Narcis Pelach reveals pre-match pep talk for Tom Cannon before four-goal heroics
Narcis Pelach had a pre-match pep talk with Tom Cannon to reiterate his faith in him – and then saw him repay it with four goals.
Pelach got an emphatic first win as Stoke City head coach with a 6-1 thrashing of Portsmouth, with Cannon – and strike partner Sam Gallagher, who made his full debut – leading from the front in spectacular fashion.
It was no mean turnaround after a deflating 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday when Cannon was taken off at half-time. In fact, the 21-year-old striker, on loan from Leicester, had barely touched the ball in his first three league games for Stoke before this one.
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But Pelach said: “We had a very nice chat this week because I replaced him the other day at half-time. I said, 'Look I cannot be waiting for performances in the middle of a game, I have to do what is right for the team but I want to let you know that I am going to back you. Three, four, five bad performances will not change my opinion about you.'
“I know him, I know he is a good player but he needs game time, he needs to get ready from a physical point of view. I said, 'Life is about confidence and I have confidence in you, you need to feel free, you will start again.' Even the performance against Middlesbrough I wasn't happy with, I'm not that kind of coach. I want to do something that is based on trust. It was very nice to listen to his answer as well. He's a nice guy.
“We had a good chat together and today I'm very happy with his performance. I think he deserves this. On the pitch you do what you can, not what you want. There is an opponent in front of you and he’s a young player so we have to be supportive. Today he got his reward. I’m very happy.”
The reward for Cannon and his teammates, however, is more review work at Clayton Wood on Thursday afternoon – not just looking at what went right but where they can still improve under the new head coach.
Pelach said: “He is a talented boy. He has a lot of jobs to do, not just him but the whole team. There are a lot of positives but negatives as well. Tomorrow we have to review but hopefully this is beginning of something nice for him and he has to know as well that there are lots of things to look at and to improve.”