Why Mark Robins is really “disappointed” with Stoke City | OneFootball

Stoke City slipped to a fifth defeat in six as they lost out 1-0 away to Ipswich Town on Wednesday night

Having fallen to a 1-0 defeat away to Ipswich Town on Wednesday night, Stoke City have now lost five out of their last six league games, slipping out of the play-off places for the first time this season.

Under former Coventry City boss Mark Robins, Stoke began the season in fine form, winning each of their first three games of the season against Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, and Southampton.

The Potters, who have languished in the bottom half of the second tier for much of the last seven years, have looked like a much more promising outfit this campaign and have been largely tipped for a place in the top six come the end of the season.

But as of late, Stoke have had a downturn in their form, having lost five out of their last six outings, with only a 3-0 home win over Charlton Athletic not putting Robins under some pressure.

Indeed, having narrowly avoided relegation last season by the skin of their teeth under Robins, who picked up the pieces left by both Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach, there was optimism across the Potters fanbase that the following campaign would be a more promising one.

As it has transpired, that has turned out to be true, but with the club now in their worst form of the campaign to date, Stoke fans will start to feel slightly concerned.

Mark Robins left 'disappointed' with Stoke City's efforts in the final third against Ipswich Town

With Jaden Philogene's early wonder-strike ultimately the goal that would settle the fixture between Ipswich and Stoke, Robins was left frustrated with his side's performance in the final third.

Despite falling a goal behind in just the second minute of the game, it looked like it would be a long afternoon for the Potters, with Ipswich fresh off the back of defeating table-toppers Coventry City 3-0 at the weekend.

But Stoke would respond well, and could well have equalised soon after falling behind, with efforts from Sorba Thomas, Bae Jun-Ho, and Ben Wilmot all dealt with by the Tractor Boys' defence to preserve their clean sheet.

In his post-match interview, Robins said he was 'frustrated' with his team's efforts in the final third, but 'not in the least bit disappointed' by the overall performance of his side.

Robins said: "I'm disappointed, not with the performance, because I thought the performance from back to front was good.

"I was frustrated with some of our decision-making in the final third. I am not in the least bit disappointed with the performance, not in the least.

"I was more disappointed with the fact that we haven't created enough chances. We had chances to create miles more, because we haven't taken that care on the final pass, or we've made the wrong choice, or we've done something that is opposed to what we should have done."

Stoke had much of the better of the ball in the first half, with 66% of possession, having five shots, but with only one of those being on target.

Needing a goal in the second half, the Potters proved to be toothless up top, accumulating just 0.01 xG (expected goals) in the final 45 minutes of the game, with major concerns being raised over the club's proficiency in attack.

Divin Mubama and Lamine Cisse particularly struggled, and it was a surprise to see the pair last until the 67th minute before being hooked off for Million Manhoef and Sam Gallagher, the latter of whom had a great chance late on to level the scores, but was unable to sort out his feet and get a shot away.

Against each of Coventry City, Leicester City, and Hull City, the Potters could well have easily come away with a point or all three, but fell to defeat in all of them, with their lack of a clinical edge in the final third proving to be their achilles heel at this stage.

A 4-0 defeat away to Sheffield United was the only time the Potters were well and truly beaten in the five recent defeats, something Robins will take solace from, but will be disappointed nonetheless.

Mark Robins must find a way to improve Stoke City's productivity in the final third this season if they retain play-off ambitions

Despite having conceded seven goals in their last three games, with the 4-0 drubbing away to Sheffield United particularly damaging, Stoke retain the joint-best defensive record in the league after 20 games, level with their most recent opponents, Ipswich, on 19 goals conceded.

Robins has distilled a solid foundation in the Potters' defence this campaign, though those foundations have taken a bit of a beating in the past few weeks, and he will be keen to ensure that the recent fixtures aren't a sign of things to come.

Where Stoke have clearly lacked this season is in front of goal, with their top scorer, Sorba Thomas, having netted seven times this season, a respectable tally by all means, but half of his goals have come from crosses that have ended up going all the way in the net.

Manchester City loanee Mubama has scored five goals in his first season of regular first-team football, though two of those came in the first couple of games, and the other three all came in one game against Bristol City, having blanked in 17 outings this season.

Slovakian Robert Bozenik, who was signed on a free transfer from Portuguese crisis-club Boavista in the summer, has also deputised up top, but has yet to score or assist on English shores in 16 games in all competitions, though many of those appearances have come late off the bench.

Sam Gallagher has struggled with injuries since moving to the club from Blackburn last summer, and has also yet to net this season, whilst attacking-midfielder Bae Jun-Ho, an almost nailed-on starter in the side since his arrival from South Korea in 2023, has scored just six times in over 100 appearances for the club.

Lamine Cisse, a French youth international, has not yet got to grips with the Championship since his move to Stoke from SC Bastia in the summer, whilst Million Manhoef has continued to frustrate in front of goal with his decision-making, despite his enormous talent.

Robins has numerous options at his disposal, yet has seemingly not found a consistent tune out of his attack, something which he simply must address if Stoke are to challenge for a play-off place this season.