Mark Hughes could become the first managerial sacking of 2018.
It's emerged the Stoke manager has been the subject of many conversations at board level, following a poor run of form.
They're 16th in the Premier League table and have one win in their last seven games, back on December 23rd, a 3-1 win over West Brom.
Having lost 0-1 to rivals Newcastle at home on New Years Day, speculation has been rife that Hughes could be on his way out of the Bet265 Stadium.
However the board have quickly moved to deny they are about to swing the axe, Sky Sports report they don't want to change manager in the middle of the season, due to a lack of quality managers currently looking for work.
They say they'd be open to looking at English or Irish managers in terms of planning for the future.
Hughes himself speaking after the loss to Newcastle, insists he can turn the clubs fortunes around.
