Gary Rowett is being targeted by Stoke as their next manager as they prepare for Championship football.

Stoke finished 19th in the Premier League this season with the win over Swansea on the final day ensuring that they didn't finish in last place. Mark Hughes and Paul Lambert were both unable to get this side consistently firing in the league this season even though there is plenty of talented players.

Key members of the team such as Joe Allen and Xherdan Shaqiri are likely to leave this summer because they are too good for the Championship, but there is still a promising base to work from with Rowett knowing this league and the teams in it well.

Rowett has managed Burton Albion, Birmingham City and Derby in his six year managerial career with a degree of success in each. He hasn't achieved promotion or won anything with these sides, but he has produce consistent results and improved them. This can be seen in his 129 wins in 297 games, which is a 43.4% win rate. Altogether, he has averaged 1.57 points per game in his managerial career, which is impressive.

Derby were unfortunate to come up against an excellent Fulham side in the play-offs, but they were only able to beat the Rams 2-1. However, that was a significant improvement on the season before where they finished ninth and it was achieved on a limited budget.

Stoke would be getting an ambitious manager who will be relishing the chance to eventually manage in the Premier League, so he is the right man to stabilise them, spend wisely and eventually take them back up. Patience will be required, though, because the Potters can't expect to go straight back up.

Rowett has a long career ahead of him and is still likely to be developing his ideas, so this would definitely be a right move even if he hasn't achieved promotion before. His sides are tough to beat as can be seen in just 89 losses with draws being even lower at 79, and he can be pragmatic when needed which is a useful trait to have.