Stoke City Relegated from Premier League After Loss vs. Crystal Palace
May 5, 2018
Stoke City's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on Saturday, as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace.
The team's relegation from the top flight after a 10-year stay was highlighted by the club's Twitter account:
The Potters took the lead in the contest before half-time with a Xherdan Shaqiri free-kick. However, Palace were much stronger after the break and battled back with goals from James McArthur and Patrick van Aanholt.
During their time in the Premier League, the club developed a reputation for being aggressive, organised and difficult to beat. However, those traits have been scarce this season in a campaign to forget.
After a summer that saw the team make minimal major investments in the transfer market, there were fears from the off as the side slumped to a 1-0 loss against Everton. And while victory over Arsenal offered fans some hope, it proved to be a rare high point in a season of lows.
While the team has struggled throughout the league season, it was a 2-1 defeat to Coventry City in the FA Cup that eventually cost Mark Hughes his job in January.
As noted by Planet Futbol's Mark Holmes, while the decision had to be made, it left the Potters in a tough position in pursuit of a replacement:
Eventually Paul Lambert was appointed with the team in the drop zone. And while performances have improved slightly under him, Stoke have not consistently been able to string results together.
They've let crucial points slip, too, surrendering leads against West Ham United and Burnley that would have given them an excellent chance of staying up. Instead they required wins from their final two games and for other sides around them to drop points.
Per commentator John Bradley, with the team in desperate need of wins late in the season, there have been times when Stoke have been too cautious:
In the Championship, it will be intriguing to see what direction the Potters go in. Early in their Premier League years, they had a clear identity under Tony Pulis; it wasn't pretty, but it was effective and everyone associated with the club rallied behind it. That sense of togetherness has seeped away.
There are some talented footballers in the squad in the form of Jack Butland, Joe Allen and Xherdan Shaqiri, all of whom Stoke will find difficult to keep at the club this summer. With those men potentially gone and a summer of major transition on the cards, getting back to the top flight at the first attempt will be a challenge.