A closer look at the monotony in Stoke

As Tony Pulis' tenure as Stoke boss came to an arguably foreseeable end, was it the flirting with relegation that did it or have the Potters fans become tired of their teams style of play?

I know you can slate Stoke's philosophy and their approach to football till the cows come home but you can't deny that it wasn't effective. With 122 wins in 333 games with Stoke since he took over the club for his second stint back in 2006 and guided them to the Premier League in his second season, with no finish lower than 14th during Pulis' time at Stoke, I found that quite impressive.

Although, on the other hand, they have been accused of rough handing and not really appealing to watch to the more football purists among us, you won't see Stoke keeping the ball for 2 minutes and then slotting the ball into the far corner at the end of a lovely move, but you would get results. 

With a usually solid start to the season just gone and were only 4 points the Champions League spots at the start of December, they fizzled away and seemed to lose some of their ruthlessness and led to them losing 11 games in 23 matches and only 4 wins, it was relegation form personified perfectly. With Stoke not being physical, they don't really offer much else, and I think that's what broke the last straw on the fans backs and along with the chairman, Peter Coates.

I think Stoke fans saw the cup final in 2011, which led to them offered a route into Europe League football and compared to this season and saw they were on a decline as acted quickly, maybe this will be a saving grace for Stoke and they can rectify their mistakes this season and possibly the dawn of a new approach to football from the Potters under the new manager?

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