West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City face a struggle to keep their best players after relegation to the Championship – but that might work in their favour.
It’s incredibly rare that relegation is seen as a good thing and both Stoke and West Brom will be wishing they could join Southampton in looking back on a poor season with an attitude of ‘didn’t we get away with that one?’.
But at the same time, relegation can be far worse for some than others – but neither Stoke or West Brom are in the former group.
One simple way to split the relegated trio of Stoke, West Brom, and Swansea is to count the vultures circling each club. Do that, and you’ll notice a distinct lack hovering over South Wales.
There are a lot of reports linking teams with the standout players of Stoke and West Brom which can only be a testament to the idea that neither club should have gone down this season; the Potters and the Baggies very much have Premier League standard squads.
Swansea doesn’t have that issue, and will likely still be saddled with a similarly dysfunctional team come the start of the season – they face a long-term strategy to get back on track – just ask Leeds, Fulham and Aston Villa.
Conversely, the West Brom have already acknowledged that things are moving forwards by awarding Darren Moore a managerial contract. West Brom will lose plenty of players – Jonny Evans, Craig Dawson, Jay Rodriguez, and Salomon Rondon in all probability – but Moore will be left with plenty of squad space and funds to rebuild the side.
Stoke, similarly, have offers standing for their talents – Joe Allen and Xherdan Shaqiri being the standouts – while already admitting that they’re comfortable enough in offloading failed signings for heavily reduced fees. It’s a very professional, clinical approach that, much like West Brom, should see them with the money and space to fix lingering problems.
Relegation is rarely good, but some certainly have it better than others. At least Stoke and West Brom aren’t Swansea City!
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