Stoke City’s best known terrace anthem is Delilah, although the lyrics hardly seem suitable to the circumstances. Still, a Sir Tom Jones hit has at least been appropriate under the last two managers, both Welshmen to the core. But the man who brought them closer to a top-flight title than at any time in their history, the legendary Bob McGrory, was a Scotsman, and right now a song penned and recorded by two lads from Paisley might seem more fitting: Stuck in the Middle With You.

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the Potters cosy up to ninth place, and we can all marvel at Mark Hughes’ consistency the way we used to marvel at Tony Pulis’. But familiarity breeds ennui, and very few around the Potteries are marvelling any more. Pulis’ time eventually came, and Hughes’ may not be far away. Chairman Peter Coates is famously patient, and no matter what happens the rest of this year, will almost certainly give his man another season. But it’s getting harder to believe that anything will improve significantly.

Long-time Hughes watchers aren’t at all surprised. In October 2013, a few months into his first season, Ted Knutson of Statsbomb laid out the very clear case that Hughes was ‘almost the epitome of the average Premier League manager’.

But Hughes at Stoke City isn’t an ordinary tale of mid-table stagnation. His reign has from the very beginning been mostly high highs and low lows. There have been moments where it seemed anything was possible, and moments when it unfortunately was.

Take December 2015. If at any time Stokealona seemed the wave of the future, it was then. The month started with the most memorable performance of the Hughes era, a 2-0 home thrashing of Manchester City, in which Xherdan Shaqiri, Marko Arnautovic and Bojan combined breathtakingly to outclass the title contenders. A few weeks later they did the same to Manchester United and then went on to score four at Goodison Park.

Or take March 2014, spring of Hughes’ first year, before anyone dreamed that players like Bojan and Shaqiri could join up. The names then were Walters, Crouch, Adam and Odemwingie. The side had already beaten Manchester United and Chelsea at home earlier in the season; in the latter game, Jonathan Walters had so thoroughly bullied Cesar Azpilicueta that he looked ready to hop the first plane back to Iberia. Now a Walters penalty would add Arsenal to their list of high-class victims, and soon after they’d thrash West Ham and Aston Villa, and add a win over Hull just for fun.

Or even take May 2015, when the side closed out the season at home by crushing Spurs and Liverpool, pushing their Premier League point total to a record high, with Mame Biram Diouf irrepressible and Steven Nzonzi scoring brilliantly from long range.

At any of those times you could have forgiven fans for thinking…well, you choose the metaphor. A watershed? A new era? The sky’s the limit?

But there are other kinds of metaphors, perhaps better left unsaid. In the 16 games following le vingt-huit Stokealona, Stoke were beaten by three goals or more six times. In the fall after that powerhouse first March, Stoke took only two points from their five games against Aston Villa, Leicester City, Hull City, QPR, and Sunderland. And with the momentum gained from their cracking finish in 2015, Stoke started the following season without a win in their first six.

This in-and-out running has been paralleled by the fortunes of some of their players, who have at times looked like world-beaters and at other times most definitely not. We’re not talking about the normal ups and downs of a player like Marko Arnautovic, Hughes’s most successful recruit and a mainstay of the side. We’re taking about Bojan, a fantastic talent who could somehow look like a Third Division player. Or Mame Biram Diouf, who could seem on the verge of stardom and then nearly drop from sight. Or, most bizarrely of all, Philipp Wollscheid, who over the course of last season went from new boy finding his way to just below top class to completely useless.

The feeling persists that Hughes’ limitations are tactical as well as motivational. In those brief, heady days when Bojan was excelling as a false nine, there was a chance to completely re-tool the attack; but Hughes shied away, and soon Walters was back at centre-forward. The failure of Diouf to push on is partly because he wasn’t used properly. He’s a pacy forward who needs the ball placed at his feet behind defenders, but Hughes never figured out how to build that kind of attack, and Diouf often wound up completely isolated.

And then there’s Xherdan Shaqiri. Hughes cannot be blamed for the injuries that have dotted his time in England, but surely he must have seen that the Swiss was at his best as a number 10. Yes, play him from the wing if you want, but the way Manuel Pellegrini played David Silva, coming inside to run the attack. Every few games it seemed Hughes would entirely forget what makes Shaqiri the player he is, and the magician would be marooned on the wing once more.

And yet no matter how many things there have been to find fault with, and they’ve been legion, the bottom line has always been ninth place, 50 points or a little above. At the moment they’re right there in ninth, at a 49-point pace, and have just picked up a battling point at the Etihad. Hughes did himself proud that evening, compensating for Arnautovic’s absence with a 4-4-2, and starting a quick line-up that with a little bit of luck held City at bay.

The question is whether that point presages a surge, or whether it’s just a nice thing to have on your CV. Because from the beginning this season has felt different. It’s not that Hughes has failed to take the Potters to the next level, it’s the inescapable sense that while running in place, they’ve been sliding backwards. This year they haven’t notched a single win against a team now in the top half of the table. The 0-0 draw at City was their first point against a team higher than sixth. Amazingly, the Potters are riding their longest unbeaten run at home since Hughes arrived, but four draws plus wins against Burnley, Watford, Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough aren’t going to build any statues.

They’ve endured hammerings by Spurs twice, Liverpool, Manchester City and (ouch) Palace. And even when they appeared to be putting on the bravest of shows at Stamford Bridge, coming from behind a second time against the best defence in the league, they collapsed in the next minute and were well beaten at the end.

Again, up until Wednesday, you’d have said squad development was regressing as well. Joe Allen is an honorable exception, and Ramadan Sobhi is starting to strut his stuff. Bruno Martins Indi has been useful, if a bit erratic. But Giannelli Imbula, yet another symbol of Stoke’s attacking ambition, has disappeared from view as thoroughly as did Bojan. Ibrahim Affelay has struggled with injuries, but not once looked ready to assume a major role. Ryan Shawcross played well on Wednesday, but for most of the season has looked noticeably worse than when Hughes arrived.

Sitting in front of the back four for most of the year have been old friends Glenn Whelan and Charlie Adam. Starting up top in January and February was Peter Crouch. It might as well have been 2013. After a chase that seemed to last a lifetime, Saido Berahino is now in red and white. But you won’t find many who are sure Hughes knows how to use him.

And that brings us, finally, to the supporters. Overall they’ve been patient, and rightfully so. Hughes took them to ninth place, secured a record points total, and brought in the most talented footballers the club had ever seen. Nor, now that confidence has been slipping, are they being unreasonable. Potters fans don’t expect to be in Europe every year, or maybe even at all. They realise that unless something changes significantly, their place in the Premier League order is right about where they are now.

But they’re starting to suspect their current manager is running out of ideas. If they’re going to be stuck in the middle, many would rather it be with someone else. Up until Wednesday’s game, ‘Hughes out’, while not yet the majority slogan, was trending on the message boards. The point at the Etihad has brought respite, but you know how Delilah ends, and if history is any guide, supporters will be all too ready to wield the knife.

If that happens sooner rather than later…well, forgive them, dear Sparky, they just couldn’t take anymore.

Peter Goldstein