This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Stoke City appointed Alex Neil as their manager at the end of August, as the Scotsman decided to leave Sunderland for the Bet 365 Stadium.

Neil has taken charge of 25 games for the Potters in all competitions, winning nine of them and losing 11.

Their latest defeat came at the weekend, where they were beaten 1-0 by Luton Town, a defeat that now sees Stoke sit in 19th place, just six points above the relegation zone.

As the Potters continue to slide down the table and results not going there way, we asked some of our FLW writers whether Stoke should stick with Alex Neil.

James Reeves

Neil definitely deserves more time at Stoke.

There is no denying that results have been poor, and he has underachieved thus far, but that has been the story for the Potters since their relegation from the Premier League and continually changing the manager is not the answer.

Neil has a proven track record at Championship level and if given time and perhaps crucially the funds to shape his squad over the coming transfer windows, you would not bet against him getting it right eventually.

The immediate concern will be the Potters getting dragged into the relegation fight but given the ability in their squad and the struggles of those below them, that still looks unlikely at this point.

But Neil will know that he must improve results quickly or he will come under increasing pressure.

Brett Worthington

It’s not been the fairy tale that Neil would have hoped for so far.

There’s no doubt that Neil deserves more time at the Bet 365 Stadium, but the Stoke boss can’t hide from recent results. There was probably an expectation when Neil took over at Stoke that things were going to improve and they would finally start looking up the table.

However, that hasn’t really happened under Neil yet, and of course he deserves the time to try and turn the club’s fortunes around. But as the games tick by and they don’t pick up points, pressure will start to mount on Neil and the Stoke board, and it will be interesting to see how they react.

Neil has only had one transfer window to have a go at changing the club’s squad, so it is still too early to say this is his squad, but Stoke are still seen as a big club in many people’s eyes, especially in the Championship, and they should be doing a lot better than 19th place.

Stoke should have enough to stay in this division, but if results don’t drastically improve, questions could start to be asked of Neil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcus Ally

Stoke are six points clear of the bottom three, won 4-0 in their second to last game, and have four very winnable fixtures coming up.

They are closer to the relegation zone than supporters would like, but they are not going to get dragged in anytime soon.

Alex Neil has a proven track record in the Championship, and there has been enough promise in results and performances so far, for him to retain the support of the board and fans heading into next season.

They were beaten by an excellent Luton Town side at the weekend, but next up they host Hull City and Huddersfield Town, chances to pull away from the bottom three and start looking up at a possible top half finish.