Stoke City have set about the task of appointing a new head of recruitment to lead their transfer planning and it is clear how important it is to get it right.
Mark Robins has spoken about the importance of alignment as Stoke City set about hiring a new head of recruitment.
Robins has an immediate focus of pulling Stoke away from the wrong end of the Championship and it is a huge game this weekend at home against a Swansea side (Saturday, 3pm) who are anxious that they can be dragged into the mix too.
But the club is also working behind the scenes to make sure that things are in place to move in the right direction in the long-term – and Lee Darnbrough has left a key vacancy after leaving his role in charge of the transfers department, one week after the end of a frustrating January window.
There were a couple of stand out signings for Robins at Coventry, like Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres, as he pulled them from League Two to the cusp of the Premier League over seven years but they were also able to more consistently get things right behind that.
That is what Stoke will have to try to emulate – even if Robins is clear this is “a totally different challenge” – and making sure that the next big appointment is right will be vital.
Robins said: “We mentioned before about the team behind the team and the work that goes on behind that and how aligned everybody must be to get that functioning properly as well. There’s lots to do, there’s no doubt about that there’s lots to do. But good people work here, really good people, so there’s no criticism on that front. To have a successful team, everybody has to be in line.
“If you look back at my time at Coventry, we were at a lower level and in some senses that is more difficult – League Two, coming through – but sometimes that can also be a benefit to certain clubs and at Coventry I was able to do that.
“This is different, a totally different challenge but one that can be achieved. It’s not going to be straightforward, it’s not going to be easy but nothing is. Nothing that is worth doing is.
“We have to make sure those energies are put into the right areas and when we make decisions, those decisions are for the long term and the benefit of everything that is happening – so the right people, right areas, right roles. That goes right throughout from playing staff to support staff as well.
“There are areas that need improvement and that will come over time. My immediate focus has to be picking points up, enough points to stay in this division this season. It has to be that because at the moment it’s not clear cut is it?
“We’ve still got performances that are ok and we’re picking up some points, performances that have been good when we’ve lost games and performances that have been a little bit under par and we can’t sustain that because opponents are better than in most divisions. It’s a ruthless league so we have to be ruthless as well.”
Coventry were able to rebuild under Robins in the lower leagues, like Ipswich Town did too and Birmingham City are hoping they are doing now – but Stoke cannot contemplate dropping out of the Championship and have a huge three months to make sure they stay up.
Robins said: “You can’t get past the fact that we need to pick up enough points to stay in the division this year then how high we can finish comes on the back of that and how quickly you can get to the requisite number of points. Nobody really knows what that is apart from the super computer apparently but it’s not as cut and dried as a super computer looking at it because form changes, teams change, players come back from injury and things start to shift.
“We’re under no illusions, it’s a tough league anyway, but with 15 games left we’ve got to pick up points and do better in terms of our performances more often.”
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