Stoke keen on Championship winning manager as Michael O’Neill makes admission

Stoke City are reportedly keen on a Championship winning manager as Michael O’Neill makes an admission on his future at the Potters.

According to the Mirror, Daniel Farke has emerged as a surprise contender to be the club’s next boss after O’Neill admitted his job is at risk.

It comes following a lot of pressure from dissatisfied fans after failing to win in nine games, leaving them 16th – 13 points off the play-offs after a 2-1 loss at Cardiff in midweek.

Stoke City are reportedly lining up Daniel Farke to replace Michael O’Neill 👀

🗣️ MON: “It isn’t good enough and won’t be good enough to keep them at this club.

“It will not be good enough to keep me at this club, I am honest enough to know that as well.”#CCP | #SCFC pic.twitter.com/XKAaXnIQy9

— The Championship Chat Podcast (@Champchatpod24) March 18, 2022

O’Neill, 52, was appointed at Stoke in November 2019, but a poor season has left the owners unconvinced that he is the right man for the job. Millwall travel to the bet365 Stadium on Saturday with a lot of Stoke fans calling for the former Northern Ireland manager to depart.

O’Neill, who is under contract for one more year until 2023, has revealed that his players’ recent efforts have not been satisfactory and that could be what costs him his position. He said: “We have to show more and believe more.

“It isn’t good enough and won’t be good enough to keep them at this club. It will not be good enough to keep me at this club, I am honest enough to know that as well. We concede goals far too easy and lack a bit of physical presence upfront , there is no doubt about that.”

German coach Farke, 45, guided the Canaries to Championship titles in 2019 and 2021 playing attractive, possession-based football.

He was sacked by Norwich in November after showing signs of struggling once again, though with Dean Smith at the helm replacing him, they still find themselves in the relegation zone.

With Farke currently out of work after a short time at Russian outfit Krasnodar in January on a contract until 2024, could he be set for a return to the English second tier?

Farke left earlier this month without taking charge of a single match due to a request from his family amid the war with Ukraine.

The German returned to work just two months after he had been dismissed by Norwich and was ready to take charge in Krasnodar’s match at home to Lokomotiv Moscow, only for the fixture to be postponed due to the suspension of Krasnodar airport operations following Russia’s invasion.

Farke was also linked with the Hertha Berlin manager’s job before they turned to ex-Fulham boss Felix Magath this week.

Stoke’s owners, the Coates family, have been patient with O’Neill and value his footballing expertise, but are under pressure to axe.

The Mirror also report that ‘is even possible O’Neill could stay on at the club by moving upstairs into an advisory or recruitment role if he is relieved of first team duties.’

However, for now O’Neill is battling on at Stoke, who have finished 16th , 15th and 14th in the three seasons since relegation from the Premier League in 2018.

Twitter users reacted with Stoke keen on the Championship winning manager as Michael O’Neill makes an admission…

@megster1977: Potential improvement on the last three appointments in that at least he has achieved the task at hand (promotion from Championship to Premier League).

@ChrisDaplyn: Norwich played some nice football 👍

@JakeTB95: Plays quality football, brings in good players on a low budget, has good connections to Liverpool, man City for youth players. Proven in winning the league… would be stupid to say no to him

@NjpPrice: Wouldn’t say no his track record says it all good option.

@negativeorgones: Bit too good for us, I reckon. Plenty of first division teams in mainland Europe would probably be willing give him a go.

@dunnthings: Norwich model is a director of football signing players and him coaching.. we don’t have that model, can he identify and recruit players? Also based on track record his teams wilt when challenged (no challenge for that team in champ) and I’ve seen that far too often this season.

@dcooke1989: Would be extremely happy with him coming in, quite interesting that the article mentions MON moving upstairs which imo would be a win win situation for the club

@Rich_Walton: No way the Coates are employing a foreign manager.

@cobby68: If MON does go why can’t we think outside of the box and bring in somebody that’s not just fallen off the managerial merry go round! Mind you half of our fan base will no doubt slaughter whoever it is before his team has even kicked a ball..

@Liamb1975: Whoever is in charge has a huge rebuilding program ahead of them. Only 15 players contracted for next season. Could all go horribly wrong if stoke make the wrong choice this time. They simply have to get it right.

@saintstokie: 👀 oooh Farkeing hell

@Tyr3seEra_: APPOINTMENT DADDY FARKE IMMEDIATELY

@dcooke1989: Sack the bastard now and get Farke in

@LeeJ02ncfc: Farke & Vrancic at someone other than Norwich. Sad times