His former assistant at Shrewsbury Town, Ritchie Barker was appointed as manager and despite a good start the team were involved in a relegation battle.

The arrival of Sammy McIlroy from Manchester United helped Stoke to scrape to survival finishing two points away from the drop zone.

[1] Durban's former assistant at Shrewsbury Town, Ritchie Barker was appointed as manager at the Victoria Ground and he inherited a reasonable squad of players but he also knew that the club had financial problems, which to a certain extent were eased when for the first time players wore shirts with a sponsor's name across their chests, Ricoh.

[1] Youth team product Adrian Heath was fast becoming one of the most talked about midfielders in the division and so Barker allowed him to join Everton for a healthy £700,000.

[1] He brought in England international David Watson from Southampton for £50,000 to replace the ageing Denis Smith and Sammy McIlroy for £350,000.