Stoke in crisis as Mark Hughes struggles to control his Potters stars after dismal Prem start
MARK HUGHES is wrestling to assert control over his senior Stoke stars.
The Potters are rock bottom of the Premier League with no wins — and have conceded four goals in a game three times this season.
Chairman Peter Coates says he has no intention of axing Hughes despite Sunday’s 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.
However, SunSport understands some senior players are at odds with former Manchester City, Fulham and QPR boss Sparky.
One insider said: “The players can see it’s not working. There is a loss of confidence in the manager at the moment.”
Coates maintains that he has no plans to change the manager.
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He said: “That’s not an option. It’s early in the season and if you start panicking at this stage then you shouldn’t be in the game.
“I’m not happy with the start and share our fans’ frustrations.
“But a lot of things haven’t gone our way so far this season. There have been some bad refereeing decisions. Also, Jack Butland is arguably our best player and the best goalkeeper in England.
“He’s out injured so we’ve been without our best player along with people like Xherdan Shaqiri.
“We just need a win, but Mark Hughes can’t go out and play for them, the players have to do it.”
But the Potters insider said: “At Palace they weren’t quick enough on the ball and were awful at set-pieces.
“It’s about more than running harder or making more tackles. Many of the players who have come into the club have played for top managers and want to be coached.
“There is also a feeling that the board don’t really know whether Hughes is doing a good job or not because they don’t have the technical expertise.
“Some of them think Hughes makes changes for the sake of it. They can’t see the rational behind his team line-ups.
“There are a lot of quality players in the dressing room. They’re trying too many different things because they don’t have a clear idea of what the manager really wants.”
Stoke face crunch games against Hull in the EFL Cup tomorrow then West Brom in the league on Saturday.
They were 2-0 down at Palace on Sunday within 11 minutes.
Centre-back Ryan Shawcross said: “You can’t do that in the Prem. It puts you on the back foot. The game had gone.
“Confidence in the team is not great. We need to have a long hard look at ourselves and come out fighting.”
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