Managing Stoke City: throwaway line from Mark Robins shows he understands club
Mark Robins was ready with an answer when it was put to him that Stoke City had been dubbed an impossible job and it’s his task to prove it isn’t.
It is clear that managing Stoke has come with its challenges over the last few years but some of them have been all the more difficult because of the size of the opportunities. They had such a big battle to stay on the right side of Financial Fair Play, for instance, because the board had been prepared to back Gary Rowett and the recruitment team so emphatically in the summer of 2018.
There has been a cycle of instability because there hasn’t been success – and some will argue there hasn’t been success because there has been instability. It’s nine bosses in the seven years since Robins’s then-League Two Coventry knocked Stoke out of the FA Cup and sparked the end of Mark Hughes.
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But Robins – who said, “We’ll see,” to that impossible question – believes he can do the right things to get the time to make the difference.
His CV guarantees him the backing and belief of supporters to do that too and the underlying stats from his time at Coventry – beyond results and including even from this season – made him stand out in a flood of candidates who wanted to replace Narcis Pelach.
When Robins was sacked in November, Coventry were 17th in the Championship table but in at least the top six when it came to xG, open play xG and touches in the opposition box.
Sporting director Jon Walters said: “It’s such a coveted job. I think everyone knows all the reasons why, from the owner to the facilities to the people at the club.
“I’ll be perfectly honest, I was really surprised when Mark lost his job at Coventry. He was one of the top managers in this league this season – not just in other years but this season, from all the data points that we look at.
“For Mark to want to join us and to have that drive to really build this club and take it forward, it was a no brainer for me.”
One line that shows he understands Stoke
You could write a brilliant thesis about Stoke City DNA or you can make a near-throwaway remark that will be understood by the people that matter.
“I was here when they played Besiktas,” said Robins in his first press conference. That line evokes the style, the characters and the atmosphere of Stoke at their best. Fast, front-footed football with players who were strong in terms of personality and physique that were more than the sum of their parts and got the crowd so loudly behind them that it was like an extra man.
Robins added: “But we have to keep our feet on the floor and not make any bold predictions that this will happen or that's going to happen. We have to do things in the right way to build that platform, build that base and grow the club again.”
Stoke’s position in the Championship
It is easy to get distracted by long-term ambitions at the start of a new project but Stoke’s first priority at the moment is to pull away from danger in the Championship.
A home draw with Plymouth leaves them 19th, four points above the bottom three with 20 games to play. There are still only three points between them and Millwall in 13th, but there’s already a bit of a buffer to the top half.
The January window is difficult but Robins and Walters need to make sure Stoke come out of it with a squad that can get past 50 points as quickly as possible.
Stoke have been missing physicality in central midfield – but have Ben Pearson and Bosun Lawal hoping to address that; they could do with a winger, particularly in the absence of Million Manhoef; and a centre-forward, in hope that he will complement Sam Gallagher and Tom Cannon.
Players who could improve any other position – although good luck trying to find an upgrade on Viktor Johansson – wouldn’t go amiss and left-back is flashing amber after Eric Bocat picked up a calf injury.
Financial Fair Play constraints and potential changes
Yet all that has to be done against the backdrop of the most tedious three letters in English football, FFP.
Stoke are backed by billionaire owners who are desperate to bring in top quality but, at this point in a rolling three-year cycle, there isn’t much wriggle room for business – particularly if they don’t overly hinder a vital summer window.
Championship clubs and the EFL are currently debating potential changes to the rules, however, and it remains to be seen if and how much that could help.
What to do with Nathan Lowe?
Strikers are hard to find and money is tight. There are not many players out on loan from Premier League clubs who have scored goals this season, basically just Cannon (to Stoke from Leicester) and Louie Barry, who has been recalled by Aston Villa after prolific form at Stockport.
Clubs will not want to release a player who is doing well mid-season unless they get a big fee and those who are more readily available this month probably haven't been playing much recently due to form or fitness.
But Stoke have one of their own having the time of his life in League Two. Nathan Lowe has scored 17 times in 29 appearances so far for Walsall, including five in his last four.
The 19-year-old would have plenty of suitors if he wants to test himself in League One for the second half of the season or he could stay to try to score 30 goals and collect a champion's medal, which is the kind of reason why anyone wants to become a footballer in the first place.
Or he could be recalled to Stoke, which is ultimately where he wants and is expected to become a big part of things. Robins will have a big say in what happens next. It is not black and white to know what to do for the best in the short and long-term but this is a nice problem to have.
Squad for next season
The summer window is vital because Stoke only have a skeleton squad for 2025/26 and it’s a huge chance to make significant changes.
Only nine players who are on the books for next term have been playing reasonably regularly for Stoke so far in this one. There are also young players hoping to break through such as Jaden Dixon, Sol Sidibe, Nathan Lowe and Emre Tezgel.
Out of contract/loan ends in 2025: Tom Cannon, Andrew Moran, Ashley Phillips, Lewis Koumas, Lynden Gooch, Jordan Thompson, Michael Rose, Emre Tezgel, Jack Bonham, Enda Stevens, Frank Fielding
Senior players under contract beyond this season
Between the sticks: Viktor Johansson, Tommy Simkin
At the back: Junior Tchamadeu, Eric Bocat, Ben Gibson, Ben Wilmot
In the middle: Ben Pearson, Sol Sidibe, Bosun Lawal, Tatsuki Seko, Wouter Burger
Up front: Million Manhoef, Bae Junho, Andre Vidigal, Niall Ennis, Ryan Mmaee, Sam Gallagher, Emre Tezgel, Nathan Lowe
