Charlie Adam has made no secret of the fact he partly blames Xherdan Shaqiri for Stoke City’s relegation to the Championship.The 32-year-old confirmed earlier this month that Shaqiri, who completed a £13 million move to Liverpool this summer, was one of those ‘so-called big players’ at the bet365 Stadium who didn’t do enough to keep the Potters in the Premier League last season.He told talkSPORT: “When the chips are down you look at your big players, you want your big players to bring magic in one moment in the season, and at times we felt like the so-called big players in the squad never turned up for us and never performed.”Strong words there from Adam, whose comments prompted a response from Shaqiri last week.“I think my score points speak for themselves,” the Swiss midfielder was quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo. “I was the top scorer in the team with goals and assists, so I don’t have to say any more. For me, it’s clear.“I think everybody knows that (I was the best player). For me, I don’t listen to what other people say.”Shaqiri is now fully focused on making his Liverpool career a success and endeared himself to the club’s fans on his debut last weekend by scoring a magnificent overhead kick in a friendly against Manchester United.

Adam's story about Shaqiri explains why he's bitter

For Adam and his teammates, though, they now face a gruelling season in the Championship, starting with a tough away clash against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United on Sunday.

But on Monday night, Adam was on the radio again talking about you-know-who.

The Scotland international revealed a fascinating story involving Shaqiri which might explain why he doesn’t particularly like the guy.

“We had a meeting and the previous manager [Paul Lambert] not mugged us off but went round us all and basically called us all water-carriers and he [Shaqiri] was the only world-class player we had in our team - and basically we had to get him on the ball to make something happen, which was difficult to take,” he revealed on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“For the players we had in our squad and what we achieved at the club, it was hard.

“We knew that he was a match-winner - he was - but we should have had more respect from that point of view.

“When you’ve got a player like that, who knows he’s going to get a move no matter if they get relegated or not, it was inevitable what was going to happen.”

Watch Adam tell the story here...

Hmm. Suddenly it makes sense why Adam feels bitter towards Shaqiri.

In fairness, being told by your manager that you’re there to give the ball to one particular player must smart a bit.

But that isn’t Shaqiri’s fault. Lambert decided to conduct that team-talk, not the Liverpool new boy.

Lots of people on social media have blasted Adam for holding a ‘grudge’ against Shaqiri and after this latest story, you can understand why.