Narcis Pelach’s Stoke City backroom team in full, CVs and decisions explained
Narcis Pelach has brought three new members of backroom staff with him at Stoke City as he sets about trying to make an impact as head coach.
Pelach was officially unveiled on Wednesday last week as the man tasked with bringing success back to the bet365 Stadium, having built his reputation as a coach over the last four years with Huddersfield Town and Norwich City. The 36-year-old started his coaching journey back home in Catalonia and is believed to have been wanted by clubs in the Premier League and Bundesliga during the summer, instead waiting for the opportunity to strike out as a boss in his own right.
He has been joined by two colleagues from Huddersfield and Norwich and a familiar face to Stoke supporters while three highly-regarded members of Stoke's backroom staff have stayed for significant roles in the new regime, including a coach that was in the Steven Schumacher party that arrived from Plymouth Argyle last December.
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We have the opportunity here to recap the decisions over the last few days that have reshaped life at Clayton Wood for the senior squad.
Out: Steven Schumacher (head coach), Chris Cohen (assistant head coach), Mark Hughes (assistant head coach), Peter Cavanagh (first team coach), Elliot Turner (head of performance)
The new Stoke City backroom...
Paul Clements
Title: Goalkeeper coach
Age: 39
Previous roles: Middlesbrough academy goalkeeper coach, Wolves head academy goalkeeper coach, Huddersfield Town goalkeeper coach, Norwich City goalkeeper coach
What they've said:
Angus Gunn told the Pink Un: "He's definitely taken my game to the next level. We work really hard during the week. At times last season it felt like the games were, not easy, but natural because of the work that we'd done during the week. He always prepares us for the opposition that we're going to face and I think that detail has made it a lot easier for me to go into the games and feel that confidence."
Leigh Bromby told the Norwich press: “I think it’s a big loss (for Norwich). You look at Angus Gunn and he says it’s the best he’s played in his career. I’ve watched him, and it is. I think it’s one of the most important positions in the team, because we all know goalkeepers can win you so many points. He did it with Lee Nicholls at Huddersfield, and he’s done it with Gunn at Norwich. It will have an impact. The players will love Paul and trust him. Trying to replace that is difficult.”
He added: "I had coached with him since the academy (at Huddersfield), so I was with him for 10 years. He’s the best coach, goalkeeper or otherwise, that I’ve worked with. We were really lucky to have him. It’s not just the goalkeeper coaching either, he’s got other attributes and skills that help around the first team as well. For me he’s the best in the country.
“Clem was really loyal to me when I was at Huddersfield. Stuart Webber brought him to Norwich, really valued him and thought he was good, and Stu knows what good looks like. He’s a top coach, a really good guy, and I’m sure he’ll make it a success at Stoke.”
Narcis Pelach: "Paul Clements represents hard work. He’s had to fight a lot to get to where he is in the goalkeeping position today. He’s a hungry man, which is one of the things I love about him. He wants more. He wants to work in the Premier League, he wants to work in the Champions League. He dreams. It is something that gives me a lot of energy."
Dean Whitehead
Title: First team coach
Age: 42
Previous roles: Huddersfield Town youth coach, Shrewsbury Town first team coach, Port Vale first team coach, Besiktas first team coach, Cardiff City first team coach, Watford assistant head coach, Barnsley first team coach
What they've said:
Darrell Clarke: "He is somebody I have worked with in the past who is a well-respected figure and works brilliantly with the lads on the training pitch."
He added: “Dean is a great lad, but I also understand that Stoke is his club and he spent a lot of time there and it’s an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. The club gets compensated and I’ve got a good backroom team.”
Narcis Pelach: "I’m very happy that Dean Whitehead is here, he’s a good coach. He has experience as a footballer, he’s a great human being and he’s willing to do everything for the football club. He’s a great addition.
"I worked at Huddersfield where he had been as a player and he was well respected. People and players always talked about him very well. Then he was at Cardiff and Watford, and as coaches we were always seeing each other. Then one day we got to know each other and here we are. We will get to know each other even more now."
Jon Walters: “It was a surprise for me when Narcis mentioned Dean, a nice surprise because I know Dean and his son’s in the academy. I’ve been seeing Dean probably once a month as our paths have crossed with different things, but this was a decision by Narcis rather than myself.
"He wanted to put Dean in his backroom staff and he’s a good coach, he’s shown that for a number of years. The fact he went to work for Besiktas and left his family here shows his commitment to his pathway and it’s good to see a familiar face back. He’s part of success at Stoke City and he’s very happy to be back.”
Harrison Glew
Title: Performance analyst
Age: 24
Previous roles: Huddersfield Town performance analyst, Norwich City performance analyst
What they've said:
Narcis Pelach: "Harrison, you cannot work harder than him. You want these people next to you."
Alex Morris
Title: First team coach
Age: 41
Previous roles: Crewe Alexandra youth coach, Crewe Alexandra first team coach, Crewe Alexandra manager, Crewe Alexandra assistant manager, Stoke City under-21s lead coach
Jon Walters: "Alex is a top quality coach and a lot of people speak very highly of him outside of Stoke City, some top international managers. I know what qualities he can bring. Alex is Stoke through and through as well. He lives and breathes this football club, so he's a great asset to have in that first team dressing room."
He added: “Alex is firmly part of Narcis’s plans. Ryan (Shawcross) has gone back to take the 21s, he’s got his own learning journey leading the team. It’s really important for him that he does that as well. He knows where he wants to get to. He really enjoyed coming in and having that role for the Fleetwood game, got us through to the next round of the cup and now goes back to the 21s but closely aligned with the first team. He will be involved in seeing the players come through and he’s got a great relationship with Alex."
Darren Behcet
Title: Goalkeeper coach
Age: 37
Previous roles: Yeovil Town goalkeeper coach, Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper coach
What they've said:
Jon Walters: “I see someone in Darren as a huge asset to the football club. I think for the first few days of meeting him and getting to know his ambitions that we’ve got a class operator. I said to Narcis that, for me, he’s part of the football club. Narcis wanted to bring in his staff and we have to give him the best tools to be successful, which the owner wants to do, but I see Darren as a huge asset to the goalkeeping department at the football club as a whole.
“If you look at any Premier League bar one or two, there are two goalkeeping coaches. We spoke to a number of clubs about how it works, top clubs, and they all have different ways. A goalkeeping department normally has four in there – three senior ones and a younger one – and we’ve got Tommy Simkin out on loan who needs huge development, we’ve got a recruitment department, we’ve got an academy set-up to keep building.
“There is lots to do in a goalkeeping department that you probably don’t see from the outside but Darren, for me, is a huge part of it.”
Steven Schumacher: "He's someone who's really dedicated to his work and gives a lot of detail to not only his goalkeepers but to our attacking players about the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition goalkeeper."
Joel Dawson
Title: Sports scientist
Previous roles: Stoke City lead sport scientist, Manchester City rehab sports scientist, Stoke City head of academy sports science
Jon Walters: “Joel Dawson, who was in there with Elliot in the department, will be working very closely with Narcis.
“He’s been at the club for a number of years, since I was here as a first team player, and he’s a top, top level practitioner. He went to Man City for a number of months but came back to Stoke and was head of sports science with the academy. Very recently he’s been in with the first team and he will be a big influence on the head coach. That’s how he wants to work.
“I’ve got huge faith in Joel and I think everyone at the football club knows how good he is.”