Stoke City: Jon Walters can redeem Narcis Pelach error with Mark Robins coup
Sporting director Jon Walters must move quickly to remove head coach Narcis Pelach from his position in order to try to entice former Coventry City manager Mark Robins to take over at the bet365 Stadium as Stoke City is going through one of its worst winless streaks in recent memory.
To the surprise of many Stoke supporters and non-supporters, the Potters decided to fire Steven Schumacher in the middle of September. A few days later, in a bold move, sporting director and club legend Walters appointed Pelach as the new head coach.
Although Pelach was a successful coach with Huddersfield Town and Norwich City, his only prior experience as a permanent manager had been in the Spanish lower leagues with Figueres and Peralada. This success hasn’t yet transferred into a position as head coach at an aspiring Championship side.
Given the circumstances of his appointment and the team he must manage, the Spaniard has clearly been dealt a difficult hand in ST4, but his performance has fallen short of expectations, and it now appears that it would be best to let him go and replace him with a more seasoned coach who can inspire a team.
| Championship table (as of 23/12) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Team | Played | GD | Points |
| 18. | Preston North End | 22 | -7 | 22 |
| 19. | Stoke City | 22 | -7 | 22 |
| 20. | Portsmouth | 20 | -10 | 20 |
| 21. | Hull City | 22 | -10 | 19 |
| 22. | Cardiff City | 21 | -15 | 18 |
| 23. | Oxford United | 21 | -16 | 18 |
| 24. | Plymouth Argyle | 21 | -23 | 18 |
Robins, therefore, would be the perfect fit, as he has obvious experience of second-tier management from his time at Coventry, and was able to take the Sky Blues from lowly League Two football to a Championship play-off final.
The 55-year-old has reportedly insisted that he wants a break after leaving Coventry, yet Stoke’s finances and potential as a club could be able to tempt him to an early return to the dugout, as well as it’s ideal Midlands-based location.
Stoke City need to sack Narcis Pelach ASAP
Although Steven Schumacher’s football and performance at Stoke were far from flawless, he was granted a full summer transfer window to assemble his team and appeared to have the full support of the Potters’ board when the season started in August.
His dismissal in September after a 1-0 loss to Oxford United was shocking, and it was even more shocking that Pelach, a rookie head coach, was selected to succeed him a few days later.
Sporting director Walters insisted that he had “no doubt” that the Spaniard would be successful as Potters manager, but he also stated that his tenure should end after just three months, following a run that could have sent Stoke into relegation if it weren’t for custodian Viktor Johansson’s exceptional performance each week.
Even though Pelach’s stint started off badly with back-to-back two-goal defeats to Middlesbrough and Hull City, Stoke supporters began to believe he might be the team’s leader following a decisive 6-1 victory over Portsmouth in early October.
The Potters experienced back-to-back league wins for the first time this season with 2-1 and 2-0 victories against Derby County and Blackburn Rovers, respectively, after three straight draws and EFL Cup losses to Southampton and Sheffield United.
The Potters’ xG conceded dropped to the second-worst in the Championship, only surpassed by bottom-place Plymouth Argyle, and their only other three-point victory came at Ewood Park in early November. Since then, they have played four draws and four losses apiece.
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