Jon Walters accepts pressure as he makes biggest call yet at Stoke City
Jon Walters insists it is no point waiting just to make an easy decision in a week when he has made the biggest call of his time back at Stoke City.
Walters, who returned as sporting director in March, knows he will come under scrutiny and pressure to deliver after ending Steven Schumacher’s reign and giving Narcis Pelach his first chance as a head coach in the Championship.
The timing, after just five league games of the season, caught people on the hop but Walters is adamant it will prove to be the right move for the long-term.
READ MORE:What Bojan and Marc Muniesa told Narcis Pelach that made his 'brain click' about Stoke City
He said: "Ultimately it's not a nice thing in football, it's not an easy thing to do but it's my role to not sit on the fence and wait for things to peter out so you can make a decision with no pressure. I think any successful business, any successful person in the world has to make a decision, you go full behind it and you back it and you learn from what you've done. I'm not going to sit there and not make a decision. It brings pressure but I fully believe in what I've done."
He added: "We all want it to work of course. I'm not there to not take pressure. This role brings pressure with it. I'm there to look at the long term benefit of the football club. I believe he'll bring success and he'll bring what everyone wants and want to see out on the pitch. Of course there is pressure. I'm sure the fans will see (what he's doing) and will have something to hold onto and get behind and be a part of."
Walters’ ambitions for the club are clear and he is confident that he has brought in a head coach who will work furiously to take the club in the right direction.
He said: "I want to be better than ever at Stoke City. I've said it many times, I'm not here to finish mid-table in the Championship, I'm not here to win promotion and just survive in the Premier League. I want to thrive in the Premier League and bring success to the football club. That's my standards and where I want to be.
“I believe this football club can do that, with John (Coates) as the owner and the backing of fans and the backing he gives to the football club - why not? We can't just settle for where we've been for a number of years. I've made it clear I don't want to just survive. Nobody has gone from where we are to promotion in just a year, there will be stepping stones along the way, but to bring Narcis in and deliver an identity of the team that I think fans will really get behind is something different but clubs up and down the country are doing that and it has brought success.
"But it's not just about him as a coach, it's about him as a person. You can see that from his interviews, he's very passionate, he knows what he wants. I disagreed with him yesterday when he said no one will work harder than him in the Championship but I will say this now, myself and him together... you want a team that will leave everything on the pitch, fans demand that here, but off the pitch know that we'll be doing the same thing. No one will work harder than us away from the pitch to make sure that happens on the pitch."