"Crazy to me" - Pundit reacts to fresh Stoke City, Steven Schumacher revelation | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer has criticised Stoke City for reportedly looking to sack Steven Schumacher months prior to his eventual dismissal

Pundit and former England international Carlton Palmer has lambasted Stoke City for the sacking of Steven Schumacher just five matches into the 2024/25 Championship campaign, with subsequent reports claiming that they were seeking a replacement months prior to his dismissal.

Schumacher, who only joined Stoke from Plymouth Argyle less than twelve months ago, was relieved of his duties in a bombshell announcement last week. At the time of his sacking, Stoke had won four of their opening eight affairs across the Championship and EFL Cup, including victories over Coventry City and Middlesbrough.

However, Schumacher ultimately fell victim to the consistently high managerial turnover in the Potteries, which has left supporters with more questions than answers in recent years.

It has since been reported by Alan Nixon - via his exclusive Patreon service - that Stoke had sounded out two managers at the end of the previous season before deciding to stick with Schumacher after being dealt with rejection.

Schumacher was immediately replaced by former Huddersfield Town and Norwich City coach Narcis Pelach, who marked his first outing with a 3-1 home defeat to Hull City on Friday evening.

Carlton Palmer's reaction to fresh Stoke City, Steven Schumacher claim

Palmer has fumed at the claim that Schumacher was touted for the sack some months ago, citing the flaws behind the idea of persisting with a manager throughout pre-season and signing a clutch of new players before sanctioning dismissal so early into the new season.

Stoke made 10 signings across the summer window, which included the acquisitions of Lewis Koumas, Tom Cannon, Viktor Johansson and Ben Gibson.

"I don't really get that, he was only five games into the new season and if they had planned his exit months ago, as is reported, then why keep him at the club and why not sack him at the end of the season or before the summer, bring in the manager you want and allow him to bring in the players he would have wanted?

"So again, this tells me a lot about what's going on at the football club. If you said you were planning an exit then obviously the manager wasn't or couldn't have been involved in the recruitment of players coming to the club because that doesn't make sense.

"Then you let him go the whole of pre-season, why would you do that and start the season? The manager they've appointed was at Norwich so they could've taken him in the summer.

"I don't know whether we can take any credence from that [the reports] because it doesn't make any sense that you would keep the manager in the summer, let him bring in players and then fire him so early into the season.

"It's crazy to me, irrespective of how well the manager does I still think it's the wrong situation. I think they should've stuck with Schumacher and given him some time, it was a difficult situation he inherited.

"There has to be some stability, there has to be continuity and there has to be time and patience.

"If the rumours are true then Stoke have only got themselves to blame. You've let a manager recruit players and have all season, then you've sacked him early in the season and the new manager has to work with those players because he can't do anything until the January transfer window.

Narcis Pelach needs to vindicate controversial Stoke City, Steven Schumacher decision

The way in which Stoke parted ways with Schumacher will only amplify the pressure upon Pelach, who is entering his first permanent managerial role with a group of players signed under the reign of a different manager and at a club who seldom shy away from pulling the trigger.

Indeed, the sacking may always be deemed as harsh from the outside as Schumacher completed the task at hand by keeping Stoke in the division last season, and there was a school of thought that they could have kicked on under his tuition.

However, Pelach could just vindicate their decision if he proves a hit in the Potteries - and that is exactly what will need to happen in order for Stoke's top brass to save face.