This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Stoke City have been linked with a potential managerial move for Sean Dyche this week, per BirminghamLive.
The report states that both the Potters and Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion are considering a move for the 50-year-old, who surprisingly departed Burnley last week after nearly 10 years at Turf Moor.
Stoke still have a manager in the dugout in the form of Michael O'Neill, but his job is apparently under threat with Football Insider reporting this week that the Northern Irishman is fighting for his future at the Bet365 Stadium.
A move for Dyche though, despite his credentials as a manager, may not be what is best for the Potters as FLW's Stoke fan pundit Ben Rowley has explained.
"I can think of two arguments and corresponding counter-arguments to this," Ben said.
"Firstly, Sean Dyche is a good manager, we know this, he's been promoted with Burnley twice from the Championship and he could be the manager to get promoted with Stoke one day.
"The problem is we've seen good managers who are going to be in the play-offs this season like Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones and they didn't work out at Stoke for one reason or another - he could be another casualty of that.
"Second, this summer is a massive opportunity for a new manager to rebuild, we're not going to have more than a dozen players contracted at the start of the season - we might re-sign some on new contracts - but the manager has got fair scope to do what he wants with the team.
"Unfortunately though that could be a slight problem - Sean Dyche might pigeon-hole Stoke into the way he wants to play and if Sean Dyche doesn't work out, his style of football means that someone else coming in may struggle to revive Stoke once again."
The Verdict
Even though Stoke have spent plenty of time in the Premier League in the 21st century, they may have to lower their sights a bit in regards to a potential new manager.
Dyche, despite struggling with Burnley this season, has a positive reputation and it wouldn't be a shock to see his next role be in the Premier League.
Stoke meanwhile are quite a way off returning to the top flight, and when this season ends it will be three mid-table Championship finishes in a row.
If O'Neill does end up departing Stoke City, then Dyche is probably not a realistic option when it's all said and done.