“Horrendous” – Stoke City regret expressed over infamous 2018 transfer blunders

“Horrendous” – Stoke City regret expressed over infamous 2018 transfer blunders.

Naturally, the Potters were a mainstay in the Premier League for many years, and they were, at the time, fairly regarded as the overwhelming favorite to return right away following their relegation at the conclusion of the 2017–18 campaign.

Stoke made huge investments in what had seemed to be a clear declaration of purpose, despite the departure of important players like Xherdan Shaqiri and Eric-Maxim Chopou-Moting from the Potteries during that summer.

High-profile additions to the team were Benik Afobe, Tom Ince, Sam Vokes, and Peter Etebo. Stoke used the parachute payments it earned after being relegated from the Premier League.

However, looking back on it now, they perhaps could not have utilised those funds in a worse way than they did under Gary Rowett, who was handed his marching orders in January as Stoke eventually finished the season in 16th.

Verdict offered on Stoke City’s summer 2018 transfer regret

Since their relegation from the Premier League, Stoke have made several questionable moves in recruitment, hiring, sackings, and investment. Football League World asked our Potters fan pundit, Sam Harrison, to highlight one of them.

Unsurprisingly, Sam chose to highlight that summer’s expenditure as the worst choice his team has made in recent memory, despite the fact that the entire 2018/19 season was a disaster.

“One of the main decisions that I’m still a little bit shocked about is Stoke’s first season back in the Championship and how they used the transfer market,” Sam said in an interview.

“I believe that when you look at so many clubs right now and teams that have been relegated, they’ve brought in some really fantastic players and certainly spent the money, but sensibly.

Although there are undoubtedly managerial decisions and choices that you could argue could have been made earlier or as soon as they were, I believe the window’s timing wasn’t ideal, and it may have had more to do with how that season played out.

“You compare our roster to that of the other teams that are demoted at that time and the guys they brought in.

It’s easy to look back on it now and see that we signed experienced Championship players for money, but it’s the amount of money on the guys we did bring in and how that corresponded to the figures they earned for Stoke that makes you wonder what the intention and rationale behind it was.

“I’m wondering why that was the decision, given the comparison between what we paid for them and what we truly received from them. The way that season ultimately played out was terrible; it was by no means a good season.”

Stoke still live to regret 2018/19 transfer decisions

Stoke’s 2018/19 transfer blunders are still worth ruing over to this day, as the club have never recovered from them and they proved incredibly costly in the long-term.

Over the course of six complete seasons back in the second tier, they have never once come close to challenging for promotion—something that, given the amount of money that has been spent, you would think should be a given.

The fact that many of those players arrived on large contracts that were spread out over several years means that the remorse has remained to be a reminder. It’s not like they just tossed money away that season.

It is definitely worthwhile to look back and regret the club’s business since that money could have been utilized so much better. None of the players Stoke purchased for fees in the summer, or even in January, even remotely justified their spending.

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