Stoke City fans will be going into next season with an awful lot of optimism after their most recent thumping win over Nottingham Forest. The result came just four days after beating a Brentford side, who had just won their previous eight games in a row!
Both Brentford and Forest were teams chasing Premier League football next term, but Stoke massively dented Brentford’s hopes with a 1-0 win, as well as putting Forest’s chances to the sword. The 4-1 win knocked them out of the playoffs on goal difference as Swansea also managed a 4-1 win away to Reading. The Swans were then able to take 6th spot away from Forest on the final day.
This result for Stoke City is a momentous one. It’s one where it’ll give the players, and fans a massive boost in both confidence and belief when it comes to the season ahead. The end to the season as a whole has been a promising one.
After some damaging defeats to the likes of Middlesbrough and Wigan, the Potters were able to bounce back in some style after managing to gather 13 points from the remaining six games.
Let’s also not forget the personnel Stoke were missing through injury either. The likes of Joe Allen, Nick Powell and Sam Clucas were all sidelined against Forest due to injury. The fact is that they had been missing Joe Allen for the whole of the post lockdown period of the season.
Michael O’Neill brought Jordan Cousins in as replacement for Allen, and since coming in the midfielder has done a tremendous job. The manager has well and truly got the best out of him, as after his first batch of games under Nathan Jones, one would have thought Stoke massively regretted signing him.
As a new season dawns, that also means the transfer window enters. A lot needs to be done this summer, as Stoke City will look to offload an awful lot of players. O’Neill speaks about keeping the squad small to prevent an unhappy team, as only 11 can be picked on a match day.
As it stands, the Potters currently have a 32 man squad. When considering O’Neill will want to bring some of his own players in too, there will need to be a significant overhaul at the club. Although the current campaign is now done and dusted, the real hard work starts now.
