The recent backlash over Gary Rowett may have subsided a bit about some encouraging results, but make no mistake, it is definitely bubbling under the surface. The problem Stoke City fans don’t seem to notice is that Gary Rowett isn’t really the man to blame, yes he has made some questionable in-game and tactical decisions, but he really is a scapegoat for failings by Tony Scholes and Mark Cartwright.
The majority of Stoke City fans seem to resent the way Rowett sets Stoke City up tactically, they believe that its dull and lacks vibrancy, but Mark Hughes tried to make Stoke play like Barcelona and look at what happened, a relegation dogfight. Rowett is right to try to make Stoke hard to beat, in the Championship, the teams that get promoted aren’t necessarily the teams passing their way around but rather the teams that are able to keep it tight at the back, Stoke weren’t able to do that at the start of the season but currently the defence is certainly looking a lot better.
Rowett at the moment needs time to really carve out something at Stoke, he is coming into a club that expects to get prompted straightaway after relegation, to put it simply from the moment he was appointed as manager of Stoke City, it has been fast and furious, over the last couple of matches there is a sense he knows what to do and one should believe that there is a solution to Stoke’s woes coming soon.
Poor recruitment by Scholes and Cartwright have made Rowett a figure of scorn for Stoke City fans, yes he probably could’ve dealt with the Ryan Shawcross situation a lot better but the criticism he has been getting has been unwarranted.