The truth behind Stoke City change in approach as 'world class' club stalwart creates lasting legacy
Never in any of the last seven seasons has more than 60 per cent of the Stoke City squad been signed by the manager (or head coach) of the time.
A line from Jon Walters explaining how decisions are made at the club these days – and the will to build a consistent identity for the club – made us dust off the spreadsheets to check over some figures since relegation.
“We’ve seen here coaches or managers come in and say they want these players and they’re given everything they want so that the next head coach has a legacy signing or three or four or five or six of them on long-term contracts that cause problems for a number of years,” said Walters. “We’ve seen that and spent a lot of money on players that probably aren’t right for the football club or at the wrong stage of their career.”
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So we can see that 12 (35 per cent) of the senior players in the 2018/19 season, for example, were signed by Mark Hughes – but five of those didn’t get on the pitch and another three played under 750 minutes. It would be interesting to see what proportion those eight players ate up of the wage bill.
Michael O’Neill’s squad in 2020/21 had been put together by six different managers but big earners such as Kevin Wimmer, Moritz Bauer, Badou Ndiaye, Ryan Woods, Benik Afobe and Peter Etebo played a combined zero minutes.
The idea of the sporting director model is to stop this kind of thing happening. Narcis Pelach, like Steven Schumacher before him, will still be heavily involved in recruitment but it won’t just be driven by one man.
Walters said: “To pick up on a player, data will come into it, scouting reports from the scouting department, the recruitment department and head coach and the coaches department will all have a say and be part of it but it’s part of a process. It’s not just saying you want this player and that player and you get them.”
Andy Jackson enters of hall of fame
For all the change outlined above as Stoke tried to find a way to bring back success, one of the few constants has proved to be consistently world class.
Andy Jackson, the club's grounds manager who has been headhunted to look after pitches at World Cups, Olympics and major championships by Fifa and Uefa over the last few years, has been named in the Grounds Management Association's hall of fame. He is only the sixth person to be bestowed with the honour.
Jackson has been groundsman at Stoke for almost 30 years and has assisted in the improvement of around 65 grassroots football sites, or more than 150 pitches.
Geoff Webb, the GMA's chief executive, said: “Andy’s induction into the hall of fame is a testament to his dedication to the grounds management industry. His passion, not only at Stoke City but also in grassroots football, has left a lasting legacy that clubs will benefit from in years to come.
“His contributions go beyond the technical aspects of the job; he has been a mentor and advocate for raising the standards of pitches across Staffordshire and surrounding areas for over a decade. We are incredibly proud to honour him as part of our 90th anniversary celebrations and look forward to seeing his continued influence on the next generation of groundskeepers.”
There might have been glamour in Qatar and Paris in the last couple of years but there is a nice anecdote, too, from Kevin Duffill, a former regional pitch adviser for the GMA.
He said: "I recall the many Staffordshire FA workshops hosted there under Andy’s guidance. One standout memory is when a club with a 12-acre site attended a session and asked how to best spend their £500 budget. That same club went on to win both County FA and GMA awards."
It reminds us of this interview with Andy back in 2021 when he talked about the secrets of keeping a perfect pitch, involving seaweed and a lot of hard work and getting soaked to the skin.
Scholes fronts up to Premier League bosses
Stoke's former long-serving chief executive Tony Scholes will fill in for referee's chief Howard Webb to face a grilling from Premier League bosses this week.
Scholes is the Premier League's chief football officer these days and sits on the Professional Game Match Officials board, of which Webb is chief refereeing officer. The Times claims that clubs had been looking forward to challenging Webb about what they claim are mistakes by officials so far this season.
"Instead, Scholes can expect questions about refereeing, as well as the timetable for the introduction of the semi-automated offside system, which is due this autumn," writes chief sports reporter Martyn Ziegler.
Women prepare for Derby derby
Stoke City Women are in mid-week action with a National League trip to take on Derby County.
Stoke have won at early pacesetters Rugby Borough and drawn 2-2 with Wolves in their last couple of games to sit seventh as things stand.
Tickets for the match at Mickleover FC on Wednesday (7.45pm kick-off) cost £6 adults or £3 concessions.
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Anniversaries this week
September 25 - birthdays: Kevin Lewis (72), Chris Maskery (60), Peter Sweeney (40), Cuco Martina (35)
September 25, 1993 - 1-0 defeat to Southend United: Simon Sturridge (first league appearance)
September 26 - birthday: Paul Warhurst (55)
September 26, 1925 - 4-0 win over Middlesbrough: George Paterson (scored hat-trick on debut)
September 26, 1981 - 3-2 defeat to Middlesbrough: Steve Bould (first league appearance)
September 27, 1997 - 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest: Dean Crowe (final league appearance)
September 28, 1907 - 2-0 defeat to Wolves: Dickie Roose (final league appearance - read more about his incredible life and career here)
September 28, 1946 - 3-1 win over Preston North End: Roy Brown (first league appearance)
September 28, 1957 - 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town: Frank Mountford (final league appearance)
September 28, 1985 - 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace: Alan Hudson (final league appearance)
September 29 - birthdays: Mark Higgins (66), Kyle Lightbourne (56)
September 30, 2006 - 1-1 draw with Preston North End: Lee Hendrie (first league appearance)
Ah, that Lee Hendrie debut
Talk to any Stoke fan who was around at the time and none will play down the significance of Lee Hendrie joining on loan from Aston Villa in the autumn of 2006.
His arrival was a show of ambition that postponed – and ultimately abandoned – a supporter-led red card protest against Tony Pulis, who was just back under new chairman Peter Coates for a second spell as a manager. He helped kick start that season with a 4-0 win at Leeds United and eventually the team only just fell short of a place in the play-offs.
It laid foundations to win promotion the following year – but Hendrie wasn’t around. He opted instead to sign permanently for Sheffield United and gradually fell out of football.
"I made the wrong decisions I should have signed for Stoke after leaving Villa, that was one of my main regrets, but I signed for Sheffield United, which was just the worst thing I could have done because it just didn't work out," he said looking back. "Kevin Blackwell was just an absolute .. well, I don't even want to go into it.
"At that stage of my career he put the nail in the coffin for me and to this day I would not speak to him if I saw him, because he made a mockery of me at Sheffield United and made me look like I was there for money. I wasn't there for money, I came back fit as anything to try and prove him wrong and turn the crowd, which, unfortunately, I didn't. I have never got to tell the story, which one day I will do."