Stoke City Manager Dismisses Pessimism Ahead of Southampton Clash
Stoke City manager Mark Robins asserts that there is no “doom and gloom” within the club following their opening-day defeat to Swansea City as he gears up for Saturday’s match against Southampton.
The 10-man Potters secured a 2-1 victory at St. Mary’s last season—their third win in the first three Championship matches.
Despite traveling to the south coast after a 2-1 loss to the Swans last weekend, Robins communicated to BBC Radio Stoke that the result has not negatively impacted his squad.
“This matchup with Southampton comes after last Saturday’s defeat and it’s easy to feel a sense of doom and gloom—but it shouldn’t be viewed that way,” Robins said.
“We need to understand what happened and identify areas for improvement.
“We were competitive, I don’t believe we deserved to lose; we had opportunities that could have led to three points.”
“Even though we struggled to find our rhythm, Swansea faced similar challenges; they have a more established squad and playing style, which I think we managed well apart from two critical moments that led to their goals.”
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Robins has managed an active summer of roster changes and adjustments in practice to prevent a recurrence of last season’s injury issues.
He stated that this transition would continue to evolve during matches.
“There are ways to position players where they are most comfortable, but that process requires time,” he explained.
“We’ve had constructive discussions about how to implement these changes. In training, we’re beginning to see how these adjustments could shape players’ positioning and the partnerships on the field.”
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Robins also believes that the previous victory at St. Mary’s will instill confidence in his players, especially those who participated in that match.
“Every season presents unique challenges, but our goal remains the same. It’s an exciting venue to play, and we look forward to the opportunity.
“Positive memories can provide valuable motivation, and if we can harness that, it will be advantageous.
“What matters is our current mindset and our path forward. Previous experiences can serve as beneficial lessons.”
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“Last season, we often found ourselves without possession; our focus now is to control the ball more effectively, which should lead to a favorable outcome.”
Stoke boss Mark Robins insists there is no “doom and gloom” around the club following their opening-day home league defeat by Swansea City as he prepares his side for Saturday’s trip to Southampton.
The 10-man Potters won 2-1 at St. Mary’s a year ago – their third victory in their first three Championship matches last season.
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They travel to the south coast having lost 2-1 at home to the Swans last weekend but Robins told BBC Radio Stoke the result has not had a negative effect on his squad,
“It’s [the Southampton game] on the back of the defeat on Saturday and everything around you is doom and gloom – it isn’t that,” Robins said.
“You shake things off, we look back at what happened and what we maybe could have done better.
“We were in that game, I don’t think we deserved to lose, we could and should have had three points from it with the chances that we had.
“So whilst you’re not fluid or free flowing – they weren’t either, they looked like they have a settled squad, a settled way of doing things and I thought we coped with that apart from two moments down the side that ended up costing us goals.”
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Robins has overseen a busy summer of ins and outs at the club, as well as changes in training and off the field to try to avoid a repeat of last season’s injury crisis.
He said that transition will continue to develop on the pitch.
“There will be a way of getting players in the positions that they’re really comfortable with and that takes a little bit of time,” he said.
“[We’ve had] interesting conversations, when the work’s getting done, things are sort of dripped in. You can see things happening in training that might mean certain differences to where people want to be or feel most comfortable on the pitch, where those partnerships start to be formed.”
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Robins is also confident last season’s win at St. Mary’s will give the players – especially those who were part of it – added belief when they take on the Saints.
“Obviously each season is different but we go down with the same aim. It’s a great place to go and play your football and we look forward to it.
“You can have good memories of places and you can glean something from that and if you can do that, then brilliant.
“It’s what we do now, it’s what we do moving forwards that matters. The fact you’ve been somewhere and taken the points is a good experience.
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“I think last season we ended up without the ball so much, so can we have the ball a little bit more? – which will impact the game in a positive way.”
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