Stoke City winger Matthew Etherington has said that Potters fans have "got their wish" with Tony Pulis's departure from the club expected to be announced.
It emerged earlier on Tuesday that the 55-year-old would be leaving the club after seven years in charge.
Stoke's second half of the just-finished Premier League season saw just three wins out of 19 and left them tangled up in the fight for survival. They ended the campaign in 13th, six points above the drop zone.
"I've spoken to a few of the other boys and they're shocked as well, it's hit us," PA Sport quotes Etherington, 31, as saying.
"Fans were grumbling saying they wanted him out or wanted a change but it looks like they have got their wish.
"You have to be careful what you wish for in football sometimes. You look at Charlton under Alan Curbishley and look where they are now."
Etherington is hopeful that the Potters won't incur a similar fate.
"Hopefully it won't go that way for us, hopefully we'll get someone in who will push us on and make us into a top-10 team," he added.
If his departure is confirmed, Pulis will lose his place as the second-longest serving manager in the top flight, leaving Arsenal's Arsene Wenger a long way out in front.
Pascal Lemesre
