中华时报英国报道（刘颖 赵雪湄）前北爱尔兰经理迈克尔·奥尼尔（Michael O’Neill）曾是斯托克城（Stoke City）的经理，并立下过汗马功劳。这一年他创造了奇迹。当他刚加入俱乐部时，斯托克城还在冠军联赛垫底，降级可能性很大，是 迈克尔 扭转了俱乐部的命运，将其转危为安。本赛季他继续出色地工作，斯托克目前在附加赛中排名第八，并在被托特纳姆热刺击败之前进入联赛杯四分之一决赛。此外，他们还引进培养年轻人，例如现在已经成为主力球员的内森·柯林斯和哈里·索特。而前锋泰瑞斯·坎贝尔和两位公认的门将都受了重伤，则意味着需要做出更多的改变。年轻人乔•布尔西克（Joe Bursik）在进球方面表现出色，被认为是首选第一号守门员。
To be in with a chance of promotion is remarkable. O’Neill has brought together a good group of players who are focused and can take the club back to where they want to be. As he says “ We have taken a lot of positive steps. There are still a lot of positive steps to take and hopefully we can put the right team in place to make those steps” . Certainly the Stoke supporters, some of the most passionate , dedicated and certainly amongst the loudest in Britain are right behind the manager and his team and chair of the Supporters Council Angela Smith says “ Michael O’Neill and his team have been such a positive influence on the club. He is a humble, professional and determined manager who I am sure will take Stoke City back to the Premier League. We are lucky to have him and he deserves the applause for his achievements so far”