Stoke City today confirmed that they would no longer be a Premier League side after 10 years in the top tier of English football. Certainly the club didn't see it happening when they signed Jese Rodriguez in August.
It might seem ridiculous saying it now but for the past decade Stoke have done an incredible job to stay in the Premier League as long as they did, finally confirming they would be going down with a loss to Crystal Palace, having led.
First Tony Pulis and then Mark Hughes did amazing jobs to surpass expectation for the Potters, with the club never finishing below 14th in their first nine seasons in the league and finishing ninth three season in a row.
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Last season the club finished 13th and rather limped to the end of the season with many pundits predicting that this season would be a lot more difficult for them, not helped by the departure of Marko Arnautovic to West Ham.
The club though clearly felt they were going to be okay when the pulled off what seemed like a bit a coup by signing Jese Rodriguez. Their tweet to announce the signing really bit them on the arse though, the club clearly mock those who think they'll be going down if you listen:
Stoke replay lines like 'This is why I think they'll be hurtling towards relegation,' 'Stoke fans, are you not concerned because I think you're hurtling towards the Championship,' and 'I mean, what is the point in Stoke? Would the Premier League really miss Stoke City?'
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There's also negative headlines about the club as they build up to announcing the signing of Rodriguez.
The 25 year old signed on loan for the Potters at the end of August from PSG and scored the winner against Arsenal on his debut however things have gone wrong since then.
Rodriguez hasn't scored since then and has only played 15 times for Hughes and Paul Lambert as Stoke have gone down.
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Pride definitely came before the fall!
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, PSG, Premier League, Stoke, Twitter, Stoke City, Real Madrid