"At the end of the day" - Stoke City prediction made with Steven Schumacher in mind | OneFootball

The current Bolton Wanderers manager was sacked by the Potters at the start of the season, but the situation has not improved at all.

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...

The 2024/25 season has been incredibly bleak for Stoke City and their supporters, with the club fighting for its Championship status.

The Potters are currently 20th in the Championship following a 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough at the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday evening, and they sit just five points above the drop zone.

Mark Robins has found it difficult to find any form at all since arriving in Staffordshire on New Year's Day, and his team have gained just nine points in that time.

While they do still have that buffer to the bottom three, there are fears that Stoke will get caught in the coming weeks with Plymouth Argyle starting to put a decent run of results together and there are a huge number of questions that need to be answered by the club's board, after seeing three different managers take a seat in the dugout this season.

Verdict made on whether Steven Schumacher would have Stoke higher if he had not been sacked

Steven Schumacher was the first to be sacked by the Potters in the 2024/25 campaign, lasting just five games before he was told that his time at the bet365 Stadium was up.

He won two of those matches, losing the other three, and the club have picked up just six more league victories since then.

The decision to let the current Bolton Wanderers manager go came as a shock and, given the timing of the decision, it can be said that he needed more time to show the board what he was going to be able to achieve with the squad this season.

Football League World has asked their Stoke Fan Pundit, David Proudlove, if he believes Schumacher would have the Potters in a stronger position than they currently are in had he not been sacked in September.

He told FLW: "Personally, I don't think Stoke would be in any different position than they are now, even if they retained Steven Schumacher.

"At the end of the day, it's down to the squad. It's broadly the same set of players that Schumacher had and ultimately, it's the players on the pitch who are not delivering".

Stoke must be wary of Plymouth's progress

Ironically, it is Schumacher's former club, Plymouth, who look the most likely to catch up to the Potters and overtake them at the moment, and there will be a huge amount of worry in the next few weeks if the Pilgrims continue to find form.

While there is no guarantee that Stoke would have had a more successful season with the 40-year-old in charge, he has proven at Bolton in his short time there that he has the capacity to galvanise a team and recover from a disappointing run.

Scumacher had just nine months in charge in Staffordshire, and with a club that has as many problems on the pitch as the Potters, it was going to take much longer than that to help change their fortunes and consistency in the dugout may have been for the best.

Nevertheless, Stoke have to give Robins time now to build a squad that wants to play for the badge and even if they do suffer relegation, he must be trusted to start the fightback.