Rowett has surprised me, he had Burton challenging for promotion for 3 years straight, he took blues from relegation candidates to play off contenders and he kept Derby in the play offs. He had things to prove at Stoke as he needed to show he was more than just a good organiser, but so far he is failing.
Could be that his tactics are suited to keeping a team away from danger, but not good enough to pick up the required wins to get promotions. I'm hoping that is the case, as it seems Stoke haven't addressed some squad issues in the transfer window despite spending millions on players who hsve done well in the division before.
They will still be a threat and I have no doubt they will be in the play off battle, but unless something drastic changes, they will struggle to be title contenders.