Stoke City sacked manager Nathan Jones on Friday following a disastrous start to the season that has left the club second bottom of the Championship after losing 10 of their 14 league matches this season. Stoke’s hierarchy are believed to have eventually lost faith in the former Luton manager’s ability to be able to turn around results after slipping to successive defeats before Monday’s home match against league leaders West Bromwich Albion.
There were signs of a revival after Stoke recorded back-to-back victories for the first time since October 2018 when they beat Swansea and Fulham last month but defeats at Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday led to the club’s hierarchy taking action. Before that last-gasp victory over Swansea, Jones was resigned to being sacked, while a poor performance would have likely resulted in his dismissal, but Scott Hogan’s stoppage-time winner earned Jones an unlikely stay of execution.
Stoke have won just six of their 38 matches since Jones replaced Gary Rowett in January. Stoke hoped victory over Swansea would give the club something to build on but Jones is set to become the club’s third managerial casualty in 18 months. The former Manchester United manager David Moyes was previously of interest, while Tony Pulis has persistently been linked with a return to the club.
Jones said: “I would like to thank John and Peter Coates, firstly for the opportunity to manage this football club and then for the continued support and patience throughout my time here. I would also like to thank the supporters for their fantastic support. Finally, I wish the club the very best for the future.”
A new managerial appointment will be made as swiftly as possible but in the meantime Rory Delap, Kevin Russell and Andy Quy will take charge of first-team affairs.