Narcis Pelach's end game and early runners and riders to be new Stoke City manager
Narcis Pelach leaves Stoke City after a miserable run of form left his time as head coach untenable.
The 36-year-old only took over in September but nine matches without a win, capped by a sorry Boxing Day home defeat to promotion-chasing Leeds United, has sealed his fate before the end of December.
A caretaker team is expected to take charge of Sunday’s home clash with Sunderland as Stoke start the process of finding their third manager of the season.
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Pelach – who had been waiting for his chance as the main man while a coach at Huddersfield and Norwich – won three of his 18 league games as manager and went on a run of one defeat in 10 matches between the start of October and the end of November.
But he has lost five of the last six and the fanbase showed its frustration and discontent, particularly after the last two home games, a draw with relegation rivals Cardiff and that loss to Leeds, when Stoke were blown away.
Conceding two second-half goals to 10-man Sheffield Wednesday also saw a furious reaction from the away end at Hillsborough.
Immediate names likely to be in the frame include Mark Robins, Steve Cooper, Tony Mowbray, Neil Harris and David Wagner. The likes of Gary O’Neil, Russell Martin and David Moyes are also without a job.
Jon Walters has spoken about taking responsibility for the decision to appoint Pelach but will stay as sporting director, tasked with making sure the next appointment is the right one.
Eight bosses have left Stoke since the start of 2018 – Mark Hughes, Paul Lambert, Gary Rowett, Nathan Jones, Michael O’Neill, Alex Neil, Steven Schumacher and Pelach – as the club has tried to arrest then tackle a slide into the bottom half of the Championship.
Whoever takes charge, there is a consensus that the squad is in need of reinforcements in January.
Pelach said in his final press conference in charge: “We have not been helped by availability in my opinion. Sam Gallagher, for example, has made only two starts this season and he is probably one of our best players. Bosun Lawal has not been there and he is expected to be a very good player for Stoke City and now we’ve lost Million Manhoef.
“We have to bring players in during January because the league is very tough and Stoke City needs more players.”
