Daniel Farke has emerged as a contender to be Stoke’s next boss after Michael O’Neill admitted his job is at risk.
O’Neill’s future is under the microscope amid flak from fans after failing to win in nine games. It has seen the Potters slip to 16th in the Championship - 13 points off the play-offs after a 2-1 loss at Cardiff in midweek. O’Neill, 52, who took charge in November 2019, now faces a battle to convince Stoke’s wealthy owners he is the right man for the role. Millwall visit on Saturday with some Stoke fans already calling for the former Northern Ireland manager to go.
O’Neill, under contract for just one more year until 2023, admits his players' recent efforts have not been satisfactory and could cost him his position. He assessed: “We have to show more and believe more.
“It isn’t good enough and won’t be good enough to keep them at this club. It will not be good enough to keep me at this club, I am honest enough to know that as well. We concede goals far too easy and lack a bit of physical presence upfront , there is no doubt about that.”
German coach Farke,45, led Norwich to Championship titles in 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 playing attractive, possession-based football. He was sacked by promoted Norwich in November with the Canaries propping up the Premier League. And he is out of work again after a brief ill-fated move to Russian side Krasnodar in January on a contract until 2024. Farke infamously left earlier this month without taking charge of a single match due to the international break.
The German returned to work only two months after he had been dismissed by the Canaries. He was set to take charge in Krasnodar's match at home to Lokomotiv Moscow but the fixture was postponed due to the suspension of Krasnodar airport operations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Farke is now back available for work and has recently been linked with the Hertha Berlin vacancy before they turned to Felix Magath this week. Stoke’s owners, the Coates family who run Bet365, have been patient with O’Neill and value his footballing expertise.
It is even possible O’Neill could stay on at the club by moving upstairs into an advisory or recruitment role if he is relieved of first team duties. But for now O’Neill is battling on at Stoke, who have finished 16th , 15th and 14th last term in the three seasons since relegation from the Premier League in 2018.
Among Stoke's squad is free-kick specialist Mario Vrancic,32, who joined from Norwich last summer after serving under Farke, where he scored 15 League goals in 123 League appearances .
