I’ve watched Stoke City score eight goals in 16 home matches and it’s been as painful as it sounds
Reaction as Stoke City lose at home to Coventry and relegation fears simmer
Stoke City are just three points above the relegation zone after a 1-0 home defeat to Coventry. Here are the talking points from the bet365 Stadium.
This was far from the worst Stoke performance at home this season, players worked hard and they were clapped off at full-time – but the record at the bet365 Stadium absolutely stinks. It’s eight goals in 16 league games since the opening day.
To put it into perspective, Southampton have scored 39 from 15 home games in the same period, 13 teams in this division have scored over 20. Millwall is the next worst and they’ve scored almost double (14).
Stoke have never scored so few in this many home matches. Even in the 16 home games up to the last day of 1984/85, what has always been considered the season beyond horrors, they scored 10. This is off the charts diabolical.
Credit to the supporters who sit through it all, plus the misery of last season, and are still backing the team. One day, runs like this will make success feel all the sweeter. That feels a long, long way away at the moment.
toke’s record without a clean sheet
Every manager wants to keep more clean sheets and they don’t half help but they can’t be the be all and end all they are for Stoke. You can’t expect to keep a clean sheet in every match but Stoke have only won four times this season when they have conceded a goal.
“Yeah, that’s obvious,” said Steven Schumacher. “But you guys keep saying all the time, we need to try to get a balance. We want to attack teams because that’s how you win but you’ve also got to be solid behind the ball. For 50-odd minutes we were relatively solid. I think Coventry had one chance when the ball bounced around but we had a couple of chances at their end as well.
“So there wasn’t a lot in the game, but getting the balance right is the key for any successful team.”
