Alarming Stoke City reveal shows what Steven Schumacher is up against: View | OneFootball

It has been an incredibly disappointing season for Stoke City in the Championship.

Optimism was high at the bet365 Stadium heading into the campaign after a huge influx of signings over the summer, but the Potters made a poor start to the season, resulting in the sacking of Alex Neil in December.

Steven Schumacher made the move from Plymouth Argyle to replace Neil, and he looked to be an exciting appointment after he led the Pilgrims to the League One title last season.

However, Schumacher has found it tough at the bet365 Stadium, winning just five of his 17 games in charge so far, drawing three and losing nine, and there had been reports that his job was under threat, with Gareth Ainsworth, Tony Pulis and Adrian Heath said to be under consideration as potential replacements.

After surviving the international break, it seems as though Stoke will stick with Schumacher until the end of the season, but that could still change with the club in a precarious position.

The Potters currently sit 19th in the table, just two points clear of the relegation zone, and they are back in action when they make the trip to face promotion hopefuls Hull City at the MKM Stadium on Good Friday.

An article from The Athletic this week examined some of the problems at Stoke, and comments from a former employee highlight the size of the challenge Schumacher is facing to turn the club's fortunes around.

Stoke City reveal will be concerning for Steven Schumacher

Stoke were relegated from the Premier League in 2018, and they have failed to seriously challenge for a return to the top flight since then.

It has long been a mystery why the Potters have underperformed so badly, despite having a host of talented managers and players at the club during their six years in the Championship.

Gary Rowett, Nathan Jones, Michael O'Neill and Alex Neil had spells in charge of Stoke before Schumacher, with Rowett, Jones and Neil arriving with a track record of success in the second tier, while O'Neill had done an excellent job with Northern Ireland.

All of those managers struggled to make an impact in the Potteries, and while it is still early in his tenure, it looks like Schumacher could follow that trend.

An anonymous former employee has given an insight into some of the problems at the club, telling The Athletic: "They’ve never got the culture right.

"It’s a very cold culture. It’s the one club I’ve been at where there’s no collective will to want to win. I’ve been at other clubs where players know what the badge means and who they’re playing for. It’s about livelihoods and jobs.

"At Stoke, it’s nothing like that. It’s soulless. There’s no oomph about it. There’s never any suggestion of getting people together, ‘Let’s win the title; one club, one team’. None of that."

It is difficult to disagree that there has been a lack of a winning mentality and team spirit at Stoke in recent years, and while the managers must take some responsibility for that, recruitment has been a big issue.

24 players have arrived at the club over the course of the season, but few have made an impression so far, and technical director Ricky Martin was sacked last month, with former striker Jon Walters replacing him on an interim basis.

According to The Athletic, Schumacher has "privately found disappointment in the squad he has inherited", and "physical outputs have been lower than expected, with an absence of intensity", while some players are "viewed as comfortable with their lot".

Schumacher deserves time at Stoke to reset the culture

Regardless of the outcome of this season, there are likely to be question marks over Schumacher's future, but rather than making another change, the Potters should back the 39-year-old to deliver the cultural reset that is desperately needed at the club.

Schumacher proved during his time at Plymouth that he is a manager with a lot of potential, building a young, talented squad that played attractive, attacking football, and if he is trusted in the transfer market, he could do similar at Stoke.

After over three months in the role, there is no doubt that Schumacher will be aware of the size of the task he has taken on, and you have to wonder if he may live to regret his decision to swap a stable job at a progressive club like Plymouth for the chaos at the bet365 Stadium.