Goalkeeper highlights "ill-discipline and players you cannot rely on" after relegation, and says his immediate focus is the World Cup with England
Monday 7 May 2018 10:09, UK
Goalkeeper Jack Butland has slammed Stoke's recruitment process, describing it as "farcical".
The Potters dropped to the Championship after 10 years in the Premier League following Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Crystal Palace.
Big-name acquisitions signings such as striker Saido Berahino and defender Kevin Wimmer, signed in January and August 2017, have both struggled to make an impression.
Butland said: "I think the whole recruitment process needs looking at. There have been transfers that aren't even part of the squad for all kinds of reasons, whether it be discipline, whether it be lack of performance.
"You've got to look at that - what decisions are being made and the type of characters.
"Look at [January arrivals] Badou [Ndiaye] and Moritz Bauer - two positive signings. But you look at others and they're not even here to have an input.
"It's not because they were playing at the top of their game, because if they were they'd be here.
"Too many of the recent investments over the years are completely unused and that's unacceptable. So before anyone is signed and any changes happen, that's got to be looked at because it's been farcical really."
Berahino, yet to score for Stoke, has been banished to the U23s after arriving late once too often. It emerged in March that he and Wimmer had been placed on programmes to improve their fitness levels.
Ibrahim Afellay, recruited in 2015, is another player who has been frozen out by boss Paul Lambert, who took charge in January.
Jese Rodriguez's troubled season-long loan from Paris St Germain effectively ended before the Palace game.
Stoke announced they had given him permission to take unpaid compassionate leave until the end of the campaign for personal reasons.
Bottom-of-the-table Stoke won their first match under Lambert, contracted until the summer of 2020, but went on a winless run that now stands at 13 games.
Butland added: "I believe Paul's had an extremely difficult job. He inherited a squad where, unfortunately, there was ill-discipline and players you cannot rely on.
"Despite those scenarios, he's put together a really competitive side that's willing to work for him. I believe the manager is the right man for the job."
Butland, who shed tears after the final whistle on Saturday, said he had "no doubt if the right decisions are made the club will bounce straight back up".
Asked about his future, the England international said: "My next focus is the World Cup and beyond that, we'll have to wait and see."
