Stoke City were beaten 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace, and relegated from the Premier League Saturday.
Former England manager Steve McClaren says Stoke City’s relegation to the Championship this season has come as a result of a lack of quality throughout the squad, the BBC report.
The Potters were an established Premier League club who enjoyed successive top-half finishes in recent years, yet this season they’ve rapidly declined culminating in a surprise relegation.
Not many would have tipped the Midlands club for the drop at the start of the season, although a lack of investment in new players and an ageing squad – coupled with poor backroom decisions – has seemingly taken its toll.
Commenting on Stoke’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace – which confirmed their relegation – former McClaren stated it was a lack of quality which ultimately saw Paul Lambert’s side fail in their bid for survival.
“Stoke didn’t have enough over 38 games and you end up where you deserve. The squad is not good enough which has been proven today,” McClaren told the BBC.
“The process hasn’t been right. The simple fact is, looking at the two teams today, you understand why Palace have stayed up and why Stoke have gone down. Stoke have no quality apart from Shaqiri. If you’re relying on Peter Crouch at 37-years-old to keep you up, then you’re in trouble.”
Tony Pulis was the man who took Stoke up from the Championship to the top-flight, and he established them there before the club replaced him with Mark Hughes.
The decision was largely questioned at the time, but under the guidance of the former Manchester United midfielder, Stoke progressed and played a more attractive style of football in the process.
The likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan Krkic and Ibrahim Afellay arrived at the Bet365 Stadium, players who have won multiple trophies at European giants Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
But an apparent lack of investment or poor spending over the past 20 months has culminated in a sharp decline for Stoke, and, despite Lambert’s best efforts, the team haven’t been good enough to stay up.
This coming summer will be huge as players such as Jack Butland, Ryan Shawcross and Shaqiri will be expected to leave.
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