BREAKING NEWS: Due to recent controversial issues within the team, Stoke City fans were furious and demanded that the manager be dismissed immediately. However….

Stoke were well beaten, 3-0, at the bet365 Stadium – their ninth loss in 19 home matches this season – and the head coach admitted the scoreline could have been even worse.

Results elsewhere keep Stoke 19th and now two points above the relegation zone but it was an afternoon – on the back of a trio of confidence-booting performances – that summed up why they are in this sorry position.

“We didn’t do what we have been doing well in the last couple of games,” said Schumacher. “I felt we were a little bit too passive. It took us 78 minutes to make a tackle and that’s not going to get you any results against a team as good as Norwich. We weren’t close enough, we weren’t aggressive enough and when we did have the ball we gave it away too cheaply as well.”

He added: “I thought we played well last week, we have been playing well, but today was the worst performance of the last four games – probably the worst performance since I’ve been here in general. It was a bad day.”

Stoke survived a couple of early warnings and it was still 0-0 in the 19th minute when Ben Pearson, in for the suspended Wouter Burger, limped off with injury.

“ No, not for sure yet,” said Schumacher about the extent of Pearson’s leg problem. “I thought he was doing ok again but again he becomes unavailable. It did play a part in the game. I felt we just didn’t get to grips with it quick enough when he went off. The spaces were too open in midfield, then they went through us too easily and scored the goals so that was a turning point.

“But once we conceded the goal we just don’t see any sort of reaction from the lads. It’s like we freeze, everyone goes in their shell and that just can’t happen. Even if you go a goal down you have to respond and do something about it.”