Stoke City exit confirmed as Mark Robins revamps his backroom team
Stoke City have confirmed that Alex Morris is leaving his position as first-team coach and will be replaced by Ryan Shawcross, a hero of the club’s Premier League days and twice a caretaker manager at the bet365 Stadium this season.
Morris, a boyhood Stoke fan, had spent pretty much his whole footballing life at Crewe Alexandra as player, coach and manager before being brought to Clayton Wood in the summer of 2023 by then boss Alex Neil.
He was initially in charge of the under-21s with close links to the first team, but then moved over to the first team full-time when the side were embroiled in an urgent battle to stay up under Neil’s replacement, Steven Schumacher.
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However, the club have today confirmed he is leaving Stoke City as part of a coaching shake-up which also sees Dave Hibbert moving from under-18s team boss to take Shawcross’s position running the under-21s. Darren Potter will in turn replace Hibbert.
Shawcross, recruited as a player from Manchester United by Tony Pulis in the 2007/08 season, went on to impress in the Potters defence alongside the likes of Abdoulaye Faye and then Robert Huth. He spent a decade as captain, leading Stoke out in the 2011 FA Cup final before leading them in the Europa League the following season.
He had returned to the club as youth coach in the summer of 2023 and ultimately stepped up to become under-21s lead coach, being tasked with temporarily stepping over to the seniors after the dismissal of Schumacher last September.
It was a role he was asked to reprise when Schumacher’s replacement, Narcis Pelach, was sacked himself on December 27, and he remained undefeated in three games before Mark Robins was appointed on New Year’s Day.
A statement released by the club said: "Shawcross, 37, takes over as a first-team coach with immediate effect working alongside Mark Robins, assistant managers Paul Nevin and James Rowberry, and goalkeeping coach Darren Behcet.
News of the coaching reshuffle comes on a day of drama at the bet365 Stadium after loan top-scorer Tom Cannon was recalled by parent club Leicester City, leaving Robins and his new-look team to assess their options ahead of a game at West Brom on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
