Disgruntled Stoke City fans have threatened to “throw their season tickets in the bin” following today’s announcement that Paul Lambert will be the club’s new manager.
Stoke, who are 18th in the table and face Manchester United tonight, initially approached Martin O’Neill, but the Republic of Ireland boss rejected the opportunity to take over at the bet365 Stadium. Derby boss Gary Rowett and Espanyol manager Quique Sanchez Flores were also reportedly on the club’s managerial shortlist.
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In a statement on the club’s website, Stoke chairman Peter Coates said: “Paul greatly impressed us with his knowledge of our squad and had a clear plan of how he would improve our results.
“He’s a man who backed himself as a player, none more so than when he turned down contract offers in Scotland to go on trial in the German Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, and it’s obvious he adopts the same approach as a manager.”
Lambert arrives at Stoke after previously managing in the Premier League at Aston Villa and Norwich City. His record at Villa from 2012-15 was 25 victories in 101 matches (24.8% win ratio). At Norwich he won 12 games out of 38 from 2009-12 (a 31.6% win ratio).
One Stoke fan on Twitter offered to sell his season ticket for £1.50, another questioned the direction the club was going in when naming Lambert as Hughes’s replacement.
Another season ticket holder of 30 years said: “I can safely say this is the final straw! Ticket in the bin for good now, I am absolutely disgusted with OUR football club #scfc.”