adminGary Rowett’s ‘worst nine months’ response to Stoke City chants in Oxford rout
A sell-out away end enjoyed a 3-0 win over Gary Rowett’s Oxford United and aimed a song or two at the home dug out
Gary Rowett owned up to enduring the worst nine months of his career at Stoke City as he took taunts from his old fans on the chin in the Oxford rain on Tuesday night.
Rowett has had an extraordinary record against the Potters since his brief time as manager came to an end in early 2019. In 10 meetings he had only lost once before Mark Robins – the sixth boss to try to fix Stoke since Rowett – took his in-form team to Oxford on Tuesday night.
Oxford had a couple of moments but Stoke were excellent on the counter-attack and ran away 3-0 winners with two goals from Lewis Baker and a neat finish from Steven Nzonzi.
The 1,500-odd Stoke supporters in a sold out away end enjoyed their night as a third straight victory – and fourth in five games – lifted them to second in the Championship and there were a couple of chants aimed at the home dug out.
The visitors sang about their view on Rowett’s football – which they had done towards the end of his tenure at the bet365 Stadium as the relationship soured – but Oxford fans did respond to back him as he tries to keep their club punching above their weight in the Championship.
Rowett said: “Our fans have been brilliant. What am I going to say about Stoke fans? It was the worst nine months of my entire footballing career but I’ve still been pretty complimentary about them since I left. Listen, I’m a big boy and I understand how football works. I don’t really think about Stoke an awful lot and if they still want to sing that, fantastic.
“They deserved it tonight, they were the better team, they deserve to go away with the plaudits. I’m sure they’ll be pleased with their team.”
Stoke are now preparing for a first vs. second battle when they take on Coventry at home on Saturday, while Oxford are 19th, four points ahead of the bottom three.
Rowett told Radio Oxford: “Stoke had won their last game handsomely. They’re a good side and I think they’ve shown why they are where they are.
“I do believe we gave them a little bit of a helping hand as well but they were the better side. Sometimes you can go around the houses all day but we got beaten by a team that played better than us, probably showed a little bit more energy, more drive and desire than us.
“I’m not questioning the players but that’s what the game was, that’s what I saw. I’ll always try to be honest.
“When we did get a chance to play we didn’t look as comfortable on the ball as we have done in games. We went backwards too much, we went back to the keeper too much and we sort of looked like we ran out of ideas a little bit.”
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