Asmir Begovic: It’s disappointing how long Stoke City have been in the Championship

Asmir Begovic certainly hasn’t minced his words as he discussed his former club Stoke City’s current predicament in the Championship.

Stoke have endured a miserable start to the 2026-27 Championship season as they languish in 22nd place, with just three points from their opening four matches.

Since their relegation from the Premier League in 2018, The Potters have found it extremely tough to bounce back and haven’t finished in the top half of the table since they’ve been back in the Championship.

However, despite this the success story of Hull City last season has to provide encouragement to sides that have been languishing in the Championship for an extended period.

Disappointing

In an exclusive interview with Hajper, Begovic said “Stoke City is a club of huge size, with the tradition and the fan base, where everything is there for them to be a Premier League club.

“The fact that they’ve been in the Championship for so many years and not really challenging for the top is disappointing.

“I don’t think they’ve even been in the playoffs since they’ve been down.

“From that aspect, you expect them to be challenging up there, and the expectation has to be to get in and around those playoff places this year. It absolutely has to be.”

The former Potters man continued with examples of clubs in a similar position to Stoke financially adding “There can’t be any doubt, that’s where the club deserves to be.

“Now, obviously, you need a few things to go your way to really make that happen and hopefully they will this year. It’s a club that needs to be challenging those top eight, being in and around there. 

“When you’re in that mix and a couple of things go your way, you could achieve promotion. We’ve seen what happened with Coventry and Hull last year. It can happen, it can be done without a doubt. 

“Look at Ipswich the year before, going from League One into the Championship and then the Premier League.”

Read the full exclusive interview with Asmir Begovic at Hajper

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