Stoke City have terminated the contract of manager Mark Hughes in the wake of a truly miserable defeat against fourth-tier Coventry City.
Having also lost their previous three games, The Potters slumped to a 2-1 defeat that sent the Premier League side toppling out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle.
Several ‘Hughes Out’ banners were visible in the away section at the Ricoh and, mere hours after the conclusion, the travelling dissidents got their wish…
CLUB STATEMENT: Stoke City can confirm that the contract of manager Mark Hughes has been terminated with immediate effect.#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/pSaThNUO2H
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) January 6, 2018
Hughes had been in charge at Stoke for the past four-and-a-half years and leaves without much to show for it, other than his uncanny ‘one win per month’ record.
Mark Hughes' method of avoiding the sack over the past year has been to win about a PL game a month:
Month/PL wins
Nov 16 1 😐
Dec 16 1 😐
Jan 17 2 🤫
Feb 17 1 😐
Mar 17 1 😐
Apr 17 1 😐
May 17 1 😐
Aug 17 1 😐
Sep 17 1 😐
Oct 17 1 😐
Nov 17 0 😬
Dec 17 2 😅
Jan 18 0 🤔— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) January 2, 2018
Gah. The crossed arms atop the technical area. The stoic, unflinching eyes. The concrete jaw. The myriad weak excuses. The joyless machismo. The unwavering tedium. All over.
The names being most notably touted as Hughes’ potential successor are those belonging to Garry Monk, Slaven Bilic, Ronald Koeman and Roberto Mancini.
Surely, as far as Stoke fans are concerned, any of the aforementioned will come as a blessed relief compared to the stagnant torpor of the last few seasons?