Since joining Stoke City on January 1st, Mark Robins has not quite managed to get the Potters going, and it’s sparked the manager making a big demand ahead of the summer as he looks to improve things at the club.
After getting the axe at Coventry City in surprising circumstances, Robins took a brief break from the game before jumping into another role.
He found his next job when Stoke City parted ways with Narcis Pelach just after Christmas, and brought in the new year taking on the challenge of turning around fortunes for the Potters.
However, it’s been a stagnant start to life with the Championship side, and with Stoke still languishing in 19th place as things stand, Robins has issued a call for action at all levels in the club.
Mark Robins needs big improvements in Stoke City recruitment
The latest on Stoke City’s predicament comes from Alan Nixon on Patreon, who suggests Mark Robins is looking for some wholesale changes to take place over the summer.
It is thought Robins not only wants more players of a higher quality on the pitch, but he needs a better recruitment process in general, and some stability among the Stoke hierarchy.
Robins is looking to see a “major change” when it comes to Stoke’s recruitment plans in the summer. Apparently, he has been “alarmed by the state of the squad” he’s inherited, with youngsters and loanees not adding sufficient depth to the Stoke team.
| Club | Players used | Avg age |
| Sunderland AFC | 28 | 23.2 |
| Stoke City | 32 | 23.9 |
| Sheffield United | 33 | 24.2 |
| Norwich City | 34 | 24.5 |
| Hull City | 37 | 24.8 |
In light of a slew of drastic changes at the club behind the scenes, Stoke have ended up with a “mixed bag” of players, and clearly, it’s not been good enough for Robins.
He’s not wrong, either. Stoke have the second-youngest squad in the division, behind Sunderland. But, while the Black Cats have thrived with youth at their core, Stoke have failed to find any consistency.
Will Stoke City stay up this season?
Stoke City must surely be looking over their shoulders with genuine fear now. After 35 games, the Potters are just five points clear of Luton Town in 22nd place.
Meanwhile, Cardiff City and Hull City both have a game in hand which, if they win, could see Stoke drop to 21st in the table.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| 16 |  Swansea |
34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 37 | 46 | -9 | 40 |
| 17 |  Portsmouth |
35 | 10 | 9 | 16 | 43 | 57 | -14 | 39 |
| 18 |  Oxford United |
35 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 36 | 52 | -16 | 38 |
| 19 |  Stoke City |
35 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 34 | 47 | -13 | 36 |
| 20 |  Cardiff |
34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 37 | 55 | -18 | 36 |
| 21 |  Hull City |
34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 33 |
| 22 |  Luton |
35 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 32 | 55 | -23 | 31 |
If things continue on the current trajectory, we may well end up with the game between Stoke and Luton on April 8th being a real relegation six-pointer. Even worse, Stoke would then have to face Cardiff four days later, and if things go wrong there, the Potters would surely find themselves in the drop zone.
The only positive for Stoke at this point is that the likes of Luton, Plymouth, and Derby County all look worse than them. Robins has some decent players at his disposal, but he needs the whole squad to stand up and be counted now as the fight for survival truly begins.
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