boss Dave Challinor have also been linked.
Stoke City fan pundit on Steven Schumacher sacking
FLW’s Stoke City fan pundit Sam Harrison admitted Schumacher’s departure came as a shock, and he said he would have liked to see some stability at the club, but he believes there have been signs of inconsistency in the early weeks of the season.
“Stoke sacking Schumacher has shocked me and I didn’t see it coming,” Sam said.
“We’re five league games in and we’ve obviously had a pre-season under him.
“If you look at the managers we’ve had before, they’ve come in mid-season, sees out that season and then has a pre-season under his belt, gets his players in and then we change it up again.
“The only difference this season is that we’ve made that call very early compared to all the other times we’ve tried to do it.
“I’m someone that was a fan of Schumacher, I like what he brought to the table.
“I do think that there were signs of being inconsistent, I think that Oxford game showed it.
“From what it looks like, the quality in the squad that we’ve got is something that the club feel should be up there, and they feel that long-term, Schumacher isn’t going to do that.
“It’s an interesting one and it’ll be interesting to see who we try to replace him with.
“From my point of view, it’s come out of nowhere and I don’t think any Stoke fan would have predicted it if I’m being totally honest.
“It’s just interesting to see how we do it, obviously we’ve got Fleetwood and Hull this week, so it’s a big week for Stoke in terms of football.
“In my personal opinion, I don’t like managers going because you just want that bit of consistency, you want a manager who is going to implement his style.
“They were showing signs of what they were going to do in terms of getting the best out of players.”
Stoke City have taken a big gamble with Steven Schumacher decision
It is difficult to disagree with Sam that news of Schumacher’s sacking came as a shock, and it is an incredibly harsh decision.
After years of underachievement, it felt like the Potters were finally heading in the right direction under Schumacher, and while they have been inconsistent so far this season, it is still incredibly early in the campaign.
Having rebuilt the squad over the summer, Schumacher certainly deserved more time to continue the project he started at the bet365 Stadium, but after controversially dismissing him, there is now huge pressure on the board to find the right replacement.
Of the rumoured candidates, Eustace would be an excellent choice, but there are question marks over whether he would leave Blackburn with the club currently sitting third in the table, while neither Pelach or Challinor have managed in the Championship before, so both would be risky appointments.
