da fezbet： Four years on from controversially sacking Tony Pulis, the man who had established them as a top-flight club, Stoke City find themselves in the exact same position the Welshman left them in – 13th place in the Premier League table.
da heads bet： In fairness, those four years have seen Stoke reach the dizzying heights of ninth on three occasions and adopt a more entertaining style of football, utilising more exciting talents like Bojan and Xherdan Shaqiri.
But there were plenty of signs of the Mark Hughes revolution running out of steam last season and rather ironically, it was Pulis’ West Brom who finished up three places higher in the Premier League table.
With question marks lingering over Hughes and his predecessor arguably outperforming him at the Hawthorns, we asked Stoke City fans last week whether Stoke were better off under Pulis.
And whilst only 48% agreed with that notion, the sheer closeness of the poll highlighted how divided the Stoke fan base is over the direction Hughes has taken the club during the last four years.
That, in itself, is a significant indictment on a tenure that many once believed would take the Potters to the next level.